BritCits

The Last of England, and BritCits meetup!

BritCits meet up on Monday 1st April (no joke) in London. Please join us - email britcits@gmail.com for details. Kids welcome! ( https://twitter.com/britcits )

The BritCits meetup site is here : http://www.meetup.com/britcits/

There is potential for at least one more meetup in April, as well as an event around the People's Assembly in June ( http://www.coalitionofresistance.org.uk/2013/02/peoples-assembly-against-austerity-launched-in-the-guardian/ ). Stay tuned. 

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_England_(painting)

'The Last of England is an 1855 oil-on-panel painting by Ford Madox Brown depicting two emigrants leaving England to start a new life abroad.'

This does remind me of the situation many of those affected find themselves in. A literal exile of those forced to live abroad to be with their partners and families; and a psychological exile , a sense of rejection and isolation  from the country which gave us Brits life. No fair play here, nor any sense of the nation of family, of community.

We need to talk about citizens : http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/nando-sigona/uk-migration-policy-we-need-to-talk-about-citizens

For those who don't buy into inflated xenophobic rhetoric, it's a horrible feeling.

And yes, 'encouraging' emigration has been used as a tool of government policy before : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_history_of_Australia#Colonisation_and_settlement_by_Britain

 Hopefully of practical use -
Resources for those considering the European path to family unity : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/another-resource-for-those-considering.html 
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A husband has vowed to take the fight to stop his wife and child being forced to leave the country to the European Court of Human Rights.

Neil Deane, 29, who is living with his Filipino wife, Emily, and one-year-old daughter, Lucy, at his mother’s house in Seymour Road, Preston, has launched his appeal against her extradition.

He is appealing the UK Border Agency’s decision to throw his wife out over a visa mix-up and expects to find a decision within the next three weeks.

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/local/husband-vows-to-take-fight-to-euro-courts-1-5537296

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https://twitter.com/ncadc tweets :
Great news! Odette Sefuko, campaigner against sexual violence, released from imprisonment in UK detention centre
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2013/mar/28/anti-rape-campaigner-odette-sefuko-released-from-detention

Previously : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/todays-links-burnley-dad-wins-battle-to.html

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Coalition policies set people against each other.

http://www.jcwi.org.uk/blog/2013/03/28/coalition-policies-set-people-against-each-other

...That’s all she says about the immigration and visa service, nothing about family members planning to join their loved ones here, no word about students getting fair treatment, not a squeak about the renewal of Discretionary Leave to Remain which seems to us to be currently one of the slowest processes for a relatively straight forward decision. We would welcome a rise in the quality of decision making, but remain to be convinced as to how this will be achieved.

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'The government is forcing me out because I married a foreigner'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2300039/The-Government-forcing-I-married-foreigner-Husband-miss-birth-child-new-visa-rules.html

Businesswoman faces giving birth alone because her Japanese husband may have to leave the country under new visa rules.

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David Cameron’s pledge to “control” immigrants’ access to public services has been dealt a major blow after one of his closest European allies described the plans as “unfortunate”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/9958573/Close-David-Cameron-ally-calls-his-immigration-plans-unfortunate.html

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https://twitter.com/NaijaHistory tweets :
This letter in @thetimes shows the fallout of daft UK immigration policies as pointed out by @DAaronovitch @jdportes
https://twitter.com/NaijaHistory/status/317277181275406337/photo/1

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https://twitter.com/ncadc tweets :
NCADC news on deportation,protests for migrant justice across Europe,legal news & exciting events
http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=9175e7ebdf93b7e5581be2c51&id=93a0bc1e2f

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https://twitter.com/nandosigona tweets :
49% of Americans say #immigrants strengthen the US because of hard work & talents, up from 39% in 2010
http://www.people-press.org/2013/03/28/most-say-illegal-immigrants-should-be-allowed-to-stay-but-citizenship-is-more-divisive/

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The Intercultural Garden.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercultural_Garden

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No removals to Cyprus.

http://www.freemovement.org.uk/2013/03/28/no-removals-to-cyprus/

The Court of Appeal in the UK has very recently granted stays preventing the removal of asylum-seekers to Cyprus under Dublin II.

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