Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU)

More then 2,000 trafficked children and lone child asylum seekers missing from UK councils’ care Charities say vulnerable young people are being failed by local authorities, the police and central government

How is this not the top story on every news bulletin?
This has been happening for years and instead of doing anything to protect children successive governments have made the situation worse. This isn't just on councils. It is part of failings on a State level.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

🚨 We are deeply concerned by the announcement made this afternoon by the Home Secretary with regards to routes to settlement. Making people who have been granted refugee status wait for up to 20 years before they can settle indefinitely in this country is both cruel and counter-intuitive.

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Home Secretary opens consultation on "earned settlement" - Free Movement The consultation document is called “A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: A statement and accompanying consultation on earned settlement”. The consultation is open

New from Free Movement: Home Secretary opens consultation on “earned settlement” | Sonia Lenegan

2) No one should be punished for failing tests that didn’t yet exist. Don’t make any retrospective changes to routes to settlement people are already on.
3) We don’t accept that settlement has to be “earned”.

We will do everything we can to ensure our communities have their say.

Our message to the government:
1) If you want people to grow, give back, and flourish in their communities, they need shorter routes to settlement, not longer ones. Cap all routes to settlement at 5 years.

This "consultation" suggests making settlement impossible or near-impossible for many thousands of people, who have entered the UK, met visa conditions, paid ever-rising visa fees, on the understanding that they were on a route to indefinite leave to remain. Long-term insecurity will be the result.

Home Secretary opens consultation on "earned settlement" - Free Movement The consultation document is called “A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: A statement and accompanying consultation on earned settlement”. The consultation is open

The government have revealed their plans for so-called "earned settlement". Their proposal is of a labyrinthine and draconian system that doubles, triples or quadruples routes to settlement, and embeds discrimination. We must stand against these plans.

freemovement.org.uk/home-secreta...

Proposed changes to settlement and citizenship pathways - Joint Briefing — Praxis This briefing outlines the likely impact of changes to settlement and citizenship routes proposed by the Government, prepared by Praxis and Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit , who provide im...

Find out more about exactly why these changes are a very bad idea in our joint briefing with @gmiau.bsky.social: www.praxis.org.uk/briefings/pr...

Instagram post to share: www.instagram.com/p/DRND4d_DcC...

These changes target people seeking protection and represent a direct attack on their fundamental rights.

But, we will never stop fighting for people to get the support and protection they need, or accept anything less.

📨 Please share with anyone who may need to see this.

Solidarity as always.

Changes to the UK asylum system: What we know so far - GMIAU The Home Secretary announced changes to the UK asylum system in a paper called "Restoring Order and Control".

Yesterday, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced a new set of hostile policy changes that will undermine the security and wellbeing of people seeking safety in the UK.

🔗 We have published a blog explainer about the changes, what this means in practice, their impact, and what we think:

Shabana Mahmood is wrong Another cowardly attack on immigrants does not hide the incompetence of the Starmer government

Shabana Mahmood is wrong - Another cowardly attack on immigrants does not hide the incompetence of the Starmer government.

Me, for the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social
www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Anglican bishop shaken ‘to the core’ by home secretary’s asylum seeker comments Bishop of Edmonton says people coming to UK are being ‘scapegoated’ for years of policy failures

"The Government's proposals are “a re-run of the worst and failed policies of the last [Conservative] government – to appease those people asking for more and more hate.” - Rivka, Communications Manager and Policy Officer @ GMIAU.

👇Read more: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

This Govt has yet again failed to learn that performative cruelty neither reduces the number of people who need protection nor appeases those driven by hate. People fleeing for their lives need stability and security to rebuild, especially after being forced to leave behind everything they know.

Asylum seekers’ jewellery could be seized to pay for processing costs, says Home Office minister Idea borrowed from Denmark is latest attempt to reduce number of people seeking asylum in UK

The Home Secretary also plans to weaken human rights protections, make it harder to appeal bad asylum decisions, and limit people's rights to asylum support.

Particularly shocking are reported plans to snatch jewellery from people who have arrived in the UK with nothing but what they can carry.

Mahmood is proposing that people will have to reapply for their refugee status 8 times over 2 decades. That’s 20 years of living in limbo and uncertainty. Worse still, their protection wouldn’t even be guaranteed, it could be revoked at any point if the Govt decides their home country is now ‘safe’.

Starmer braced for backlash from Labour MPs as Mahmood sets out asylum plans – UK politics live Home secretary to announce a drastic tightening of rules, including requiring asylum seekers to wait 20 years before getting the right to permanently settle in UK

Today, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood prepares to announce the latest attack on refugee rights in the UK.

A host of hostile policy changes have already been announced. We don’t yet have the full details, but we’ll keep you updated as more becomes clear.

⬇️Here’s what we know + think so far:

Greater Manchester Asylum Hotels Group: Our response to the protests outside hotels - GMIAU Statement from a group in Manchester who have lived experience of living in asylum accommodation responding to the racist far-right protests

A useful resource here from @gmiau.bsky.social for anyone anyone having 'difficult conversations' about migration.

gmiau.org/greater-manc...

Last week's MDF partnership event was energising!✊🏽⚡️

We heard from...

Connect Talent, our new Salford based referral partner, who shared their great work in GM.

@gmiau.bsky.social shared what's known so far about changes to routes to settlement & what's being done to fight back.

Asylum Hotels Report Our new report, Profiting from People: Inside the UK’s Asylum Hotels , exposes the true horrors that refugees face whilst housed for years on end in asylum hotels. We’ve long known this, and now...

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Our new report on hotel accommodation drops today.
These hotels are not 5*. Here's the proof.
Relying on testimony from clients, photos & medical evidence, you can now see the awful reality of hotel life.
More updates throughout the day so watch this space.
www.ramfel.org.uk/asylum-hotel...

Come and join our team as our Duty Scheme Legal Officer (maternity cover). You'll provide crucial support to our legal representation service, helping people seeking asylum in the UK avoid homelessness and destitution. www.asaproject.org/about/jobs-v...

UK to announce plans to emulate stringent Danish immigration system Shabana Mahmood’s proposals draw scorn from some Labour MPs, while others want government to go further

Adopting a Denmark-style immigration model is a dangerous new low from our Government. Pushing temporary status, harsher family reunion rules and “parallel society” labels throws basic rights under the bus in a bid to win cheap votes.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Urgent call to action: help free Arjeta — a trafficking survivor facing detention and deportation We are sharing this urgent call to action for our sister Arjeta, who has been served with a deportation order for tomorrow (Tuesday) and is being moved from Derwentside to Yarl’s Wood this afternoon (...

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She must not be forced to return to the very place where her exploitation began, and life remains at risk.

👏 Thank you to
@thesewallsmustfall.bsky.social - @right-to-remain.bsky.social - @migrantsorganise.bsky.social who have campaigned tirelessly for Arjeta and others facing similar injustice.

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At the very last moment, GMIAU solicitor Cecilia stepped in and managed to stop her removal for now.

It’s a huge relief, but her case isn’t over.

The refusal of her asylum claim and application for leave to remain as a victim of trafficking must be reconsidered.

A WIN BUT THE FIGHT IS NOT OVER... (THREAD) 🤝 (1)

5 weeks ago, Arjeta, loved member of her Liverpool community, was detained by the Home Office, despite being recognised as a survivor of trafficking and modern slavery. She was due to be removed to Albania yesterday, where she fears for her life...

We are incredibly grateful for their support and thrilled that our teams' hard work and commitment to helping vulnerable people in our community has been recognised in this way!

We're honoured to have been awarded 'Frontline Agency of the Year' at the Greater Manchester Pro Bono Awards 2025🎉.

This award recognises our eVisa support sessions, delivered as part of a pro bono initiative in partnership with Dechert LLP, Linklaters, Clyde & Co, and Squire Patton Boggs.

📣MDF are looking for a Lived Experience Project Worker to join them and help embed lived experience into their work and other MACC projects.

This is a brilliant opportunity to be part of the amazing work done by MDF. Applications close on 19 November.

migrantdestitution.co.uk/ruthrose-vis...

The UK Government count applications, decisions, and removals.

But they don’t count the human cost of a system that forces people into danger to seek safety.

A humane asylum system would protect lives, not end them.
#KnowTheirNames

The Initiative plays a vital role in helping those affected secure the compensation they deserve. To date, it has achieved 22 compensation offers totalling over £1.1 million.

Thank you to all our partners whose commitment and expertise have led us to this point.