For the first time in years, anti-immigrant hardliners in the UK are on the back foot. The Windrush scandal has generated an outpouring of support for people who have contributed so much to Britain for so many years, only to be threatened with deportation by Home Office officials because they couldn’t prove their immigration status – a chilling reminder that without proper safeguards some EU citizens could suffer a similar post-Brexit fate. The new …
Continue readingOPEN briefing: migrants’ right to vote, Brexit blunders, good news on refugees
Nativists are in the ascendant in many countries right now. Governments are responding by curtailing migrants’ rights. And whether it is Brexit Britain or Trump’s America, immigrants are often powerless to fight back. That needs to change. Giving long-term foreign residents the right to vote isn’t just a matter of human rights, it’s about bringing democracy into the 21st century, argues Iana Dreyer in a must-read new piece for OPEN. Electing the people who …
Continue readingIt’s time to give migrants the vote
By Iana Dreyer “No taxation without representation” is a basic democratic principle. Surely that should apply to long-term foreign residents too? The evidence is overwhelming: immigrants generally enrich the countries they move to, both economically and culturally. They do valuable work, start businesses, stimulate innovation, create jobs, pay taxes and boost economic growth – all of which benefits local residents. Why, then, are politicians often so hostile to them? One …
Continue readingWho said populism had peaked? Plus Global Compact, steel tariffs & more
Following the Brexit vote and Trump’s victory in 2016, many feared that a populist wave would sweep through Europe. But with the decisive victory of Emmanuel Macron over Marine Le Pen in France’s presidential election last year, anxiety quickly morphed into complacency. Yet France came perilously close to a presidential run-off between far-right and far-left anti-EU populists. Austria’s election was won by a conservative party that has adopted much of …
Continue readingTwo cheers for the Global Compact
By Rebekah Smith The draft Global Compact on Migration is surprisingly ambitious – but will it be implemented? The Trump administration withdrew the United States from the talks last December. Hungary’s authoritarian nationalist government threatened to pull out too. But the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) is going forward without the US – and its current draft is a surprisingly progressive document. The international community now has an unprecedented opportunity …
Continue readingWeekly report featuring Dayton, Jersey, Italy and refugees
America’s Rust Belt. Old industrial towns in the north of England. France’s northern Hauts de France region. Eastern Germany. The places that have suffered from industrial decline in recent decades often focus their anger on immigrants. But what if newcomers could actually help regenerate such areas? After its economy suffered and its population slumped, the city of Dayton, Ohio has put that theory to the test. Its innovative “Welcome …
Continue readingHow immigrants can revitalise depressed communities
By Jack Graham The backlash against immigration is often strongest in economically depressed areas. Yet they have plenty to gain from welcoming immigrants, as Dayton, Ohio shows Post-industrial areas like America’s Rust Belt have, for many, become a powerful symbol of those who have lost out from globalisation. The decline of old industries, long-term unemployment and economic stagnation have generated an extreme political backlash. The number one target: immigration. But …
Continue readingThe threats to migrants’ right to stay
Plus: France’s asylum reforms The 3 million EU citizens who have made their lives in the UK are understandably concerned about their post-Brexit residency rights, as are the 1 million or so UK citizens who have settled in the EU. While there is a broad political consensus that they should be able to stay and the prospect of legal certainty in the UK’s EU exit agreement, the uncertainty is still deeply unsettling. So …
Continue readingHighlights of 2017, Prospects for 2018
The “highlights” of 2017 are mostly lowlights. The year began with the inauguration of a racist US president who pledged to build a border wall to keep out Mexican “killers and rapists”, ban Muslims from entering America and tear up the liberal international order in favour of an America First strategy of nationalism, protectionism and xenophobia. While many of Trump’s actions have been symbolic, his clampdown on refugees and immigrants is very real. 2017 was …
Continue readingBrexit: Sufficient progress, Irish fudge, much still to do
“Sufficient progress” has been made on the terms of the UK’s orderly withdrawal from the EU to move on to discussing the framework of their future relationship next year. That is the European Commission’s recommendation to EU leaders who meet at the European Council on 14-15 December. Barring unforeseen hitches, that means negotiations can soon move on to discussing the post-Brexit transition period that the UK has requested and the …
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