Looking back, moving forward

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Migration met to debate the Coalition Government’s immigration policy of the past 12 months in a meeting entitled, ‘Immigration under the Coalition Government: looking back, moving forward’.

Speakers included the Chair of the APPG, Jack Dromey MP, the Shadow Immigration minister, Gerry Sutcliffe MP, co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Backbench Committee on Home Affairs, Tom Brake MP, human rights and civil liberties campaigner and Director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, and Dr Martin Ruhs from the Migration Advisory Committee. The Conservatives, Greens, Democratic Unionists and UK Independence Party also contributed to the meeting.

A briefing paper was published to inform the debate, providing a broad assessment of the past 12 months and the impact of the Coalition’s immigration policies, highlighting in particular the progress the Coalition has made on the proposed cap on numbers of migrants coming to the UK. The note from the meeting outlines key points raised by the panelists and participants at the meeting and the debate that emerged on public opinion, the effectiveness of the proposed cap, the overarching argument on human rightsand economic dimensions to the debate.

Please follow this link to access both briefing paper and note from the meeting: http://www.appgmigration.org.uk/reports

Visa allocation to overseas students cut

According to the Home Office’s own figures, government cuts to the number of overseas students in the UK are going to cost the economy £2.4bn. The policy is part of a further crackdown on migration.

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Source:Guardian

Accessing the NHS in Britain’s most diverse city

Variables of difference in ethnicity, immigration status, rights and entitlements, age and gender profiles and patterns of distribution of new migrants mean that the UK is now home to the most diverse population ever experienced – so-called ‘super-diversity’. Super-diversity challenges multicultural models of welfare provision originally based on an understanding of migrants as large and geographically contained clusters of mainly postcolonial migrants. These changes come at a time when migration has become politicized, multiculturalism is being questioned, a shift is under way towards assimilation and welfare provision has become re-racialized. This paper argues that models of welfare provision should be rethought to take account of super-diversity in a way that is affordable, politically acceptable and meets the needs of all. Using data from studies of health service provision in the West Midlands the paper explores the challenges of meeting the needs of new migrants under existing provision, the costs of failing to adapt to super-diversity and the reasons why provision has failed to adapt.

The paper concludes by arguing the need for different approaches and suggesting new ways forward.

Please follow this link to read the report in full: http://csp.sagepub.com/content/31/1/5.abstract

Student migration in the UK

The report finds that student migration from outside the EEA will have to be cut by more than half to meet the government’s objective to reduce total net immigration ‘from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands’ by the end of the current Parliament. The report concludes that cuts of the scale sought by the government will not be achieved by eradicating abuse of the student visa system or even stopping all student migration for courses below degree level. They believe there is a risk that proposed changes to the student visa regime will deliver substantial costs to the education sector and the wider economy to achieve the reduction in migration numbers.

Please follow this link to read the publication in full: http://www.ippr.org/publicationsandreports/publication.asp?id=802

Please follow these links to read the articles: http://www.ippr.org/articles/?id=4364 & http://www.ippr.org/Blogs/NickPearce/LetTheRightOneIn.aspx

UKBA’s regular update now available – January 2011

UKBA have issued their latest update, with sections on ‘managed migration’, which outlines the impact of the government’s policies on immigration routes to the UK, as well as a section on the asylum system, looking at the procurement of services for asylum support (COMPASS) and the Early Legal Advice Project (ELAP). The briefing is introduced by the acting head of UKBA, Jonathan Sedgwick. Please follow this link to read the bulletin in full:

http://www.eelga.gov.uk/documents/Policy%20and%20Priorities/Strategic%20Migration%20Partnership/MAF%20updates/UKBA%20News%20Jan%202011.pdf

New government plans to tackle population displacements

IRIN) – Iraq’s new government plans to tackle internal displacement and closely monitor and assist Iraqi refugees abroad, the country’s newly appointed migration and displacement minister said on 3 January.

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Prepare now for future migration surge, says IOM

(IRIN) – Decisions taken by local authorities on land use, building regulations and access to health services probably affect migrants more than decisions taken nationally, “yet in most countries, migration policy is set at the national level with little attention to capacity-building at the local level, where policy is usually implemented,” says the new World Migration Report 2010

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What does the “Big Society” mean for migrant communities?

World Migration Report 2010

Amnesty welcomes report on migration and trafficking

Amnesty International today (14 December 2010) welcomed the new report on Migration and Trafficking produced by the Scottish Parliament’s Equal Opportunities Committee. The human rights group welcomed the comprehensive analysis of the current scale and awareness of trafficking in Scotland and the clear agenda for tackling this appalling violation of basic human rights.

Amnesty particularly welcomed the report’s recommendations for better support for victims of trafficking in Scotland, together with a presumption against the prosecution of victims for crimes committed as part of the trafficking experience. Amnesty also applauded the Committee’s call for a robust approach to prosecuting the traffickers who profit from the trade in, and exploitation of, human beings through efforts to increase Scotland’s disappointing conviction rate for trafficking offences.

John Watson, Scottish Programme Director for Amnesty International, said: “Our own research suggests that this modern day slave trade is taking place around Scotland.

“The Committee has produced a thorough examination of this extremely serious problem and sets out a clear and really positive way forward in dealing with this appalling crime. We look forward to a renewed effort from the Scottish Government in response”.

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