"I have never welcomed the weakening of family ties by politics or pressure" - Nelson Mandela.
"He who travels for love finds a thousand miles no longer than one" - Japanese proverb.
"Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence." - Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
"When people's love is divided by law, it is the law that needs to change". -
David Cameron.

Wednesday, 30 January 2013

Today's links

AIRE Centre: 'This AIRE Centre National Report evaluates the impact of Family Reunification policies and legislation on the UK on the ability of third country national migrants to integrate into the UK.'

http://www.airecentre.org/news.php/83/national-report-publication-family-reunification-requirements-a-barrier-or-facilitator-to-integratio

Contained in this document is an important set of case studies of people affected. All too familiar.


Emeline is a dual American/British national who acquired citizenship in the UK after living here. She is heavily pregnant and wants to bring her husband, a Yemeni national, to the UK on a spousal visa before her twins are born. Emeline’s husband has good academic qualifications and was a headmaster in Yemen. However, he does not speak English and, since he is not around English speakers, is finding it hard to pass the A1 test. There are no approved language courses or testing centres in Yemen, so Emeline’s husband had to give up his job in Yemen and move to Jordan, where he has been unable to find work. He has been financially dependent on his wife for the past year and the couple are concerned about their financial stability. Emeline has suffered anxiety and depression as the result of separation from her husband and cannot understand why he is being made to learn English abroad when she feels that he would pick it up more easily in the UK.

Follow the AIRE Centre : https://twitter.com/AIRECentre
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Test challenge to new family immigration rules to be heard in the High Court.

http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2013/test-challenge-new-family-immigration-rules-be-heard-high-court

Explaining the importance of the case, Mr Ashraf Ali, of RBM Solicitors, said:

'This case is of the widest public importance and the judgement will impact on people’s everyday lives. It is one of the most important cases to have come before the Courts. All you have to do is to Google the £18,600 requirement and you will see the endless misery that it is causing to genuine couples who are being forced apart from one another simply because they cannot afford ‘the price of love’. UK immigration control has now become only for those who can afford it and if you do not then please do not make the mistake of falling in love with a non-EEA national. The irony is that as a British person you are being treated less favourably than an EEA national who does not have to meet the threshold.'


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'Too many genuine refugees are becoming destitute because of administrative delays in helping them to settle in the UK, a cross-party inquiry has found. '

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21247580
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https://twitter.com/migrants_rights tweets -
It's true!! THE DAILY TELEGRAPH has launched a campaign to make it easier for Chinese people to come to the UK. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/9835571/Britains-1.2bn-Chinese-visa-own-goal.html
(In the same week that the government launched a campaign to deter Bulgarians and Romanians.)
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'Why the new British citizenship test distorts history.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2013/jan/30/british-citizenship-test-distorts-history

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Via http://www.freemovement.org.uk/ - !!! RT @jonfeatonby: @AdamWagner1 It appears MoJ are "investigating" the causes of the growth in judicial reviews http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2013-01-29a.140040.h&s=speaker%3A11350#g140040.q0
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Citizenship test satire.

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/citizenship-test-to-focus-on-uks-utterly-demented-values-2013013058023
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Polish becomes England's second language.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/30/polish-becomes-englands-second-language
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Regulate the gangmasters exploiting Bulgarian and Romanian workers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/18/romanian-bulgarian-workers-full-rights
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"Immigration is not as big a threat to British society as the fear of immigration".

http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/richard-godwin-the-latest-eu-migrants-are-not-to-be-feared-8472208.html

Good piece https://twitter.com/richardjgodwin
'How indeed? Well, it would help if May stopped inflaming the fears of voters. For all the tough talk of immigration caps, there is little the Government is actually willing or able to do — while its attempts to impose limits on foreign students appear completely counterproductive. It would help too if both parties stopped taking legitimate concerns and focusing them on one particular group, in this case Bulgarians and Romanians (as if they are interchangeable).'
'The fact is, immigration is not nearly so big a threat to society as the fear of immigration — that is, the fear of the other in our midst. Europe has been down that road before and it did not end well.'
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Qatar 2022 World Cup will exploit migrant workers, says report.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jan/29/qatar-2022-world-cup-exploit-workers?intcmp=239
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https://twitter.com/19pst tweets
Ceija Stojka, Roma writer, painter, and Holocaust survivor has died. 12 million Roma face discrimination in Europe today: this must change.
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https://twitter.com/APPGMigration tweets
Tomorrow is the last day to submit evidence into the Family Migration Inquiry. You can submit here http://www.appgmigration.org.uk/content/family-inquiry-online-evidence-submission
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https://twitter.com/alexhern tweets
In 2011, less than half a per cent (138,000) of all usual residents aged three years and over could not speak English:  http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-and-quick-statistics-for-wards-and-output-areas-in-england-and-wales/index.html
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https://twitter.com/Rebecca_Omonira tweets
"..total "border control" is possible only in a totalitarian state" Ana Marie Cox http://gu.com/p/3ddfh/tw  EU could learn from America's debate
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Languages mapped: What do people speak where you live?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2013/jan/30/languages-mapped-england-wales-census?CMP=SOCNETTXT6965

Brilliant, granular piece from the Guardian's data blog showing who speaks what where (in England and Wales).
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The government's attitude to Romania and Bulgaria is contemptible.

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/alex-massie/2013/01/the-governments-attitude-to-romania-and-bulgaria-is-contemptible/

Pity the staff at the British embassy in Bucharest. Only last month they were cheerfully banging the drum for Great Britain, telling Romanians what a swell country this rain-soaked archipelago is. You see:
The GREAT campaign invites the world to take a fresh look at the UK, and is designed to promote Britain as one of the very best places to visit, live, work, study, invest and do business.
Oh dear. Time to reverse ferret.
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