Help undocumented migrants to regularise immigration status, Quakers say
Quakers joined dozens of other charities in urging Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to make it easier for undocumented migrants to regularise their immigration status.
People do not choose to become undocumented, and should be supported in finding security once again, the Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network said.
Instead, government policy focusing on raids, detention and deportation of undocumented migrants forces them underground and increases the risk of exploitation, more than 80 charities told the government.
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Being undocumented puts them at increased risk of exploitation, and of mental and physical stress.
- signatories
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The letter, co-ordinated by Migrant Voice and signed by organisations including Anti-Slavery International, urged the new government to “look at a new way forward."
Policies of regularisation provide more security and safety not only for the undocumented, but also for the country implementing them, the letter said.
Even now Spain is pushing forward on a plan to regularise the status of 500,000 undocumented migrants.
Most who become undocumented are not to blame, signatories said, with government policies and actions adding to the burden.
Increases in visa costs, lack of information, errors on forms and wrongly addressed letters from the Home Office are all common factors, they said.
“Many undocumented individuals have built lives here over a number of years, some for decades, they have families, friends and are part of our communities," the letter said.
“Being undocumented puts them at increased risk of exploitation, and of mental and physical stress."
Paul Parker, recording clerk for Quakers in Britain, said: “Providing undocumented migrants with the opportunity to achieve documented status is both wise and kind.
“It is what our faith and common humanity demand of us."