Welcome to the first digital edition of the New Londoners
Immigration was a hot topic during the election campaign with the press creating sensational negative headlines about migrants, refugees and asylum seekers and politicians tongue-tied as to their response. Articles in the national media were often ill-informed and they lumped together, as a homogenous group, economic migrants from the EU and those seeking asylum in the UK due to persecution and torture. Now that the election is over, it is possible to have a better informed debate about the impact of migration in London and to be clear about which groups we are talking about.
This first digital edition of The New Londoners focuses on the contribution that migrants make to our society with the interview with The Bloody Foreigners and the article on the migrant labour force in London by Juan Camilo. This edition aims to bust the myths surrounding the impact of migration into London and to show how much our society is enriched by it and why migration is necessary for the economic well-being of our capital city.
This edition also tells the story of Yemane, a celebrity journalist, who was forced to flee Eritrea as he was in fear of his life, and Anas who faced increasing persecution in Baghdad following the Iraq war. Contrary to press reports that asylum seekers come to the UK because it is “a soft touch”, these stories show that when fleeing for their lives, asylum seekers often do not know where they will end up. This was a key finding of the Chance or Choice research report, commissioned by the Refugee Council and undertaken by the University of Swansea.
There is a need to have informed discussions about the impact of migration on London if we are not to throw out the baby with the bath water. We hope that the New Londoners online will provide a platform for having that debate and to bring communities together with a better understanding of each other.
Ros Lucas
* Chance or choice? Understanding why asylum seekers come to the UK
The research investigated the decisions made by asylum seekers who come to the UK and explored the extent to which these decisions are a reflection of chance or choice. It builds upon the growing, but as yet still limited, body of evidence about the ‘choices’ that individuals are (or are not) able to exert over the country in which they will seek asylum, and the factors that might contribute to the decision making process.