Migrant communities shape Hackney

There are few places in the world more diverse than Hackney, and we are proud of that diversity. Migrants are integral to our NHS and care workforce, schools, businesses, cultural life, public services and neighbourhood communities. Migration protects lives and contributes to the greater good. We challenge any form of racism faced by migrants and their descendants, and champion inclusive representation for everyone who makes our borough home

Currently the Labour government is tightening migration routes to reduce net migration and expand enforcement. Legal pathways to live in the UK have been reduced. This has escalated with the government’s proposals to make it harder, slower and more conditional for migrants to gain settled status in the UK. This new approach will make a 10-year qualifying period for settlement the norm, with some facing a wait of up to 30 years before they have the right to live indefinitely in the UK. Migrants living here, including many in our borough, already face regular visa bills running into thousands of pounds and far above what it costs to administer the visa process. This unfairness will increase if people are forced to buy visas for longer.

For many Hackney residents the changes mean uncertainty and insecurity. Hopes of reuniting with loved ones are priced out of reach, and the fear of being deported at short notice is rising. Enforcement rhetoric and Labour’s brutal removals policy lead ourselves and many of our neighbours to fear for their future

We oppose the Hostile Environment

As socialists, we oppose the Hostile Environment. That means forcing central government to confront the long-lasting damage of empire and imperialism, which still today destabilises economies abroad and drives displacement. People seeking asylum and refugees do not leave home by choice. They flee war, persecution, poverty, and crisis, displacements often created by the UK.

We reject the scapegoating of migrants as a political tool. The scarcity of housing, jobs, and public services is a direct result of wealth hoarding by the 1%, not the presence of migrant communities. The UK is one of the world’s richest nations. If we share that wealth we can create a more equal society that supports everyone.

On the frontline

No group of councillors in Hackney has a stronger track record than Hackney Independent Socialists on standing up for migrants and diasporic communities. Our efforts go well beyond frontline casework on housing, education, immigration and healthcare. We have organised community conferences explaining the UK political system, migrants’ rights and how people can get active. We have campaigned, scrutinised and held institutions to account.

That work led to our councillors successfully putting a motion to End the Hostile Environment Against Migrants, which commits Hackney Council to reject policies that criminalise, exclude, or dehumanise our neighbours. Additionally, Hackney will champion a project, with the potential to expand nationally, to help migrant communities meet the particular needs of their young people. A College of Sanctuary, will be a virtual resource to help young people navigate the education system and ensure immigration status is never a barrier to opportunity. It will provide advice, routes to advocacy and tailored academic pathways into further and higher education

What we’ll do if we run the council with the Greens after May

Our priority will be to introduce a World Migrant Champions Network to train residents to support their communities through practical knowledge and solidarity. We will allocate funding for training in the common barriers facing migrants: access to language help, the immigration system, navigating council support, healthcare access and entitlement, employment rights and exploitation prevention. Our Migrant Champions Network will strengthen community-led protection against discrimination; foster more understanding between residents and grow grassroots resilience across Hackney.

In addition:

• Migrant communities should be fully and accurately represented in ethnicity and demographic monitoring. Better data means fairer distribution of resources. But we will reject data-sharing models that enable corporations to profit from residents’ personal information. There must be transparency, ethical standards and public scrutiny over any contract involving residents’ data so public services never become surveillance tools or immigration enforcement.
• We’ll establish a World Migrants’ Week to celebrate the cultural, social contributions of migrant communities. Working in partnership with neighbouring boroughs we’ll aim for this to become a London-wide annual event. The contributions migrants make across work, care, culture and public life must be made visible to challenge racist narratives.

We will lead by example, by protecting people, telling the truth and defending dignity. We commit to building a Hackney where no one experiences discrimination in schools, public services, housing, workplaces, or community spaces. This means:

• Reviewing discriminatory institutional practices across Council services.
  Strengthening anti-racist and anti-discrimination standards including in school curricula.
• Ensuring accountability across all departments by creating clear, accessible channels to report discrimination, with guaranteed follow-up.

Discrimination persists in our schools. The review into Mossbourne Victoria Park found evidence of this. We must end the punitive behaviour policies which drive Hackney’s school exclusions – among the highest in London – and harm Global Majority and SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) students. In the section on Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing, we outline our plans to address this by expanding early-intervention and pastoral support and building restorative schools with positive learning environments which involve the wider community and offer alternatives to exclusion.