Dear supporters,
We need to have each other’s backs now more than ever.
On 25 April, a hotel in Whitechapel housing people seeking asylum was emptied. More than 300 residents were moved to locations across London and beyond with minimal information and less than 24 hours notice. There was a lot of confusion and fear, and it is clear that the suddenness and chaos caused a lot of harm.
Since then, we have been in regular contact with some of the residents, and will provide updates in due course. We wanted to extend our thanks to everyone who showed up to witness and support. Please continue to welcome and support new arrivals in hotels near you, and email [email protected] if you have any more information about this day.
In other news, we are pleased to be hosting new research by Samuel Storey into the use of AI surveillance towers along the UK’s South-East coastal border. Border securitisation raises important questions about the potentially deadly consequences for migrants, but also around wider encroachment and normalisation of surveillance in our day-to-day lives. Find out more about how we have been resisting the towers, and how you can help, below. Make sure to also check out Sam’s film and our exclusive in Computer Weekly!
This month, we have also been incredibly busy exposing the Hostile Office. As we shared with The Guardian, Huffington Post, and Morning Star, we are concerned that the publicising of foreign national offender nationalities will continue to be used as fodder for the vilification of migrant, racialised and Muslim communities. Meanwhile, we have released a statement opposing the Government’s proposals to clamp down on the right to claim asylum, by preventing those with Pakistani, Nigerian and Sri Lankan nationalities from acquiring international student visas. Find out more below.
To round off this month’s newsletter, we share a selection of other campaign updates, including our International Workers’ Day blog, a statement in response to the recent anti-trans Supreme Court ruling, and several exciting podcast episodes. We’ve also shared some messages from our fundraisers, so make sure to reach out if you too would like to raise money for a good cause!
In solidarity,
The MRN Team
The UK’s AI Border
Border Apartheid
The implementation of defence technology like Autonomous Surveillance Towers (ASTs) on the UK border helps turn migration into a national security issue.
Since early 2024, researcher Samuel Storey has tracked down, mapped and logged these towers to form a picture of the UK’s AI border. As of April 2025, there are ten towers in operation, eight between Hastings and Margate. These towers have been created by U.S.- based defence company, Anduril Industries, and are fitted with sensors to detect “small boats” within a nine mile radius.
The towers are not neutral. They are active agents in an increasingly automated system of border apartheid: acting as a first port of entry into the UK’s digital Hostile Environment. These ASTs are capable of algorithmically identifying, detecting, and tracking individuals or subjects considered to be of interest, such as people seeking safety, and are designed to filter, categorise and repel those deemed as “undesirable”.
Read the exclusive here and more on the research
What We Are Doing
Samuel Storey and MRN are trying to map the state of surveillance on the UK’s coast. However, in an increasingly opaque policy landscape where the State and their friends at tech companies attempt to shield themselves from scrutiny, trying to raise awareness is increasingly difficult. That’s why we are asking the Government to be transparent about the nature of the Home Office’s contracts with Anduril, where the towers are located and the potential impact on people seeking safety.
How Can You Help Us Oppose this Technology?
- Say No to Contract Renewal: If you live in an area that is home to one of these surveillance towers, write to your local MP to share your concerns in addition to asking them to write to the Home Office to enquire about their contract renewal with Anduril.
- Track Down the Towers: The Home Office has been reluctant to share the locations of the towers so far. That means that any information we have on the location of these towers has been done by manually identifying, mapping and logging them. We suspect there may be more ASTs on the UK border, so if you think you may have spotted one then get in touch by emailing [email protected]
- Make a Subject Access Request (SAR): If you came to the UK via Channel crossing after June 2022 (when the Home Office awared the contract to Anduril), and are concerned that your image was captured by one of these towers, you can submit a SAR. More information on SARs can be found here and here. To make a SAR, fill out the online form or email [email protected]
The Hostile Office
- MRN Media Coverage- Publication of Foreign National Offender (FNO) Nationalities: We must oppose the dog whistle politics that attempt to manufacture a link between nationality, religion, ethnicity and criminality, and that attempt to present criminality as something exclusively inherent to “incompatible cultures”. Read our comments in The Guardian, Huffington Post and Morning Star.
- MRN Statement- Ban on Certain International Students Claiming Asylum: These discriminatory proposals proposals are based on the erroneous belief that certain nationalities are more likely to ‘abuse’ the system by claiming asylum. The Government has downgraded the right to asylum to a mere privilege. Read our statement here.
- MRN Podcast Appearance- The Border Security Bill: Our CEO Fizza Qureshi appeared on the Decolonial Dispatch to discuss the Border Security Bill, “counter-terror” and the colonial legacy of managing racialised populations. Watch here.
Other Updates
Abolition And Decolonisation
- MRN Blog: Anti-imperialism and migrant worker liberation (for International Workers’ Day)
- MRN Podcast: Anti-Black racism, migrant exploitation and modern slavery (with Migrants At Work and Black Europeans)
Who Is Welcome?
- MRN Statement: Trans liberation now (in response to the anti-trans Supreme Court ruling)
- MRN Podcast: Islamophobia and queerphobia have no place in the fight for migrant liberation (with Inclusive Mosque Initiative)
Community
- Sev’s Blog: Why I chose to fundraise for MRN
- Aisha’s Blog: Why I chose to fundraise for MRN
- Callout: Want to run workshops or share info in our Solidarity Space? Get in touch!