Turning the world up-side-down

In travel no man's land (on the runway on a crowded Easyjet plane) flicking through my phone find this amazing photo essay by Chris Buck in Oprah magazine nearly three years ago now. Buck aimed to turn racial stereotypes on their head.

Daffodils in Hammersmith

Wonder if these daffodils at Hammersmith tube station this morning are from Cornwall....?
It's the height of the season. Devon and Cornwall migrant worker Police Community Support Officer Bev Faull says there around 3,000 people from overseas picking daffodils at the moment in the county.

Useful resources

Thought both these resources looked very interesting....

Atlas of migration

https://bluehub.jrc.ec.europa.eu/migration/app/atlas.html
(Source: MEMO [Minority Ethnic Matters Overview], 640, 23 Dec 2019)

"The Atlas of Migration is an online guide through complexities of data about migration and demography that will help citizens to understand the facts behind migration as well as provide the policymakers with the best evidence.
Open to the public, the interactive platform allows users to create and download profiles for the countries or territories they are interested in.
Because the data is updated every 24 hours, users can be confident that they are accessing the most up-to-date information available.
The information is made available by bringing together harmonised, validated data from 12 international sources.
The Atlas provides information on 60 different indicators related to migration, asylum, integration, demography, and development."



Schools Project on Poland
https://projectpolish.com/

"Schools Project on Poland is an educational project led by Project Polish Ltd […] a nonprofit making company, dedicated to support students and teachers across the country. The project aims to promote the heritage of past generations and the positive contribution made by Poles to the cultural, economic and social life in the United Kingdom and has the support of both the Polish Embassy in Warsaw and the British Embassy in London. 2018 marks the centenary of the state of Poland regaining its independence. Following the First World War and after spending 123 years divided amongst the three neighboring powers: Russia, Germany and Austro-Hungarian Empire, Poland regained its sovereignty on 11 November 1918. We see this as an opportunity to celebrate the connections between Poland and the UK and the varied contribution of Polish people to British life." [Taken from: https://projectpolish.com/about-us/]

See also: "Mateusz Klich supports Polish School Project", https://www.leedsunited.com/news/community/26013/mateusz-klich-supports-polish-school-project.

Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Gathering together background material.... see that the Joseph Rowntree Foundation is still doing a lot of research into issues around migratrion.
They have been specialists in this area for a long time: see that we have a blog entry ten years ago about this...

Meetings in Penzance this morning

In Penzance this morning to meet Keno, the Chilean administrator at St Mary's Church. Keno has loads of ideas about issues around migration. His own experience is intriguing. We're thinking of organising a focus group in February to bring together people like him to have thoughts to share. It would be a really valuable thing to do. It will feed into plans for the schools workshops we'll be running over the next few months.

An added to bonus to see a Christian Aid exhibition at the church on displacement.
And to bump into the tireless Andrew Yates, vicar at St Paul, who has helped us so much with I PACKED THIS MYSELF over the past decade now.

Andrew and members of the congregation were off to HSBC bank to present a petition to the manager. Christian Aid is calling on HSBC to reconsider their investment in new coal power in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam. The charity says that coal-fired electricity is unlikely to reach poor and isolated communities in these countries, who would be better served by renewable energy.

Next steps - moving things forward in 2020

A New Year and new resolutions.
We'll be rolling out our project I PACKED THIS MYSELF across Cornwall this year in partnership with Inclusion Cornwall and the Diocese of Truro.
The aim: to increase understanding and break down prejudice against workers from overseas.
If you missed all the things we did at the start of this project ten years ago, here are just a few highlights:
Workshops at Camborne School
An exhibition at Penair School with a film made by migrant workers
A workshop at Helston School
Ten workshops in a day at Torpoint School
A touring suitcase exhibition
And, for an overview, please visit the Bridging Arts website.
For more information, please email info@bridging-arts.com.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation report on migrant workers in the UK food industry

Hundreds of migrant workers in the UK food industry live in a climate of fear, are poverty stricken, subjected to inhuman conditions and indebted to gangmasters, according to a report published today by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

'Experiences of Forced Labour in the UK Food Industry' records a catalogue of abusive practices in the food industry. Researchers spoke to 62 migrant workers. 
Quoting from the report, here are the key points:

• "The most notable and unexpected forced labour practice was the 'underwork scam' – recruiting too many workers and then giving them just enough employment to meet their debt to the gangmaster.
• A significant proportion of interviewees paid fees to come to the UK and secure work, creating indebtedness and dependence.
• Workers were threatened and bullied. Racist or sexist language was sometimes used in the workplace, underpinning a climate of fear. Some employers used fear of dismissal to ensure that workers remained compliant and deferential.
• Productivity targets and workplace surveillance were excessive; workers felt they were treated like machines rather than people and given targets that were often impossible to meet. Informal employment brokers frequently provided workers with tied accommodation, which was often sub-standard; workers thus experienced exploitation at home as well as in the workplace. Losing their job might also mean losing their home.
• It is difficult to say whether the exploitation reported was severe enough to constitute forced labour, but the evidence indicated that employers were infringing many rights.
• Low-wage migrant workers appear especially vulnerable to forced labour, despite most of those interviewed having the right to live and work in the UK. The intensity of work in the food industry, driven by economic pressures throughout the supply chain, contributes to such exploitation."