There's no such thing as an illegal immigrant
Published by Professional Social Work magazine, 23 March, 2023
Social workers have a key role to play in standing up against “unjust” immigration policies that “criminalise” refugees and asylum seekers.
That was the message from a webinar hosted by BASW England to mark World Social Work Day during which the UK government’s new Illegal Migration Bill came under fire.
Against such responses, social work’s emphasis on human rights and social justice was vital in giving voice to the oppressed and marginalised, delegates were told.
Emilio José Gómez-Ciriano, associate social work professor and co-editor of Migration and Social Work Approaches, Visions and Challenges, said: “Social workers are crucial in the process of integration and liberation and respecting the dignity of migrants and refugees.
“We are promoters of human rights. It is crucial to make the invisible visible, evidencing, voicing and exposing human rights violations through coalitions, associations, research, networks and events like this.”
Emilio said the global definition of social work should guide practice with refugees and asylum seekers.
But he added: “We know that sometimes, despite our will, we are on the side of the oppressors and that worries us a lot.
“During the years of the economic crisis and pandemic crisis, social workers in the field of migration were working in very hard conditions, particularly in southern Europe.
“Many times they were being asked to implement discriminatory and exclusionary policies that stigmatised and criminalised users.”
Emilio called for social work education to put more emphasis on the human rights of refugees.
“We found that most social workers do not feel confident enough when working with migrants refugees or asylum seekers. So this is a call for us and this is a call to the [social work] community - to what extent is migration content present in social work lectures, to what extend are social workers being trained in working with migrants and refugees?”
Claire Moseley founded Care4Calais eight years ago after witnessing firsthand the treatment of refugees at the French port.
“I drove down in my car to Calais and arrived at a camp where there were 6,000 people living on one square mile of dirt,” she recalled.
“The first person I met said to me, ‘Do you have any food in your handbag, I haven't eaten. Do you have any crisps? Or biscuits or anything?'
“Later that day, somebody else came up to me, a man with a baby, and said, ‘Excuse me madam, please take my daughter. She is no trouble at all. Just take her with you,’ and he tried to give me a small child, which had such an impact on me it actually completely changed my life.”
She spent the next two years living in Calais helping refugees trapped in limbo at the UK border.
Claire claimed the UK and French governments approach to migrants appeared to be that “if we treat them badly, they will go away and stop coming”.
She said: “It’s never made them go away and yet we still do it. Our governments are still treating them badly and people are still drowning in the Mediterranean.”
She condemned the UK’s controversial Illegal Immigration Bill introduced in the House of Commons earlier this month, and described as "discriminatory" and "in breach of human rights" by BASW.
“This bill provides for the mass deportation and detention of refugees. People will no longer be able to apply for asylum in our country. It's absolutely draconian in its response.
“Our government calls refugees illegal. That is incredibly dangerous terminology to use because when you talk about people as illegal, it puts associations in people's minds.
“Calling people illegal suggests they're doing something wrong, it effectively suggests that they are criminals.”
This, said Claire, “turns people against them and means they think it’s okay to treat them badly; it’s okay not to give them their human rights.”
She maintained a policy of safe passage was a “much more humane and effective” way to stop people paying smugglers to get them across the Channel in small boats.
Aimee Georgeson, a volunteer with Social Workers Without Borders, urged people to consider the motivations that fuel migration.
“It will be no surprise to anybody that the issues affecting people are often a direct result of inequality. The power structures maintaining inequality actively work to prevent people accessing what they need to thrive.”
Aimee, a senior social work lecturer at the University of Gloucester, criticised how borders are used “as a way of controlling access to resources”.
Quoting from Reece Jones’ 2016 book Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Move, she said: “The violence of borders today is emblematic of a broader system that seeks to preserve privilege and opportunity for some by restricting access to resources and movement for others.”
She added: “Without a shadow of a doubt the UK immigration and asylum system is unjust. No person is illegal. It is an absurd concept.
“Social Work Without Borders is a rights-based charity - we view people as inherently holding rights, not needing to have them bestowed upon them by the state they are in.
“We also believe strongly that understanding the global and national context can help social workers practice in a way that dispels shame and sheds light on which interventions are most appropriate.”
Aimee said working with the charity has helped volunteers like herself expand their social work knowledge and skills.
And she added: “Perhaps more importantly, it has deepened our connection to the roots of ethical social justice-based social work.
“As social workers, we have a voice where others often don’t. So we have a responsibility to advocate for excellent social work practice with refugees and asylum seekers and migrants' lives.”
Useful links
https://firmcharter.org.uk/stand-up-speak-out