URBLOG

Migration in European Cities

Free online access for a limited period to a special issue of European Urban and Regional Studies.   (available until 31^st December 2009).

Special Issue: Migration    Volume 16, Issue 3, July 2009

Diane Perrons  Migration: Cities, Regions and Uneven Development

 Enzo Mingione  Family, Welfare and Districts: The Local Impact of New Migrants in Italy

Jane Wills, Jon May, Kavita Datta, Yara Evans, Joanna Herbert, and Cathy McIlwaine  London's Migrant Division of Labour

Alison Stenning and Stuart Dawley  Poles To Newcastle: Grounding New Migrant Flows in Peripheral Regions

Allan M. Williams  International Migration, Uneven Regional Development and Polarization

How not to prevent violent extremism

Spooked: a report published  by the Institute of Race Relations finds that the government's Prevent programme for tackling extremism fosters division, mistrust and alienation.

"The atmosphere promoted by Prevent is one in which to make radical criticisms of the government is to risk losing funding and facing isolation as an 'extremist', while those organisations which support the government are rewarded. "

Government responds to forgotten Britain

Communities Secretary John Denham has outlined a £12m plan to reinvigorate and connect with those communities (many of which have seen strong BNP support) that are feeling the pressure from recession most acutely and ensure they are well placed to share fully in future prosperity and emerge stronger and more cohesive.

'The communities involved vary considerably and the challenges are different from place to place. But there are a number of key issues that cut to the core of local concerns. These include;

• a decline in traditional jobs in predominantly white areas and worries about young people's future;
• recent migration is perceived as having changed communities and created competition for jobs and resources like social housing; and
• anti-social behaviour - although fallen across the country - remains a real challenge and can create tensions between the majority of hard working families and the troublesome minority.

For some, the pace of change has led to a sense of resentment and a rise in insecurity and threatens to corrode the cohesion of these communities and create tensions. In some places support for the far right has risen. There could be a rise in migration and resentment at the perception that others are getting a better deal. Some people are left feeling that 'no one is speaking up for us'.

To support this programme CLG is publishing new guidance Building Cohesive Communities - what frontline staff and community activists need to know.

Urban Theology in Birmingham

Who is my Neighbour? Faith and Difference in the 21st century City.

Birmingham Urban Theology Forum on Wednesday 2nd December (2-4.30pm) at Elmfield House on the Selly Oak campus of the University of Birmingham.

Sajida Madni,garss-roots worker with Birmingham Citizens organisation
Laura Zahra McDonald,lecturer in the Sociology Department at Birmngham University
Chris Baker, William Temple Foundation and author of 'The Hybrid Church in the City'

Download Urban Theology Forum Dec09 FLYER

Research finds no bias in allocation of social housing

Social housing allocation and immigrant communities

The independent research by ippr found that social housing policies are targeting those in most need including the homeless, the elderly and families with children. It found no evidence to support the perception that new migrants are getting priority over UK born residents. Nor was there any evidence of abuse of the system, including 'queue jumping' or providing false information.

"Much of the public concern about the impact of migration on social housing has, at its heart, the failure of social housing supply to meet the demands of the population. The poorer the area, the longer the waiting lists, therefore the greater the tension. Government and social housing providers need to work with the communities they serve to address these issues.”

GLA-LSE research on the impact of an amnesty for irregular migrants

Economic impact on the London and UK economy of an earned regularisation of irregular migrants 

In 2007, the UK provided a home to an estimated 618,000 irregular migrants - of these 442,000 live in London. GLA Economics commissioned the London School of Economics to research the potential economic impact of allowing those with an irregular status to become regularised.

Summary

Michael Keith on an urgent policy rethink

Don't leave migration policy to the BNP

Before the election the UK must address the tensions between equalities law and the realities of job competition amid recession

"The economic and social factors that will trigger the recovery may in turn demand a defence of migration policy, understanding the eithical legacies of the colonial past and the labour market rationalities of the European present. Any such consideration requires both high quality research and an open and honest debate about a difficult subject. Otherwise the field is left to the half-truths and shibboleths of the British National Party to set the tone for the June elections. That is an outcome that few should welcome."

Still Human Still Here photo exhibition

  Still Human Still Here: The underground world of refused and destitute asylum seekers portraits by Panos Pictures photographer Abbie Trayler-Smith of poverty-stricken asylum seekers in the UK from countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Iraq, Somalia and Zimbabwe, at the Host Gallery, Honduras Street, London EC1Y 0TH

Still Human Still Here: The underground world of refused and destitute asylum seekers is launched in association with the Still Human Still Here coalition of human rights organisations, churches and NGOs including Amnesty International and the Refugee Council, which is campaigning for an end to destitution for refused asylum seekers. The exhibition runs at from 18 March to 4 April.

 

Challenging the ‘Parallel Lives’ Myth

Race, Sociology, Statistics and Politics Wednesday May 13^th 2009,

London School of Economics

A seminar to mark the offical launch of ‘Sleepwalking to Segregation’? Challenging myths about race and immigration by Nissa Finney and Ludi Simpson (Policy Press 2009) with Robert Moore, Ludi Simpson, Paul Gilroy, Debbie Phillips, Shamser Sinha and Kjartan Sveinsson.

Economic Impacts of Migration on the UK Labour Market

A new report from ippr looks at the economic impact of migration on the labour market.

'...the best previous evidence suggests that the overall effects of migration on wages are either insignificantly different from zero, or slightly positive. The evidence base on the effects of migration on employment in the UK, though relatively thin, suggests that the effects are not significantly different from zero. All effects noted are very small.'