Tag: migrant

Raid Resisted

Featured in Issue XXII – May 2022

On May 5th, immigration officers detained two men who worked at a restaurant in the centre of Edinburgh. By 9pm they had let them go, what happened?

Edinburgh Anti-Raids Network had previously set up a phonetree, WhatsApp group and social media accounts to alert people to potential immigration raids. At around 17.45 they did a call out, and by 19:30 the crowd surrounding the two immigration vans had grown to around 200. Legal observers advised the protesters not to talk to the cops and to wear masks, while they were also given bust cards and people wrote numbers for protest-specific legal advice on their arms. People also distributed food, water and masks to the crowd. Police were present but claimed “they did not have the power to disperse the crowds”. By 9pm the detainees were de-arrested and the immigration officers fled the scene with police protection, leaving their own vans behind!

This successful use of direct action, while not stifled by bureaucracy, was only possible because of prior organisation. Liverpool has its own Anti-Raids Network which you can contact at: liverpoolantiraids@protonmail.com

TUI Victory

Featured in Issue XX – March 2022

The travel agency TUI used to run the deportation flights for the Home Office. SOAS Detainee Support (SDS) coordinated a campaign against this with several other groups, which led to many protests being held outside TUI stores, including Liverpool, in August 2021. In the past 6 months TUI have not facilitated any further deportation flights, and back in September SDS heard rumours that they had pulled out of their agreement with the Home Office. SDS have concluded that their campaign was successful, although TUI have not released a public statement. The protest in Liverpool was not particularly large, yet, harming their public image by calling for a boycott seems to have secured its success.

TUI Boycott

Featured in Issue XV – September 2021

On the 28th of August, a crowd of around 70 gathered outside of TUI on Lord Street to hear speeches about the travel agent’s role in facilitating deportations. So far this year it is suspected that TUI has run 19 mass deportation flights on behalf of the Home Office, it is the main airline offering this service. In Liverpool the event was primarily organised through the initiative of Merseyside Youth For Justice, along with several migrant support groups. Liverpool was just one of at least 11 protests across the UK, from Sheffield to Manchester, calling for a boycott of TUI.

TUI can offer an unforgettable experience for every family, even those without cash or passports (the government will kindly step in to cover the over £13,000 bill). The flight of a lifetime might see you separated from your family and friends, killed for your sexuality (which you couldn’t prove here) or otherwise persecuted for holding a different opinion to your new regime about the existence of God, role of the state, or women’s rights. You can be sure that it will be a long time before you “discover your smile” again, that is unless you’re the CEO of TUI and pocketing 1.7 million euros a year.

After the speeches had finished, the police marched over to remove signs leaning against the store; when a young lad put them back he was aggressively hassled by them, particularly when he swore in passing, though luckily no one was arrested. You can always count on the police to protect family values, if not your freedom of speech to criticise corporations ruining the lives of families.

We understand that some people will think we can’t afford migrants, but it’s our view that we can’t afford the rich. TUI received almost 5 billion euros from Germany to avoid job cuts, and then sacked a third of their workers anyway! When we see corporations profiting from paying migrants poverty wages, our response shouldn’t be to try to get them deported for undercutting wages, but to stand with them to fight for better wages together. Afterall, it’s the bosses who are pushing down our wages, not migrants, and they will use any excuse to do so, from global competition to the pandemic. The only class that benefits from division and borders is the ruling class.

Signing Support

Featured in Issue XII – June 2021

Police released two men in Glasgow bound for deportation after a protester climbed under their van while hundreds of people surrounded it for 8 hours.

Worried about reporting at the Home Office? Liverpool Migrant Solidarity Network offers phone based signing support, and support in making a detention action plan. You can contact them at:

liverpoolsigning@gmail.com

07709861419 (by phone, telegram or signal)

Liverpool Migrant Solidarity Network is an independent collective of people working together to resist the hostile environment that migrants face in this city and beyond.

Migrant Solidarity

Featured in Issue IX – October 2020

Liverpool Migrant Solidarity Network is a collective of people working together to resist the hostile environment that migrants face in Liverpool and beyond. We do this by linking with vital local services working with migrants, and with other migrant solidarity groups in the UK.

During Covid-19 we started fundraising for people that don’t have any access to public funds. People with insecure immigration status are some of the hardest hit by the pandemic. Many have no right to work so are in low-paid, precarious jobs and have to continue to work despite the risk to their health. Many people were abruptly laid off from their jobs and left with no income to pay for rent, food or medication. The government’s hostile environment policy also stops many people seeking help and support, as this could lead to their detention or deportation. Thanks to everyone’s donations we managed to give emergency financial support to over 150 families and individuals. Through this process we established regular contact with some of them and, together with services and via mutual aid groups we keep trying to create a welcoming environment where people’s needs matter.

In August we started using the funds raised to support asylum seekers and migrants who are being temporarily housed in remote hotels and targeted by fascist groups such as Britain First. In addition to being targeted by violent hate groups, they are often isolated and without access to anything but very basic resources. During the past month we collected a lot of donations of essential items and used the fundraiser to cover basic needs of refugees currently housed in hotels in Merseyside.

The group’s aim at the moment is to establish long-term support for migrants that does not only focus on material needs. Together with other groups we will start organising a campaign against deportations and we will set up a signing support system for migrants that have to sign at the home office. Signing support systems are put in place to ensure that if a person gets detained when they go to sign, their support network will be immediately notified, and all relevant migration services and solidarity networks will be mobilised to support detainees as much as possible. Setting up a signing support system requires a big group of people and long-term commitment. If you would like to know more and become part of our signing support group please get in touch!

liverpoolmigrantsolidarity@gmail.com

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