ࡱ> \^[` Cbjbjss .\;XXXX4,"^""""""""""""""$#h%d="""="""R"!!!N"""!"!!!" FVXm !"h"0"!T& .T&!T&!l"!0"""="="!""""d TT CAMPAIGN UPDATE NO. 1 Dear Supporter, Youre receiving this email because youve expressed interest in the Citizen Organising Foundations Strangers into Citizens campaign for a one-off regularisation of migrants who have made new lives in the UK. (If you want to be taken off the distribution list, please let me know.) A CAMPAIGN WITH MANY LAUNCHES The campaign was officially launched on 16 November last year, with endorsements from the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Mayor of London as well as the enthusiastic support of the 40-odd member organisations of TELCO, the East London chapter of the Citizen Organising Foundation. Since then, the campaign has been building alliances and networks of supporters, and has been picked up as a story by the Guardian and the BBC as well as various websites. The Guardian, rather confusingly, said the campaign was being launched in the New Year, which led to a call from the BBC wanting to do a story. BBC LONDON Last Friday, the campaign was a story in the BBC London TV news at lunchtime and at 6.30pm, and was one of the subjects of discussion on the Kath and Eddie Drivetime show on BBC Radio London that afternoon. You can watch the 6.30pm TV news story by going to  HYPERLINK "http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/06/03/tvnews.shtml" www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/06/03/tvnews.shtml and clicking on last Friday. Its the third story in. The story included an interview with two irregular migrants: an African refugee whose asylum application had been rejected, the other a South American who is working as a manager in a restaurant chain. Both told very different stories of what it is like to have made England your new home, but to live in the dark. Back in the studio, I debated the issue with Sir Andrew Green, chairman of MigrationWatch, who pressed the usual fear buttons. An amnesty, he said, would lead to 2 million people coming to the UK to claim benefits. BBC London invited viewers to call in to vote in favour or against the campaign. More than 8,000 did. The result was 78% against, 28% in favour. I didnt think that result was too bad. Given most peoples assumptions on this issue fed by an alarmist tabloid press and ignorance to start with more than a quarter in favour doesnt seem bad. Our campaign aims to bring that closer to 50% within a few months, thereby creating the political space for an incoming administration to act. A MOTION IN THE LORDS The crossbench peer Lord Hylton, who runs the Ammerdown Centre near Bath, included Strangers into Citizens in the motion he presented in the House of Lords on 14 December 2006. The whole motion is well worth reading -  HYPERLINK "http://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2006-12-14a.1667.1" www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2006-12-14a.1667.1 as an indictment of the human consequences of current immigration and asylum practices. He concludes: I therefore sympathise strongly with the campaign Strangers into Citizens. The Government should examine the campaign's proposal that rejected asylum applicants and a whole range of other illegal residents should be allowed to remainsubject, of course, to strict conditions. To benefit, they must have been here for five years continuously and have no criminal record. Overstayers now living precariously and not paying taxes would be thus regularised and protected from exploitation. After a further two years of good behaviour, they should be able to become full citizens. THE GUARDIAN Before Christmas, the Guardian did a major feature on the campaign. Madeleine Buntings comment piece on 18 December 2006 which contains a moving profile of an Iraqi irregular migrant was a brilliant way to announce the campaign to the wider world, and is well worth reading, as are the comments which follow it: ( HYPERLINK "http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1974424,00.html" http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1974424,00.html). Bunting met Nehad through his friend Patsy ONeill, a Birmingham Citizens member who has been involved in the campaign from the start. Nehad had already shared his story with us, and we knew that it was the story which told all the other stories of people forced to live in the darkness in modern Britain. Buntings piece, which was headlined A modern-day slavery is flourishing in Britain, and we just avert our eyes ended with a reference to the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in 1807. What makes the Strangers into Citizens campaign so challenging is that it is forcing us to acknowledge that its modern-day version is flourishing, she wrote. People like Nehad may have some freedom of movement, but in reality, every detail of their daily lives is sharply circumscribed by fear. He bitterly knows that though he is 34, he has no chance of marriage, children, a home, a decent job, or a life worth living. He is just waiting - without any hope that the wait will end. The Guardians piece came out just a day after a major feature in the Observer portrayed the Catholic Church in Britain as being transformed by migrants and their needs. The campaign was mentioned, along with COFs other campaigns such as the Living Wage. GATHERING STORIES The priority of the campaign right now is gathering stories of irregulars who have made new lives in the UK. Thank you to all who have already sent in some; thank you to all of those who are planning to send in stories by 5 February, which can be shared at our meeting on 10 February. This is a campaign which aims to show the British people that irregular migrants deserve to be given status because they make a vital contribution to our national economy and life yet are deprived of the basic rights of citizens. William, for example who agreed to appear on the BBC just a day after I met him in a Soho bar told me a story which illustrates the kinds of people who are living in the shadows. ___________________________________________________________________ William has done well. Since he left his native South-American country five years ago, arriving in the UK with what he calls a fake transit visa, the 25-year-old has been many things: a cleaner in a hotel, a barista in a coffee chain, and is now a manager in a well-known restaurant chain. I never stopped working since I came here, he says in good, if accented, English. I came here because of a dream: to give my mother a big house and to make something of myself. Through sheer hard work and diligence, he has realised that dream. Mama back in Colombia now has a house: something respectable, unlike the one-roomed shack William was brought up in after his father left home. William doesnt like the idea of people who can work living on benefits. He thinks Italians and Spaniards are very lazy. There was this Italian guy I lived with, he says. One day he says hes going to take a break from working, and he goes on benefit and spends his time smoking marijuana. I was really shocked by that, you know? If you are lucky to be in a country where you can work and earn, how can you live off others? Its not fair on tax payers, he says. William should know: he pays 350 a month in taxes. He has paid taxes and NI contributions ever since he arrived here. I wish I could ask the Government: why dont you try to make things more just? Give benefits to those who really need them, not to some young Italian guy who just wants to smoke dope. William shakes his head in incomprehension. He sounds very English, complaining about people who abuse the system, and praising graft and hard work. In fact, if you didnt know better, you would assume William was living here legally. In fact he has a Spaniards identity, and his national insurance number, which a few years ago he bought for 400. And he has that Spaniards name, Pedro. But hes tired of living under someone elses name. You know recently I said to my boss: please, can you call me William? I prefer to be called William. He said: why do you want to be called William? Your name is Pedro. I said I just preferred to be called William. So now he does, and that feels better. At least I get called by my real name. One of the hardest things about being irregular is not being able to travel. It is very hard seeing EasyJet flights to European destinations he has never seen and cannot see as long as he chooses to remain in England. And not being able to travel means being unable to see his family. He hasnt seen his family in six years. He knows that if he returns to see his mother, he will end his existence in England, the country he considers his home. And then there is the difficulty that he cannot be registered with a GP. If he gets ill, he has go to A & E where no one asks questions. He has not been exploited by English people here, only by foreigners. When he worked as a cleaner, he was paid the minimum wage. He has always been happy with what he has earned. And from the beginning he has wanted to get on in life, go to university, make something of himself. He wont go back. Three of his cousins have been killed in Colombia in political violence. That means William is vulnerable too, if he goes back. But why should he go back? He has made a new life in England, has a job and friends here. He loves England. But he keeps to himself, because he is afraid of drawing attention to himself. He leads a furtive life, working hard but not going out too much. He dreams of being a citizen one day. I also recently met Liam, a South-African who arrived in the UK on a holiday visa but who stayed on when he started work in a technology company. Like William, he has done well. And like William, he lives with fear and the sadness of not being able to see his mother and his sister, to whom he is very close. One thing that plays on my mind every night is, what if something happens to my mum or my sister? If I get a call tomorrow saying my mum is in hospital, what do I do? If I go back, then I terminate my life here and it would feel like a terrible failure. But of course, if she was seriously ill then I would I would just go back. But my mum knows that I cant come back unless it is serious. If I were regular, I would take a month to go back and be with her, and then come back, knowing I could fly back out if her situation deterioriated. But in my situation, you have to weigh the consequences. I have to think about whats best for all of us. Liam sends his mother money, which enables her to have a better life. Theres no way I could support her in the same way if I went back. Liam gets emotional when he says, Its horrible, but I would have to know that she was terminally ill or had died for me to go back. I ask him if his mum and sister are supportive of him remaining in the UK. My mum and my sister realise that England has been good for me, that Ive done well here. My mum has said many times that if the stress and the panic get too much then I should come back. But they know that to me would seem like failure. Like other irregulars, Liam has become paranoid. I feel nervous travelling on the tube, walking down the street, being involved in a situation where I would be asked for my papers. He knows that immigration officials come early in the morning. If the postman comes too early, I panic, he says. _______________________________________________________ In many ways, the story of William and Liam are very different from Nehads in the Guardian. They didnt come through the asylum system, and have spent years earning and paying taxes. Yet like Nehad, they live in fear and uncertainty, confined to a limbo, not wanting to leave a country they have made their own yet with no way to see their families again, and living in fear of authorities. It is important that we hear the stories of people who want to work and to pay taxes, and to be citizens. Migrants - whether legal or illegal, asylum-seekers or economic migrants are young, skilled, educated at other countries expense, ambitious, and either work very hard or want to. They do not subtract from Britain, but add to it. We should be proud to have them as citizens. Please keep the stories coming email them to me by 5 February. Give your interviewee a false name, and if necessary disguise or dont mention anything which would give away their identities. TELLING STORIES We are already getting many requests from journalists to share some of these stories. The story-telling campaign, which began spectacularly in the Guardian and has continued with the BBC, will gather pace in February and March. We will collect the stories which best illustrate the shadow life of long-term migrants in the UK, and publish them in various forms. In this way, we will explode the myths which prevent the Government from putting through a regularisation law. BUILDING ALLIANCES We are also busy building support from many different sectors. So far, the Green Party has pledged its support, as well as a number of MPs. Policemen, nurses, teachers, businesspeople all have seen the consequences of illegality at first hand, are pledging their support. If you have testimonies from people sympathetic to the campaign especially people such as the above please put me in touch with them. And if you know of an organisation (maybe yours, or one you know) who would be willing to declare its public support for Strangers into Citizens, please let me know. CAMPAIGN MATERIALS Another priority right now are materials that will get us better known not least brochures, as well as a website. We hope to have both up and running by the end of February. In the meantime, we are making do with various A4 documents the campaign proposal and a 2-page summary of it, as well as alternative drafts aimed at particular audiences. I will be sending out the latest versions of these shortly. TWO VITAL DATES On 20 March we will hold a large assembly in Birmingham, at which we will demonstrate the breadth of support for Strangers into Citizens from many different sectors business, health, trade unions, schools, etc. On 7 May a bank holiday we will be organising a demonstration of popular support for regularisation in London, as well as elsewhere. Please keep the second date, especially, in mind and let your friends and colleagues know. SET READING It is well worth reading Philippe Legrain in yesterdays Guardian reproduced at  HYPERLINK "http://www.philippelegrain.com/legrain/2007/01/dont_believe_th.html" www.philippelegrain.com/legrain/2007/01/dont_believe_th.html. Legrain has just produced a book, Immigrants: your country needs them, which is the best account yet published of the benefit of migrants to a countrys society and economy. For anyone interested in the wider politics of immigration, this is vital reading. Also on his site  HYPERLINK "http://www.philippelegrain.com" www.philippelegrain.com youll see other articles by him, as well as TV clips of his debates with Andrew Green (who else?) and others on various TV shows. Legrain has been in touch with us to signal his support for regularisation. Happy campaigning! 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