Migration news roundup 06 November 2023

• Stories that inspired us this week
• International news
• UK borders and migration policy
• Specific migrant groups
• Cohesion and integration

Stories that inspired us this week

Alphonsine Kabagabo, director of Women for Refugee Women, shares her experience fleeing Rwanda in 1994 and rebuilding her life in Europe. (Source: the Guardian)

North Yorkshire libraries have been granted Libraries of Sanctuary status for providing a safe space for asylum seekers and refugees. (Source: The Scarborough News)

International news

In Germany new legislation allowing people seeking asylum to work after three or six months of arrival, instead of nine months, is waiting for approval from the parliament. (Source: Info Migrants)

There are also several significant events and developments globally:

• A deal mediated by Qatar enabled the evacuation of approximately 320 foreign nationals out of Gaza. (Source: Reuters)
• 1  November was the deadline Pakistan imposed on 1.7 million undocumented people to leave the country; most of them are Afghan refugees. (Source: BBC)
• There are currently almost seven million internally displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the highest number ever recorded, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). (Source: Info Migrants)

A number of African countries including Rwanda and Kenya are bringing in Schengen-like visa-free travel for all African nationalities to improve trade and tourism on the continent. (Source: Independent)

UK borders and migration policy

A progressive policy think tank published a policy response report on Channel crossings. It recommends a focus on increasing safe and accessible routes to claiming asylum, improving relations with France and the EU, and making the asylum system work better. (Source: IPPR)

The UK signed a ‘migration and security agreement’ with Austria, as the latter seeks to adopt its own Rwanda-style offshoring measures and will work collaboratively with the UK over how to manage third country asylum returns. Meanwhile, concerns have again been raised over the risk of children wrongly assessed as adults being removed to Rwanda. (Sources: the Guardian, open Democracy)

New modern slavery statistics were published covering to the end of September 2023, with commentary highlighting a growing backlog in decision making on claims. (Sources: Home Office, Free Movement)

There's a call for evidence into the Homes for Ukraine Scheme from the Public Accounts Committee, closing 12 November. (Source: UK Parliament)

A new survey reveals that the majority of British people now hold positive views on immigration. (Source: the Guardian)

Specific migrant groups

On asylum, litigation regarding the proposed accommodation centre at Scampton is ongoing. As part of another ongoing legal challenge, in February the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health is to give evidence against the government’s plans to exempt asylum accommodation from Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licencing rules. (Sources: Lincolnshire Live, Landlord Today)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published an article on Roma communities based on Census data. Over 100,000 people in England and Wales identified as Roma, with the highest number in Sheffield (2,710 people). (Source: ONS)

This article discusses the experiences of young people seeking asylum and safeguarding risks of sharing rooms with adults following Home Office age-assessments. Meanwhile, a committee in the House of Lords outlined flaws in Home Office age assessment and fee regulations in a report. (Sources: the Guardian, Free Movement)

Cohesion and integration

A new oral history project, ‘Look Back to Look Forward’, explores the experiences of Irish exiles in Great Britain over the past 50 years. The exhibition is online from 1 November and on tour nationally, including coming to Leeds. (Source: the Guardian)

‘When you eat together, you stick together’ - The Old Oak Film has been well-received by refugee and asylum-seeking groups across the country with a series of special screenings and food sharing events, ‘it really demonstrated what social cohesion looks like’. (Source: Cosmic Cat Films - two minute video)