March 31, 2020

Coronavirus: Portugal to treat migrants as residents during pandemic

Independent: Coronavirus: Portugal to treat migrants as residents during pandemic

They will be free to use country’s health service, welfare system, bank accounts, and work and rental contracts

All migrants and asylum seekers currently living in Portugal are to be treated as permanent residents during the coronavirus crisis, the government has announced. Continue reading “Coronavirus: Portugal to treat migrants as residents during pandemic”

March 31, 2020

Joint letter to the Prime Minister

Coronavirus: policy recommendations to protect people who are experiencing homelessness and insecure migration statuses

by Hannah Gurnham on 20th March 2020 in Campaigns, News

Today (March 19th 2020), over 70 leading charities, organisations and individuals that provide essential services for people who are destitute and homeless because of their migration status are calling on the Government to take urgent action, as the Covid-19 crisis escalates. Continue reading

March 31, 2020

Protect the most vulnerable to ensure protection for everyone!

25.3.2020 ‘Restore legality to protect refugees and the society at large amidst the pandemic’

Open letter signed by χχ Organisations, Initiatives……

The President of Greece, Katerina Sakellaropoulou
The President of the Hellenic Parliament, Constantine An. Tassoula
The Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mistotaki
The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet
The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Dunja Mijatović
The Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom

Continue reading “Protect the most vulnerable to ensure protection for everyone!”

March 31, 2020June 4, 2020

Protecting migrants from Covid-19

Today, with Liberty and Medact and many others, we have written to Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, to call for urgent changes to ensure the safety of migrants in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

We call on the Home Secretary to:

ensure access to healthcare – this means immediately suspending all NHS charging and data sharing with immigration enforcement, and launching a public information campaign that makes clear that healthcare services are available and safe for all migrants to use
ensure all migrants have access to vital public services by suspending ‘No Recourse To Public Funds’ conditions
make assurances that no one will be penalised for missing appointments, reporting or court dates due to illness
make sure no one is made an ‘overstayer’ because of being self-isolated or unable to return to a country that is not safe to travel to, by extending or modifying visas
release everyone detained under immigration powers to reduce the risk of COVID-19 entering the detention estate and causing avoidable harm
provide specialist support for those housed in shared Asylum Accommodation to enable safe access to medical services, testing, and where necessary, re-housing for particularly vulnerable people. Continue reading “Protecting migrants from Covid-19”