Abstract
AbstractImmigration is one of those issues about which everyone has an opinion, but those opinions are rarely informed by facts. Rather, they are sustained by feelings of alienation, powerlessness and fear. That governments draft legislation based on these depictions is highly problematic. It demonstrates at best a capitulation of leadership and at worst an explicit acceptance of a racist right‐wing populist agenda. When combined with systemic misogyny, a framework of oppression emerges that makes the lives of migrant and refugee women even more precarious than it is for men. These, like many other aspects of the ‘hostile environment’, force people into destitution; they fear reprisals by the system if they speak out and in many cases feel ashamed. All this sounds, and is, rather bleak, but it is not the complete story. Despite the hostility—or because of it—there is a thriving grassroots community of solidarity that is organising resistance against misogyny and the hostile immigration policy. The way forward starts with the reframing of the ‘good/bad refugee/migrant’ discourse from which a new narrative emerges: that of a fair immigration system based on principles of dignity, justice and welcome.
Published Version
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