370,000 migrants on the dole. Really?

For those of you who’ve awoken to today’s misleading article by the Telegraph entitled ‘370,000 migrants on the dole‘, and the equally bad piece by by Chris Grayling, we thought we’d get out a quick post to try to clear up some of the poor reporting around this issue.

Dean Atta: Two Tongues are Better Than One

Dean Atta has recently gone viral online with his poem “I am Nobody’s Nigger” which was written and recorded in the light of the convictions of two of Stephen Lawrence’s murderers and is a tremendous response to the attempted appropriation of the offensive word in certain areas of today’s black youth culture. He wrote a poem about language and immigration from his own personal experience. We thought you might like to hear it, Dean is soemone we’d like to promte and gain a wider audience for. Migrant voices (even second generation ones) are what makes the UK such an amazing place to live in. As always with our guest bloggers, the views below are those of the author.

Challenging the Tier 4 Regime

At the recent meeting organised by Pupil’s Rights, and facilitated by JCWI, we were delighted to have been joined by barrister, Edward Nicholson from No. 5 Chambers. Whilst students spoke about the immigration and other problems they were encountering as a result of revocation of licences of their colleges, Edward spoke about his pending, and very interesting legal challenges on behalf of New London College – these have  implications for the lawfulness of the sponsorship regime.

Entry clearance fee waivers and Article 8 ECHR

The Queen on the application of SS v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWHC 3390 (Admin) (judgment here)

Facts

This was an interesting case that was somewhat eclipsed by the Chapti judgment when it came out back in December 11. In summary, this was a challenge by way of judicial review  to a decision to refuse to waive an entry clearance  fee for settlement purposes.

Students and the international education shambles

TASMAC's London campus closed with no refunds or assistance for its former students - the University continues to operater in India

Media coverage of ‘bogus’ colleges conflates the issue with ‘bogus’ students. The accepted establishment or mainstream media line is that, colleges are established purely to offer an immigration route to the UK and both parties (college and students) are obviously in on the plot from the start.

While these scams undoubtedly take place, the reality for many students is brutal and costly, with education being denied, and students being left vastly out of pocket. There are few, if any, articles in the mainstream media which recognise that students at closed international colleges are the victims of such events.

A tale of three reports: Unemployment and Immigration

This week is the tale of three reports of varying quality, all aimed at establishing whether or not there is a link between unemployment and immigration.

Legal Aid Bill update

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill is making its way through  the House of Lords. A good summary of the immigration story so far is here.

Yesterday, the Bill was debated for a second time in Committee. Further debates are scheduled to take place on the 16th,18th and 24th of this month. After completion of Committee stage, the Bill should move on to Report and Third reading.

Sir Michael Dummett

Sir Michael Dummett sadly passed away on 27 December 2011 at the age of 86. He was a professor of logic and philosophy at All Souls College, Oxford University and acknowledged as one of the greatest philosophers of the 20^th Century.

Michael Dummett was a staunch campaigner for racial justice and one of the key founders of JCWI and indeed chaired the founding meeting of JCWI in 1967 at the Dominion Theatre in Southall. He served as the chair of JCWI in 1970-71 and a trustee of the Immigrants Aid Trust, a partner charity of JCWI, from its inception in 1971 until his death.

Migration explained

We found this video online. Its general, its (at times) quite basic, but its very well made and very useful. It beats the usual festive fare of The Sound of Music and the Two Ronnies Xmas Special. Enjoy…

People who should know better

As the rightwing press and political establishment bust a collective blood vessel at yesterday’s ECJ’s ruling that EU Member States should not return asylum seekers back to the first EU Member State in which they seek asylum (in this case Greece) in cases where there is evidence of a systematic failure to respect fundamental human rights, the coverage and the spokespeople involved deserve a bit of examination.