In a crisis, we are reminded of what really matters, we learn more about the people we love and that we rely on, we learn who keeps our families safe and who keeps the country going when we need it the most. But we also learn where we are failing people, where our social fabric is weakest, and who decision-makers are willing to sacrifice or ignore. For those of us in the migrant’s rights movement, the pandemic has shined a light on the inadequacies in our migration system, bringing to the forefront what desperately needs to change for migrant communities in order to ensure that they can access vital services and protect themselves from contracting COVID-19. As the Government looks towards restarting the economy we have an opportunity to take what we have learnt from this crisis, and ensure that migrants’ rights are placed at the centre of recovery.
By far the biggest challenge posed to migrant communities and to British people of colour has been the Hostile Environment &nd…