After a series of successful online events which explored the intersections of different identities with migration status, we have expanded this work into a wider campaign.
Building on the themes explored in the Who is Welcome event series, which included the relationship of racism, Islamophobia and queerness with migration, we are pleased to launch the Who is Welcome campaign alongside our Words Matter campaign.
Migration is often looked at as a siloed issue. Campaigning and policy work rarely looks at the construction of migrants through an intersectional lens or how racism shapes our idea of who is welcome in the West. At the Migrants’ Rights Network, understanding the role intersections of identity play in shaping migration, including refugee, policies is central to our campaigning work. We must understand and be honest about who harmful migration, including asylum, policies are aimed at, and why.
The language of ‘welcome’ also has hidden meaning. A ‘welcome’ places the destination country as a hospitable ‘host’ that welcomes ‘guests’ (in this case migrants) who in turn are expected to be grateful. This rhetoric reinforces the problematic ideas that migrants, including refugees, must contribute, integrate and exhibit gratitude thus creating a hierarchy and the notion of conditional belonging. By calling this campaign ‘Who Is Welcome”, we are also questioning the inherent nature of migration and belonging that creates the host/guest relationship.
Who is Welcome events
The recording for the first event can be accessed here.
Our reflections on our second event can be accessed here.
The recording for the third event can be accessed here.
The recording for the fourth event can be accessed here.
Podcast
Episode 1: Patriotism and Migration
Episode 2: Queerness and Migration
Episode 3: Masculinity and Migration
In this project:
- Who is Welcome: Gender, Queerness + Migration
- Who is Welcome: Disability + Migration
- Who is Welcome: Islamophobia + Migration
Updates
Our latest articles about WHO IS WELCOME?
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Homonationalism, Islamophobia and Migrant Justice
A collaboration between Inclusive Mosque Initiative and Migrants’ Rights Network for Islamophobia Awareness Month You might have heard about the recent criticism of Stonewall, which is an LGBTQ+ rights organisation. Stonewall is working with weapons manufacturers on LGBTQ+ inclusion, and this is being challenged by their staff and ex-staffers. They criticise Stonewall for helping violent…
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Disability History Month Callout
Forget the history written in textbooks that always sides with the oppressor! Your stories, your experiences, your lives: that is the true history! This Disability History Month, we want to hear your stories- we want to hear from you! Are you a migrant with a disability? Do you want to share your experience of being…
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Islamophobia is racism
The theme of this year’s Islamophobia Awareness Month is “seeds of change”. This is about recognising how smaller steps can lead to larger steps in the pursuit of transformative change. We don’t think this should be interpreted as a call for making tweaks to a harmful system, or reformist measures that strengthen and legitimise the…