Hello everyone,

Following our recent newsletter, I wanted to send you an update about the political events that took place last week – including the government white paper, the Prime Minister’s ‘island of strangers’ speech, and more. 

Our solidarity with migrant communities is more urgent than ever. Together there is so much we can do.

Refugee Week is less than a month away, please help us raise awareness and funds so we can continue supporting those who come to our weekly drop in for immigration and welfare advice. 

Ways you can help:

 🥾 Sponsor our team for the London Legal Walk
 🎉 Get a ticket for our Community Celebration – we have some amazing local poets and DJ’s lined up for what promises to be an inspiring and fun event.  
 🧡 Join us, become a member. 
 📲 Follow us on Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook.

Together we can build a stronger community.

Please get in touch with ideas or how to get involved: [email protected]. We love hearing from you.

In solidarity,
Anne

WFMA News

We had our AGM last Sunday and elected three new trustees. Please join me in welcoming Peter Ashan, Helen Seacombe and Calee Valentine. We thanked our outgoing Chair, Norman Minter, and long standing Deputy Chair, Helen Taylor, for their invaluable contributions in overseeing a period of unprecedented sustainable growth. At the AGM we also heard from Clive Bower, our Treasurer, and our Support Centre Manager, Mel with her annual report, covering April 2024 – March 2025. 

Over that time, we had 859 contacts (in-person visits; telephone calls; texts and WhatsApp messages from a visitor) from 397 people from 72 nationalities. Half of all people who came to the centre for support were coming for the first, which indicates that we are becoming better known, but also the great need for the services we provide. 

We have continued to work with RAMFEL (the Refugee and Migrant Forum for Essex and London), who provide support with more complex immigration cases. 

This week, we are sad to say goodbye to Welcomestow, our free meals project at the drop in. Huge thank you to the amazing Stories & Supper team for the delicious food, the inspiration, and making Fridays extra special over the last few months. 

The Border Security, Immigration and Asylum Bill – and more.

Last week was a lot, and it took us time and energy to process the stream of anti-immigration news. From the white paper to the appalling ‘island of strangers’ speech to the Albania trip – every day the government brought fresh attacks against migrants, people seeking asylum and refugees.

First came the white paper, with its daunting title: “Restoring Control over the immigration System” – reminiscent of the Brexit “Take back control” slogan. While the white paper is not a legal document per se, it does set out the government’s plans on immigration. 

Interestingly, it was published to coincide with the Third Reading of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, although they aren’t the same thing. Unlike the Bill, which focuses on people who come to the UK to seek safety via routes the government deems ‘illegal’, the white paper zooms in on people who come here ‘legally’ to work, study or family reunion. There is also section on deportation and digitalisation.

These are some of the main headlines: 

  • Increased English language requirements for people coming to the UK on a visa or as dependants 
  • Longer periods of time in the UK before people can settle and apply for citizenship so that it becomes “the norm” for people to be on a ten-year route to settlement – instead of five 
  • A ban on people applying to come to the UK as care workers 
  • Restrictions on study visas 
  • A contributions-based model rewarding economic value and civic participation – and more.

So, basically, we are about the enter a new, alarming phase of the hostile environment, one with less access to safe routes and greater levels of repression. Free Movement provided in depth analyses, if you are interested in reading more about the contents of the white paper, the impact on students and workers, and the proposals for family routes, deportation and other areas. A word of warning – it’s bleak. 

Keir Starmer got it wrong – we’re NOT an ‘island of strangers’, we are a community!

While the white paper may not have attracted huge public attention in itself – Keir Starmer’s speech and press conference certainly did. Like you, we were shocked and angered to hear the racist, dehumanising, and inflammatory language used by the Prime Minister, echoing the far-right with his: “In a diverse nation like ours … we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.”

We couldn’t disagree more. Migrants are NOT strangers, they are our neighbours, family, friends and colleagues. They are our doctors, teachers, nurses and carers, and so much more. Importantly, they are our community.

We still remember the far-right violence that rocked our country last year, ignited by irresponsible political rhetoric fanning the flames of racism and islamophobia, and that could blow up again at any time.

The white paper is so far removed from migrants, people seeking asylum and refugees’s daily reality. After over a decade of hostile environment, we’ve seen the devastating impact of anti-immigration policies, and how they affect people’s lives and wellbeing. In fact, we see it every week at our drop in. People living below the poverty line, destitute, forced to sleep rough. 

By scapegoating migrants, people seeking asylum and refugees and legitimising far-right language, the government is making a dangerous political choice. Sowing the seeds of hatred, inequality and precarity is never without consequences and it is our job to speak out and to stand in solidarity with people seeking refuge in our community and everywhere. 

I recommend listening to journalist Gary Younge’s podcast ‘Over the Top, Under the Radar’ in which he makes some salient points about Keir Starmer’s speech and other related content.

We were not the only ones to respond locally, Cllr Grace Williams, leader of Waltham Forest council and her fellow co-chair of the Waltham Forest Borough of Sanctuary, Averil Pooten -Watan, who is also a fellow Waltham Forest Citizens colleague, sent a response to the Home Secretary, in support of people seeking sanctuary in Waltham Forest.


Meanwhile in Parliament …

Third Reading of the Border Security Bill also took place on Monday 12th May and partly overshadowed by the PM’s white paper speech. 

Walthamstow’s Labour MP, Stella Creasy, who made an intervention in the debate about ‘a workers’ justice visa’ (new clause 44) and the ‘good character guidance’ (new clause 45) – click to read (type Stella Creasy in the search or go to columns 114/115) or listen to her contribution.

Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, referred directly to the PM’s speech: “Migrants are being scapegoated for problems that they didn’t cause and to be truthful these arbitrary measures won’t fix those problems and they will harm migrants – people who need social care, our economy, anyone who fears racial abuse, which the rhetoric surrounding this emboldens. Why are we trying to ape Reform when that will do nothing to improve our constituents’ lives and just stoke more division?”

The Bill passed Third Reading (316 voted for and 95 against) and  is now making its way through the House of Lords. 


Return hubs – part 2

How we briefly rejoiced when the Rwanda Scheme was scrapped … then came the trip to Italy in September 2024 to begin discussions with Italy’s far-right PM. Last week, Keir Starmer visited  Albania and became the first British PM to visit Albania since the two countries established diplomatic relations, in 1921. The main objective of his trip was to set up of return migration hubs in Albania, to send people whose asylum claims have been rejected – but it didn’t go as planned. Albanian Prime Minster, Edi Rama, made clear he doesn’t support the idea. They already have a similar agreement in place with Italy, that is proving legally and politically challenging. 

Refugee Week: Community as a Superpower

📆 Refugee Week is nearly here! Lots of exciting events going on – too many to list here.

Some highlights include: