Over the past 18 months, Right to Remain has reconnected with hundreds of groups, small and large, across the UK using our Toolkit and doing much needed solidarity work with people who are caught up in the hostile asylum and immigration system.
Since February 2024, we have introduced a new type of workshop called the Radical Solidarity Hub. This is a space dedicated to building solidarity with communities, organisations, individuals and groups across the UK, to foster a powerful and connected migration justice movement. The purpose of the RSH is to help build a strong migration justice movement, and to provide a space in which we can share work, information about campaigns, and expand connections within and beyond the migration sector.
There is no formal membership of the hub, and our meetings are open for all to join. Our meetings are quarterly. The Hub is a space to keep in touch, share updates to the Toolkit and Legal Updates Blog, and to build connections and find solutions together where we can.
Session 1: Showcasing Our Allies’ Campaigns
In our first session, we focused on sharing the ongoing efforts of our allies in the migration justice movement. This session was an opportunity to connect, collaborate, and amplify the work being done by various groups within our network.
The Right to Remain team first shared our updated Toolkit pages – including Inadmissibility Rules, Lawyers/Legal Advice, Evidence, Visas and EU Nationals. We also introduced new Key Guides, including on Work Exploitation and Migrant Workers’ Rights, and Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.
We were joined by two friends of Right to Remain who shared recent campaigns they have been working on. Rivka Shaw of Great Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) presented their campaign on the 10 year route to settlement – highlighting the many issues, including the high fees, the level of evidence required for a fee waiver application, and the problems with Section 3c leave. This is a topic we have been working on at Right to Remain, with our Toolkit page on the 10 year route, blog on applying for a fee waiver and introduction of a new workshop on the 10 year route and fee waiver process.
Then Jane Williams from The Magpie Project shared their campaign calling for ‘no child in a hotel without a kitchen’, highlighting the shocking quality of hotel food and advocating for change. She also shared the challenges and successes of The Magpie Project’s transition from a destitution organisation to one focused on migration/asylum support.
Session 2: Rwanda & keeping our communities safe
Our second session looked at The Safety of Rwanda Act, and took place during the increased detention of migrants during ‘Operation Vector’, which began at the end of April 2024. This was a horrible moment for our communities and for everyone working so tirelessly to support and stand in solidarity with those affected. The Act caused so much fear, panic and confusion, and so we dedicated the session to sharing our own resources on the unfolding situation, and left the end segment for discussion among the groups present.
We welcomed one of our campaigners from These Walls Must Fall to speak on her own experience of reporting and give updates about the Manchester demo which saw over 200 people take to the streets to demand the Act be scrapped.
We then broke off into breakout rooms for discussion, to better understand what was happening at the local level and how we can protect our communities. The outpouring of solidarity across the UKwas highlighted as a strength, and we finished the session by sharing RtR’s key messages;
- Keep informed and stay informed
- Keep each other safe
- We are in this for the long haul
Session 3: Enforcement and Immigration Raids
The theme for our latest Radical Solidarity Hub was enforcement. We heard reports that the new Labour Government has created a 100 strong returns unit to carry out enforcement, and although we have no more details yet on what this will look like, we imagine it might include workplace raids, and clamping down on illegal working. To prepare ourselves for these changes, we invited two external speakers to speak more on their work around this topic.
Firstly, we heard from Dior. Dior is an IWGB (Independent Workers Union of Great Britain) Union member, and was one of the leaders that helped with the delivery strikes earlier this year, which saw delivery drivers for Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats striking in the UK to demand better pay and working conditions. Dior shared his experience of being an immigrant in the UK, and how it feels to have insecure immigration status in a country you have lived in most of your life Secondly, we heard from Peter from FLEX (Focus on Labour Exploitation), who presented FLEX’s briefing on how a new ‘Fair Work Agency’ could benefit care workers. Peter shared FLEX’s suggestions that, by creating a single enforcement body, the government could more effectively protect the work rights of migrant workers, particularly those in the care sector. To read the full briefing, click here.
This session was held in the context of the recent violent race riots across the UK. These riots are an embodiment of racism in the UK, and are happening in the backdrop of continued immigration enforcement under the new Labour government. This has been a fearful time for our communities, and we heard from our Organiser Maggy on the impact of the riots both on herself and our lived experience campaigners.
To bring hope to the session, our Legal Education team shared recent wins since the change in government. This included the news that the Illegal Migration Act ban on claiming asylum has been lifted, the Safety of Rwanda Act has been scrapped and the Bibby Barge is set to be closed in January. Holding onto these wins is vital for fueling future efforts and for inspiring others in the ongoing struggle for migration justice.
Stay tuned for the details of our next Radical Solidarity Hub, and thank you to all the organisations and individuals who form a part of this community, and struggle for migration justice.
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