Migrant Organising Lockdown Update

We hope that you and your loved ones stay well and safe during this public health crisis.  
Here at Migrants Organise we have been adapting to the quickly changing conditions caused by Covid-19, and wanted to keep you updated about our work. 
Covid-19 Emergency Appeal
We have set up a hardship fund to support our members, many who are homeless, destitute, or live in overcrowded accommodation where it is almost impossible to socially distance from others. We are raising money to alleviate immediate hardship (e.g. through shopping vouchers), set up a volunteer buddy scheme to address loneliness and isolation, improve mental health and well-being (by running online group classes and activities), and support mothers with young children by providing packs of books, toys and games.

How you can help…
Please donate what you can to our Crowdfunder here

Share our posts on social media

Share the fundraiser with your networks!
Community Programme
Although our offices are closed, our Community Programme is transitioning online and remotely! We are continuing to provide legal advice and support to our members through phone calls and other remote working. We are also setting up online group activities and classes, and are staying in touch with our members to find out what they need by phone. Please donate to our Crowdfunder so that we can continue to do this work during the pandemic. If you have questions about the Community Programme, please email francesca@migrantsorganise.org, or call 07913 631257. 
We are not currently open for new referrals, but we hope to be soon – watch this space! 
Our strategic Migrants Mental Capacity Advocacy (MMCA) project is also closed for new referrals at the moment, so we cannot assist with litigation friends in the tribunal system. If you have any question about this work, please email brian@migrantsorganise.org.
Patients Not Passports: Supporting Migrants During Covid-19
The impact of the Government’s Hostile Environment for migrants has become even harsher and more cruel in the time of coronavirus. As part of our Patients Not Passports campaign, we have been working to end the hostile environment in the NHS, and support migrants to access care in the current crisis. Find out what you can do …
Read our COVID-19 Mutual Aid Group Guide for Supporting Migrants here. Together with Medact, Docs Not Cops, and JCWI, we put together a guide for Mutual Aid groups who are supporting migrants during the pandemic, with useful resources and links for more info. If you’re involved with a group locally, please share it with them, and if you have any suggestions to include in the guide, email aliya@migrantsorganise.org.
Share Docs Not Cops’ Health Cards so that everyone knows their rights and entitlements to accessing healthcare, and find out what care is chargeable, and what is exempt.
Join Medact’s Patients Not Passports mailing list here to hear all the latest updates from the campaign and learn how you can support migrant communities. 
Read our blog to find out the different ways you can support migrants to access healthcare during coronavirus. 
Immigration Bail: Reporting Conditions Our legal organiser Brian launched a report – written with the Public Law Project – on the Home Office Immigration Bail Reporting Conditions.
You can read the summary and find the report here.

In light of the coronavirus health crisis, Migrants Organise, together with over 40 organisations, wrote to the Home Office to suspend reporting conditions. The Home Office have now done so – and so migrants do not have to travel long distances to sign at the Home Office during the pandemic. 
Find out more here, and if you have any questions, email brian@migrantsorganise.org.    
Migrants Organising  
We are keeping in touch with migrant and refugee organisers and communities around the country to provide support to each other, listen to what is happening in different communities and regions, and what is the impact of the COVID-19 on their lives. 
If you would like to be more involved and join regional and national strategic action planning and organising calls during the lockdown, please email our CEO Zrinka Bralo zrinka@migrantsorganise.org
International Advocacy OHCHR, IOM, UNHCR and WHO issued a joint statement last week, calling for the rights and health of refugees, migrants and stateless to be protected in the COVID-19 response. They say,
“This crisis demands a coherent, effective international approach that leaves no-one behind.  At this crucial moment we all need to rally around a common objective: fighting this deadly virus. Many refugees, displaced, stateless people and migrants have skills and resources that can also be part of the solution. We cannot allow fear or intolerance to undermine rights or compromise the effectiveness of responses to the global pandemic. We are all in this togetherWe can only defeat this virus when each and every one of us is protected.” Read the full statement here.
Our office is currently closed until further notice, but our team is working from home and we are replying to emails. Get in touch with us at info@migrantsorgnaise.org for further information about our services and organising!