I imagine a world where migrants are treated with humanity, compassion and fairness

My name is Chloe and I am a Senior Caseworker at Praxis. I provide immigration advice to migrants and refugees who have become street homeless, to enable them to access their rights and find sustainable routes out of destitution and street homelessness. This Refugee Week 2020, I imagine a world where migrants and refugees are not dehumanised by talk of “swarms”, are not used in political point scoring, or subjected to a “hostile environment”, but instead are treated with humanity, compassion and fairness. I imagine a world in which people who have migrated through choice or force are welcomed and appreciated for their contribution so that they can thrive.

“In my work at Praxis, I have seen hundreds of cases with one element in common: people are forced into homelessness and destitution by harsh, hostile and unjust immigration policies. ”

In my work at Praxis, I have seen hundreds of cases with one element in common: people are forced into homelessness and destitution by harsh, hostile and unjust immigration policies. The 2016 Immigration Act extended the reach of border control into schools, hospitals, banks, work and homes. In practice this means that people, such as letting agents and employers, who do not have the training, skills or expertise are left to enforce immigration law and determine who has the discriminatory ‘right to rent’ or ‘right to work’. Many are denied free access to the NHS and this too is enforced by people without the right skills or expertise to make these decisions. This harsh and hostile environment means people are unable to work, rent a room, open a bank account, or access welfare support. As shown by the GLA CHAIN data, migrant homelessness has been rapidly growing – to the point that now about half of the homeless population in London are non-UK nationals. So I imagine a world very different to the one we live in today.

Sylvester Marshall, asked to pay £54,000 to access cancer treatment. Photo credit: Pal Hansen

I also imagine a world where the quality of asylum decisions made by the Home Office are properly considered in line with the requirements of the Refugee Convention. I have seen far too many situations where refugees have been wrongly and unlawfully refused protection and have then been forced into destitution and street homelessness.

The effects of the ‘hostile environment’ are not new and do not exclusively affect one group of people. They have been felt for years and the Windrush Scandal demonstrated that the hostile environment can impact anyone who does not have a British passport. I have supported increasing numbers of Commonwealth citizens hit hard by ‘hostile environment’ policies to prove their right to rent, work and access healthcare. One of them was Sylvester Marshall – his case attracted a lot of media attention and helped to bring the Government to account when he was asked to pay £54,000 to access cancer treatment, despite having lawfully lived in the UK since 1973. As the evidence of Black Britons being systematically detained, denied their rights and deported grew, this became known as the Windrush Scandal. The independent review into the Scandal, Windrush Lessons Learned released this year, concluded that the UK’s treatment of the Windrush generation, and approach to immigration more broadly, is caused by institutional failures to understand race and racism. I would encourage anyone reading this to watch “Sitting in Limbo” in order to start to develop an understanding of the impact of these policies and the seemingly impossible task many people face in order to resolve their situation.

George, made homeless by the Windrush Scandal, forced to live on the streets for five years. Photo credit: Pal Hansen

Today, as I write this blog, I know that Lessons have not been learned. Despite a public display of contrition for the peole impacted by the Windrush Scandal, I continue to see people forced into homelessness and destitution by the government’s policy and practice. The immigration system is extremely difficult to navigate. This, coupled with a chronic lack of immigration advice, legal aid and practical support leaves many people unable to resolve their situation and therefore unable to meet their basic needs. Every day in my job I see families struggling to feed themselves, people living on the streets or in shelters, their children growing up in abject destitution, suffering at a very young age because of the impact of the ‘hostile environment’.

Many people wait years to gain status and support, only to be granted a visa with the No Recourse to Public Funds condition attached to their leave. This prevents them from accessing public welfare, making it incredibly difficult to leave poverty and begin to rebuild their lives. In moments of crisis, like the one we face now with Covid-19, no public welfare means no safety net and the consequences have been severe. Praxis has supported hundreds of people who have to choose between their health and the public health and being able to feed and safely house their families. We have seen parents going without food to try to ensure their children eat and people facing homelessness and mounting debt.

All this pain unnecessary and cruel - it’s a direct result of the Home Office racist, discriminatory and ‘hostile’ policies. To bring about real change, we need a fundamental change in the way people who have migrated to the UK are viewed, and we need immigration policies which reflect that change.

We need to stop imposing ‘immigration enforcement’ responsibilities on people who are not appropriately trained to deal with those responsibilities. I imagine a world where people (and the Government) have a better and more humane and respectful understanding of what people who have migrated have gone through and the positives they bring with them. It is easy, doing the job that I do, to think that you have a good understanding of this, but the truth is, unless you have lived it you can’t really know what it is like. So this Refugee Week I will be reading “Nowhere Man” a book by Aleksandar Hemon in the hope that I can gain more insight in to this complicated part of life.