Migration news roundup 8 May 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

A film and music night brought together Ukrainians from Scarborough and York, raising funds to support their country. (Source: Scarborough News)

Read the story of a Ukrainian family who have found sanctuary in Bradford. (Source: Telegraph and Argus)

International news

Germany unveiled a new legislation bill to integrate immigration laws with the labour market and demographic needs by removing many regulatory obstacles to immigration and allow foreign workers to fill labour shortages. (Source: Financial Times)

Amnesty International reported and condemned the deportation of Syrian refugees from Lebanon, asserting that the Lebanese government had violated their international legal obligations. Meanwhile, Syrian refugees living in Sudan are left in a state of helplessness and shock as the conflict there continues, with peaceful process seeming unlikely. (Source: Info Migrants)

UK borders and migration policy

On Channel crossings, an investigation suggests that in the weeks prior to the November 2021 tragedy, in which at least 27 people lost their lives, the UK coastguard failed to respond appropriately to some reports of small boats in distress. Similarly, there are reports of an incident in 2023 in which a dinghy carrying 38 people was left to drift back into French waters where it was rescued by the French coastguard. (Source: the Guardian)

The Home Office are said to be working on plans to accommodate people seeking asylum  on ex cruise ships and unused oil rigs, with as many as 10 ships being considered. (Source: the Guardian)

It has been reported that new proposals to exempt asylum accommodation from HMO licencing rules could allow rogue landlords to further exploit vulnerable people with unsuitable housing. (Source: Landlord Today)

Beyond asylum:

• Here’s an overview of the new Innovator Founder visa route which is aimed at entrepreneurs hoping to establish innovative businesses in the UK.
• The Home Office has reintroduced checks on the immigration status of bank account customers and this article considers the safeguards in place to prevent individuals being wrongly penalised.
• British nationals who left Sudan on an evacuation flight are experiencing homelessness since arriving in the UK.

(Sources: Free Movement, ITV)

Specific migrant groups

The Children’s Commissioner for England has raised further concerns around the impact of the Illegal Migration Bill on children’s rights and reiterated priority areas for amendment. This follows the Commissioner’s previous data request to the Home Secretary, on all unaccompanied children that seek asylum and who have been accommodated in hotels by the Home Office since July 2021. (Source: Children’s Commissioner)

The latest data on Windrush compensation suggests by the end of March 2023, the amount paid and offered to individuals through the scheme is just above £70 million, with 62% of claims having had a final decision. (Source: Home Office)

New data on the Ukrainian Sponsorship Scheme in England shows that as of May 2023, over 130,000 visa applications were received, with nearly 110,000 visas granted. Of those, 90,000 individuals have arrived in England. (Source: gov.uk)

A third-party reporting service for East and South-East Asian communities, including Hong Kong BN(O) visa holders, released its first data report. Between August 2022 and January 2023, 65 incidents of racism and/or hate have been reported, with some victims identifying as Hongkongers. (Source: On your side)

On trafficking and modern slavery, the Home Office is inviting project proposals to address human trafficking within and from Romania. (Source: Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

Cohesion and integration

The Education Policy Institute (EPI) has released a summary of a roundtable discussion exploring the impact of the Nationalities and Borders act on the education of refugee and migrant pupils. (Source: EPI)

Lord Carlile, chair of the Commission on the Integration of Refugees, reflects on his family’s experience of being Polish-Jewish refugees during the World War Two in the context of the current UK governments actions. (Source: Jewish Chronicle)

This piece looks at the differences of language use between the home secretary’s narrative on refugees and people seeking asylum more broadly, and how they alter when discussing new accommodation sites with local residents of a particular area. (Source: the Guardian)