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Sign the Fair Immigration Reform Movement Charter to demand Dignity, Justice, Welcome and Action

The Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) unites a call for humane immigration and inclusion policies that can truly reflect our society’s democratic values, and that draws on a distinguished history in Britain of standing for the dignity and justice of all.

The Charter emerged as a result of conversations with those who face the sharp end of current policies: with their family and friends, campaigners, politicians, journalists, case workers, volunteers, and many others who support everyone who has been affected by the increasingly brutal immigration policies in Britain.

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Read the FIRM Charter

1

We Demand Dignity

  • We demand an immediate end to the Hostile Environment policies and practices
  • We demand an end to the asylum dispersal and destitution policy
  • We demand an end to all charging in the National Health Service and reverting to a principle of equal access to all, as well as an end to NHS data sharing practices
  • We demand full equal access to education, welfare and the right to work for all migrants and people seeking asylum
  • We demand an immediate end to immigration enforcement, raids, detention and deportations
  • We demand equal status for all undocumented and under-documented people living in the UK via an accessible regularisation programme 
  • We demand an end to all forms of slavery and human trafficking by implementing the recommendations of expert organisations and international treaties
  • We demand a robust implementation of laws protecting workers, and an end to the two-tier system of employment that disproportionately disadvantages migrants
  • We demand a reinstatement of the rights of domestic workers, including the right to change employer
  • We demand faster, cheaper and more inclusive routes to settlement and family reunion and an immediate end to spousal visa income restrictions
  • We demand the re-establishment of birth-right citizenship
  • We demand an end of No Recourse to Public Funds conditions attached to some visas
  • We demand full and equal rights for all European citizens and a maintenance and expansion of the principles of free movement
  • We demand an end to the culture of disbelief and all forms of discrimination based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, membership of a social group, migration status or country of origin

2

We Demand Justice 

LEGAL JUSTICE: 

  • We demand guaranteed access to free and good quality legal advice and representation
  • We demand a guaranteed right to appeal, and an end to out-of-country appeals
  • We demand an independent judicial inquiry into the institutional, structural and policy failures of the government departments that deal with immigration matters, especially the institutional racism of the Home Office
  • We demand compensation for all victims of the Hostile Environment policies 
  • We demand the removal of obstacles to safe passage
  • We demand the inclusion of immigration status as a protected category under the Equalities Act 2010

INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE: 

  • We demand that the British Government ends its participation in unjust and illegal wars, and works to end the hyper exploitative and oppressive practices of British firms overseas.
  • We demand the British Government fully implements commitments under human rights and humanitarian law – protected by the 1951 Geneva Convention, and other international agreements and UN bodies (such as UNRWA) – that guarantee the right to live in dignity and safety, the right to seek asylum and the right for refugees to return to their homes
  • We demand a foreign policy that does not support or aid oppressive, colonial and belligerent regimes
  • We demand that the British Government implement a just international migration and refugee policy, ending the practice of outsourcing migration control to private for-profit companies and countries with poor human rights records and a lack of accountability
  • We demand the British Government creates emergency environmental policies that address the current crisis and ensure protection for existing natural environment globally and, where possible, to repair damage and reverse trends

HISTORIC JUSTICE: 

We demand that Britain is held accountable for its historical actions, to acknowledge the history of colonialism and address its living legacies through:

  • Apologies, reparations and other means of restitution for historical crimes of exploitation and colonial violence
  • Public education programmes on colonialism and anti-colonial movements, past and present, that will provide a contextualised and evidence-based understanding of racism and migration

3

We Demand Welcome 

  • We demand a national inclusion strategy based on the needs of migrants, their communities of arrival and on the principles of welcome, solidarity and anti-racism. This strategy should be sufficiently resourced to support the integral structured inclusion of everybody in society with dignity and respect
  • We demand an independent media oversight, including a regulatory body with the ability to act against fake news and hate speech towards migrants, refugees and BAME communities
  • We demand the expansion and extension of government resettlement programmes

4

We Demand Action

As signatories of the FIRM Charter, we commit ourselves to the following principles and methods of working:

  • We shall contribute to and facilitate bottom-up campaigns that are principled, ambitious in scope, and successful in outcome
  • We shall ensure that the movement is created, led and directed by migrant and black and minority ethnic communities and representative bodies
  • We shall create an inclusive movement that works with individuals and groups on an equal basis, and builds towards greater understanding, respect and unity of purpose
  • We shall build regional, national and international alliances, working with migrant and refugee community organisations, anti-racism groups, and other progressive forces
  • We shall work as a movement to establish local action groups and shared campaign initiatives. This will feature action planning, training, and ensuring access to resources for local grassroots groups so they play an equal role in campaigning and organising
  • We shall work to end harmful competition for resources in this sector, by fostering collective and unified ways of working, whilst keeping to the principles outlined in this document
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