Following the publication of our Slow Violence report last year, and as part of a coalition of organisations across Greater Manchester working on asylum and immigration issues who have signed onto a document of expectations for MPs across our region, for the last several months we have been attending a series of meetings with local MPs.
Along with colleagues from GMIAU (Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit), Right to Remain, Asylum Matters and others, we have taken the opportunity to meet with MPs, including those newly elected, to share more about the work that we do and the challenges we face as a sector. We have also shared our criticisms of government policies (including the forthcoming Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill and the recent announcement to prevent refugees who have arrived in the UK by irregular means from becoming British citizens), and vocalised our deep concerns about the language and rhetoric being used to describe and talk about people seeking asylum.
Collectively we’ve engaged with 20 of the 27 Greater Manchester MPs and their staff. While these meetings have led to some important, robust conversations about how the asylum sector can be reformed for the better, they have – in some instances – led to other helpful forms of action, too. For example, having raised with one MP our concerns about refugees who entered the UK through irregular means from becoming British citizens, we were asked to write a letter to the Home Secretary outlining our concerns more fully, which was then expedited via the MP on our behalf to the Home Secretary.
It is clear from our meetings with MPs across Greater Manchester that there is a respect for the work that our sector does to support people seeking asylum and those with refugee status. It is also clear that many Labour MPs are also personally concerned and, at times, horrified by the language and rhetoric being used, sometimes by the Labour Government itself, to frame issues relating to asylum and immigration.
Our meetings have re-emphasised the importance for us in establishing and developing dialogue with people in positions of power to effect change both locally and nationally. We have, as a result of these conversations, been able to better equip MPs and their caseworkers as they work to support constituents, and perhaps better understand ourselves some of the nuances of issues impacting constituencies.
For Boaz, as a local charity, we increasingly recognise the importance and value of local, place-based advocacy and engagement efforts. While we still consider ourselves as having a part to play in advocating for national change, our work in recent years, for example that of our GMCA-funded Refugee Homelessness Prevention Project and our Restricted Eligibility Support Service, has taught us that our specialism and expertise can help us to effect change regionally – both in terms of service delivery and related advocacy (we’ll be talking about this more in the coming months when we publish our Refugee Homelessness Prevention Project advocacy report).
We will therefore continue to build relationships with MPs across Greater Manchester, as well as with local authorities and those who hold power regionally. You can read more about our advocacy work via the button below.
