Conference: ‘Refugees, Migrants and the Equality Act 2010′

Westminster Briefing is holding a conference on ‘Refugees, Migrants and the Equality Act 2010: Understanding the Act and Meeting Responsibilities’.

Speakers include:

• Glynis Craig, Senior Solicitor, Legal Enforcement Directorate, EHRC
• Don Flynn, Director, Migrants Rights Network
• Rita Chadha, Chair, Refugee and Migrant Forum of East London
• Dr Phil McCarvill, Senior Research Fellow, IPPR
• Lela Kogbara, Manager, Equalities, Refugee and Migrant Service, Islington Council
• Estelle Worthington, RCO Project Officer, Greater Manchester BME Network
• (Chair) Amanda Ariss, Chief Executive, Equality and Diversity Forum

The conference is on Thursday 10 November in central London.

The standard registration fee is £225 + VAT. Westminster Briefing is offering a special rate for Equality and Diversity Forum (EDF) members and non-governmental observers (please state EDF affiliation when booking).

Click here for details

Click here for information about EDF’s project on ‘Refugees, migrants and the equality agenda’

Sub-Saharan migrants keep their heads down

(IRIN) – In an abandoned port on the outskirts of Tripoli, a young woman timidly peeks out from behind the blanket that forms a wall in her improvised home. She is one of hundreds of migrants who have gathered in this makeshift camp since a popular uprising to overthrow dictator Muammar Gaddafi spread to the Libyan capital in August.

Read report online

Horn migrants beaten, deported, imprisoned

(IRIN) – Near the coastal town of Mtwara, Tanzania’s border with Mozambique is marked only by the River Ruvuma which is wide and relatively shallow at this point just before it drains into the Indian Ocean. Young men loll in small, wooden boats checking their cell phones and waiting for passengers to ferry across to the other side, but business has been slow in the last two months since groups of migrants desperate to complete a journey that began thousands of kilometres to the north stopped arriving at the river’s banks.

This report online: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=93759

Access to healthcare for migrants

A conference to highlight experiences in providing migrant communities with health services.

* Friday 23 September 2011, 9.30-5pm

* Stratford Circus, Theatre Square, Stratford, London E15 1BX

Speakers include:

* Dr Ike Anya – Consultant in Public Health Medicine

* Dr Yusef Azad – Director of Policy and Campaigns at the NAT

* Dr Kambiz Boomla – Clinical Senior Lecturer

* Dr Angela Burnett – GP at the City and Hackney Sanctuary Practice

* Paul Corrigan – Former Director of Strategy and Commissioning for NHS London

* Marie Gabriel – Chair of NHS East London & City

* Dr Paramjit Gill – RCGP Clinical Champion of Social Inclusion

* Adam Hundt – Solicitor at Pierce Glynn Solicitors

* Dr Hiranthi Jayaweera – Senior Researcher at COMPAS

—-
FOOTNOTE

Hosted by the Migrants’ Rights Network (http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/), please see the websites below to see cost of attending.

> RELATED LINKS

Access to Universal Health Care in the Age of Migration (http://health4migrants.info/)

Migrants’ Rights Network (http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/)

Small victory for ESOL learners

By Frances Webber| Institute of Race Relations

A cut in ESOL funding which would have prevented the poorest from learning English has been reversed.

In December 2010 we reported (http://www.irr.org.uk/2010/december/ha000017.html) on drastic cuts to funding for the teaching of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), to take effect in September. The cuts would have meant vast numbers of people on income-related benefits being unable to begin or continue English language learning, because they could not afford the fees. But in August, just weeks before the new term, the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) issued revised guidance which allows learners who are unemployed, in receipt of state benefits and seeking work, to continue receiving full funding for ESOL courses.

The partial U-turn has been welcomed by campaigners for ESOL, particularly in the light of the equality impact assessment published by the government in July which showed that the funding cuts would disproportionately affect migrant women. It showed that in 2010, over two-thirds of the nearly 200,000 adult ESOL students were women, the vast majority from BME communities, and getting on for half of the women received fee remission because they were in receipt of income-related benefits.

But the Action for ESOL campaign is awaiting clarification from the SFA on whether its concession applies to asylum seekers – who are forbidden from seeking work unless their claim remains outstanding for a year or more. In 2010, asylum seekers made up only around five per cent of ESOL students. And most ESOL providers believe that the concession does not go far enough. In a Commons debate before the summer break, on 19 July, Leicester South MP Jon Ashworth pointed out that many women from migrant backgrounds in his constituency wanted to learn English to help with their children’s education – something which would clearly benefit both the children and the community. But they would still be ineligible for full funding under the revised scheme unless they claim to be seeking work.

According to the impact assessment, three-quarters of ESOL providers were having to scale back the courses on offer because of the prospect of the cuts. Others had devised alternative courses for non-English speakers such as ‘functional skills’ (which includes literacy and numeracy, and is fully funded) to get round the fees problem. The policy U-turn has come so late that it is causing chaos, and ESOL providers have expressed concern that learners will not be aware that they might now be eligible for free study. In some areas, according to the Guardian,[1] teachers have been leafleting local shops, cafes and community centres to try to spread the news. The government, meanwhile, has said nothing.

ESOL campaigners are planning to keep up the pressure to ensure that all those who need to learn English, including asylum seekers and others who are unable to seek work, can do so.

—-
FOOTNOTE

[1] Janet Murray, ‘ U-turn on Esol funding causes enrolment mayhem for colleges’ (http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/sep/12/esol-funding-government-u-turn), Guardian, 12 September 2011.

Horn migrants find peace but “no better life”

(IRIN) – Fahir Mohamed sold her gold jewellery to raise the US$1,000 fee for her and her husband to be smuggled by boat from the southern Somali port city of Kismayo to Mombasa in Kenya and then on to Palma in northern Mozambique. The couple had decided to flee their home in the southern town of Barawa and leave their three young children with Mohamed’s mother, after an attack on the family by Al-Shabab militia.

This report online: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=93723

Assessing the impact of policy changes and cuts

Employability Forum is currently running a survey which seeks to identify the impact of policy changes and cuts and the emerging gaps in services are for refugees and asylum seekers. This is part of a national Refugee Integration Working Group, co-chaired by UKBA and Employability Forum.

Read more

Migrants and Housing in the UK: Experiences and Impacts

This briefing reviews the statistical and research evidence on migrants’ experiences in and impacts on the UK housing system. The determinants of migrants’ experiences in and impacts on the UK housing system include many factors such as migrants’ characteristics (e.g. age, income level, type of visa, time in the UK), preferences (e.g. household size, renting versus owning, minimum acceptable level of quality of accommodation) and restrictions of access to social housing. Therefore, different types of migrants, with different rights, opportunities and resources are likely to have very different experiences in and impacts on the UK housing system.

Please follow this link to read the briefing paper in full: http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/migobs/Briefing%20-%20Migrants%20and%20Housing%20in%20the%20UK.pdf

Domestic workers in visa protest

Hundreds of domestic workers have protested outside parliament against proposed changes in the visa system which campaigners warn will leave people ‘open to abuse or exploitation’.

Read more

Source: BBC News

Government warned over immigration cap

The Government’s Migration Advisory Council has warned that proposals to restrict the settlement rights of highly skilled non-EU migrants could inflict ‘permanent damage’ on the economy.

Read more

Source: Independent

« Previous Page — Next Page »