The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) have published a new report, co-authored with PILC, "Unequal Impacts: How UK immigration law and policy affected migrants' experiences of the Covid pandemic.
The report is based on case studies of JCWI's clients, and explores migrants' access to justice, Home Office applications, state support, healthcare, and the asylum accommodation system, as well as immigration enforcement.
Throughout the report, JCWI highlight how the government’s anti-migrant approach exposed migrants to increased risk from Covid-19 and undermined public health efforts.
Key findings:
Covid-19 and the Government’s handling of the crisis have further weakened an already-broken immigration & asylum system
The immigration system, including Hostile Environment policies, have exacerbated the impact of Covid-19 on migrants and undermined public health efforts
Migrant communities, particularly those with insecure immigration status, have been disproportionately impacted by Covid-19
Changes brought in by the Home Secretary during the pandemic mark the start of a wider set of sweeping changes to the immigration & asylum system
JCWI call on the chair of the upcoming Covid-19 Inquiry to include the voices of all migrants (including those who are undocumented) and to consider the role Hostile Environment policies played in shaping migrants' experiences of the pandemic.
They also recommend a new, simplified route to regularisation for undocumented people, scrapping NRPF and NHS charging & data sharing, reinstating real access to justice for migrants through legal aid and expanded appeal rights, and an end to inhumane detention and removals.
