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The thing is once you have implicitly accepted that your immigration reforms are a horrible unprincipled mess that everyone hates, you cannot try and hold on to random bits of cruelty within them without looking very foolish. And everyone will still hate them. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The principle should be that people who've lived here long enough shouldn’t have to keep re-applying to stay every couple of years, especially given the eye-watering cost of applying. And they should be welcome to apply for citizenship, for which settlement is (currently) a legal prerequisite 3/

And you might also ask yourself why the Home Office might be threatening to abolish a tribunal in which it - staggeringly - fails to defend the majority of the negative decisions it makes.

Around 50%, maybe up to 60%, of asylum seekers whose claims initially fail but whose appeals are considered are successful. But you won’t learn that here⬇️, as the BBC is fully bought into the rightwing framing that the only relevant figure is how many people are in the backlog and/or live in hotels

I don't know where this narrative of "permanent" refugee status came from (right wing press), but it is wrong. The change is from a single grant of five years' leave followed by the ability to apply for settlement

💯 this

”Something ineffable endures”, yes the unchanging readiness of the Labour Party to throw migrants under a bus in the hope of political advancement

6/ Ultimately we need to reject the framing of Mahmood and the far right whose ideas she's adopting, that migration is bad and numbers need to be restricted.

5/ Numbers games are inherently debasing. We must do more to reduce the underlying causes of forced migration - no-one should have to flee their home in fear of their life or freedom. But if people do have to, it should be our pleasure & privilege to welcome them & help them rebuild their lives.

‼️The asylum changes the Home Secretary brought in today are cruel, unjust, and will only make it harder for people to put down roots and rebuild their lives in safety.

When immigration status has to be 'earned', exploitation becomes easier. Longer, conditional routes to settlement don’t just create insecurity; they give exploitative employers more power and silence survivors. Read more: www.atleu.org.uk/cases-news/e... #ModernSlavery #EarnedSettlement

On 28 Jan, @thetimes.com published an undercover investigation exposing an industry of middlemen charging illegal visa sponsorship fees for hundreds of fake jobs. This is financial exploitation, but the Home Office is failing to acknowledge this. www.atleu.org.uk/cases-news/s...

The proposed Earned Settlement framework is cruel and divisive. We urge the government to scrap the retrospective application of these proposals. Read our response here: www.atleu.org.uk/cases-news/e... #EarnedSettlement #ProtectSurvivors #EndTrafficking

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Powerful piece by @andreaegangs.bsky.social. Under the new 'earned settlement' proposals, migrant workers are being punished for policies that they don’t control, including low wages, which are only low because the government refuses to fund care work properly. See the issue here?

These words were absolutely appalling, and the Government was right to criticise them. But there’s an astonishing hypocrisy in condemning racist sentiments like these while building policy that actively reflects and encourages them. 🧵 1/4 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

“Across a whole range of policy areas, these proposals frustrate integration and manufacture segregation. Further, they are bound to increase feelings of alienation in some of the communities and families affected.”

The tried and tested policy of alienating support base whilst pandering to ppl who will never vote for you.. has worked wonders so far 🤦‍♀️

Straight out of the far right playbook, we know how it ends. Disgusting 😡

Creating a substantial class of people who may never be able to settle, or who only do so after half a lifetime, is in no-one’s interests, leaving people open to exploitation, disadvantage and insecurity and reducing social cohesion. If anything, settlement should be easier, not harder to obtain.

Join our brilliant team!

In case you missed it: Job Ad: ATLEU are recruiting a Community Lawyer (Immigration) | Free Movement

We're looking for an immigration lawyer to be our new Community Lawyer. This is a chance to bring about meaningful change with and for survivors of #trafficking and #ModernSlavery. www.atleu.org.uk/join-us

Hostile immigration policies silence survivors and empower traffickers. This system is clearly not working. We must see change. Survivors deserve a system that puts their needs at the heart of policymaking. Survivors must be protected not punished. #ProtectSurvivors #EndTrafficking

During the passage of every piece of new immigration legislation since the NABA 2022, those of us who work with survivors of trafficking have told the government again and again that they will cause greater harm to survivors and embolden traffickers. They ignored us. Now we’re seeing the proof.

Getting ILR means the difference between being able to change jobs freely, and being tied to one employer with ultimate control over your life. Doubling the wait for ILR means doubling the time in precarity. Here's how to speak out against the plans⬇️ www.workrightscentre.org/our-campaign...

The part of immigration that they do control, they strangle - squeezing the people who staff care homes, schools & hospitality. The part they don’t control - the boats - they REFUSE to do the one thing that would give them control - establishing regulated alternative routes🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

In the end, someone has to ask *why* people have been persuaded to be so terrified of immigration, when it has so many benefits and so few real downsides. Almost all of the claimed downsides are either lies or misinterpretations of statistics. Why would any sane country do this to itself?

Yet again, evidence shows that the government’s persecution of migrants is based on lies. The government must stop this performative cruelty against survivors of modern slavery: provide safe routes and safeguard those fleeing exploitation. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

No shit Sherlock

“For every inch yielded, there’s going to be another inch demanded. Where does it stop?”

“What we need is a competent and efficient refugee protection system that prioritises the health and wellbeing of people seeking safety and suitable housing for all who need it. This is what humanity looks like. This is what truly matters.“

We cannot allow toxic rhetoric to replace human rights. ATLEU will continue to fight for a system that protects survivors, upholds the law, and recognises the humanity of those seeking refuge. We urge the government to rethink its approach. #EndTrafficking #ATLEU

This is the cycle that fuels populist. It perpetuate policy failure while encouraging a narrative of scapegoating. The prime minister came to power promising to address it. Instead he now supports it.

The days of"Lite" are far behind us at this point. They're being cheered on by Reform, this was the goal it seems.. 🤦‍♀️

A dark, shameful day indeed. Absolutely unacceptable to treat people with such contempt and cruelty.

And it’s not immigration that has caused this. These problems AND the immigration crisis are the result of government inertia and slow and bad decision making, wasting money on unworkable policies and austerity policies.

100% this!

Her portrayal of asylum seekers doesn't just respond to the racist narratives of the Far Right: by othering asylum seekers as unworthy winners of riches, in implicit contrast to struggling families, Shabana Mahmood actively promotes and feeds those Far Right lies.

This is the politics of blackmail. The alternative is not a Reform government. The alternative is maintaining our international commitments to being a compassionate nation

The underlying idea is that a normal life, where you can feel safe, settled and plan for future, is a luxury that only some deserve. An awful slippery slope of inhumanity. Which of our rights will crumble next? I never want to hear anything about a 'proud history of blah blah blah' ever again. 🤦‍♀️😞

This vital new report sheds light on the horrific conditions in asylum hotels. While families live in crowded, mouldy hotel rooms and are served substandard food, private companies pocket millions. It’s time to end the use of asylum hotels and invest in communities.

(3) Long term leave is crucial to secure safety, rights and recovery. Yet, in 2024, just 4% of survivors received a grant of VTS leave. Without stable immigration status, non-British survivors experience constant fear and anxiety and are pushed into poverty and destitution.

@ATLEU, in partnership with Voice of Domestic Workers and Southeast and East Asian Centre, are launching a new paid training opportunity for two people with lived experience of human trafficking/modern slavery and migration. Sign up for our Mailing list www.atleu.org.uk/rise-and-lead#signup

Costs of asylum accomodation are down to firms making vast profits off of providing poor quality for people seeking safety and Home Office cruelty and ineptitude. It is not the fault of those forced into using them by a system which doesn't give them a choice. #r4today www.bbc.com/news/article...

Finally!!! The real scandal of the asylum hotels. Why, instead of shining the light on these parasites, months were spent on demonising vulnerable people at their mercy? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Once again, ideas which started on the maddest fringes of the far right are being normalised as the stuff of day-to-day political debate. Genuinely horrifying to think what might follow this into the mainstream by 2029

New from Free Movement: Briefing: is the modern slavery identification system in the UK being misused? | Sonia Lenegan

💯 this, the suggestion that people who spend years working full time in shortage occupations, paying extortionate visa & health surcharge fees on top of tax/NI somehow have not 'earned' the right to settle here and must now do extra hours of unpaid labour is beyond insulting on so many levels 😡