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NOTTINGHAM TALKS
On Saturday the 21 st of April 2018,
Immigration
Education
Nottingham
project hosted a very successful citizen
assembly on immigration which brought
together over 180 community members
and a series of leading UK experts to discuss and engage citizens across a series of central issues in the UK
immigration debate, including the nature of the UK immigration process, the socio-economic impact of UK
migration, and the state of integration under UK policy in 2018.
By Immigration Education Nottingham
The aim was to reclaim the public debate on
immigration in the UK, and to empower the local
community to start a better conversation about UK
immigration - a debate which regardless of opinion -
was conducted in a manner which is open, informed
and humanised in the post-Brexit period.
As Shannon the founder of Immigration education
Nottingham IEN said, “The event was not trying to respond
to the hostility that is embedded in the current national
conversation, and instead was trying to reclaim the debate
in our local community - initiating a more open, more
informed and more human conversation on these issues
which emphasized expert input, public discussion and
collective decision making for the purposes of creating
more unity rather than division on this issue”.
We will be sharing in this article, the summary of the
information and ideas of the three panel discussions
on the day. There will be a link at the end the article for
you to access the full resources.
DISCUSSION 1 - THE UK IMMIGRATION PROCESS
This panel aimed to paint a clearer picture of the UK’s
system of vetting and arrival for the public, for both
voluntary migration and asylum, looking at the UK
system’s strengths and shortfalls, and outlining where
we could move forward. Guest Speakers included
Mark Lilley-Tams who looked at voluntary (and mostly
family-based migration), and Sally McEwen who shed
some light about the asylum process in the UK.
The United has four Main Types of Migration: Managed,
EU, Family based and Refugees.
Managed Migration (Work and Study)
UK has a 5 tier points-based system of immigration very
similar to the Australian model favouring high skilled
and occupational shortage. The system was introduced
in 2008 and is the main UK immigration route for
migrants from outside the European Economic Area
(EEA) to come to the UK.
Eu migration
This is significantly easier because of free movement
(no visa required), but 2013 immigration bill means
have to earn a threshold income (£149/week in 2014)
and pay taxes before they can access NHS services in
the UK. Students studying in the UK have to pay £200
for NHS access and prove savings before arrival
Family migration:
This has minimum income requirements: You and
your partner must have a combined income of at least
£18,600 a year if you are applying as a partner or if you
want to settle in the UK (get ‘indefinite leave to remain’)
within 5 years. You must prove you have extra money
if you have children who are not British citizens, EEA
nationals, permanently settled. You will need to earn
an extra: £3,800 for your first child, £2,400 for each child
you have after your first child.
Refugees and Asylum seekers
Asylum Seeker- Someone who has left their country
of origin and formally applied for asylum/sanctuary
in another country but has not received a decision on
their application yet. Refugee - Someone who has been
granted status, usually indefinite leave to remain [5 years]
Majority of cases get rejected, with UK rate being
significantly less than European neighbours (32% in
2017, 29% in 2016) - with 41% of decisions overturned
by the courts in 2016.
Asylum seekers live in the UK on £36/week (£5/day) in
comparison to benefit allowance of £73 [single over
25] under UK welfare.
Final Statements and Actions
Positives in the current agenda
There is a system of judicial intervention, which
needs to be extended [e.g. New Asylum Model NAM}
rather than destroyed to protect peoples right in
misjudgements or mistakes made by the Home Office
(e.g. the high overturn rate of original decisions in the
appeal process of asylum cases)
Also, there is a clear pathway for seeking asylum and
definite institutional structure to build on.
Suggested Improvements to the current agenda
We need to tackle environmental and institutional
hostility (especially in the Home Office) towards those
coming to the UK: e.g. within Voluntary migration -
extortionate (and rising post-Brexit) application and
citizenship fees, and in Asylum - the setting in the UK
of a system which is incredibly complex and based
on detailed evidence and perceived credibility which
makes it very unlikely that you will gain asylum.