Migration and Integrationin the West Midlands

Tallinn - 19-22 October 2009

Clare Daley – WMSMP: c.daley@wmleadersboard.gov.ukWebsite: www.wmlga.gov.uk/wmsmp

Outline

• Partnership role, structure & impacts• Regional Social Inclusion Strategy• Asylum dispersal & refugee

integration in the UK• Regional refugee / migrant

populations• Cohesion, integration & migration• Integration issues & responses

WMSMP Role

• Regional consortia set up in 2000 to oversee asylum dispersal & refugee integration in region

• Became West Midlands Strategic Migration Partnership (formerly WMSPARS) in June 2007 – also took on new migrant remit

• Partnership consists of local authority, statutory, private, voluntary and community organisations from across West Midlands

WMSMP Structure

Regional Impacts

• Influencing local strategies and plans

• Sharing and developing practice / procedures

• Facilitating co-ordination and collaboration

• Presenting local issues and responses nationally

• Providing information and policy interpretation

Regional Social Inclusion Strategy

• Recognising the impact of poverty, inequality and discrimination

• Addressing the challenges faced in refugee integration

• Encouraging inclusion and mainstreaming of responses to refugee and asylum needs

• Supporting refugees to play a full, active and equal part in the region

Developed through a regional process of partner involvement, strategy group and consultation events and drafts

Available at http://www.wmlga.gov.uk/Policy_Areas/Migration/Integration/Integration.aspx

Theme Areas

• Information, Advice and Language

• Accommodation• Health• Children• Adult Education and

Training• Employment

• Volunteering• Media• Community Cohesion• Community

Development• Culture, Leisure and

Sport

Strategy Delivery & Review

• Co-ordinated by WMSMP• Cross-sector Regional Implementation Groups

(RIGs) take forward actions by theme – Cohesion, Media, Employment & Training, Children, Health, Housing, Women

• Link with Regional Partnerships & Bodies, Public Services, Local Authorities & Strategic Partnerships, Voluntary Sector

• Partnership review of achievements, outstanding and new actions, issues and policy context

UK Asylum System

• Dispersal areas: urban multi-cultural areas• Asylum dispersal on a no-choice basis, often to

vacant property and areas of deprivation • Home Office contract asylum accommodation

and provide basic support (2/3 income support)• Unaccompanied asylum seeking children

supported by Local Authorities where arrive• People seeking sanctuary are not allowed to

work and often live in poverty, fear and ill-health• New Asylum Model 2006; Case Resolution 2011

Refugee Integration

• On receipt of status, refugees have 28 days to find their own accommodation and support

• Tend to settle in dispersal areas that have members of own cultural community

• Refugees are able to access housing, services, employment and support like any UK Citizen

• Refugees are often highly skilled and qualified and have contributed significantly to Region

• New National Refugee Employment and Integration Services started – October 2008

Regional Refugee Populations

• WM refugee population estimated at over 76,000, over 1% of regional population

• About 4350 asylum seekers currently supported by UKBA (plus UASCs & refused)

• About half of regional refugee and asylum populations in Bham

• Over 85 different languages and dialects spoken. Range of faiths and backgrounds.

• The largest refugee groups are Somali, other African and Iraqi

• Areas of dispersal and settlement mostly inner-city, disadvantaged and multicultural

New Migration in West Midlands

• Global, national & local changing migration patterns & movements

• Dramatic increase in migrant workers in region following EU accession in 2004

• About 47,000 overseas nationals registered NINOs in region in 07/08; 13,000 in Bham

• Largest populations in urban areas (Bham, Coventry) but largest growth in rural areas

• Polish, Indian and Slovak biggest groups

• Regional study on economic impact of migrant workers

• Migration Matters conference & report

Integration

• Highly contested term focused on refugees until recent CLG Migrant Integration Review

• Recognition that two-way, long-term, dynamic and multi-dimensional but not in practice

• Bias to functional rather than social integration• Tension between targeted & universal services• National ‘Integration Matters’ Strategy 2009• Regional Social Inclusion Strategy - review• Local Integration Strategies and Forums

(Castles et al, 2002; Ager & Strang, 2004; ECRE, 2005; Korac, 2001)

• Policy term emerging after 2001 social unrest • Recent shift from multiculturalism to cohesion

blamed for tensions and segregation• Linked with ‘race’, migration and assimilation• Social capital model – bonding, bridging, links• Based on shared futures, goals and equality• Commission for Integration and Cohesion report

and CLG response• Much policy guidance and paradox

(Forrest & Kearns 1999; Cantle 2005; COIC, 2007; Temple & Moran 2005)

Community Cohesion

Cohesion and Migration

• Refugees and migrants more likely to be victims of and to under report crime and exploitation

• New arrivals face difficulty accessing services• Areas of asylum dispersal and migrant

settlement often of existing deprivation• ‘Scape goating’ of new arrivals v. contribution to

cohesion e.g. volunteering• Frequent movement / instability / work hrs make

it difficult to form links within local communities• Lack of accurate data about populations of new

communities, particularly destitute

• Welcome to Birmingham Website - A guide to information, support and services in Birmingham for people new to city Available at: www.welcometobirmingham.org

• 'Migration Matters: Mainstreaming Migration in the West Midlands' Conference Report - June 2009

• Where Our Journeys Meet - A West Midlands Resource for Raising Awareness of Refugee, Asylum and Migrant Issues

• Maternity, Mortality and Migration: the impact of new communities - 2008

All available at: http://www.wmlga.gov.uk/Policy_Areas/Migration/Publications/Publications.aspx

Key Publications