Making plans for workshops in Cornish schools

We'll be at Treviglas (Newquay),  then Camborne at the start of June.  Inga (who works at SEF Leedstown and made The Hidden Life of a Cornish Farm with three colleagues) and Vadims, also  from SEF, will be working with me.

Two news items about migration in The Times today. "Tensions rise as jobless migrants are blamed for the pain in Spain."  A report from Vic, an industrial town north of Barcelona, which is struggling to cope with hundreds of unemployed people. The vast majority are immigrants - Moroccans and sub-Saharan Africans. At least 10,000 had been working in the town - doing the jobs that others did not want. When the Spanish ecnomic bubble burst, they faced destitution. In reaction: people are calling for immigration to be controlled. Spain's equivalent of the BNP (Platform for Catalonia) are whipping up anti-immigrant feeling about this - ignoring the fact that the economy previously depended on their input.

The second reports on Home Office figures: Record immigration surge as more than 200,000 get British passports in a year." The surge last year was 58%. It's the highest since records were first published 47 years ago. Of those receiving a British passport, more than half come from Africa and the Indian subcontinent.  One possible clause? The Times suggests a rush to apply for citizenship befre rules linking it to earnings, skills and education take effect.

Otherwise keeping an eye on recent publications about migrant workers and immigration.

Recently from the Migrants' Rights Network.... Immigration documents checks and workplace raids: a negotiators guide

They say ...

"Ever tried an immigration officer’s uniform on for size? Unless you’ve worked for the UK Border Agency itself, we would imagine probably not.

But if you’re an employer in the UK, you are supposed to have been getting pretty familiar with the business of checking immigration documents, particularly since tougher regulations on irregular working came into force in February 2008. The hike in UKBA workplace raids since then has also increased the spotlight on workers’ immigration status.

Bringing immigration enforcement into British workplaces, the Government has presented new challenges to activists, trade unions, migrants, migrant organisations and employers.

These challenges can only be met with proactive negotiation with employers to ensure that only necessary document checks are carried out, and that these are carried out consistently and fairly. This should deny any unscrupulous employer the opportunity to exploit migrant workers, to divide workers or to threaten those that stand up for their rights.”

And John Vincent's Network ebulletin, as usual, is full of news.

Migration issues – Government, Government Agencies and Local Government

Longitudinal study of migrant workers in the East of England

 

Focusing on the perspective of migrant workers in the Eastern region (Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambs, Herts, Essex and Beds.) Studying: factors that influence decisions on coming to and length of stay in the UK; barriers to full participation in the regional economy; and, barriers to social inclusion in the local community; how these change over time and whether public policy has an influential role on these decisions.”

“Is the progressive case for migration truly progressive?”

 

Article by Tim Finch, the Head of Migration, Equalities and Citizenship at ippr.

  

New books for young people featuring migration

Gillian Cross. Where I belong (OUP, 2010), a story involving a Somali family - read a review in the Guardian by Mary Hoffman.