Women’s groups and migrant organisations are mobilising outside a London immigration tribunal May 5, calling for an end to expulsions, destitution and what they describe as a system built against them.
Kennedy Ogenna
The protest is the latest action organised by Global Women Against Deportations and the All African Women’s Group, who are pushing the Transnational Migrants Strike’s demands onto the streets, a campaign also seeking to end the criminalisation of protest.
The groups say the demonstration responds directly to what they describe as increasingly brutal immigration policies being developed by Western governments — policies they argue expose women and families to greater risk of violence, exploitation and separation from loved ones.
“As Western governments wage war and commit genocide from Gaza to Sudan, Haiti to Iran, they simultaneously develop and share brutal new immigration policies,” the organisers state. “They aim to prevent women and our families from seeking asylum from rape and other torture, divide our communities and put everyone at even greater risk.”
Central to their demands is opposition to new legislation that campaigners say separates children from their mothers, makes the right to settlement dependent on income, restricts appeals and creates more detention centres.
Protesters will also speak out against what they call “deliberate destitution” — conditions in which asylum seekers survive on just £49.18 a week, or £9.95 in hotels, in what organisers describe as slum housing.
“Without women’s work there is no survival, without migrants everything stops,” the groups state. “Everywhere in the world, we are the ones keeping communities together, caring for children, and surviving against all odds.”
The groups also challenge Home Office country reports, which they say falsely classify certain nations as “safe” when lives remain at risk. They point to the absence of legal aid lawyers as a critical barrier for those navigating what they describe as “an antagonistic and prejudiced system.”
The protest comes as immigration dominates British political debate, with party leaders staking out sharply different positions.
Last week, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage escalated his party’s stance, saying: “We will review the last five years of asylum claims that have already been granted by Labour and the Conservatives. The ones that should never have been accepted in the first place will be reversed.” He added: “If you come to Britain illegally you must never be able to stay.” Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey has accused Farage of wanting to “import the divisive, nasty politics of Donald Trump,” describing the United States president as Farage’s political idol.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer struck a different tone in his St George’s message. “St George’s flag stands for unity over hatred and decency over division. Those are the values I will always fight for,” he said, adding: “Some try to hijack our flag to spread hate, I reject their plastic patriotism.”
Against this backdrop, organisers say the action is not only a demonstration — it is a declaration that migrant women will not be silenced.
The event will take place on Tuesday 5 May at 12:30 p.m. at Taylor House Immigration Court, 88 Rosebery Ave, London EC1R 4QU. More information: Global Women Against Deportations. the All African Women’s Group and Transnational Migrants Strike.
(Photos: Pixabay)
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