Dear supporters,
May was another month where migrants’ rights came under attack in the form of the new Immigration White Paper This time, the Prime Minister tried to justify another round of harsh immigration proposals in an already infamous ‘island of strangers’ speech – a nod to Enoch Powell’s ‘rivers of blood’ tirade. The Immigration White Paper proposal triggered many people to contact us asking for clarity and calls to action on challenging aspects such as the extension of the indefinite leave to remain qualifying years from 5 to 10 years.
It felt important to offer a space for people affected and uncertain about their future to collectively vent and share their frustrations. That initial space which was much appreciated is now leading to people wanting to take actions, and build campaigns. So watch this space as they state that they are ‘Not a Stranger’.
June is also Pride Month, and is a vital time to shine a light on how immigration status can intersect with other aspects of identity to shape migrants’ experiences. Migrants and queer people (specifically trans+ people) are under attack. MRN’s queer staff have issued their ‘Be Gay, Do Rage’ manifesto to remind us that Pride is a protest and queer justice is migrant justice. Below are several statements we have shared so far, with many more to come. Watch out for the exciting things we’ve got planned!
With the employment rights bill soon to be adopted, we shine a light on workers still struggling to be recognised- sex workers. Policing of sex workers is rife, and we know migrant sex workers face additional barriers in the form of immigration raids, detention and deportation. We have joined the sex workers’ calls to reject the Nordic model, and support the decriminalisation of sex work. Read on to find out more.
In solidarity
The MRN Team
The Hostile Office
Immigration White Paper:
For those who might have missed this, we summarised the key points of the proposal here. They are being introduced as part of broader anti-immigration shifts, and have significant consequences for international students, skilled workers especially care workers, and changes to citizenship and settlement.
We specifically highlighted proposed discriminatory measures against international students to prevent those with Pakistani, Nigerian and Sri Lankan nationalities from acquiring international student visas, based on the Government’s demonising assessments that these nationalities are more likely to ‘abuse’ the system by claiming asylum. Read more here.
We want to continue to use our platform to help migrants lead movements for meaningful change. If you want to join others to challenge the proposals, join the group here
Silent removals
Deportations and charter flights have been ramping up in frequency but are being conducted very quietly, with little to no resistance from communities and the migrant/refugee sector until it’s too late. We will be collaborating with others to make sure future deportations do not happen in silence. Keep your eyes peeled for a new campaign.
The Digital Hostile Environment: Migrant Database
Our fears were confirmed with the Government confirming that eVisa, ETA and biometric databases would be used to support immigration enforcement actions i.e. raids in our communities. Check out our comment on this in Computer Weekly
Refugee Citizenship Ban Factsheet
With ITN Solicitors and Garden Court Chambers, we have put together this factsheet to address the updates to the ‘Nationality: good character requirement’ that came into effect on 11 February 2025.
This is based on an online briefing delivered by Syed Naqvi and Sonali Naik KC on 01 April 2025. It is intended to provide general information on the changes to the policy guidance and is not legal advice.
Find the factsheet here with a downloadable version too. We plan to have this translated into other languages soon.
| Immigration is always in the news and sometimes it can be hard to keep track of the latest developments. That’s why we’ve started a new round-up on some of the updates you might have missed in the form of The Hostile Office Weekly. Follow us on LinkedIn or check out our website for updates. |
Pride Month
Pride Month isn’t about ‘integration’ or rainbow capitalism. It’s about radical queer joy, rage and resistance. As a majority-queer migrants’ rights charity, we are at the forefront of the growing political attacks on migrants and queer communities, specifically trans+ people. With that in mind, and to honour our radical queer forebears, we’ve published our new Be Gay, Do Rage Manifesto– a call for unity, solidarity and strength across communities.
We’re also shining a light on some of our campaign work as part of our Who Is Welcome: Gender, Queerness and Migration campaign. Check out our Diaspora Dyke Manifesto and Bisexuality, Biphobia and Migration work, and follow us to be the first to see our upcoming work.
We’re also doing more to explore issues that predominantly impact women, such as enforced period poverty and calls for the full decriminalisation of sex work as part of this campaign.
- Enforced period poverty and the Hostile Environment- In collaboration with Nisaba, we collaborated on a piece for Menstrual Health Day to explore how the Hostile cost-of-living and the Hostile Environment means many migrants (particularly those with no recourse to public funds or in the asylum system) are facing enforced period poverty.
- Migrant Justice is Sex Worker Justice: Decrim Now! To mark International Sex Workers’ Day, we published our call for the full decriminalisation of sex work in the UK. We’re joining calls from our friends at the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), SWARM and Decrim Now in rejecting the Nordic (‘End Demand’) model and ‘legalisation’ of sex work which enable punitive measures and State regulation in addition to creating two-tier system of sex work and eroding the rights of sex workers.
Volunteer + Research Requests
| Volunteer interpreters and translators needed Want to join our community and stand in solidarity with migrants in their fights for rights and justice? We’re looking for volunteer interpreters and translators to support our language justice work.Save the date – our next online training session will be in the evening on Thursday 26 June. Please submit your application before then to be included in this round of inductions. We are especially looking for Arabic, Farsi, French and Spanish speakers, but welcome all applicantsMore information on the role and how to apply here |
| UK Higher Education Research Request Dr Fuk Ying Tse and Dr Neve Abgeller from Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham are researching the opportunities and challenges in the UK higher education sector that involuntarily displaced mid-career/senior academics face. We hope to gather lived experiences from individuals to examine current structures and policies in shaping the workplace experience of displaced academics, so that we can formulate evidence-based suggestions to guide future work for universities as sanctuaries.If you identify yourself as a mid-career/senior academic in your home country/region but had to relocate to the UK due to political and social threats in the past decade, please contact us at [email protected] to express your interest in participating in the research. Your involvement would include a one-hour audio-recorded interview (online or in person) with us. Your name, nationality and institution would be anonymised in future publications. After the interview, you will be offered a £25 shopping voucher to compensate for your time. |