Scottish Parliament Demo, Edinburgh, 2nd October

What happened in yesterday's event.

I arrived at Edinburgh train station a little bit late due to me missing my earlier train. But luckily, the train runs every half hour to Edinburgh from where I stay and so, I managed to catch the next one.

When I got to the doors of the Scottish Parliament I immediately  spotted a very disappointed member of our group sitting near by. It was already 11.15 am and there was only 2 of us!!
But never mind!

After speaking to a couple of very "confused" Police officers, and sorting out a misunderstanding, we were finally ready to set up.

Shortly after setting up (remember, only me and another member) another member of our group showed up along with a few member of a campaign called ECAP or ACE ( Autonomous Center of Edinburgh)
ACE is an independent group of people who volunteer their time to help those who need a little hand with filling application forms or getting some further advise in all sorts of issues ie : benefits, immigration, housing, etc. Their fundamental point is after all, fight for basic human rights.

The ACE members brought their own banners and displayed them alongside ours. We exchanged leaflets and had a good long chat about our causes. It was fun to meet like minded people.

Lunchtime arrive and it was busy times!( Did I mention how beautiful, sunny and warm it was!)
Some passers by started to approach us and we gave out some leaflets. Spoke to a few people explaining how this rules are affecting thousands of families in the UK. Many seemed shocked as they were not aware of the circumstances of family immigration rules.

We wrapped up shortly after lunchtime.

Despite the small number of members that showed up, we reached a fair number of audience. For that, I am truly grateful.

I feel grateful that we got to meet with more people that are suffering or have been affected by the rules. Because it gave them a platform to express how they feel and the pressure it has put them under.
It has become more clearer to me how unfair and irrational these rules are, and I could see first hand the impact it has on some people, on their daily lives, their emotions, their financial affairs, mental and physical health in some cases.
I never felt so strong about the feel to shout out loud that these rules must be abolished once and for all!

Overall, the Demo was a success, and as I said before, poor numbers, but it didn't affect the message. The purpose was served and that is all that matters.

Special thanks to the members that attended and the member from ECAP. They seemed like a very good pair of like minded people.

My goal now is that, maybe, for the next demo we schedule, we could join forces with similar groups or independent movements. It really does work. Watch this space!
Number of people attending is essential for a next demo any how.

Some pictures from the event below.

Thank you again to those that showed up and made the day possible!

Peace out

Francisca Nicol

Evidence that the Government is Failing British Families

Family Friendly?
The impact on children of the Family Migration Rules: A review of the financial requirements by the Children's Commissioner was launched on Wednesday.

Author : Mark Stokes Source :The Children's Commissioner/JCWI/Middlesex University/Divided Families et al Report

On Wednesday we saw a large turn out at Parliament for the launch of the Children's Commissioner's report into the impact of the family migration rules that were introduced in July 2012. 

The Boothroyd room was packed with families and those impacted by the rules.

In recent weeks serious questions are now being asked about the humanitarian face of immigration control both in the press and in Parliament. Compared with previous meetings this meeting had a very different feeling about it due to the wider debate of how we should treat migrants now happening in society in general. It was as if people suddenly had learned to listen and were now not afraid to support positive changes instead of just offering empty political gesturing . 

Despite many of the panel attending other events and previously hearing of the problems and the suffering that many British families with non-Eu partners faced under the new rules, they looked genuinely shocked at what they were reading and were moved by the personal accounts contained in the report.

Some of the more memorable comments from the panel were:-

"We have seen the rejection of the Little England approach to immigration over the last couple of weeks"

"Families are meant to be the bedrock of society"

"The minimum income rule discriminates and does not reflect the contributions the families make"

The general consensus of the panel of speakers was that the rules need to change and this is some of the evidence that is needed to help that happen. Which was summed up by them saying:-  

"the report tells a powerful story with strong imagery that should lead to change"

Some of the key findings contained within the report were:-

• "…..at least 15,000 children have been affected by changes.
• Children, most of whom are British citizens…. are suffering distress and anxiety as a result of separation from a parent….
• The financial requirements affect British citizens….who have started families with foreigners from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and who wish to live in the UK. 
• The income level would not be met by almost half the adult population…
• ...many families with children may never be able to meet them. 
• The financial requirements are inflexible.    
• The threshold is too high and is discriminatory.
• British citizens who have lived and worked abroad and formed long-term relationships abroad are particularly penalised and find it very difficult to return to the UK.
• The financial requirements do not meet their stated policy aims………The Immigration Rules and accompanying guidance do not comply with the duty to safeguard and protect the best interests of all children in the UK. 
• …the Rules as drafted breach national and international law. 
• ...decision letters are often legally and factually incorrect. 
• In relative terms, the UK income threshold is the highest in the world and is the second highest in absolute terms. 
• Applications are expensive and difficult to make. This report calculates that the total costs for a single applicant to move from application to settlement are likely to exceed £6,000. 
• Applicants who cannot meet the financial requirements are refused visitor visas and cannot be with their children and partners for even short periods of time. 
• It is not only an immigration question but engages the fundamental rights of British citizens….. 
• In a small number of cases, respondents mentioned that the emotional and psychological strain of the separation had caused irreversible damage to the relationship with their partner."

"British citizens may also form relationships with those they met on holiday or during gap years, internships, study abroad schemes or similar. Global travel is now a normal part of life for many people including those of modest means, who may nevertheless be well educated (66% of the sample had degrees or equivalent qualifications). They do not understand why they cannot exercise what seems to them to be a straightforward right: to establish their family life in their own home country."

"This report concludes that the financial requirements do not strike the right balance and breach Article 8 ECHR"

Where to get a copy of the report?

The full pdf of the report can be downloaded from JCWI's web site using the following link or from the Children Commissioner's website using the following link

Based on the report a smaller discussion paper of 8 pages was also produced called 'Skype Families' it also can be downloaded by using the following link

Now we have this report with its damming evidence make sure your MP knows about this report and gets to read it. The more MP's that know about this the harder it will be for them to ignore the evidence.

Will the rules now change?

We do not know if, when or how the rules will change but the evidence and recommendations in this report will add to the growing pressure for change that can not be ignored. It is most probable that we may have to wait for the new immigration bill or the conclusion of the MM case in the Supreme Court before changes happen. Both of those are now only months away.

Some news articles and coverage about the Launch and the Report

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/09/immigration-income-threshold-creates-thousands-of-skype-kids-says-report

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34191606

http://www.politics.co.uk/blogs/2015/09/09/how-immigration-policy-brutalises-british-children

https://home.bt.com/news/uk-news/rules-on-foreign-spouses-creating-skype-families-childrens-commissioner-says-11364002627292

http://www.mdx.ac.uk/news/2015/09/occ-report-reveals-hardships-faced-by-skype-families

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/strict-immigration-rules-drive-families-apart-by-separating-british-children-from-their-parents-10492226.html

http://www.bailiwickexpress.com/jsy/life/current-affairs/theres-now-15000-children-skype-families-who-only-see-one-parent-screen/

http://www.ein.org.uk/news/childrens-commissioner-family-migration-rules-separate-15000-children-parent

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/national/rules-on-foreign-spouses-creating-skype-families-children-s-commissioner-says-1-6947437

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/09/09/immigration-rules-uk-skype-families_n_8108458.html

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/09/09/428470/UK-migration-rules-separating-families-

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/UK-seeing-a-generation-of-migrant-children-growing-up-in-Skype-families/articleshow/48890557.cms

https://www.politicshome.com/home-affairs/articles/story/uks-immigration-rules-creating-skype-families

http://www.newasianpost.com/new-immigration-controls-impact-thousands-of-british-children/

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jamesball/15000-children-are-living-without-one-of-their-parents-becau

http://ukasiaonline.com/separation-how-the-coalition-s-visa-rules-have-created-thousands-of-skype-families.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-3227308/Rules-foreign-spouses-creating-Skype-families-Childrens-Commissioner-says.html

Government Promoting Compensative Drive for the Future National Good!!!!!!

A quote tweeted about the Sunday Times Rich List may have highlighted a new justification for the Government's determination to split up families using the immigration laws.

"ST editorial director says richest people have a 'compensatory drive' due to loss of a parent at young age - eg Dyson, Hindujas"

But as the guardian stated "Sunday Times Rich List reveals 104 billionaires sharing fortune of £301bn, but few pay tax as they are not domiciled in UK"  so as usual yet more flaws in their thinking of trying to create home grown future billionaires.

This then brings up the question of how many of or MP's (especially those that are part of the Government) suffer from Compensatory Narcissistic Personality Disorder?

Does this sound familiar?

"Compensatory Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a pervasive pattern of unstable, "overtly narcissistic behaviors [that] derive from an underlying sense of insecurity and weakness rather than from genuine feelings of self-confidence and high self-esteem" (Millon), beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by ten (or more) of the following:

• seeks to create an illusion of superiority and to build up an image of high self-worth (Millon);

• has disturbances in the capacity for empathy (Forman);

• strives for recognition and prestige to compensate for the lack of a feeling of self-worth;

• may acquire a deprecatory attitude in which the achievements of others are ridiculed and degraded (Millon);

• has persistent aspirations for glory and status (Millon);

• has a tendency to exaggerate and boast (Millon);

• is sensitive to how others react to him or her, watches and listens carefully for critical judgment, and feels slighted by disapproval (Millon);

• is prone to feel shamed and humiliated and especially hyper-anxious and vulnerable to the judgments of others (Millon);

• covers up a sense of inadequacy and deficiency with pseudo-arrogance and pseudo-grandiosity (Millon);

• has a tendency to periodic hypochondria (Forman);

• alternates between feelings of emptiness and deadness and states of excitement and excess energy (Forman);

• entertains fantasies of greatness, constantly striving for perfection, genius, or stardom (Forman);

• has a history of searching for an idealized partner and has an intense need for affirmation and confirmation in relationships (Forman);

• frequently entertains a wishful, exaggerated, and unrealistic concept of himself or herself which he or she can't possibly measure up to (Reich);

• produces (too quickly) work not up to the level of his or her abilities because of an overwhelmingly strong need for the immediate gratification of success (Reich);

• is touchy, quick to take offense at the slightest provocation, continually anticipating attack and danger, reacting with anger and fantasies of revenge when he or she feels frustrated in his or her need for constant admiration (Reich);

• is self-conscious, due to a dependence on approval from others (Reich);

• suffers regularly from repetitive oscillations of self-esteem (Reich);

• seeks to undo feelings of inadequacy by forcing everyone's attention and admiration upon himself or herself (Reich);

• may react with self-contempt and depression to the lack of fulfillment of his or her grandiose expectations (Riso)."

 

Run for my wife

On 15 February 2014, James Capon will run the streets of West Yorkshire in a bid to raise awareness of the negative impacts of the UK government’s new family migration policies.

Starting in Pontefract and taking in Featherstone, Normanton, Castleford and Knottingley, James will run 18 miles around five West Yorkshire towns to bring attention to the suffering caused to families as a consequence of the rules.

He hopes ‘run for my wife’ will inform others as to what British nationals with a non-EEA partner are being subjected to under the amended policies, and that this awareness raising will help to effect change.  

The rules, which require British sponsors to have a minimum annual income of GBP 18,600 in order to bring their non-British partner to the UK, and even more for each non-British child, are resulting in the long-term, and sometime indefinite, division of many cross-border families.    

The run for my wife movement is spreading quickly, with interest from other divided families across the UK in taking up individual runs in an effort to get the message out.

“I'd like for myself and all the people that are suffering at the hands of the UK Border Agency to have a voice. I'd like us to be heard, and I'd like us to be able to live freely with our wives, husbands and children regardless of what part of the world they come from”, said James.

Sign up to join James or add your own run to the mix here: http://www.meetup.com/BritCits/events/148960452/