Migrant InfoSource
This website is in suspended animation for now. Think of it as an archive.
Featured articles:
7 July 09
Migrant housing allocation priority is a dangerous myth
A new report has found that migrants in the UK do not – contrary to widespread public perceptions – have priorty access to social housing. The researchers also found widely-held fears that the allocation process puts white British families at a disadvantage and that migrants are ‘cheating the system’, and that this myth is often at the core of discriminatory behaviour and contributes to tension and violence in many areas.
8 April 09
Worker Registration Scheme extended
Despite evidence that the Worker Registration Scheme leads to violations of human rights, putting vulnerable workers at more risk of exploitation and abuse, the UK Government has decided to extend the scheme for a further two years.
18 February 09
Supporting Migrant Workers in Scotland:
Conference, poster campaign and website launch
The Scottish Migrants Network (SMN) sponsored a half-day conference for migrant workers and support organisations in Scotland to share policy and practice five years after accession. The conference was followed by a Reception and Networking event to launch a migrant workers’ rights poster and the website of the Scottish Migrants Network.
7 February 2009
The white working class; Britain’s forgotten race victims?
The Runnymede Trust has published a new study on the white working class and ethnic diversity in Britain. The report, Who Cares about the White Working Class?, disputes the claim that white working class communities have been directly losing out to migrants and minority ethnic groups, and concludes that the white working class are discriminated against on a range of different fronts, but they are not discriminated against because they are white.
11 November 2008
Three new reports on the problems of landlord and employer exploitation facing migrant workers in the UK, and their difficulties in getting help and advice.
Advice and info needs of A8 workers
Continental Drift. Understanding advice and information needs for A8 migrant workers in Scotland. Exploited by landlords and employers, language difficulties and complex advice needs pose barriers to assistance for A8 migrant workers. BNew report from Citizens Advice Scotland
Home from Home: migrant housing report
Migrant workers come to the UK to seek employment but all too often find themselves living in expensive, overcrowded and poor-quality accommodation. This report seeks to make a fresh assessment of this important issue.
No Place Like Home?
Homelessness charity Shelter has criticised inadequate housing conditions for migrants in a report. This discussion document focuses on the sizeable number of migrants who are homeless or in bad housing, but who fall outside of any kind of mainstream housing or welfare provision.
11 October 2008
New migrant housing rights website for England
The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and the Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust (hact) have launched the first housing rights website to be specifically aimed at answering housing rights queries for new migrants in England.
6 October 2008
A short report on the Shared Futures seminar: a Refugee Week 2008 event in Glasgow that brought together housing providers, planners, funders, support agencies, refugee residents and community organisations.
29 September 2008
Criminalising migration in Europe
Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights for the Council of Europe, writes in his latest Viewpoint of the current wave of xenophobia, criminalising irregular migrants – including those seeking political asylum – under the guise of managed migration policies.
The Commissioner recommends member states to accede to the 1990 International Convention on Migrant Workers, the most comprehensive, international treaty on migrant workers reaffirming and establishing basic human rights. To date it has been ratified by only four and signed by just two Council of Europe member states, even though many European countries actively participated in its drafting.
06 August 2008
Four new research reports:
State of the Nation – Race and Racism in Scotland 2008
With the lack of information on race and racism increasingly recognised, Glasgow Anti Racist Alliance (GARA) has launched this “State of the Nation report, a collation of statistics and data relating to Black/Minority Ethnic (BME) people in Scotland.
The Situation of the Roma Community in Govanhill, Glasgow
The Roma have been identified as the most vulnerable and deprived ethnic group within Europe. This Report brings together research into the social exclusion of Roma minority groups in Europe and their challenges in migrating to Western Europe. It particularly focuses on the significant Slovak Roma community in Govanhill, Glasgow.
Immigration and Social Cohesion in the UK: Rhythms & realities of everyday life.
Current public debates often associate increasing ethnic diversity resulting from immigration with the erosion of social cohesion. This research suggests that issues of deprivation, disadvantage and long-term marginalisation, unrelated to immigration, must also be considered – as well as how people relate to each other – to ensure social cohesion.
Vulnerable Worker Enforcement Forum – Final report and Government Conclusions
The Forum has discussed the nature and extent of employment rights abuses being encountered by vulnerable workers, including migrants. It has looked at the barriers to workers taking action to assert or to enforce those rights, including a lack of awareness of rights. The Forum has also looked at migrant worker vulnerability and the involvement of advisers and other third parties in advising workers and reporting suspicions of abuse.
14 July 2008
The UK government has unveiled it’s draft Immigration and Citizenship Bill.
The “tough new approach” will apparently represent a “sweeping overhaul of all immigration laws dating back to 1971” (all but two of which have been passed by this government). The UK Border Agency press release starts with some figures from a Mori poll carried out for the Home Office. The poll appears to affirm that the UK population has the appropriate level of fear, mistrust and dislike of foreigners to satisfy the Government at this time, although it is not clear whether this is seen as the cause or effect of the “tough new approach”. read more…
02 July 2008
Migrant domestic workers and bonded labour in the UK
Last week, the Home Office dropped proposed visa changes which would tie domestic workers to one employer – changes that would actually have encouraged ‘bonded labour’, according to migrant rights campaigners. But, despite this positive development, migrant domestic workers remain extremely vulnerable. Kate Wareing, Oxfam UK Poverty Director said: “Migrant domestic workers come from some of the poorest countries in the world to become some of the most vulnerable and exploited people in the UK. It is vital they retain they right to change employer beyond the two-year period that the government has just promised. And we urge the government to take further steps to protect domestic workers.” read more…
24 June 2008
Migrants Rights News – Special Bulletin
BME businesses singled out for fines in crackdown on irregular migrant workers.
The UK Border Agency’s recent ‘name and shame’ list shows that the overwhelming majority of businesses fined during May for the employment of undocumented migrants were black and minority ethnic takeaway shops and restaurants. The release of this information supports wider concerns, expressed at the launch meeting of a major Home Affairs Committee inquiry, about the negative impact of the Points-Based System (PBS) on ethnic minority businesses. read more…
18 June 2008
Migrant rights meeting at Scottish Parliament
The Migrants’ Rights Network (MRN) in conjunction with UNISON Overseas Nurses Network (ONN) and the STUC held a meeting in the Scottish Parliament, with the aim of giving MSPs the opportunity to hear the views and experiences of migrant workers who are living and working in Scotland. The meeting, which saw the participation of around 37 migrants from 16 different countries (Philippines, Australia, USA, Brazil, Poland, Russia, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, India, China, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, Malaysia) along with representatives from NGOs and trade unionists, was also an opportunity for Unison to launch the ‘Minimum Standard Charter for Migrant Workers’. read more…
30 May 2008
Countdown to the end of EU migrant restrictions: MayDay 2009
From 1st May 2009, the restrictions on the rights of A8 nationals will end. This will bring equal rights to employment and state support – not just in Scotland and the UK, but across almost every country of the European Economic Area. As the right to a job and a home in this country becomes available, so does the right to choose to up-sticks and look for better conditions elsewhere. read more…
20 May 2008
Call to abolish the Worker Registration Scheme
As the latest figures for the Worker Registration Scheme are published, an alliance of employers, unions, migrant groups and MPs have called for the Scheme to be scrapped. “The worker registration scheme: I am seeking to advance its abolition – indeed, if it were up to me, I would take it out into the street and kick it to death now.” read more…
8 May 2008
Two million vulnerable workers
The TUC’s Commission on Vulnerable Employment finds more than 2 million workers in Britain as vulnerable, with migrants particularly at risk. Immigration regulations are forcing migrant workers into vulnerable employment, leading to a higher risk of exploitation. The report calls for a review of the immigration system regulations relating to low-paid migrant workers who have less rights and protections than British workers. read more…
1 May 2008
Floodgates or turnstiles?
A major new study by the Institute for Public Policy Relations (IPPR) estimates that around half the EU migrants who have come to the UK since EU expansion in 2004 have already left the country, and that migration from the new EU countries is slowing down. read more…
21 April 2008
Integrating rivers of blood
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the infamous “rivers of blood” speech by Britain’s arch-xenophobe Enoch Powell, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Trevor Phillips has called for an “open debate” on immigration policy. Other commentators warn of the “chorus of racial realists, neo-patriots, clash of civilisation-ists who thrill at being able to use expurgated Enoch to enact their own anxieties.” read more…
17 April 2008
Migrant crime wave a myth, says police study
A wide-ranging police study has concluded that the surge in immigrants from eastern Europe to Britain has not fuelled a rise in crime. The report found that, contrary to the alarmist headlines, the offending rates among incomers are pretty much in line with the rest of the population. read more…
11 April 2008
Study shows no evidence of bias against UK born families in social housing allocation
Interim research released today by the Commission and the Local Government Association (LGA) shows no evidence social housing allocation favours foreign migrants over UK citizens. read more…
9 April 2008
Call for amnesty for irregular migrant workers
On the remarkable support from all the London Mayoral candidates for the national campaign to allow irregular migrant workers without status the right to live and work legally in the UK. read more…
8 April 2008
High Court overturns ‘unfair and discriminatory’ immigration rule
Thousands of highly skilled migrants who faced being thrown out of the country are to be allowed to stay after a high court judge ruled yesterday that government immigration rule changes were unlawful and “an abuse of power”. read more…
8 April 2008
The “Economic Impact of Immigration” report
Published by a committee of the House of Lords (the unelected section of the British parliament) on April 1, this report has continued to exercise the media in the last week. We’ve gathered a collection of the more interesting and less hysterical reports from around the media. read more…
Migrant InfoSource 