Save Millie and her mum from deportation
... please.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-millie-and-her-mum-from-deportation.html
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/campaigners-beg-theresa-stop-deportation-1834767
https://www.facebook.com/groups/147515488760221/
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Through the post
The following missive arrived through my mailbox yesterday morning :
The issue is this : The addressee (a US citizen, my ex roomie to be precise) left the UK in 2009 and has not returned since. So why is he getting a mail like this?
I refer you to exhibit B : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20891597 - 'Migrants wrongly told to leave UK by firm hired by UKBA'. This is the same issue - incompetence by the authorities concerned and their inability to track who has left the country or indeed who has legitimate residency rights.
Among those contacted by text and email were a woman with a UK passport, and a man with a valid visa who had invested £1m in a UK business.
I went above and beyond and called Capita this morning. The conversation went something like this :
'Oh, I'm really really sorry. When did he leave roughly? Are you still in touch with him - could you ask him to get in touch to let us know when he left?'
(giggles, I couldn't help it) 'Sure, I've posted it on his Facebook wall. I am not sure why he'd have the motivation to do so though. You've got to understand though that we're massively bending over backwards here. Ukba really need to record who leaves the country.'
'Oh, ok. Bye then.'
'I'm not going to get any more letters, right?'
'No sir.'
'Ok bye then.'
After thinking about it (and the lovely aforementioned tour of https://twitter.com/19pst ) I can think of a few reasons to actually take it further, one among them being my total lack of confidence, borne of experience, that the matter will be resolved. I don't want my ex-roomie to run into visa issues if he decides to return; I don't want to trust in UKBA to not send any more correspondence, with who knows what filed away in a room in Liverpool ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20436013 ); UKBA still isn't performing, and is still messing up people's plans, and people's lives, so it needs to be in writing, and people need to know about it.
Copy of letter below :
'I write to you concerning the attached - case id xxxx.'
'The attached letter arrived yesterday (23rd March).'
'The named individual (xxxx) is a US citizen who lived at the address from 2008 - approximately August 2009. In August 2009, he returned to the US to take up a new role at his employer, and has not subsequently returned to the UK.'
'I write to you to follow up the telephone call I made this morning to Capita to clear the record and to ensure that this matter would be cleared up. On reflection, I thought it best to put something in writing.'
'I note that the person I spoke to this morning asked as to whether Mr xxxx could get in touch with UKBA to clear the matter up. As he has not been in the UK for four years, this is quite a tall order. If he were to be asked, as a US citizen now permanently resident in the US, I think the reaction would be one of some amusement.'
'It is somewhat dismaying that this is an issue. A web search reveals that similar issues occurred around Christmas time, with news stories of people with quite legitimate visas receiving text messages to 'leave the UK' when they are entirely innocent. I find it really shocking that these issues still have apparently not been cleared up.'
'To this end, I am putting on cc: the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association (whose General Secretary, Alison Harvey, is mentioned in the article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20891597 'Migrants wrongly told to leave UK by firm hired by UKBA); Keith Vaz, the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, which monitors the performance of UKBA; and John Vine, the Chief Inspector of Borders, which also monitors the performance of UKBA (whose recent report - http://icinspector.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/UK-Border-Agencys-handling-of-legacy-asylum-and-migration-cases-22.11.2012.pdf - uncovered 150 boxes of unopened correspondence in a room in Liverpool).'
'Please ensure that the record is cleared and the records corrected and that there is no recurrence of this correspondence. '
Hopefully this should clear matters up.
The following missive arrived through my mailbox yesterday morning :
I refer you to exhibit B : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20891597 - 'Migrants wrongly told to leave UK by firm hired by UKBA'. This is the same issue - incompetence by the authorities concerned and their inability to track who has left the country or indeed who has legitimate residency rights.
Among those contacted by text and email were a woman with a UK passport, and a man with a valid visa who had invested £1m in a UK business.
I went above and beyond and called Capita this morning. The conversation went something like this :
'Oh, I'm really really sorry. When did he leave roughly? Are you still in touch with him - could you ask him to get in touch to let us know when he left?'
(giggles, I couldn't help it) 'Sure, I've posted it on his Facebook wall. I am not sure why he'd have the motivation to do so though. You've got to understand though that we're massively bending over backwards here. Ukba really need to record who leaves the country.'
'Oh, ok. Bye then.'
'I'm not going to get any more letters, right?'
'No sir.'
'Ok bye then.'
After thinking about it (and the lovely aforementioned tour of https://twitter.com/19pst ) I can think of a few reasons to actually take it further, one among them being my total lack of confidence, borne of experience, that the matter will be resolved. I don't want my ex-roomie to run into visa issues if he decides to return; I don't want to trust in UKBA to not send any more correspondence, with who knows what filed away in a room in Liverpool ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20436013 ); UKBA still isn't performing, and is still messing up people's plans, and people's lives, so it needs to be in writing, and people need to know about it.
Copy of letter below :
'I write to you concerning the attached - case id xxxx.'
'The attached letter arrived yesterday (23rd March).'
'The named individual (xxxx) is a US citizen who lived at the address from 2008 - approximately August 2009. In August 2009, he returned to the US to take up a new role at his employer, and has not subsequently returned to the UK.'
'I write to you to follow up the telephone call I made this morning to Capita to clear the record and to ensure that this matter would be cleared up. On reflection, I thought it best to put something in writing.'
'I note that the person I spoke to this morning asked as to whether Mr xxxx could get in touch with UKBA to clear the matter up. As he has not been in the UK for four years, this is quite a tall order. If he were to be asked, as a US citizen now permanently resident in the US, I think the reaction would be one of some amusement.'
'It is somewhat dismaying that this is an issue. A web search reveals that similar issues occurred around Christmas time, with news stories of people with quite legitimate visas receiving text messages to 'leave the UK' when they are entirely innocent. I find it really shocking that these issues still have apparently not been cleared up.'
'To this end, I am putting on cc: the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association (whose General Secretary, Alison Harvey, is mentioned in the article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20891597 'Migrants wrongly told to leave UK by firm hired by UKBA); Keith Vaz, the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, which monitors the performance of UKBA; and John Vine, the Chief Inspector of Borders, which also monitors the performance of UKBA (whose recent report - http://icinspector.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/UK-Border-Agencys-handling-of-legacy-asylum-and-migration-cases-22.11.2012.pdf - uncovered 150 boxes of unopened correspondence in a room in Liverpool).'
'Please ensure that the record is cleared and the records corrected and that there is no recurrence of this correspondence. '
Hopefully this should clear matters up.
19 Princelet Street
https://twitter.com/19pst is fantastic. Was there this evening for a tour for the https://twitter.com/migrants_rights report launch. https://twitter.com/migrants_rights/status/327093674439766016/photo/1
https://twitter.com/refugeecouncil tweets :
Enjoying a great tour of @19pst and being reminded that anti-migrant rhetoric is nothing new. Thanks @migrants_rights for organising.
https://twitter.com/19pst we been here 300 years, will be here if you late! Hope won't need campaigns in 30, never mind 300 more. @migrants_rights.
https://twitter.com/susiesymes1 :
Humbled, and happy. Ninety people singing Happy Birthday to me, after I spoke @migrants_rights annual report launch @19pst. Thank you all.
19 Princelet Street :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/saturday-links-curious-repeating.html
'Suitcases bursting with history' (2003) : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2990378.stm
https://twitter.com/Laura_Padoan : At the wonderfully evocative 19 Princelet St, Spitalfields - an East End refuge for Huguenots to Russian Jews -
https://twitter.com/klaraskriv : Excellent launch of @migrants_rights annual report at an amazing location of @19pst
https://twitter.com/MigRightsScot : Great evening at launch of @migrants_rights annual report held @19pst museum of #immigration. #StandingOurGround
https://twitter.com/beckilancaster : Fab evening at 19 Princelet St with @migrants_rights Feel privileged to have seen such a special building, with an amazing history @19pst
---
Asylum seeker, 19, married to British man in a coma after taking overdose days before she was due to be deported for being a 'sham bride'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2314023/Asylum-seeker-19-married-British-man-fights-life-overdose-days-deported.html
An asylum seeker who is married to a British man is fighting for her life in hospital after an overdose just days before she was due to be sent back to Nigeria.
May Brown, a 19-year-old college student, fled to Britain from her home country three years ago after witnessing her father's murder and being subjected to sexual abuse.
She settled in Weymouth, Dorset, where she met her husband, Michael Brown, 12 months ago and the couple married last December.
Mrs Brown, who was a games maker at last summer's Olympics and has two university offers to study law, applied to stay in the UK but despite her marriage her application was rejected.
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrants of the day :
Actor Henry Ian Cusick born in Trujillo to Peruvian mum.Lived in Spain,Scotland,Trinidad & Tobago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ian_Cusick
Jamelia-Jamaican & Zimbabwean parentage, singer-songwriter model entertainer tv presenter & actress
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamelia
---
https://twitter.com/britishfuture tweets :
Should tight immigration controls keep St George out? @guardian diary feat @david_Goodhart @sundersays @maxwindcowie
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/apr/23/hugh-muir-diary-liddell-grainger-gob
https://twitter.com/MigrantVoiceUK tweets :
funny but not really. Real affects on real lives
http://www.migrantvoice.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=358%3Alaurie-gayle-on-the-slash-and-burn-politics-of-immigration&catid=93%3Alaurie-gayle&Itemid=4
https://twitter.com/MigrantVoiceUK tweets :
and there are much worse see
https://twitter.com/4refugeewomen
https://twitter.com/BritCits
etc
---
Escaping the train to Auschwitz.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22188075
On 19 April 1943, a train carrying 1,631 Jews set off from a Nazi detention camp in Belgium for the gas chambers of Auschwitz. But resistance fighters stopped the train. One boy who jumped to freedom that night retains vivid memories, 70 years later.
In February 1943, 11-year-old Simon Gronowski was sitting down for breakfast with his mother and sister in their Brussels hiding place when two Gestapo agents burst in.
They were taken to the Nazis' notorious headquarters on the prestigious Avenue Louise, used as a prison for Jews and torture chamber for members of the resistance.
Today, Gronowski lives a two-minute walk from this building, where he was held for two nights without food or water.
https://twitter.com/19pst is fantastic. Was there this evening for a tour for the https://twitter.com/migrants_rights report launch. https://twitter.com/migrants_rights/status/327093674439766016/photo/1
https://twitter.com/refugeecouncil tweets :
Enjoying a great tour of @19pst and being reminded that anti-migrant rhetoric is nothing new. Thanks @migrants_rights for organising.
https://twitter.com/19pst we been here 300 years, will be here if you late! Hope won't need campaigns in 30, never mind 300 more. @migrants_rights.
https://twitter.com/susiesymes1 :
Humbled, and happy. Ninety people singing Happy Birthday to me, after I spoke @migrants_rights annual report launch @19pst. Thank you all.
19 Princelet Street :
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/saturday-links-curious-repeating.html
'Suitcases bursting with history' (2003) : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2990378.stm
https://twitter.com/Laura_Padoan : At the wonderfully evocative 19 Princelet St, Spitalfields - an East End refuge for Huguenots to Russian Jews -
https://twitter.com/klaraskriv : Excellent launch of @migrants_rights annual report at an amazing location of @19pst
https://twitter.com/MigRightsScot : Great evening at launch of @migrants_rights annual report held @19pst museum of #immigration. #StandingOurGround
https://twitter.com/beckilancaster : Fab evening at 19 Princelet St with @migrants_rights Feel privileged to have seen such a special building, with an amazing history @19pst
---
Asylum seeker, 19, married to British man in a coma after taking overdose days before she was due to be deported for being a 'sham bride'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2314023/Asylum-seeker-19-married-British-man-fights-life-overdose-days-deported.html
An asylum seeker who is married to a British man is fighting for her life in hospital after an overdose just days before she was due to be sent back to Nigeria.
May Brown, a 19-year-old college student, fled to Britain from her home country three years ago after witnessing her father's murder and being subjected to sexual abuse.
She settled in Weymouth, Dorset, where she met her husband, Michael Brown, 12 months ago and the couple married last December.
Mrs Brown, who was a games maker at last summer's Olympics and has two university offers to study law, applied to stay in the UK but despite her marriage her application was rejected.
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrants of the day :
Actor Henry Ian Cusick born in Trujillo to Peruvian mum.Lived in Spain,Scotland,Trinidad & Tobago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ian_Cusick
Jamelia-Jamaican & Zimbabwean parentage, singer-songwriter model entertainer tv presenter & actress
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamelia
---
https://twitter.com/britishfuture tweets :
Should tight immigration controls keep St George out? @guardian diary feat @david_Goodhart @sundersays @maxwindcowie
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/apr/23/hugh-muir-diary-liddell-grainger-gob
https://twitter.com/MigrantVoiceUK tweets :
funny but not really. Real affects on real lives
http://www.migrantvoice.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=358%3Alaurie-gayle-on-the-slash-and-burn-politics-of-immigration&catid=93%3Alaurie-gayle&Itemid=4
https://twitter.com/MigrantVoiceUK tweets :
and there are much worse see
https://twitter.com/4refugeewomen
https://twitter.com/BritCits
etc
---
Escaping the train to Auschwitz.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22188075
On 19 April 1943, a train carrying 1,631 Jews set off from a Nazi detention camp in Belgium for the gas chambers of Auschwitz. But resistance fighters stopped the train. One boy who jumped to freedom that night retains vivid memories, 70 years later.
In February 1943, 11-year-old Simon Gronowski was sitting down for breakfast with his mother and sister in their Brussels hiding place when two Gestapo agents burst in.
They were taken to the Nazis' notorious headquarters on the prestigious Avenue Louise, used as a prison for Jews and torture chamber for members of the resistance.
Today, Gronowski lives a two-minute walk from this building, where he was held for two nights without food or water.
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Today's links
BBC News quoted Grayling as saying: "We are changing the system so it cannot be used anymore as a cheap delaying tactic."
http://www.ein.org.uk/news/grayling-announce-judicial-review-changes-today
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/ says : 'Thought it was being scrapped because it was so expensive? '
Chris Grayling's attack on judicial reviews is itself 'meritless' :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/23/chris-grayling-judicial-reviews
---
7486 signatures!
http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/theresa-may-don-t-force-me-to-give-birth-without-my-husband
---
A YOUNG asylum seeker is fighting for her life after trying to kill herself days before she was due to be deported.
May Brown, who fled her home country in 2009 and now lives in Weymouth with her British husband, feared she would be murdered if she was sent back to Nigeria.
http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/10372431.Deportation_threat_student_fights_for_life_after_suicide_attempt/
---
Dutch Court asks Court of Justice to rule on the limits of verification of the sexual orientation of asylum seekers.
http://europeanlawblog.eu/?p=1720
---
Nepal: 'I was 14 when I was sold'.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22250772
---
North Korea: Defectors adjust to life abroad.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22209894
---
Interesting banking blog.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/joris-luyendijk-banking-blog
By the author of 'Bankers: An anthropological study' :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/14/bankers-anthropological-study-joris-luyendijk
---
https://twitter.com/MBEGriffiths tweets :
‘What does Europe want from us?’ The shocking experiences of migrants detained for months in Greece.
http://livewire.amnesty.org/2013/04/23/what-does-europe-want-from-us-migrants-detained-for-months-on-end-in-greece/
https://twitter.com/19pst tweets :
St George's Day. Typically English saint: mixed heritage, born abroad, complex loyalties..
BBC News quoted Grayling as saying: "We are changing the system so it cannot be used anymore as a cheap delaying tactic."
http://www.ein.org.uk/news/grayling-announce-judicial-review-changes-today
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/ says : 'Thought it was being scrapped because it was so expensive? '
Chris Grayling's attack on judicial reviews is itself 'meritless' :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/23/chris-grayling-judicial-reviews
---
7486 signatures!
http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/theresa-may-don-t-force-me-to-give-birth-without-my-husband
---
A YOUNG asylum seeker is fighting for her life after trying to kill herself days before she was due to be deported.
May Brown, who fled her home country in 2009 and now lives in Weymouth with her British husband, feared she would be murdered if she was sent back to Nigeria.
http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/10372431.Deportation_threat_student_fights_for_life_after_suicide_attempt/
---
Dutch Court asks Court of Justice to rule on the limits of verification of the sexual orientation of asylum seekers.
http://europeanlawblog.eu/?p=1720
---
Nepal: 'I was 14 when I was sold'.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22250772
---
North Korea: Defectors adjust to life abroad.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22209894
---
Interesting banking blog.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/joris-luyendijk-banking-blog
By the author of 'Bankers: An anthropological study' :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/14/bankers-anthropological-study-joris-luyendijk
---
https://twitter.com/MBEGriffiths tweets :
‘What does Europe want from us?’ The shocking experiences of migrants detained for months in Greece.
http://livewire.amnesty.org/2013/04/23/what-does-europe-want-from-us-migrants-detained-for-months-on-end-in-greece/
https://twitter.com/19pst tweets :
St George's Day. Typically English saint: mixed heritage, born abroad, complex loyalties..
Monday, 22 April 2013
Today's links
Ten of the best migrant blogs.
http://londonmigranthub.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/ten-of-the-best-migrant-blogs/
Very happy / honoured in a 'cor blimey' kind of way that britcits.com is number 4, and to be in such fine company. A fantastic selection here.
---
The diary of a refugee mother.
http://diaryofarefugeemother.wordpress.com/
---
Life without papers.
http://www.lifewithoutpapers.co.uk/
---
Calais Migrant Solidarity.
http://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com/
Documenting police harassment of migrants in Calais and strengthening resistance against the border regime.
---
Stories sought on experiences of applying to UKBA for visas for campaign to improve customer services for applicants.
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2013/stories-sought-experiences-applying-ukba-visas-campaign-improve-customer-services-applican
The waiting time on migrants lives have taken its toll and we are exhausted of waiting. I want the Home Office to know what they are doing to us is unacceptable. To do this, I need a few of you to come forward and share your stories. If a decision on your application has been delayed for months, please come and talk to me. Your name and details will be kept completely anonymous and no one will be able to identify you.
---
Will.i.am tries UK citizenship test questions.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22217468
---
Carolyn Fish: Migration to Japan.
http://www.migrantvoice.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=290
---
Work restrictions expiring later this year for migrants from Romania and Bulgaria have had little impact on the numbers planning to move to the UK or wider EU, BBC Newsnight polls suggest.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22221841
---
It’s time to stop: transitional restrictions on the right to work push Romanians and Bulgarians into precarious situations.
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/migration-pulse/2013/it-s-time-stop-transitional-restrictions-right-work-push-romanians-and-bulgaria
---
Legal aid and access to justice.
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2013/04/22/legal-aid-and-access-to-justice
It is precisely those clients, the most vulnerable and unpopular ones, who were targeted by the Government in the evisceration of legal aid that took effect this month. This amounts to enforced disarmament of the weakest side in an adversarial system. The tenant facing eviction, the unemployed father mired in debt, the mother seeking contact with her children, the abandoned child seeking to permission to remain; none of these Everymen will be able to remedy a wrong committed against them. The changes are unconscionable, a clear attack not on the lawyers but on those we serve, the weakest and most vulnerable groups in society. It was easy to motivate oneself to anger.
---
The increasing intolerance of British policymakers.
http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/in-practice/the-increasing-intolerance-british-policymakers
---
Two British ministers are mounting a charm offensive in Latin America to try to attract potential students to come to universities in the UK.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22222582
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits tweets :
Any lawyers for case where #UKBA incompetency not hard to prove?
http://turbotasticaltales.com/2013/03/23/how-do-you-fight-the-ukba-when-theyre-wrong/
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrants of the day :
Mexican born @JuanSolari5 did MA at @LondonMetUni,founded Solar Dreams,nominated for Story of Year for Iran documentary
Kaya Rose Scodelario born to Brit dad Brazilian mum,known as Effy Stonem in @E4Tweets drama Skinshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaya_Scodelario
---
Laurie Gayle: On the slash and burn politics of immigration.
http://www.migrantvoice.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=358
The Prime Minister is among the guilty. On his much-publicised trip to India, he stated that “after you’ve left a British university, if you can get a graduate-level job there is no limit to the amount of people who can stay and work, or the time that they can stay at work”. Close, but no cigar. Finding a job is nigh on impossible, particularly after the closure of the post-study work visa. Technically, any student who lands a job with a salary of at least £20,000, can stay in the UK. However, this simplifies the reality of the situation. To get said job, one must first find an employer willing to sponsor a migrant and their Tier 2 visa and to get to this stage there’s an inordinate amount of hoops through which all involved must jump.
https://twitter.com/MigrantVoiceUK tweets :
Our latest blog by #Texpat American @LaurieMGayle re life in UK as student, migrant & immigration rules!
---
A new exhibition aims to celebrate the role Muslims played in saving Jewish lives during the Holocaust.
The Righteous Muslim Exhibition is being launched at the Board of Deputies of British Jews in Bloomsbury, central London.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22176928
---
Hispanics, the new Italians.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/sunday-review/hispanics-the-new-italians.xml
---
Bulgarian officials have criticised campaign leaflets produced by the UK Independence Party as "hostile propaganda" in a row over immigration.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22238575
---
https://twitter.com/19pst tweets :
We all should challenge our own prejudices, work on empathy with fellow humans in lands far from our own
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/owen-jones-our-shameful-hierarchy--some-deaths-matter-more-than-others-8581715.html
---
Sikh weddings crashed by protesters objecting to mixed faith marriages.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21721519
---
https://twitter.com/RacistBasher tweets :
twitpic.com/cl0600 There can only be one group of people on this planet stupid enough to mistake the Brighton Pavilion for a mosque #edl
---
Xinjiang, China: Ethnicity and economic development.
http://geocurrents.info/geonotes/xinjiang-china-ethnicity-and-economic-development
---
New Amnesty International report critical of UK asylum decision-making process.
http://www.ein.org.uk/news/new-amnesty-international-report-critical-uk-asylum-decision-making-process
Sunday, 21 April 2013
Sunday links
There's a doleful little game that staff at the Refugee Council sometimes play. They show visitors press cuttings about refugees and asylum seekers from the 1900s, 1930s and today, and ask them to guess when they were published. Most people get it wrong. They assume that Jewish refugees were welcomed, at least in the 1930s, with a tolerance that has traditionally been seen as a beacon of Britishness. They're shocked to discover that rabid intolerance - among both press and government - has a strong British pedigree. As Tony Kushner, professor of history at the University of Southampton, says, "The Daily Mail has been an anti-alien newspaper since the 1900s. There's great continuity."
Yet Holocaust refugees and survivors have been sanctified and idealised after the event, on occasion by the very same publications that at the time demonised them and sought to impugn their authenticity.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/jun/08/immigration.immigrationandpublicservices
---
Congratulations, British immigration. You’ve obviously just caught a dangerous criminal.
http://gigigriffis.com/congratulations-british-customs-youve-obviously-just-caught-a-dangerous-criminal/
---
BID report on migrant children highlights the damage caused by dividing families.
Wednesday night's launch of the latest report from Bail for Immigration Detainees took place at a packed meeting in Parliament. It was an encouraging sign that the toxic debate on immigration has not damped commitment to speak up for the rights of children affected by immigration controls.
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/blog/2013/04/bid-report-migrant-children-highlights-damage-caused-dividing-families
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrant of the day :
Mick Jagger with Aussie mum - musician,singer, songwriter & actor, best known as lead vocalist & founder of Rolling Stones
---
https://twitter.com/19pst in the Telegraph :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/10003314/Undercover-Spitalfields.html?image=12
---
Protest badges of the Thatcher era.
http://www.anywhen.com/?modalid=94234
There's a doleful little game that staff at the Refugee Council sometimes play. They show visitors press cuttings about refugees and asylum seekers from the 1900s, 1930s and today, and ask them to guess when they were published. Most people get it wrong. They assume that Jewish refugees were welcomed, at least in the 1930s, with a tolerance that has traditionally been seen as a beacon of Britishness. They're shocked to discover that rabid intolerance - among both press and government - has a strong British pedigree. As Tony Kushner, professor of history at the University of Southampton, says, "The Daily Mail has been an anti-alien newspaper since the 1900s. There's great continuity."
Yet Holocaust refugees and survivors have been sanctified and idealised after the event, on occasion by the very same publications that at the time demonised them and sought to impugn their authenticity.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/jun/08/immigration.immigrationandpublicservices
---
Congratulations, British immigration. You’ve obviously just caught a dangerous criminal.
http://gigigriffis.com/congratulations-british-customs-youve-obviously-just-caught-a-dangerous-criminal/
---
BID report on migrant children highlights the damage caused by dividing families.
Wednesday night's launch of the latest report from Bail for Immigration Detainees took place at a packed meeting in Parliament. It was an encouraging sign that the toxic debate on immigration has not damped commitment to speak up for the rights of children affected by immigration controls.
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/blog/2013/04/bid-report-migrant-children-highlights-damage-caused-dividing-families
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrant of the day :
Mick Jagger with Aussie mum - musician,singer, songwriter & actor, best known as lead vocalist & founder of Rolling Stones
---
https://twitter.com/19pst in the Telegraph :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/10003314/Undercover-Spitalfields.html?image=12
---
Protest badges of the Thatcher era.
http://www.anywhen.com/?modalid=94234
Saturday, 20 April 2013
The most linked text in Swedish history
http://asymptotejournal.com/article.php?cat=Nonfiction&id=47
"I am writing to you with a simple request, Beatrice Ask. I want us to trade our skins and our experiences. Come on. Let's just do it. You've never been averse to slightly wacky ideas (I still remember your controversial suggestion that anyone who buys sex ought to be sent a notice in a lavender envelope.) For twenty-four hours we'll borrow each other's bodies. First I'll be in your body to understand what it's like to be a woman in the patriarchal world of politics. Then you can borrow my skin to understand that when you go out into the street, down into the subway, into the shopping center, and see the policeman standing there, with the Law on his side, with the right to approach you and ask you to prove your innocence, it brings back memories. Other abuses, other uniforms, other looks. And no, we don't need to go as far back as World War II Germany or South Africa in the eighties. Our recent Swedish history is enough, a series of random experiences that our mutual body suddenly recalls."
Via http://www.metafilter.com/127079/Du-kan-g-nu
---
"How come there's always money when those with few resources are to be persecuted, but never money when those with few resources are to be defended?"
http://asymptotejournal.com/article.php?cat=Nonfiction&id=47
"I am writing to you with a simple request, Beatrice Ask. I want us to trade our skins and our experiences. Come on. Let's just do it. You've never been averse to slightly wacky ideas (I still remember your controversial suggestion that anyone who buys sex ought to be sent a notice in a lavender envelope.) For twenty-four hours we'll borrow each other's bodies. First I'll be in your body to understand what it's like to be a woman in the patriarchal world of politics. Then you can borrow my skin to understand that when you go out into the street, down into the subway, into the shopping center, and see the policeman standing there, with the Law on his side, with the right to approach you and ask you to prove your innocence, it brings back memories. Other abuses, other uniforms, other looks. And no, we don't need to go as far back as World War II Germany or South Africa in the eighties. Our recent Swedish history is enough, a series of random experiences that our mutual body suddenly recalls."
Via http://www.metafilter.com/127079/Du-kan-g-nu
---
"How come there's always money when those with few resources are to be persecuted, but never money when those with few resources are to be defended?"
More on Boston, and Oslo
http://www.migranttales.net/migrant-tales-july-22-2012-what-have-we-learned-after-norways-227-and-after-the-boston-bombers/
Comment: As the manhunt for one of the two suspects continues in Boston, what should our reaction be to the two Chechen killers? This blog entry written on the first anniversary of the horrific killings in Norway by Anders Breivik could shed light on that question.
---
https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi :
I pray of the day when instead of saying "a Muslim did this" or "a Chechen did this", we just say "a criminal did this." #bostonbombing
---
Anders Breivik's hatred has been drowned out by Norwegians singing :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/27/anders-breivik-norwegians-singing
http://www.migranttales.net/migrant-tales-july-22-2012-what-have-we-learned-after-norways-227-and-after-the-boston-bombers/
Comment: As the manhunt for one of the two suspects continues in Boston, what should our reaction be to the two Chechen killers? This blog entry written on the first anniversary of the horrific killings in Norway by Anders Breivik could shed light on that question.
---
https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi :
I pray of the day when instead of saying "a Muslim did this" or "a Chechen did this", we just say "a criminal did this." #bostonbombing
---
Anders Breivik's hatred has been drowned out by Norwegians singing :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/27/anders-breivik-norwegians-singing
Below the radar
To add to our cache of primary documents, I've uploaded an important piece from Hansard,19th June 2012 :
http://www.scribd.com/doc/137090720/Hansard-19Jun2012
(Mirrored from :
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm120619/debtext/120619-0001.htm#12061972000001
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm120619/debtext/120619-0002.htm
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm120619/debtext/120619-0003.htm
)
Note that this is the so-called 'debate' on the approach to immigration rules prior to the 9th July 2012 rule changes. Note that the discussion is faily abstract - no mention of a specific income threshold, language requirements, time to ILR, effect on elderly dependants, rules which exclude half the population of the UK from bringing in a spouse, children etc. This is not a proper 'debate' in the true sense - especially as it is headlined under 'European Convention on Human Rights' and NOT family immigration rules, or similar! Basically, this is a way to go 'under the radar'.
As John McDonnell says, ' Will the right hon. Lady clarify whether we are legislating today? Are we passing into law the rules that she published less than a week ago?'
Our view is very much that this was a back-door way of introducing rules which has had such a devastating effect on divided families ( such as those here : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stories ).
We believe that this is a fundamentally undemocratic and dishonest way to introduce rules which have had such an appalling impact on many people.
From our introduction - http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/introduction.html :
On 9th July 2012, new immigration rules were introduced in the UK which affect a large number of British people with overseas family (spouses, children, and dependant parents). The rules will affect more and more people as time goes on. The rules were introduced by the 'back door' - first secondary legislation, and then (when the courts ruled against this - the 'Alvi' decision), emergency legislation was pushed through the House of Lords (as the Commons was in recess) without a proper debate.
What happened next :
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2012/07/18/analysis-of-alvi/
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2012/07/19/new-immigration-rules-brought-in-immediately/
More primary documents and correspondence :
http://www.scribd.com/sjplep/documents
To add to our cache of primary documents, I've uploaded an important piece from Hansard,19th June 2012 :
http://www.scribd.com/doc/137090720/Hansard-19Jun2012
(Mirrored from :
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm120619/debtext/120619-0001.htm#12061972000001
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm120619/debtext/120619-0002.htm
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm120619/debtext/120619-0003.htm
)
Note that this is the so-called 'debate' on the approach to immigration rules prior to the 9th July 2012 rule changes. Note that the discussion is faily abstract - no mention of a specific income threshold, language requirements, time to ILR, effect on elderly dependants, rules which exclude half the population of the UK from bringing in a spouse, children etc. This is not a proper 'debate' in the true sense - especially as it is headlined under 'European Convention on Human Rights' and NOT family immigration rules, or similar! Basically, this is a way to go 'under the radar'.
As John McDonnell says, ' Will the right hon. Lady clarify whether we are legislating today? Are we passing into law the rules that she published less than a week ago?'
Our view is very much that this was a back-door way of introducing rules which has had such a devastating effect on divided families ( such as those here : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stories ).
We believe that this is a fundamentally undemocratic and dishonest way to introduce rules which have had such an appalling impact on many people.
From our introduction - http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/introduction.html :
On 9th July 2012, new immigration rules were introduced in the UK which affect a large number of British people with overseas family (spouses, children, and dependant parents). The rules will affect more and more people as time goes on. The rules were introduced by the 'back door' - first secondary legislation, and then (when the courts ruled against this - the 'Alvi' decision), emergency legislation was pushed through the House of Lords (as the Commons was in recess) without a proper debate.
What happened next :
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2012/07/18/analysis-of-alvi/
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2012/07/19/new-immigration-rules-brought-in-immediately/
More primary documents and correspondence :
http://www.scribd.com/sjplep/documents
A week of fear
http://www.microaggressions.com/2013/04/a-week-of-fear/
All of next week, we'll be posting microaggressions concerning the racism and Islamophobia experienced by people of color, South Asians, Muslims, and immigrants experienced since the Boston marathon bombings.
https://twitter.com/Microaggressive
https://www.facebook.com/microaggressions?hc_location=stream
---
The brothers Tsernaev.
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2013/04/29/130429ta_talk_remnick
In the midst of the Second World War, Joseph Stalin, seized by one of his historic fits of paranoia and cruelty, declared the Chechen people disloyal to the U.S.S.R. and banished them from their homeland in the northern Caucasus to Central Asia and the Siberian wastes. Tens of thousands of Chechens, along with members of other small ethnic groups from the Caucasus and the Crimean Peninsula, died in the mass deportation or soon after—some from cold, some from starvation. The Tsarnaev family eventually settled in a town called Tokmok, in Kyrgyzstan, not far from the capital, Bishkek...
---
UKBA separates 200 children from their parents.
http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2013/04/18/ukba-separates-200-children-from-their-parents
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) has repeatedly failed to uphold its legal duty to safeguard children of immigrants during their parents' detention and separated 200 of them from their family, according to a new report.
The study published by immigration charity Bail for Immigration Detainees (Bid) found 200 children of 111 parents faced appalling consequences as a result of the UKBA's inability to take basic steps to protect them.
---
https://twitter.com/APPGMigration tweets :
Lib Dem MP @DavidWardMP asks what steps the Gov is taking to monitor regional effects of new family migration rules
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2013-04-17b.151287.h
---
https://twitter.com/SalCardiff :
petition to stop deportation of 7 year old Scots girl to Chile
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-millie-and-her-mum-from-deportation.html
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrant of the day :
English cricketer,Mark Ramprakash of IndoCaribbean descent, one of 25 players in history to score 100 1st class centuries
---
Greece's modern slavery: lessons from Manolada.
A shooting in a small agrictultural town in the Peloponese demonstrates the stark dangers of the anti-immigration rhetoric gaining ground in Greece.
http://www.newstatesman.com/austerity-and-its-discontents/2013/04/greeces-modern-slavery-lessons-manolada
---
Greece launches manhunt after 200 immigrant farmworkers are shot at and wounded for demanding back pay.
http://immigrantmagazine.co.uk/greece-launches-manhunt-after-200-immigrant-farmworkers-are-shot-at-and-wounded-for-demanding-back-pay/
---
Poland's Jews: A forgotten history.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22205454
Poland is marking the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising on Friday, one of the most remarkable acts of resistance in World War II, a period when the almost 1,000-year-old history of Polish-Jewish relations underwent its most severe test....
---
Stereotypes and deprivation: the everyday life of the Roma community in Europe.
http://minorityrightsnow.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/stereotypes-and-deprivation-the-everyday-life-of-the-roma-community-in-europe/
---
Wherever there is power there is resistance. (Foucault)
http://www.microaggressions.com/2013/04/a-week-of-fear/
All of next week, we'll be posting microaggressions concerning the racism and Islamophobia experienced by people of color, South Asians, Muslims, and immigrants experienced since the Boston marathon bombings.
https://twitter.com/Microaggressive
https://www.facebook.com/microaggressions?hc_location=stream
---
The brothers Tsernaev.
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2013/04/29/130429ta_talk_remnick
In the midst of the Second World War, Joseph Stalin, seized by one of his historic fits of paranoia and cruelty, declared the Chechen people disloyal to the U.S.S.R. and banished them from their homeland in the northern Caucasus to Central Asia and the Siberian wastes. Tens of thousands of Chechens, along with members of other small ethnic groups from the Caucasus and the Crimean Peninsula, died in the mass deportation or soon after—some from cold, some from starvation. The Tsarnaev family eventually settled in a town called Tokmok, in Kyrgyzstan, not far from the capital, Bishkek...
---
UKBA separates 200 children from their parents.
http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2013/04/18/ukba-separates-200-children-from-their-parents
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) has repeatedly failed to uphold its legal duty to safeguard children of immigrants during their parents' detention and separated 200 of them from their family, according to a new report.
The study published by immigration charity Bail for Immigration Detainees (Bid) found 200 children of 111 parents faced appalling consequences as a result of the UKBA's inability to take basic steps to protect them.
---
https://twitter.com/APPGMigration tweets :
Lib Dem MP @DavidWardMP asks what steps the Gov is taking to monitor regional effects of new family migration rules
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2013-04-17b.151287.h
---
https://twitter.com/SalCardiff :
petition to stop deportation of 7 year old Scots girl to Chile
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-millie-and-her-mum-from-deportation.html
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrant of the day :
English cricketer,Mark Ramprakash of IndoCaribbean descent, one of 25 players in history to score 100 1st class centuries
---
Greece's modern slavery: lessons from Manolada.
A shooting in a small agrictultural town in the Peloponese demonstrates the stark dangers of the anti-immigration rhetoric gaining ground in Greece.
http://www.newstatesman.com/austerity-and-its-discontents/2013/04/greeces-modern-slavery-lessons-manolada
---
Greece launches manhunt after 200 immigrant farmworkers are shot at and wounded for demanding back pay.
http://immigrantmagazine.co.uk/greece-launches-manhunt-after-200-immigrant-farmworkers-are-shot-at-and-wounded-for-demanding-back-pay/
---
Poland's Jews: A forgotten history.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22205454
Poland is marking the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising on Friday, one of the most remarkable acts of resistance in World War II, a period when the almost 1,000-year-old history of Polish-Jewish relations underwent its most severe test....
---
Stereotypes and deprivation: the everyday life of the Roma community in Europe.
http://minorityrightsnow.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/stereotypes-and-deprivation-the-everyday-life-of-the-roma-community-in-europe/
---
Wherever there is power there is resistance. (Foucault)
Friday, 19 April 2013
BritCits bulletin
Every few weeks, we send a campaign update email to our supporters, including many of those affected. We will share those communications on this website to generally update everyone on the work we do.
If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please contact us - britcits at gmail dot com. Especially contact us if you are affected by the rules in any way, as we would relish the chance to lobby on your behalf, as well as helping you make the connections you need for your situation. We believe that the connections we have made have been effective in raising the profile of a number of specific cases, as well as all the issues surrounding this.
The email bulletins are managed by Sonel, who tweets here - https://twitter.com/britcits .
Warm welcome to the new britcits, and a huge thank you to those who sent in updates and photos.
Attached are two documents.
a) BritCits pack
BritCits pack as promised, with many new stories and several updates. Please do read about how the rules our government has brought in are devastating the lives of British citizens with non-EU families - citizens across the spectrum forced into health breakdowns, poverty, dependency on the state, separation, exile and in some cases, break-ups.
Further updates on your story are appreciated as BritCits and our members will be following your story with interest and cheering on for your family to be, or remain, reunited in your home country while we simulataneously continue to campaign for fair immigration rules to be brought in.
(Note: The pack consists largely of a selection of stories of people affected and families divided by UK immigration rules, such as the examples here : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stories )
b) APPG letter
Regular meet ups
Kind regards
Sonel
Twitter id: https://twitter.com/BritCits
Every few weeks, we send a campaign update email to our supporters, including many of those affected. We will share those communications on this website to generally update everyone on the work we do.
If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please contact us - britcits at gmail dot com. Especially contact us if you are affected by the rules in any way, as we would relish the chance to lobby on your behalf, as well as helping you make the connections you need for your situation. We believe that the connections we have made have been effective in raising the profile of a number of specific cases, as well as all the issues surrounding this.
The email bulletins are managed by Sonel, who tweets here - https://twitter.com/britcits .
Hello all
Warm welcome to the new britcits, and a huge thank you to those who sent in updates and photos.
Attached are two documents.
a) BritCits pack
BritCits pack as promised, with many new stories and several updates. Please do read about how the rules our government has brought in are devastating the lives of British citizens with non-EU families - citizens across the spectrum forced into health breakdowns, poverty, dependency on the state, separation, exile and in some cases, break-ups.
Further updates on your story are appreciated as BritCits and our members will be following your story with interest and cheering on for your family to be, or remain, reunited in your home country while we simulataneously continue to campaign for fair immigration rules to be brought in.
(Note: The pack consists largely of a selection of stories of people affected and families divided by UK immigration rules, such as the examples here : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stories )
At
the last APPG on immigration meeting hosted by MRN, Lord Teverson asked
that I submit some suggestions. Copy of the letter I sent to some on
the panel of this committee attached. The committee has indicated their
report will come out in May - we await this with much interest.
(Note: The letter has been uploaded here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/130034286/APPG-letter2 )
Regular meet ups
Steven is
hosting regular meetups, giving britcits a chance to meet others
impacted by the rules, knowledge share and empathise. If you're
interesting, please register at the link below: http://www.meetup.com/
Other
At the most recent APPG meeting hosted by MRN we heard about how mothers are being forced to stop breastfeeding their babies when their age is still measured in weeks. In some cases this is British mothers being forced to return to full-time work in order to try and earn £18,600 p.a. while also saving for trips to their partner's home country for visits or non-EU mothers not allowed to remain in the UK to be with their newborn British babies.
We heard about NHS doctors taking their skills and experience to other countries who are now benefiting from the invaluable medical training we provided - just so they can have the privilege of being able to live with and look after their non-EU parents. The impact on the NHS is devastating and will be felt by us all. The government seems to have overlooked the fact that these emigrants will need to be replaced by expensive locums and new non-British immigrants, and/or a decline in the quality of service.
We
unfortunately also continue to hear stories of abuse of power by UKBA, with
deportations of those who common sense dictates should be allowed to
remain in UK.
Stories of UKBA cock-ups are now unsurprising, with an applicant being denied a visa on the basis her husband was not British - even though he is staunchly Welsh bred & born. Even when UKBA admitted their mistake, they suggested an appeal or re-application, at the applicants expense, rather than rectifying their oversight.
Individuals being informed by way of an early Christmas present via SMS of expired visas and that they must leave the country, is common knowledge, as is the fact that some who received such messages are British citizens! What isn't publicised is how UKBA and their contracted consultants are reprimanded for incompetencies most of us would lose our jobs for. Indeed, it appears that the contracted consultants are rewarded instead with further UKBA work.
While UKBA is back into the remit of the Home Office, and divided into two sections, it's clear that with the same management involved, the quality of service is not likely to improve. A rose by any other name...(or a thorn in this case!). Whether this is showing me as a cynic or realist, only time will tell.
Other
At the most recent APPG meeting hosted by MRN we heard about how mothers are being forced to stop breastfeeding their babies when their age is still measured in weeks. In some cases this is British mothers being forced to return to full-time work in order to try and earn £18,600 p.a. while also saving for trips to their partner's home country for visits or non-EU mothers not allowed to remain in the UK to be with their newborn British babies.
We heard about NHS doctors taking their skills and experience to other countries who are now benefiting from the invaluable medical training we provided - just so they can have the privilege of being able to live with and look after their non-EU parents. The impact on the NHS is devastating and will be felt by us all. The government seems to have overlooked the fact that these emigrants will need to be replaced by expensive locums and new non-British immigrants, and/or a decline in the quality of service.
Stories of UKBA cock-ups are now unsurprising, with an applicant being denied a visa on the basis her husband was not British - even though he is staunchly Welsh bred & born. Even when UKBA admitted their mistake, they suggested an appeal or re-application, at the applicants expense, rather than rectifying their oversight.
Individuals being informed by way of an early Christmas present via SMS of expired visas and that they must leave the country, is common knowledge, as is the fact that some who received such messages are British citizens! What isn't publicised is how UKBA and their contracted consultants are reprimanded for incompetencies most of us would lose our jobs for. Indeed, it appears that the contracted consultants are rewarded instead with further UKBA work.
While UKBA is back into the remit of the Home Office, and divided into two sections, it's clear that with the same management involved, the quality of service is not likely to improve. A rose by any other name...(or a thorn in this case!). Whether this is showing me as a cynic or realist, only time will tell.
Sonel
Twitter id: https://twitter.com/BritCits
Friday links
Surinder Singh and family unity.
http://www.jcwi.org.uk/blog/2013/04/19/surinder-singh-and-family-unity
In her reckless pursuit of lower immigration to the UK, Theresa May put UK citizens and settled people in a far less privileged position than EU nationals living in the UK. The rule changes Ms May implemented last year also meant that UK citizens living in other EU countries had more rights than if they lived in the UK. But thanks to a certain Mr Singh, they not only have more rights elsewhere in Europe, but they can bring them back to the UK under certain conditions. On the blogs and in the facebook groups of people affected by the family immigration rules, Surinder Singh has become a buzz word.
Two pieces to follow -
Facebook support group for those considering this route : https://www.facebook.com/groups/477537505627291/
'Journey to Dublin' : http://www.scribd.com/doc/133697288/Journey-to-Dublin
---
Effect of detention on children.
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2013/04/19/effect-of-detention-on-children/
Immigration detention dehumanises not only the detainee but also every person who deals with it. It is a poison that infects us all. The professionals who deal with detainees and their families develop coping mechanisms. We convince ourselves that detention is necessary, that there is no alternative, that it is an inevitable part of the process, that the individuals affected deserve it, that they will get over it, that they are not like us and don’t feel family separation and deprivation of liberty in the same way that we would, that the kids are adaptable little things and won’t really notice. Most of all, we learn to dissociate. The effect of unknowably long immigration detention at the whim of unknown bureaucrats is simply too awful to contemplate for more than a short time.
---
Locals fight to halt mum and daughter deportation.
http://www.stirlingobserver.co.uk/stirling-news/2013/04/17/locals-fight-to-halt-mum-and-daughter-deportation-51226-33184693
Outraged parents have started a campaign to stop a seven-year-old Braehead girl and her mum being deported 7500 miles away to South America.
Millie Canales, who has lived in Scotland since she was a baby, faces being sent to Chile to live – even though she speaks no Spanish.
But parents at Braehead Primary School, where Millie is a pupil, have set up a Facebook page calling for a UK Border Agency U-turn. It has attracted more than 1100 names in the first day alone.
---
Campaign for Luqman Onikosi.
http://www.campaignforluqman.org.uk/
We are campaigning to ensure that Luqman Onikosi is granted leave to remain in the UK on medical grounds, so that he can access the treatment he needs to stay alive.
Over 1500 people have so far signed the petition to support Luqman's need to stay in the UK on medical grounds, and we know that there will be thousands of others who want to support Luqman. Please help us spread the word.
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/luqman%20onikosi
---
Website helps London mothers return to work.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22126540
---
Via Facebook :
Hello Everyone. For those in exile or doing the Singh route and wanting to make friends in their new community, this website could be really useful. The main purpose of the website is to offer free accommodation to travellers in the homes of local people, but I should stress that rather than being purely a way of saving money, the main focus is about cultural exchange, making friends and building communities. I haven't used the website for a while and it's not as user friendly as when I first used it (could be that Im having problems adapting rather than the fault of the site itself) If you have any questions let me know.
www.couchsurfing.org
---
The Scream.
http://iadnes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-scream.html
2013 is the 150th anniversary of Edvard Munch's birth, a number of cultural events with focus on his work has been arranged this year. As one of events, Scandinavian Tourist Broad asked a group of folk-art makers in the town of Nishi-aizu in Fukushima (Japan) to produce traditional dolls based on Munch's Scream as a reconstruction support.
---
La Nahuaterique: A village in limbo.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22206085
There are not many villages that are neither in one country nor another, but La Nahuaterique was one, until the border between El Salvador and Honduras was settled in 1992. But while it is now in Honduras on paper, the reality is rather different.
Marcos Argueta climbs to the highest point in the village. "Over there is El Salvador," he says, gesturing to a hazy blue volcano in the distance. "And over there, where the cornfields are, is Honduras."
Surinder Singh and family unity.
http://www.jcwi.org.uk/blog/2013/04/19/surinder-singh-and-family-unity
In her reckless pursuit of lower immigration to the UK, Theresa May put UK citizens and settled people in a far less privileged position than EU nationals living in the UK. The rule changes Ms May implemented last year also meant that UK citizens living in other EU countries had more rights than if they lived in the UK. But thanks to a certain Mr Singh, they not only have more rights elsewhere in Europe, but they can bring them back to the UK under certain conditions. On the blogs and in the facebook groups of people affected by the family immigration rules, Surinder Singh has become a buzz word.
Two pieces to follow -
Facebook support group for those considering this route : https://www.facebook.com/groups/477537505627291/
'Journey to Dublin' : http://www.scribd.com/doc/133697288/Journey-to-Dublin
---
Effect of detention on children.
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2013/04/19/effect-of-detention-on-children/
Immigration detention dehumanises not only the detainee but also every person who deals with it. It is a poison that infects us all. The professionals who deal with detainees and their families develop coping mechanisms. We convince ourselves that detention is necessary, that there is no alternative, that it is an inevitable part of the process, that the individuals affected deserve it, that they will get over it, that they are not like us and don’t feel family separation and deprivation of liberty in the same way that we would, that the kids are adaptable little things and won’t really notice. Most of all, we learn to dissociate. The effect of unknowably long immigration detention at the whim of unknown bureaucrats is simply too awful to contemplate for more than a short time.
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Locals fight to halt mum and daughter deportation.
http://www.stirlingobserver.co.uk/stirling-news/2013/04/17/locals-fight-to-halt-mum-and-daughter-deportation-51226-33184693
Outraged parents have started a campaign to stop a seven-year-old Braehead girl and her mum being deported 7500 miles away to South America.
Millie Canales, who has lived in Scotland since she was a baby, faces being sent to Chile to live – even though she speaks no Spanish.
But parents at Braehead Primary School, where Millie is a pupil, have set up a Facebook page calling for a UK Border Agency U-turn. It has attracted more than 1100 names in the first day alone.
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Campaign for Luqman Onikosi.
http://www.campaignforluqman.org.uk/
We are campaigning to ensure that Luqman Onikosi is granted leave to remain in the UK on medical grounds, so that he can access the treatment he needs to stay alive.
Over 1500 people have so far signed the petition to support Luqman's need to stay in the UK on medical grounds, and we know that there will be thousands of others who want to support Luqman. Please help us spread the word.
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/luqman%20onikosi
---
Website helps London mothers return to work.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22126540
---
Via Facebook :
Hello Everyone. For those in exile or doing the Singh route and wanting to make friends in their new community, this website could be really useful. The main purpose of the website is to offer free accommodation to travellers in the homes of local people, but I should stress that rather than being purely a way of saving money, the main focus is about cultural exchange, making friends and building communities. I haven't used the website for a while and it's not as user friendly as when I first used it (could be that Im having problems adapting rather than the fault of the site itself) If you have any questions let me know.
www.couchsurfing.org
---
The Scream.
http://iadnes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-scream.html
2013 is the 150th anniversary of Edvard Munch's birth, a number of cultural events with focus on his work has been arranged this year. As one of events, Scandinavian Tourist Broad asked a group of folk-art makers in the town of Nishi-aizu in Fukushima (Japan) to produce traditional dolls based on Munch's Scream as a reconstruction support.
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La Nahuaterique: A village in limbo.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22206085
There are not many villages that are neither in one country nor another, but La Nahuaterique was one, until the border between El Salvador and Honduras was settled in 1992. But while it is now in Honduras on paper, the reality is rather different.
Marcos Argueta climbs to the highest point in the village. "Over there is El Salvador," he says, gesturing to a hazy blue volcano in the distance. "And over there, where the cornfields are, is Honduras."
Thursday, 18 April 2013
Sharon & Salah
“UKBA need to understand that behind all they do to keep our borders safe, are REAL families – British citizens suffering as a result of ‘rules’ supposedly in place to protect us. ”
Sharon is a British citizen living in Wales, where she met her now husband, Salah.
Sharon and Salah had a very happy life together, with Sharon’s daughter taking to Salah immediately. Legal advice they received indicated a spouse visa should be applied from Salah’s country of origin, so the family went to Egypt in September 2011 from where they put in the application along with the multitude of documents required – bank statements, payslips, English language certificate. All the documents had been certified by their solicitor.
In January 2012 they heard back from UKBA, alas, with a refusal. The reason being that the rules had been changed so the English test that Salah had passed was no longer on the “approved list”. The British embassy confirmed the other documents were fine.
So Salah re-took the test, passed again and they submitted the application a week before the dreaded rules came in, in July 2012. Yet again, 3-4 months later they received a response from UKBA, with yet another refusal. The reason for refusal this time was mystifying.
UKBA indicated that Salah had been arrested and deported (not true), and that he only came to UK for money (he didn’t, but this is not relevant any way – UK workers don’t tend to work for free). The advice Sharon and Salah received was that they should go and exercise their rights in another EU country.
Fine in principle, but Sharon was aware that UKBA knew – from documents submitted, that this route wasn’t possible for her given the rights the birth father of her daughter has.
Sharon and Salah have now been living apart for a year with the stress of the situation affecting them. What our government doesn’t seem to understand is that enforcing separation is difficult at the best of times, the uncertainty that comes with not knowing when this separation will end is what causes physical and mental issues, leading to relationships and marriages falling apart.
Indeed, Sharon and Salah are not giving up. They appealed the second refusal, with the British Embassy in Egypt required to respond by 3rd April 2013. Court of Appeals however indicated that the embassy did not respond and therefore now this couple is required to go to court – so another 2 months apart before there is any sort of progress.
The money they have spent is significant – the two visa applications, legal fees, expenses for Sharon to travel to Egypt...
UKBA need to understand that behind all the paperwork they do to keep our borders safe, are REAL families – British citizens suffering as a result of "rules" supposedly in place to protect us.
More stories like this : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stories
“UKBA need to understand that behind all they do to keep our borders safe, are REAL families – British citizens suffering as a result of ‘rules’ supposedly in place to protect us. ”
Sharon is a British citizen living in Wales, where she met her now husband, Salah.
Sharon and Salah had a very happy life together, with Sharon’s daughter taking to Salah immediately. Legal advice they received indicated a spouse visa should be applied from Salah’s country of origin, so the family went to Egypt in September 2011 from where they put in the application along with the multitude of documents required – bank statements, payslips, English language certificate. All the documents had been certified by their solicitor.
In January 2012 they heard back from UKBA, alas, with a refusal. The reason being that the rules had been changed so the English test that Salah had passed was no longer on the “approved list”. The British embassy confirmed the other documents were fine.
So Salah re-took the test, passed again and they submitted the application a week before the dreaded rules came in, in July 2012. Yet again, 3-4 months later they received a response from UKBA, with yet another refusal. The reason for refusal this time was mystifying.
UKBA indicated that Salah had been arrested and deported (not true), and that he only came to UK for money (he didn’t, but this is not relevant any way – UK workers don’t tend to work for free). The advice Sharon and Salah received was that they should go and exercise their rights in another EU country.
Fine in principle, but Sharon was aware that UKBA knew – from documents submitted, that this route wasn’t possible for her given the rights the birth father of her daughter has.
Sharon and Salah have now been living apart for a year with the stress of the situation affecting them. What our government doesn’t seem to understand is that enforcing separation is difficult at the best of times, the uncertainty that comes with not knowing when this separation will end is what causes physical and mental issues, leading to relationships and marriages falling apart.
Indeed, Sharon and Salah are not giving up. They appealed the second refusal, with the British Embassy in Egypt required to respond by 3rd April 2013. Court of Appeals however indicated that the embassy did not respond and therefore now this couple is required to go to court – so another 2 months apart before there is any sort of progress.
The money they have spent is significant – the two visa applications, legal fees, expenses for Sharon to travel to Egypt...
UKBA need to understand that behind all the paperwork they do to keep our borders safe, are REAL families – British citizens suffering as a result of "rules" supposedly in place to protect us.
More stories like this : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stories
Links
http://www.meetup.com/BritCits/ meetup #2 was very nice, in a pub in London. Please do feel free to sign up and meet up!
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MSP and MP unite to fight deportation of Stirling family.
Bruce Crawford, MSP for the Stirling constituency, has criticised the United Kingdom Borders Agency (UKBA) over their plans to deport two of his constituents to Chile.
Francisca and Millie Canales have lived in Scotland since Millie was a baby having previously lived in the south of England where Millie was born.
http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-news/in-brief/7197-msp-and-mp-unite-to-fight-deportation-of-stirling-family
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Manchester: migrant city.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2007/10/03/031007_migrant_history_manchester_feature.shtml
---
Why are so many adults adopted in Japan?
http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/04/economist-explains-why-adults-adopted-japan
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrant of the day :
Jessica Emmett,photographer & conceptual artist born in HK to Vietnamese refugee, adopted by Brits
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Emmett
---
This summer (2013), the Home Office will carry out a re-tendering exercise for approved secure English language test providers.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsarticles/2013/april/27-selt-procure
http://www.meetup.com/BritCits/ meetup #2 was very nice, in a pub in London. Please do feel free to sign up and meet up!
---
MSP and MP unite to fight deportation of Stirling family.
Bruce Crawford, MSP for the Stirling constituency, has criticised the United Kingdom Borders Agency (UKBA) over their plans to deport two of his constituents to Chile.
Francisca and Millie Canales have lived in Scotland since Millie was a baby having previously lived in the south of England where Millie was born.
http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-news/in-brief/7197-msp-and-mp-unite-to-fight-deportation-of-stirling-family
---
Manchester: migrant city.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2007/10/03/031007_migrant_history_manchester_feature.shtml
---
Why are so many adults adopted in Japan?
http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/04/economist-explains-why-adults-adopted-japan
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrant of the day :
Jessica Emmett,photographer & conceptual artist born in HK to Vietnamese refugee, adopted by Brits
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Emmett
---
This summer (2013), the Home Office will carry out a re-tendering exercise for approved secure English language test providers.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsarticles/2013/april/27-selt-procure
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
Visa requirements by nationality
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Visa_requirements_by_nationality
Wikipedia has kindly provided maps where citizens of each country can see which places they can visit visa-free.
This could be a useful resource for anyone planning to meet their overseas partner or family for a holiday, anywhere in the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Visa_requirements_by_nationality
Wikipedia has kindly provided maps where citizens of each country can see which places they can visit visa-free.
This could be a useful resource for anyone planning to meet their overseas partner or family for a holiday, anywhere in the world.
Not a high number
In 2012, 0.48% of cases against the UK succeeded before the European Court of Human Rights. Interesting fact sheet from Strasbourg on UK cases.
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2013/04/16/european-court-of-human-rights-fact-sheet/
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrant of the day :
Jun Tanaka,US-born British-Japanese chef on @Channel4's "Cooking It" & @SaturdayKitchen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jun_Tanaka_%28chef%29
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Duncan Smith's secret samurai past.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2001/sep/03/conservatives.uk
---
Interesting piece on foreign residents in Japan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Japan#Immigration
---
Knifeman ordered Bristol women to take off hijabs.
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Knifeman-ordered-Bristol-women-hijabs/story-18717677-detail/story.html#axzz2QezOHriB
https://twitter.com/bengidley tweets :
And grim reminder of pandemic Islamophobia, from Bristol: "Take the hijab off...before I stab you. This is England"
---
https://twitter.com/richmondbridge tweets :
Cake decorator resigns from Border Force job in v appropriate way https://twitter.com/ee_stu/status/324061598295670784/photo/1
---
https://twitter.com/Hannah_J_Lewis tweets :
Take 2m to watch this excellent short https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MOrFvV4MhY
Challenge #deportation of 18yr old to unknown country http://freeraulally.wordpress.com
---
https://twitter.com/eurocrat tweets :
French emigration to UK is proof that Britain is booming; Bulgarian emigration is proof that UK is a “soft-touch” http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/alex-massie/2013/02/the-myth-of-the-immigrant-benefit-scrounger/
---
https://twitter.com/AlexandraKE tweets :
5 million people displaced in and out of #Syria. That's basically the population of Norway. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/opinion/global/a-un-appeal-to-save-syria.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1&
In 2012, 0.48% of cases against the UK succeeded before the European Court of Human Rights. Interesting fact sheet from Strasbourg on UK cases.
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2013/04/16/european-court-of-human-rights-fact-sheet/
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrant of the day :
Jun Tanaka,US-born British-Japanese chef on @Channel4's "Cooking It" & @SaturdayKitchen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jun_Tanaka_%28chef%29
---
Duncan Smith's secret samurai past.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2001/sep/03/conservatives.uk
---
Interesting piece on foreign residents in Japan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Japan#Immigration
---
Knifeman ordered Bristol women to take off hijabs.
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Knifeman-ordered-Bristol-women-hijabs/story-18717677-detail/story.html#axzz2QezOHriB
https://twitter.com/bengidley tweets :
And grim reminder of pandemic Islamophobia, from Bristol: "Take the hijab off...before I stab you. This is England"
---
https://twitter.com/richmondbridge tweets :
Cake decorator resigns from Border Force job in v appropriate way https://twitter.com/ee_stu/status/324061598295670784/photo/1
---
https://twitter.com/Hannah_J_Lewis tweets :
Take 2m to watch this excellent short https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MOrFvV4MhY
Challenge #deportation of 18yr old to unknown country http://freeraulally.wordpress.com
---
https://twitter.com/eurocrat tweets :
French emigration to UK is proof that Britain is booming; Bulgarian emigration is proof that UK is a “soft-touch” http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/alex-massie/2013/02/the-myth-of-the-immigrant-benefit-scrounger/
---
https://twitter.com/AlexandraKE tweets :
5 million people displaced in and out of #Syria. That's basically the population of Norway. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/opinion/global/a-un-appeal-to-save-syria.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1&
Unfair, unjust and inhuman.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/unfair-unjust-and-inhuman-1832677
SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Millie Canales, who has lived in Scotland since she was a baby, faces deportation after her Chilean mother's leave to remain in the UK ran out.
IMMIGRATION is a fraught issue for voters and politicians which all too often degenerates into a shouting match based on prejudice and fear.
But when it is boiled down to what becomes of a seven-year-old girl and the fate of an unborn child, the heat must be extinguished with a cold anger for justice...
More : http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/plight-scots-girl-pregnant-mum-1832967
Facebook support group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/147515488760221/
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/unfair-unjust-and-inhuman-1832677
SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Millie Canales, who has lived in Scotland since she was a baby, faces deportation after her Chilean mother's leave to remain in the UK ran out.
IMMIGRATION is a fraught issue for voters and politicians which all too often degenerates into a shouting match based on prejudice and fear.
But when it is boiled down to what becomes of a seven-year-old girl and the fate of an unborn child, the heat must be extinguished with a cold anger for justice...
More : http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/plight-scots-girl-pregnant-mum-1832967
Facebook support group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/147515488760221/
Sharon & Wade
“Living with my husband and my English family is proving to be an impossible dream..”
Sharon is a British citizen and married for over 4 years now to Wade, an American. Sharon and Wade are both in their 50s.
Sharon returned to her home in the Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, with the intention that Wade would follow her after spending one last Christmas with his family in the US. Sharon set up a home for them and was successful in obtaining a job. Wade also had a job lined up for himself.
However, months later, Sharon is now in the UK, living alone on antidepressants for the first time in her life. She is an emotional wreck, having been told she needs to be earning £18,600 per year for at least six months, before UKBA will consider Sharon’s husband joining her.
She cannot see how she will ever be able to earn that amount of money on her own, especially now with her own health in a poor condition meaning she is going to be unlikely to work the several jobs it would take for her to earn that much. Wade was going to come visit her, and cheer her up; however his visitor’s visa was rejected on the grounds that he hadn’t provided "sufficient proof that he had reason to return to the States".
They have put in a second application (also at some cost), with supporting letters from his boss, family, bank statements, letter from Sharon inviting him here.
The couple is now praying this time he will be allowed to visit his wife!!! Given their expenses and need to save, Wade can only afford to stay two weeks but even that is better than not seeing each other at all.
Sharon is not well. Some days she just wants to crawl into a corner and die with the hopelessness of it all. She returned home to be with her family and to make a home here with her husband, but is finding it is increasingly an impossible dream.
“Living with my husband and my English family is proving to be an impossible dream..”
Sharon is a British citizen and married for over 4 years now to Wade, an American. Sharon and Wade are both in their 50s.
Sharon returned to her home in the Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, with the intention that Wade would follow her after spending one last Christmas with his family in the US. Sharon set up a home for them and was successful in obtaining a job. Wade also had a job lined up for himself.
However, months later, Sharon is now in the UK, living alone on antidepressants for the first time in her life. She is an emotional wreck, having been told she needs to be earning £18,600 per year for at least six months, before UKBA will consider Sharon’s husband joining her.
She cannot see how she will ever be able to earn that amount of money on her own, especially now with her own health in a poor condition meaning she is going to be unlikely to work the several jobs it would take for her to earn that much. Wade was going to come visit her, and cheer her up; however his visitor’s visa was rejected on the grounds that he hadn’t provided "sufficient proof that he had reason to return to the States".
They have put in a second application (also at some cost), with supporting letters from his boss, family, bank statements, letter from Sharon inviting him here.
The couple is now praying this time he will be allowed to visit his wife!!! Given their expenses and need to save, Wade can only afford to stay two weeks but even that is better than not seeing each other at all.
Sharon is not well. Some days she just wants to crawl into a corner and die with the hopelessness of it all. She returned home to be with her family and to make a home here with her husband, but is finding it is increasingly an impossible dream.
Sharon and Wade
Wade and Sharon's mum
John & Hayley
“As a British citizen, my country wants me to earn the right to live with my family..”
John is a British citizen born & raised in Edgware, now residing in Texas, USA. John has been living with Hayley, an American, since June 2009. They both agreed that their long term plans involved moving to England and raising their children here.
They married in August 2011 and welcomed their beautiful son, Ryan, a year later. Now they thought the time was right to move to England, wishing Ryan to be close to his 17 year old half sister, cousins, aunt and uncle who all live here. They want their son to have as good an education as possible, with English schools consistently ranked higher than their American counterparts. Indeed, they perceive English schools to be safer as well.
Hayley has been working for four years at an investment bank, as an associate level supervisor. It is possible she could obtain a transfer to the corporate office in London if there were no visa issues.
John is a labourer. He has 10 years experience working for Royal Mail in a job he enjoyed and hopes to return to it but positions that meet the minimum wage requirements for a partner visa do not come easily. Neither Hayley nor John are eyeing our streets paved with gold.
Hayley is the higher wage earner in their family, earning about $10,000 more per year than John. They are aware it will likely be the same in England. She enjoys her work, and is very good at it. She is confident that she will be able to support the family if she were allowed to become a member of our community.
The way the rules currently stand it seems that this couple has three choices.
a) Raise Ryan in America, while saving to meet the financial criteria - a process that will take years.
b) Risk everything and enter England on a visitor visa while John applies for a job satisfying the income criteria, then leave the country in order to apply for a spouse visa. Risky and costly.
c) Break up the family up for at least 15 months - Hayley remains in Texas working and raising Ryan on her own. John works 2 jobs to meet the wage requirements, after a year they would again be in the position of hoping and praying our application would be approved.
Ryan is 6 months old. Right now John works evenings and Hayley works during the day. They share childminding duties around their jobs. Neither can imagine the pain it would cause John to miss Ryan’s first steps and first words because the land where John was born, the only place he has ever called home, wants him to earn the right to raise his family there.
More stories like this : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stories
“As a British citizen, my country wants me to earn the right to live with my family..”
John is a British citizen born & raised in Edgware, now residing in Texas, USA. John has been living with Hayley, an American, since June 2009. They both agreed that their long term plans involved moving to England and raising their children here.
They married in August 2011 and welcomed their beautiful son, Ryan, a year later. Now they thought the time was right to move to England, wishing Ryan to be close to his 17 year old half sister, cousins, aunt and uncle who all live here. They want their son to have as good an education as possible, with English schools consistently ranked higher than their American counterparts. Indeed, they perceive English schools to be safer as well.
Hayley has been working for four years at an investment bank, as an associate level supervisor. It is possible she could obtain a transfer to the corporate office in London if there were no visa issues.
John is a labourer. He has 10 years experience working for Royal Mail in a job he enjoyed and hopes to return to it but positions that meet the minimum wage requirements for a partner visa do not come easily. Neither Hayley nor John are eyeing our streets paved with gold.
Hayley is the higher wage earner in their family, earning about $10,000 more per year than John. They are aware it will likely be the same in England. She enjoys her work, and is very good at it. She is confident that she will be able to support the family if she were allowed to become a member of our community.
The way the rules currently stand it seems that this couple has three choices.
a) Raise Ryan in America, while saving to meet the financial criteria - a process that will take years.
b) Risk everything and enter England on a visitor visa while John applies for a job satisfying the income criteria, then leave the country in order to apply for a spouse visa. Risky and costly.
c) Break up the family up for at least 15 months - Hayley remains in Texas working and raising Ryan on her own. John works 2 jobs to meet the wage requirements, after a year they would again be in the position of hoping and praying our application would be approved.
Ryan is 6 months old. Right now John works evenings and Hayley works during the day. They share childminding duties around their jobs. Neither can imagine the pain it would cause John to miss Ryan’s first steps and first words because the land where John was born, the only place he has ever called home, wants him to earn the right to raise his family there.
More stories like this : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stories
Monday, 15 April 2013
Today's links
BritCits mini-meetup in Westminster this Wednesday. Feel free to say hi!
http://www.meetup.com/BritCits/events/111117702/
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Dispatches | Immigration undercover.
Immigration remains at the top of the political agenda, with reports that tens of thousands of files sit uncleared in the system and there remains a large backlog of immigration cases not dealt with. Morland Sanders investigates whether Britain's immigration system is fit for purpose.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/4od#3508771
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Scottish schoolgirl faces new life of poverty in Chile earthquake zone as mum is deported.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/plight-scots-girl-pregnant-mum-1832967
---
https://twitter.com/freemvntblog tweets :
Pre-entry English tests for migrant spouses upheld by Court of Appeal as proportionate interference with human rights
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2013/04/15/pre-entry-english-language-tests-for-spousespartners-the-court-of-appelas-jugdment-is-out/
Majority decide Eng language test case on Wednesbury basis, minority on proportionality basis. V different outcomes.
---
https://twitter.com/emmabmoussa tweets :
Dear Easyjet please stop sending me emails, i am well aware i have not flown for a year, Please forward to UKBA the ones with my passport.
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/driss
---
https://twitter.com/MandaKasravi tweets :
I'm a scottish citizen affected you will find my story here
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/alexis-and-miad-alexis-and-miad-are.html
---
https://twitter.com/chickamora tweets :
#Premiere of Into the Fire: Monday, 29 April, 6:30pm @SOAS with https://twitter.com/JCWInews
Join the event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/160498170781797/
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Home away from home - the Somalis of Bute Street, Cardiff.
Amidst all the coverage of contemporary migration to Britain, it is easy to forget the older generations of immigrants from across the world who have settled here and made Britain their
home.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rvnws
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Labour is drifting into an immigration debate which it cannot win because it is framed by the right.
The Tories, desperately seeking a diversion from their failing austerity program, have launched a new set of economic policies to isolate and scapegoat immigrants.
The proposals are part of a new bidding war with UKIP, who are driving the same bandwagon with their ‘end open-door immigration’ message...
http://www.nextgenerationlabour.org/2013/04/an-immigration-debate-labour-cannot-win/
Challenge the Tory scapegoating of immigrants :
https://www.facebook.com/events/447096222043263/
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrant of the day :
George Bernard Shaw,Irish playwright,co-founder of univer LSE @LSEnews Lived 44yrs in Hertfordshire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw
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TUC General Secretary speaks out for migrant workers.
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2013/tuc-general-secretary-speaks-out-migrant-workers
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Scottish Tourism Minister challenges UK government on new immigration procedures at ports.
http://www.theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2013/04/tourism-minister-challenges-uk-government-on-new-immigration-procedures-at-ports/
---
https://twitter.com/jamestplunkett tweets :
Important piece on the inaccurate use of statistics. Vital that ministers are called out for this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/15/conservative-claims-about-benefits-not-spin
---
https://twitter.com/heindehaas tweets :
U.S. immigration law: Decades of debate - Very useful timeline |
http://timelines.latimes.com/immigration-reform/
---
https://twitter.com/RefugeeAction tweets :
Shocking and powerful #Syrian #refugee photos by @gilesduley:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2013/apr/13/disabled-syrian-refugees-giles-duley#/?picture=407135942&index=10
---
https://twitter.com/heindehaas tweets :
Contrary to popular belief, international #migration has not accelerated over the past decades, new IMI study shows
http://www.imi.ox.ac.uk/publications/imi-working-papers/wp-68-2013-the-globalisation-of-migration
---
https://twitter.com/patelsmie tweets :
No. One. Is. Illegal.
http://www.migranttales.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Kuvankaappaus-2013-4-14-kello-15.06.28.png
---
Is there an alternative to locking up migrants in the UK?
http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/jerome-phelps/is-there-alternative-to-locking-up-migrants-in-uk
---
UK considers offshore asylum camps
http://www.skynews.com.au/world/article.aspx?id=863778
---
What Danish TV ignores.
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/blog/danish-tv-killing-borgen-cell/
---
Did France’s national railway ban black and Arab Workers from greeting Israeli President Peres?
http://www.ibtimes.com/did-frances-national-railway-ban-black-arab-workers-greeting-israeli-president-peres-1193063
BritCits mini-meetup in Westminster this Wednesday. Feel free to say hi!
http://www.meetup.com/BritCits/events/111117702/
---
Dispatches | Immigration undercover.
Immigration remains at the top of the political agenda, with reports that tens of thousands of files sit uncleared in the system and there remains a large backlog of immigration cases not dealt with. Morland Sanders investigates whether Britain's immigration system is fit for purpose.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/4od#3508771
---
Scottish schoolgirl faces new life of poverty in Chile earthquake zone as mum is deported.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/plight-scots-girl-pregnant-mum-1832967
---
https://twitter.com/freemvntblog tweets :
Pre-entry English tests for migrant spouses upheld by Court of Appeal as proportionate interference with human rights
http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2013/04/15/pre-entry-english-language-tests-for-spousespartners-the-court-of-appelas-jugdment-is-out/
Majority decide Eng language test case on Wednesbury basis, minority on proportionality basis. V different outcomes.
---
https://twitter.com/emmabmoussa tweets :
Dear Easyjet please stop sending me emails, i am well aware i have not flown for a year, Please forward to UKBA the ones with my passport.
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/driss
---
https://twitter.com/MandaKasravi tweets :
I'm a scottish citizen affected you will find my story here
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/alexis-and-miad-alexis-and-miad-are.html
---
https://twitter.com/chickamora tweets :
#Premiere of Into the Fire: Monday, 29 April, 6:30pm @SOAS with https://twitter.com/JCWInews
Join the event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/160498170781797/
---
Home away from home - the Somalis of Bute Street, Cardiff.
Amidst all the coverage of contemporary migration to Britain, it is easy to forget the older generations of immigrants from across the world who have settled here and made Britain their
home.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rvnws
---
Labour is drifting into an immigration debate which it cannot win because it is framed by the right.
The Tories, desperately seeking a diversion from their failing austerity program, have launched a new set of economic policies to isolate and scapegoat immigrants.
The proposals are part of a new bidding war with UKIP, who are driving the same bandwagon with their ‘end open-door immigration’ message...
http://www.nextgenerationlabour.org/2013/04/an-immigration-debate-labour-cannot-win/
Challenge the Tory scapegoating of immigrants :
https://www.facebook.com/events/447096222043263/
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrant of the day :
George Bernard Shaw,Irish playwright,co-founder of univer LSE @LSEnews Lived 44yrs in Hertfordshire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw
---
TUC General Secretary speaks out for migrant workers.
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2013/tuc-general-secretary-speaks-out-migrant-workers
---
Scottish Tourism Minister challenges UK government on new immigration procedures at ports.
http://www.theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2013/04/tourism-minister-challenges-uk-government-on-new-immigration-procedures-at-ports/
---
https://twitter.com/jamestplunkett tweets :
Important piece on the inaccurate use of statistics. Vital that ministers are called out for this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/15/conservative-claims-about-benefits-not-spin
---
https://twitter.com/heindehaas tweets :
U.S. immigration law: Decades of debate - Very useful timeline |
http://timelines.latimes.com/immigration-reform/
---
https://twitter.com/RefugeeAction tweets :
Shocking and powerful #Syrian #refugee photos by @gilesduley:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2013/apr/13/disabled-syrian-refugees-giles-duley#/?picture=407135942&index=10
---
https://twitter.com/heindehaas tweets :
Contrary to popular belief, international #migration has not accelerated over the past decades, new IMI study shows
http://www.imi.ox.ac.uk/publications/imi-working-papers/wp-68-2013-the-globalisation-of-migration
---
https://twitter.com/patelsmie tweets :
No. One. Is. Illegal.
http://www.migranttales.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Kuvankaappaus-2013-4-14-kello-15.06.28.png
---
Is there an alternative to locking up migrants in the UK?
http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/jerome-phelps/is-there-alternative-to-locking-up-migrants-in-uk
---
UK considers offshore asylum camps
http://www.skynews.com.au/world/article.aspx?id=863778
---
What Danish TV ignores.
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/blog/danish-tv-killing-borgen-cell/
---
Did France’s national railway ban black and Arab Workers from greeting Israeli President Peres?
http://www.ibtimes.com/did-frances-national-railway-ban-black-arab-workers-greeting-israeli-president-peres-1193063
Katie - an update
An update to Katie's story, from Katie - previously posted here : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/katie-what-married-couple-wants-to.html
'MY UPDATE is as follows:
My husband is coming to the end of his 6 month UK visit visa and will return to South Africa on the 1st May.
I am absolutely dreading saying goodbye to him as we will not know how long it may be until we see each other again. We are going to be celebrating our Birthdays apart and other family events which seems so unfair.
We do realise how fortunate we have been, even that Cliff was granted the Visit visa in the first instance.
Thankfully, I began a new job on the 1st April which satisfies the £18,600 salary requirement so we must just wait for me to be employed for 6 months and collate all of the required documentation before applying for the Spousal Visa around September/October time.
We are trying to be optimistic that the rules may change following the court hearings and are still thankful that up until now we haven't spent any time apart for the past 3 and a half years, we do feel so desperately for so many families that have been torn apart so cruelly.
We are continually grateful for the work BritCits is doing towards the campaign and appreciate all of the hard work being done.'
An update to Katie's story, from Katie - previously posted here : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/katie-what-married-couple-wants-to.html
'MY UPDATE is as follows:
My husband is coming to the end of his 6 month UK visit visa and will return to South Africa on the 1st May.
I am absolutely dreading saying goodbye to him as we will not know how long it may be until we see each other again. We are going to be celebrating our Birthdays apart and other family events which seems so unfair.
We do realise how fortunate we have been, even that Cliff was granted the Visit visa in the first instance.
Thankfully, I began a new job on the 1st April which satisfies the £18,600 salary requirement so we must just wait for me to be employed for 6 months and collate all of the required documentation before applying for the Spousal Visa around September/October time.
We are trying to be optimistic that the rules may change following the court hearings and are still thankful that up until now we haven't spent any time apart for the past 3 and a half years, we do feel so desperately for so many families that have been torn apart so cruelly.
We are continually grateful for the work BritCits is doing towards the campaign and appreciate all of the hard work being done.'
Sunday, 14 April 2013
Sunday evening
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrant of the day :
#Immigrant of day: Woon Wing Yip OBE,Chinese-born Brit entrepreneur, known for #Birmingham Wing Yip supermarket chain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woon_Wing_Yip
---
https://twitter.com/emmabmoussa tweets :
Poor hubbie trying everything 2 find out when UKBA will get bk 2 him hate watching it! Can't imagine not seeing my mum for a year
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/driss
---
Asylum seeker death investigated by Home Office amid healthcare concerns.
http://m.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/14/asylum-seeker-death-investigated
---
‘Deep injustice’ as wife faces giving birth alone.
http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/wandsworthnews/10346339.___Deep_injustice____as_wife_faces_giving_birth_alone/
http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/theresa-may-don-t-force-me-to-give-birth-without-my-husband
https://twitter.com/BaileyYamamoto
---
https://twitter.com/khuram_mjaved tweets :
#ARelationshipIsOverWhen The girl finds out she has to pass an English test before she can get a visa.
---
Skype Mummy :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhHpaq4KBxY&feature=youtu.be
---
'Into the Fire' premiere.
https://www.facebook.com/events/160498170781797/?fref=ts
A hard hitting documentary which shows the plight of refugees and migrants in recession hit Athens, Into The Fire is a film with a difference.
Greece is in crisis. But the economic crisis is not the only one. An asylum crisis has gripped the country at this time of severe austerity. And it hits the most vulnerable: Refugees, including minors, who have left everything behind fleeing their countries to find safety.
In Greece, they are left destitute and on the streets, unable to apply for asylum and threatened by escalating racist attacks. Trapped in Greece, they have one message for Europe and the rest of the world: Let us leave!
Screening followed by discussion with filmmakers and Habib Rahman from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. Chaired by Sham Qayyum, SOAS.
http://intothefire.org/
http://www.soas.ac.uk/
http://www.jcwi.org.uk/
http://reelnews.co.uk/
---
Another mainstream media outlet has dropped the term “illegal immigrant.”
USA Today said in a memo published by Romanesko Wednesday that it would no longer use the controversial term, following the steps of the Associated Press, which revised its style guide this month.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/usa-today-illegal-immigrant_n_3062479.html
---
Tory plan for asylum seeker offshore camps.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/4887078/Offshore-camp-for-migrants.html
---
Saudi Arabia continues construction of anti-immigration border fence along border with Yemen.
http://www.arabnews.com/news/447882
---
https://twitter.com/BabarBloch tweets :
Another boat tragedy: 58 Afghan refugees missing after boat sinks off Indonesia
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-04/13/c_132305994.htm
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrant of the day :
#Immigrant of day: Woon Wing Yip OBE,Chinese-born Brit entrepreneur, known for #Birmingham Wing Yip supermarket chain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woon_Wing_Yip
---
https://twitter.com/emmabmoussa tweets :
Poor hubbie trying everything 2 find out when UKBA will get bk 2 him hate watching it! Can't imagine not seeing my mum for a year
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/driss
---
Asylum seeker death investigated by Home Office amid healthcare concerns.
http://m.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/14/asylum-seeker-death-investigated
---
‘Deep injustice’ as wife faces giving birth alone.
http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/wandsworthnews/10346339.___Deep_injustice____as_wife_faces_giving_birth_alone/
http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/theresa-may-don-t-force-me-to-give-birth-without-my-husband
https://twitter.com/BaileyYamamoto
---
https://twitter.com/khuram_mjaved tweets :
#ARelationshipIsOverWhen The girl finds out she has to pass an English test before she can get a visa.
---
Skype Mummy :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhHpaq4KBxY&feature=youtu.be
---
'Into the Fire' premiere.
https://www.facebook.com/events/160498170781797/?fref=ts
A hard hitting documentary which shows the plight of refugees and migrants in recession hit Athens, Into The Fire is a film with a difference.
Greece is in crisis. But the economic crisis is not the only one. An asylum crisis has gripped the country at this time of severe austerity. And it hits the most vulnerable: Refugees, including minors, who have left everything behind fleeing their countries to find safety.
In Greece, they are left destitute and on the streets, unable to apply for asylum and threatened by escalating racist attacks. Trapped in Greece, they have one message for Europe and the rest of the world: Let us leave!
Screening followed by discussion with filmmakers and Habib Rahman from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. Chaired by Sham Qayyum, SOAS.
http://intothefire.org/
http://www.soas.ac.uk/
http://www.jcwi.org.uk/
http://reelnews.co.uk/
---
Another mainstream media outlet has dropped the term “illegal immigrant.”
USA Today said in a memo published by Romanesko Wednesday that it would no longer use the controversial term, following the steps of the Associated Press, which revised its style guide this month.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/usa-today-illegal-immigrant_n_3062479.html
---
Tory plan for asylum seeker offshore camps.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/4887078/Offshore-camp-for-migrants.html
---
Saudi Arabia continues construction of anti-immigration border fence along border with Yemen.
http://www.arabnews.com/news/447882
---
https://twitter.com/BabarBloch tweets :
Another boat tragedy: 58 Afghan refugees missing after boat sinks off Indonesia
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-04/13/c_132305994.htm
Saturday, 13 April 2013
Via mail
Someone affected by the rules writes :
I broke up with my girlfriend last week. It was purely due to the distance and the uncertainty about her being able to come here. I wanted to fight for her, but the mental toll on me was just getting too much and I need a clear mind to be able to get through my studies.
The whole thing is very sad and I just feel a great sense of injustice but also powerlessness.
A young couple who met at university, broken up by the stress of the rules. Shameful, and wicked.
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stories
Someone affected by the rules writes :
I broke up with my girlfriend last week. It was purely due to the distance and the uncertainty about her being able to come here. I wanted to fight for her, but the mental toll on me was just getting too much and I need a clear mind to be able to get through my studies.
The whole thing is very sad and I just feel a great sense of injustice but also powerlessness.
A young couple who met at university, broken up by the stress of the rules. Shameful, and wicked.
http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stories
'Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts'
https://twitter.com/MigObs remains, as always, a source of reliable, accurate information about migration, despite unfounded attacks
http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/commentary/migration-observatory-independent-and-evidence-based
Today the Daily Mail – a British tabloid newspaper – features an attack on the independence of the Migration Observatory. This attack is unfounded.
The Observatory is, and will remain, committed to independent analysis of data relating to immigration and other migration issues affecting the UK. Through this approach we have earned a reputation as a leading independent source of data and analysis on migration issues in the UK. Our work has been referenced by politicians from all parties in the House of Commons and in news stories in outlets of all political persuasions – including the Daily Mail.
...
It has been said that everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts. This clichéd observation is particularly important in an area as inflammatory and polarising as migration. To have a high-quality public debate about policy, it is essential that all participants have access to reliable factual information, as well as an understanding of the limitations of the evidence base. The Migration Observatory, with our rigorous independence and access to world-leading researchers at the University of Oxford, has begun to play a key role in this regard, providing accurate information to participants in the debate across the political spectrum.
Independence: What it means to us :
http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/independence-what-it-means-us
https://twitter.com/ASIRT1 tweets :
Daily Mail concerned about "cynical" attempts to influence public opinion on migration. Irony is dead.
Facts have a way of undermining propaganda.
The Mail, and other rabble-rousing press, have contributed in no small way to dividing these families: http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stories .
Time to turn the spotlight around.
---
http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.co.uk/ is a fantastic site.
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrant of the day :
Ernie Els,pro golfer grew up in Johannesburg. Now lives in Surrey with wife & 2 kids
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Els
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits tweets :
Under current #immigration rules,UK would've missed out on Tagore, whose bust is in Shakespeare's garden in Stratford
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore
---
https://twitter.com/BaileyYamamoto tweets :
Woohoo! Over 5,000 signatures in a week Thank you! Please sign & share - let's get these unjust rules overturned!
http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/theresa-may-don-t-force-me-to-give-birth-without-my-husband
https://twitter.com/MigObs remains, as always, a source of reliable, accurate information about migration, despite unfounded attacks
http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/commentary/migration-observatory-independent-and-evidence-based
Today the Daily Mail – a British tabloid newspaper – features an attack on the independence of the Migration Observatory. This attack is unfounded.
The Observatory is, and will remain, committed to independent analysis of data relating to immigration and other migration issues affecting the UK. Through this approach we have earned a reputation as a leading independent source of data and analysis on migration issues in the UK. Our work has been referenced by politicians from all parties in the House of Commons and in news stories in outlets of all political persuasions – including the Daily Mail.
...
It has been said that everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts. This clichéd observation is particularly important in an area as inflammatory and polarising as migration. To have a high-quality public debate about policy, it is essential that all participants have access to reliable factual information, as well as an understanding of the limitations of the evidence base. The Migration Observatory, with our rigorous independence and access to world-leading researchers at the University of Oxford, has begun to play a key role in this regard, providing accurate information to participants in the debate across the political spectrum.
Independence: What it means to us :
http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/independence-what-it-means-us
https://twitter.com/ASIRT1 tweets :
Daily Mail concerned about "cynical" attempts to influence public opinion on migration. Irony is dead.
Facts have a way of undermining propaganda.
The Mail, and other rabble-rousing press, have contributed in no small way to dividing these families: http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/stories .
Time to turn the spotlight around.
---
http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.co.uk/ is a fantastic site.
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits immigrant of the day :
Ernie Els,pro golfer grew up in Johannesburg. Now lives in Surrey with wife & 2 kids
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Els
---
https://twitter.com/BritCits tweets :
Under current #immigration rules,UK would've missed out on Tagore, whose bust is in Shakespeare's garden in Stratford
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore
---
https://twitter.com/BaileyYamamoto tweets :
Woohoo! Over 5,000 signatures in a week Thank you! Please sign & share - let's get these unjust rules overturned!
http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/theresa-may-don-t-force-me-to-give-birth-without-my-husband
Friday, 12 April 2013
This is not good news
From a friend on Facebook :
Well my son and daughter in law have called it a day, they are both not happy, and although they feel that they might be able to resolve their issues if they were allowed to be together, as they are not nothing can be done...
I wish everyone here the best possible outcome. I urge you all to find solutions to re-unite your families before it is too late, as long term separation isn't good for anyone.
I'm gutted, and I know others are too.
There is nothing clever about the way the government is breaking up good families and good relationships, and the human toll this is creating.
As Lord Avebury wrote to the government regarding another case of someone affected by the rules ( http://www.scribd.com/doc/132520722/Avebury-to-Harper ):
You may have succeeded in reducing the immigration numbers by a fewhundred by making it so difficult to get family reunification visas, but I hope you realise the enormous personal cost of this ‘achievement’.
From a friend on Facebook :
Well my son and daughter in law have called it a day, they are both not happy, and although they feel that they might be able to resolve their issues if they were allowed to be together, as they are not nothing can be done...
I wish everyone here the best possible outcome. I urge you all to find solutions to re-unite your families before it is too late, as long term separation isn't good for anyone.
I'm gutted, and I know others are too.
There is nothing clever about the way the government is breaking up good families and good relationships, and the human toll this is creating.
As Lord Avebury wrote to the government regarding another case of someone affected by the rules ( http://www.scribd.com/doc/132520722/Avebury-to-Harper ):
You may have succeeded in reducing the immigration numbers by a fewhundred by making it so difficult to get family reunification visas, but I hope you realise the enormous personal cost of this ‘achievement’.
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