Sometimes #DarkHumor is how we cope with the dark shit that happens when petty, violence-craving, maniacal #GOP leadership invades #Minnesota because they just cannot stand that we’re nice to #Immigrants & #Refugees here.
Also, #TomEmmer can fuck right off. What an absolutely shit example of a Minnesotan. Total embarrassment.
We are thrilled to announce a special, temporary shop, made possible with the support of two incredible artists: Carolina Gajardo and Loly Rico. Carolina, a community artist and educator with extensive experience in inclusive art projects for immigrant and refugee women, uses art as a tool for heali
Asylum Seekers: UK Policy Changes and Impact in 2026
Some positive news on refugees and asylum seekers
January 2026
With the events in Venezuela, threats to occupy Greenland and continuing conflict in Ukraine, news about small boat arrivals and immigrants generally has dropped out of the news recently. Problems remain however.
Firstly, the final figure for irregular arrivals in the UK by small boats in 2025 was 41,000, the second-highest annual total ever. The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act is now in force, with new measures allowing Border Force to seize phones and SIM cards from irregular arrivals, ostensibly to help in tracking down smugglers. Seizures of cash and assets of convicted smugglers are up 33% in year to September, compared to the previous year.
More positively, 5 local councils in England and Wales have declared an interest in a pilot scheme to use new build and refurbished council homes for asylum seekers as a way of removing them from hotels. The homes would be built with government money, leased to the Home Office, and then added to LA stock. The views of other prospective council home tenants have not yet been noted.
In the EU, heads of state met on 8 January to discuss its Common European System for Returns, instituted last March. The Commission claims that only 20% of those designated for deportation actually are removed. The effectiveness of the new system is not yet clear. The UK government claims to have removed 50,000 claimants since it came into office in July 2024.
On the global level, Sherif A Wahab has calculated that the numbers of Displaced Persons is now double what it was in 2012; one-third of them are refugees (i.e. outside their country). Likewise the number of refugees who have been in exile for more than 5 years has doubled over the last decade; reasons for this include conflicts lasting longer; lack of strategy at local and national levels; refusals of permanent residency and other repressive policies. Of the world’s 32 million refugees only 204,000 returned home or settled permanently in 2022 (latest figures).
‘failure of imagination and ambition’
The head of the UNHCR, Filippo Grandi – on retiring last month – expressed his views on what he saw as a failure of imagination and ambition; “the international community should invest in asylum systems to make them faster, more efficient and better able to return people who do not need the help” In his view, governmental responsibility does not impinge on sovereignty, but is an extension of it.
The link below to an article from The Guardian looks at the working of community sponsorship schemes; it implies that the government is still committed to legal routes to resettlement. The Home Secretary said last November that she hoped to develop this model further.
“With control [over Britain’s borders] restored, we will open up new, capped routes for refugees for whom this country will be the first, safe haven they encounter. We will make community sponsorship the norm, so we know that the pace and scale of change does not exceed what a local area is willing to accept,” she said.
On the campaigning front, Safe Passage International have produced for the new year a Resolutions Generator, which, when pressed, will offer a small way in which one can help or understand better.
And here’s a petition against deportations from WeMoveEurope:
Say No to Mass Deportations in Europe | WeMove Europe
AH
Previous posts:
Talk by Peter Oborne in Salisbury on 21st about his new book ‘Complicit’
#asylum #BorderForce #channelCrossings #HomeOffice #refugees
Yet one more case of separating a child from his parent - because they crossed the border as refugees in 2023, where they followed the rules. (More details at the link below) You can send a letter protesting this horrific action, using the action network letter at https://actionnetwork.org/letters/reunite-jose-and-his-son-separated-by-ice-detention-and-struggling
https://mvlouisemichel.org/#how-to-support
#DirectAction #LouiseMichel #Mediterranean #MigrantWorkers #refugees #Solidarity
Trump administration jails migrant teens in facility known for child abuse - The Washington Post
https://archive.ph/wk2u0
Snaw is bluffertin’ the toun,
Gurly wunds are roustin’ roun’,
Peety fowk in broken shoon
This winter nicht…
—Helen Burness Cruickshank (1886–1975), “Song of Pity for Refugees”
published in Collected Poems (Reprographia, 1971)
#Scottish #literature #Scots #Scotslanguage #poem #poetry #refugees #winter
The UNHCR estimates that there were 178,725 asylum seekers from China in 2026. US, Italy and Canada were some of the main destination countries
The number of asylum seekers has consistently risen since 2013, coinciding with Xi Jinping's period of rule
https://safeguarddefenders.com/en/blog/chinese-again-choose-seek-asylum-record-numbers-2025
Creative Conversations – Fidan Nazim Meikle
12 Jan, University of Glasgow, & online – free
Fidan Nazim Meikle writes stories & poems for readers of all ages. Her debut novel, My Name is Samim, inspired by the true story of a young refugee’s courageous journey to safety, is out now from Floris Books
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/creative-conversations-fidan-nazim-meikle-tickets-1977523054690
#Scottish #literature #refugees #ChildrensLiterature #KidLit
Lord Kelvin
FCJ Refugee Centre
Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire
Headlines Africa
Paul Wermer, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Peter Riley
Miro Collas
Assoc for Scottish Literature
David on Formosa