United Kingdom

Debating the foundations for the new mainstream consensus on migration policy

Date: 22/01/2013 - 08:36

The IPPR paper argues that under the Labour government the absence of clear objectives for immigration policy made effective policy-making very difficult. On the other hand the coalition government’s net migration target has somewhat successfully filled this space with a clear and easy to communicate objective, but one that IPPR thinks produces bad policies.

The voices of seasonal and migrant workers in rural areas

Date: 17/12/2012 - 11:50

In celebration of International Migrant’s Day  on Tuesday 18th December 2012, the Rural Media Company is making available on-line  a suite of 18 short films called Migrant Stories produced with migrants in Herefordshire.

UK: Even tighter controls won't fix our broken immigration system

Date: 14/11/2012 - 10:13

The news today that immigration backlogs are, in the opinion of the Home Affairs Select Committee, "spiralling out of control" will seem alarming to the large body of public opinion who had expected the coalition government to get some order into the management of migration.

UK: Workers who collected Freedom Food chickens 'were trafficked and beaten'

Date: 31/10/2012 - 15:32

There are strict rules covering the conditions for chickens and eggs marketed in the happy hen category by high street names – a Freedom Food chicken must be grabbed by both legs rather than just one when being caught, for example. But the conditions of the humans sent to catch them has had less attention.

Rethinking integration

Date: 12/10/2012 - 13:22

In academia, most work on integration has focused on supposed conflicts of values between minority communities and western liberalism, and the difficulties that these conflicts create for social life in European countries. Many of these debates have moved from academia into policy discourse, stemming from such events as the French headscarf controversy and the security implications of radicalisation and extremism.

Housing and Migration: A UK guide to issues and solutions practice guide

Date: 04/07/2012 - 07:51

A comprehensive guide to migration aimed at housing providers and everyone concerned with housing needs and relationships between new migrants and longer-term residents in local areas. It shares the findings, knowledge and solutions identified by the Housing and Migration Network. It provides national context but its narrative and solutions are predominantly rooted in neighbourhoods.

Briefing on Government changes to the family migration rules

Date: 25/06/2012 - 17:15

MRN is concerned that the new rules will prevent many thousands of people from exercising their right to a family life in the UK. They will introduce additional hurdles and costs for people, particularly lower earners, who are either British or who are settled here and wish close family members to join them in the UK. As a result, the rules are likely to further undermine the integration of some migrant communities, and to be viewed more widely as unfair as their impacts on both migrants and British people are realised.

Experiences of forced labour in the UK food industry

Date: 22/05/2012 - 07:39

Research into experiences of forced labour/exploitation was conducted with migrant workers in the food industry across England and Scotland. A deeper understanding of the circumstances under which forced labour/exploitation occur and how it is organised is now available.

Drawing on in-depth interviews with 62 migrant workers (mainly Polish, Chinese, Latvian and Lithuanian) across five locations (London, Liverpool, South-West England, Lincolnshire and East - Central Scotland), the study:

Abuses still exist in Olympic supply chains

Date: 08/05/2012 - 14:11

Workers making Olympic sportswear for London 2012 for top brands and high street names including adidas and Next are being paid poverty wages, forced to work excessive overtime and threatened with instant dismissal if they complain about working conditions, according to a new report from the Play Fair 2012 campaign published today (Monday).

Building a British Model of Integration in an Era of Immigration: Policy Lessons for Government

Date: 03/05/2012 - 10:09

Despite experiencing large-scale immigration flows and settlement over the past half century, the United Kingdom has not developed a formal integration program. Few public policies have specifically sought to advance immigrant integration, and the political debates surrounding immigrant integration have often been fraught and destabilizing, reflecting deep-seated ambivalence in British society about immigrants and immigration. The authors offer a menu of policy options and actions the government should consider to achieve a well-thought-out approach.

December 18 is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

Financial support for operational costs and projects are occasionally provided by a range of funders.

December 18 is the International Resource Centre on the Human Rights of Migrants. Interested in becoming a volunteer, click here.