Why this is important

For change to take place, we must ensure that migrants are their own  ‘change-makers’. This means ensuring that those with lived experience of migration and being a migrant in the UK are front and centre of MRN’s campaigns and activities. 

We already know migrants want to be at the forefront of their own campaigns through our campaigning alongside the Highly Skilled Migrants, and Turkish business owners. We want to ensure our approach to working with those affected is vital to building on their strengths and can influence directly. We understand the importance of knowledge redistribution and how this is a key vehicle for change as it will ensure they are empowered to enact change. 

Therefore, we will continue our work in this area to build on migrant talent, and enrich their knowledge of the UK’s history of immigration and racial justice, so they are better informed on the root causes of migration and systems of oppression that may impact them.

Through these actions, we will work alongside our existing migrant connections but also actively collaborate with the wider MRN community. This will lead to more understanding of what other migrant communities face, and encourage them to champion and stand in solidarity with other causes. 

What MRN intends to do:

• Know Your Rights– To continue to expand the Know Your Rights guide to include additional areas that will affect migrant communities. This will include new areas and policies that have come into force in the past year e.g. NABA. We will use webinars and workshops with partner organisations to spotlight the different elements of the guide and develop a peer-to-peer programme. This will have further reach into communities, and it will enable migrants to help their communities to assert their own rights. 
• Migrants’ Aspiration Programme (MAP)– The success of our previous programmes building on migrant talents demonstrate the need and desire for future MAP initiatives. Our talent-building programmes have been positively received, and has led to individuals who are keen to work in the migration field or those who have begun to develop their own campaigns. We will create different iterations of MAP, co-created with the attendees, and also identify ways to meet the needs of migrants in more localised communities, to build stronger networks. This will enable them to support and encourage each other on their journeys.
• Co-curating campaigns– We will continue to work with migrant groups and communities that are seldom heard to co-create campaigns. They will be able to lean on our knowledge, capacity and resources to develop their actions and activities and speak to power directly. We will provide these groups with a platform to share their stories and campaigns so their issues are given the attention they deserve.
• Building our pool of knowledge sharers– We interact with and support many migrants and their loved ones. We will grow an MRN community from those we engage with, and invite others to be part of this community, so we have a network of experts by experience. Ideally, we want this community to also become ambassadors for MRN and its work. Ultimately, we want them to impart their knowledge and experiences to those in their networks.