As @UnisNotBorders approaches another yr of organising during the Covid pandemic, we want to share highlights of what we've done in 2021 & what we hope to accomplish approaching our 6th yr of advocating for migrant university staff & students against #HostileEnvironment.
January 20201
@UnisNotBorders kept the pressure by amplifying in @FT the how UK universities were putting migrant student into destitution & how #NRPF, #HostileEnvironment & marketised higher education are all harming migrant students during pandemic: ft.com/content/3ab6be…
Emma Hardy invited @UnisNotBorders to a meeting on the 9th March, but we declined b/c she failed to answer our letter. Hardy blocked us on @Twitter for calling attention to her hypocritical attitude re-migrant students. Full details here: unisresistbordercontrols.org.uk/2021/03/11/emm…
April 2021
@UnisNotBorders supported @infogamerist to remain in the UK & gathered support on the ground from @ucu in addition to organising a letter sent to @pritipatel & @NicolaSturgeon receiving 400+ signatures. Diane & her partner were able to successfully remain in the UK
May 2021
During the 2nd year of the pandemic, @UnisNotBorders continued to give online workshops, such as this one we facilitated on the #HostileEnvironment & marketised higher education concerning migrant staff & students, hosted by both @UEA_UCU & @UnionUEA on the 18 May.
June 2021
@UnisNotBorders facilitated a session at the @BorderAbolition two day conference to discuss how precarious migrant-led organisers can protect themselves & their voices within academic, media, & NGO spaces.
July 2021
@UnisNotBorders took a two month break from non-urgent casework after non-stop organising without a period of rest since the beginning of the Covid pandemic in the UK.
August 2021
@UnisNotBorders interrupted our rest break & set up the #CheveningCorrupt Twitter Storm addressing the deplorable manner Afghan @CheveningFCDO were being treated by the UK gov. We demanded that their scholarships resume & that their families be allowed into the UK.
During the pandemic we continued to support migrant students & staff with our on-going casework support as we have been doing since the start of @UnisNotBorders in 2016.
For 2022 we have major hurdles; the first being the Nationality and Borders Bill, that will make the lives of all migrants (documented, undocumented, & asylum seekers) even more precarious.
We look forward to working with migrant-led & migrant unions in stopping the bill.
The other hurdle is stopping the intensification of border controls via the #HostileEnvironment within UK unis.
In 2018 we found that 51% of uni staff & students didn't understand how border controls operate in their unis.
Knowledge is power- contact us for a workshop.
Everyone @UnisNotBorders wishes our supporters a safe & healthy 2022 🎉. Please continue to 😷& remember to ventilate your office & other shared communal spaces to prevent the spread of Omicron.
Remember to keep that 🔥 in your belly & turn rage into transformative actions.
This binary idea that is employed (migrant= poor) versus rich international students is actually problematic thinking.
A few points to consider:
1. No matter what your economic status is, EVERYONE is affected the #HostileEnvironment policy in and outside of UK higher edu.
A few years ago we had a case of a migrant student who came from an upper middle class background in Central Asia. Their father was made redundant during a Covid-19 lockdown. Their mother was disabled & needed urgent, round-the-clock care.
The current discourse from @ucu needs unpacking from a migrant students' perspective.
For years we have demanded that @ucu work with us to end #HostileEnvironment inside universities. We have asked for strike action on this matter. Have they? The answer is no.
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Instead of working to end the very market dynamics that are oppressing & making precarious migrant students for years, UCU moves the goal posts so that their members forget that ending #HostileEnvironment is what really matters if we want save education & society.
After all, @DrJoGrady did participate in the @BBCRadio4 documentary, "The International Student Scandal" which fronted the view that migrant students who don't speak English were using loopholes provided by universities to come to the UK. bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…
Recently marital law was lifted in South Korea after President Yoon imposed martial law earlier this afternoon & for the first time in more than 40 years.
There are roughly 6,000 🇰🇷 students in the UK. If you are academic and/or pastoral staff at your university, you should be checking in with these students to see how they are. Their country is going through a political upheaval. Don't just sit back and collect their 💰& do nada!
We know historically that East Asian students are treated like rotating #⃣s for 💰. That's what these students tell us & this is what we observe on the ground. Along with this is the institutional racism they experience both on and off campus.
As reported in @guardian, a two year old child died because the NRPF team at Newham Council decided that the mother, Balikis Adeoye, was not eligible to place her child, Mazeedat Adeoye, in foster care, while she was caring for baby brother when he required urgent heart surgery.
Without any support from the council during a critical time, Balikis Adeoye had no other choice than to leave her Mazeedat with a member of the community as she cared for her son in hospital.
Over the past 48 hours, we've let the🫖 brew over #AcademicTwitter concerning the @BBCNews report of @lakshmipriyab07, a DPhil @UniofOxford student who was demoted to a masters degree.
Before we dive into this case, a little about us:
Established in 2016, @UnisNotBorders is a grassroots, migrant-led campaign in UK higher edu working to end #HostileEnvironment & carceral border structures on campus.
Link in bio to our casework, surgery times & campaigns.
The #AcademicChatter concerning @lakshmipriyab07 has been a mixed bag.
It's disappointing that many of the GreatThinkers™ who have provided their two cents didn't seem to think there were questions needed to be asked before some of the knee-jerk [racist] opinions were made.
Liberals need to stop. @Keir_Starmer is no hero. The #RwandaPlan came to an end thanks to campaigners, not to a politician who wanted to put tagging devices on asylum seekers. The plan was also financially unpopular within Labour because of the expenses it accrued.
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But make no mistake. We have the #HostileEnvironment policy in-tact & over 60+ years of xeno-racist laws. If a future politician wanted to revive 3rd country removal & had the means to do it efficiently, it could very well happen again.
The fight must be centred to #EndHostileEnvironment & carceral structures that have turned former military bases & hotels into detention centres. We must end no recourse to public funds & the laws that force migrants into homelessness destitution.