Thirty-seven academics have begun a boycott of government immigration rules on students, labelling them as discriminatory. Under the new points-based immigration system, universities require academic and administrative staff to monitor the attendance of international students and to check the ID of students and colleagues. The thirty-seven academics involved in the boycott, who describe themselves as
Legal reversal on highly skilled migrants
Home Office policy restricting settlement rights for highly skilled migrants has been quashed in a recent ruling. In another twist to what is becoming a long-running saga, a High Court judge has ruled that the Home Office acted illegally in not complying with an earlier court ruling. That ruling had struck down rules making it
Fear by design
The Home Office has recently introduced a range of new initiatives in partnership with the creative industries, with the aim of embedding counter-terror and anti-crime measures into the design of public spaces. In his 2008 review, security minister Lord West recommended that crowded areas would be better protected against attacks if professional bodies within the
Destitution in Scotland
A new report examining the causes and extent of destitution in Scotland has found that hundreds of asylum seekers could be ‘saved’ from destitution if a few simple changes were made to the asylum process. The report, 21 Days Later: Application, Decision, Confusion, Deprivation, Destitution, was produced by the British Red Cross and the Refugee
Can community campaigns against racism survive the new funding agenda?
A community racial attacks monitoring unit is threatened with closure because its exclusive focus on race no longer tallies with the funding priorities of its council’s ‘hate crime strategy’. IRR News explores the depoliticisation process which threatens all community-based anti-racist groups, be it via the government’s ongoing strategic partnership strategy or courtesy of the newly
Mobilising healthcare professionals
A recent conference organised by Médecins du Monde UK (MdM) highlighted the campaign to provide access to healthcare for refused asylum seekers and undocumented migrants. The obstacles faced by undocumented migrants and asylum seekers in obtaining access to health care were discussed by around seventy doctors and other healthcare professionals, lawyers and others at the
Important legal ruling for refused asylum seekers
The Court of Appeal has ruled that hospitals have a discretion but not a legal obligation to provide treatment for refused asylum seekers. On 30 March 2009, the Court of Appeal handed down a ruling which contained both bad and good news for refused asylum seekers. The Court allowed the Department of Health’s (DoH) appeal
Campaign against secret hearings
A recent meeting in the House of Commons gave a fillip to the campaign against secret evidence in terrorism cases. In a packed committee room in the House of Commons, on 30 March 2009, MPs, lawyers, journalists, human rights campaigners and activists listened to testimonies (read by actors) from five men whose lives have been
Integration or differentiation? Ponderings of an economic migrant
Scott Poynting, an Australian who teaches at Manchester Metropolitan University, reflects on the UK’s attitudes to ‘foreign’ workers. Listening to the BBC News last night (yes, immigrants pay the licence fee, too), I was surprised to hear about the £50 levy on non-EU migrants and students for all the drain that we supposedly cause on
Underground Lives
This important report lifts the lid on the extreme poverty faced by refused asylum seekers in the UK. Destitute asylum seekers, who, according to the Home Office’s UK Border Agency (UKBA), have ‘chosen’ destitution because they fear the consequences of return to their home countries. The Leeds based organisation Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum