British Immigration Research Articles

Masculinities in Immigration Detention Centres

A great tool to grow an empire, detention camps have been historically used and abused as a subordination tactic by all of the most powerful empires, most notably by Germany’s Nazi Regime in the Second World War. Commonly thought to have been born and died in history, they are a mostly forgotten piece of the past. Many would be shocked to discover that there is a secret world of institutions that disregard international human rights law in order to prioritize their national goals, where refugees, asylum seekers and migrants are the primary victims. Systems for migrancy and immigration detention have emerged in the wake of globalization, seeking asylum from conflicts, natural disasters or financial insecurity, or simply searching for better economic opportunities, education or reunion with family. Multicultural liberal democracies use detention centres to enforce their racialized and gendered penal power and establish a national hierarchy where poor, young men of colour are the most marginalized. This paper critically examines the victimization of male refugees, asylum seekers and migrants by neo-colonial masculinities in Canadian, American and British immigration detention centres and how these experiences create offenders through the victim-offender overlap.

Immigration and the Brexit Catastrophe: Empire, Citizenship and Ignorance

AbstractThe article examines British immigration policy in the run‐up to and after Brexit. It explains how the Conservatives presided over policies that demonised, demeaned and deported black Britons whilst admitting hundreds of thousands of immigrants they promised to keep out. This happened because of (a) how early postwar nationality policy interacted with subsequent immigration policy and (b) elite ignorance. The ensuing Windrush scandal resulted from the interaction of the British Nationality Act 1948 with Home Secretary Theresa May's hostile environment policy. Meanwhile, since Brexit, net immigration figures have doubled. This is because Conservative Home Secretary Priti Patel ended the free movement of EU citizens and authored a new immigration policy that utterly failed to consider the British economy's dependence on low‐skilled labour. The outcomes reflect profoundly on the British economy, on the history of nationality law, and on immigration policy.

Deceptive diplomacy and racism in post-war Black British immigration: hallmarks of the legacies of slave trade and colonisation

Deceptive diplomacy and racism in post-war Black British immigration: hallmarks of the legacies of slave trade and colonisation

British Values, Hong Kong Voices: Tracing Hong Kong’s Britishness and Its Influences on British Immigration Policies

Abstract This article examines the rationale behind the United Kingdom’s decision to offer Hongkongers new immigration routes and assess whether Britishness constitutes part of Hong Kong’s identity, influencing this policy choice. It explores the concept of Britishness and how Hong Kong developed a distinct identity through its colonial history and experiences under British rule. Perspectives from the British administration, Hongkongers, and Chinese government on Hong Kong’s Britishness are considered. The article argues the United Kingdom action stems from two factors – perceiving a shared Britishness between Hongkongers and Britons mitigating public backlash, and viewing Hongkongers’ Britishness as crucial to their integration. Ultimately, Britishness remains integral to Hong Kong due to shared social and political values with Britain from over 150 years of colonial rule.

Turning Public Opinion on Immigration: the British Conservative Party and the Expulsion of Ugandan Asians in 1972

Abstract This article examines the Ugandan Asians’ crisis of 1972, during which President Idi Amin expelled tens of thousands of Asian nationals from the country. It explains why Ugandan Asians held, against expectations and the UK government’s intention, British citizenship. Drawing on primary sources and the social science literature on ‘framing’, the article then explores how Britain’s Conservative government secured the support of an initially hostile public for its decision to allow the Asians entry to the United Kingdom. It argues that the Conservatives succeeded by framing the Ugandan Asians as middle-class, hard-working, skilled refugees, rather than as immigrants or British citizens, and Idi Amin as a murderous monster. The press played a vital role in the government’s success. The article ends by reflecting on the case’s implications for contemporary British immigration policy and the capacity of the state to generate support for open immigration.

Gendering detention: (re)producing vulnerability for migrant women in British Immigration Removal Centres

Less than 10% of migrants in immigration detention in the UK are women, despite high-profile cases such as Yarl’s Wood IRC, and so previous research concerned with the experience of detention focuses on the general migrant population which consists mainly of men. Therein lies an uncomfortable gendered nexus between a feminised vulnerability which sustains anti-detention narratives and the somatic masculinity of the detention estate. The experiences of men are treated as the norm, despite the differing and gendered experiences of detained women. This article addresses this gap by drawing together theoretical and empirical literature focusing on the experiences of migrant women detained in the UK and conceptualising Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) as a microcosm through which to theorise the control and dehumanisation of migrant bodies within the contemporary context of the ‘Hostile Environment’. In particular, this article pays close attention to the intersection of gender and immigration status for migrant detainees as their experiences of pregnancy, sex work and sexual violence implicate how they experience detention.

Brass Bands: The Foundation of Music Education in Australian Schools

There are currently very few brass bands in schools in Australia, however they were the predominant music ensemble in Australian schools up to the 1970s. The aim of this article is to document the popularity of British-style brass bands in Australia, and the corresponding development of brass bands in schools during the 20th century. The history of the brass band in Australia and its decline is explored, drawing significantly on the historical research of Dr Duncan Bythell, Dr Thomas Fraschillo, Dr Dave Russell, and Dr John Whiteoak. In addition, various primary sources are examined, such as newspaper articles and photographs. British immigration to Australia played a significant role in shaping the brass band movement, which was distinctly male-dominated and had strong links to the military culture of the first half of the 20th century. These societal trends followed into the school brass band setting. The article concludes with an overview of the factors that influenced the shift away from the all-brass ensemble in schools. This research provides a better understanding of the brass band tradition within the context of the school environment in Australia and calls for further research and scholarly inclusion in the literature of music education.

Gendered Narratives in British Immigration Policy: Forced Marriage Policy and the British South Asian Diaspora

Theories surrounding public policy, feminism, and neocolonialism intersect to produce an understanding of the gendered narratives used by politicians to advance their policy agendas. This paper explores how the use of these gendered narratives in British immigration policy toward South Asians—by the government, activists, and the media—reinforces racial bias and co-opts issues of gender-based violence to promote alternate, sometimes racially charged, policy goals. Through a case study on forced marriage, this paper explores how stakeholders perpetuate gendered narratives in forced marriage, security, and immigration policy. This analysis concludes that using an intersectional intimate partner violence policy, rather than specific forced marriage or immigration policies, is a more culturally sensitive approach to addressing the issue. Considering alternate policy approaches to forced marriage demonstrates how gendered narratives subvert attention from issues of gender to those of other, often racialized, policy issues.

UK Border Digitalisation – a Commentary on the Current State of Affairs

The commentary focuses on the current process of digitalisation of the British immigration procedures by 2025 as a part of a reform brought about by Brexit and broader digital strategies. The policy plan, its implementation and reception are analysed briefly. The British government aim is to digitise the immigration procedures by 2025, support eGates and eventually enforce a contactless mode arrival. The challenges already encountered are presented with the conclusion on the emphasis that is still missing in the practical employment of the policy.

Towards a criminology of public inquiries: From cautious optimism to contestation in the Brook House Inquiry

Although UK public inquiries garner huge amounts of public attention, there have been few systematic studies of their role in scrutinising and reforming criminal justice policy and practice. This is despite a growing number of inquiries, held under the Inquiries Act 2005, into critical matters relating to policing, justice and home affairs. This article explores the contested nature of statutory inquiries as mechanisms for accountability and opportunity for policy reform. We suggest that inquiries provide fertile grounds for criminological analysis, if we understand them as sites of contestation where political priorities compete over questions of procedure, scope and participation. Our focus is on the Brook House Inquiry into the mistreatment of detainees in a British immigration removal centre. The analysis shows a tension between the public-facing nature of inquiries and their legalistic processes.

Нелегальная миграция: вызов для Великобритании (февраль 2020 – июль 2021 г.)

The article is devoted to the problem of the rapid growth of number of illegal migrants smuggled into the United Kingdom after the end of its exit from the European Union (Brexit, 31 December 2020) – during the transition period (1 February – 31 December 2020) and in the first part of 2021. The topic of illegal migration into the UK during its withdrawal from the EU (Brexit, 29 March 2017–31 December 2020) is considered in the article to the extent that it helps to highlight the different facets of the main subject of the research. Scrutinizing the genesis of the problem of illegal migration in the United Kingdom from 2003 to 2021, the article shows that the rapid rise of the migrants’ smugglings across the English Channel in small boats in 2020 – the first part of 2021 has become the challenge for the country. The termination of Great Britain’s membership in the European Union and the COVID 19 pandemic are regarded as the main reasons for it. The author enumerates actions made by the Boris Johnson’s cabinet which aimed at creating new legal framework for readmission of illegal migrants by the EU countries after the end of the transition period. The article pays attention to the strengthening of Anglo-French boarder cooperation as a way to cope with the transfer of illegal migrants to the UK. The creation of new British immigration law after the transition period is seen as a method of struggling with gangs of smugglers and as a means to curb rising influx of illegal migrants. The article considers the dependence of public and social security from tackling of illegal immigration as a source of the Islamist terrorism activity in the country. The author answers the question about the perspectives of the migrant transfer to Great Britain in the nearest future.

SCORING THE JOURNEY: LISTENING TO CLAUDIA MOLITOR'S SONORAMA

AbstractSonorama is a 2015 sonic artwork by Claudia Molitor, consisting of a number of audio files designed for listening on a train journey between London St Pancras and Margate, and a graphic score based on the composer's own ‘reading’ of this journey. This article analyses the relationship between the sonic and the spatial in the work, exploring how Molitor's site-specific composition interacts with its environment on multiple scales. By drawing on the strategy of ‘situated listening’ developed by Gascia Ouzounian, as well as urbanist language introduced by Richard Sennett, this article seeks to elucidate the relationship between a number of ‘nested’ spaces, present across varying realisations, and the political agenda that energises the work. Written in the midst of summer 2015's European refugee crisis, the work brings into sharp focus themes of British exceptionalism, immigration and inclusion.

Undesirable British East African Asians. Nationality, Statelessness, and Refugeehood after Empire

ABSTRACT In 1972, upon expulsion from Uganda by Idi Amin, diasporic Asians, who had settled in East Africa during colonial times, underwent a second stage of global dispersal. Many of them managed to resettle in the United Kingdom, despite anti-immigrant sentiments and increasingly restrictive immigration legislation. Other large groups arrived in India and Canada. One group, however, got scattered around the globe: the approximately 10,000 ‘Asians of undetermined origin’, who were resettled as refugees under auspices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This article investigates how and why this group of stateless Asians became refugees and candidates for international resettlement. It argues that all British policy makers sought to use the international community to shoulder part of the burden of winding up empire, while trying to avoid convictions for breaching newly emerging legally binding international human rights obligations. The Ugandan Asian crisis fits within the history of the creation of modern British immigration control law that took shape from 1962 onwards. This article proposes to decentralise the geographical frame beyond the UK to include developments in Kenya, Uganda, and India, where East African Asians likewise became ‘undesirables’.

The Interconnectedness of British and Australian Immigration Controls in the 20th Century: between Convergence and Divergence1

The histories of immigration control in Britain and Australia in the twentieth century are often contrasted, with Britain imposing few formal restrictions on Commonwealth migration until the 1960s and Australia slowly weakening the ‘White Australia Policy’ throughout the post-war period. However as much as there is a divergence between the two immigration control systems, we argue that there is also a high level of interconnectedness between the British and Australian efforts to control migration across the century. In particular, policymakers in Britain looked to replicate aspects of Australia’s strict control system, while many politicians in Australia saw British immigration policy as a warning to the immigration reform. By the end of the century, both countries had established strict border control systems that converged with similar systems across Western Europe and North America.

Envisioning Greek Refugees as ‘Farmers for Australia’: Christy Freeleagus, Land Settlement and Immigration Restriction in White Australia

In the early 1920s the Greek Consul General in Queensland, Christy Freeleagus, attempted to persuade Australian politicians, diplomats and immigration officials to grant assisted passage and allotments of land to Greek refugees. Making representations in the United Kingdom and Australia, Freeleagus claimed that Greek refugees, who were displaced due to an imposed transfer of populations between Greece and Turkey in 1923, would make ideal agricultural settlers. While Freeleagus’ representations for a Greek land settlement scheme were ultimately unsuccessful, his advocacy reveals how Australia’s preference for British immigration overshadowed any likelihood that displaced Greeks could be humanitarianly assisted to immigrate and resettle in Australia as farmers. By focusing on Freeleagus’ advocacy and the refusal of Australian immigration officials to assist displaced Greeks, this article ties Australian history to studies on Greek-Turkish population exchange. It also reveals how the interwar dynamics of land settlement and immigration restriction in White Australia were interlinked.

Making of Refugee Policy in UK in the early 2000’s

This article provides a comprehensive overview of Britain’s immigration policy early 2000’s. Britain was once known as a country of ‘zero immigration’ and given that the majority of Britain’s post-war restrictive measures were targeted at non-white immigrants, many scholars contend that Britain’s immigration regime was underpinned by a racialized discourse. In stark contrast to Britain’s past record, the Labour governments of 1997 to 2010 pursued an expansionary economic immigration policy. The chapter builds a narrative of British immigration policy until 2010 and serves to demonstrate the unprecedented shift under the Labour governments in comparison to Britain’s post-war restrictive framing.

Midwifery, nursing and medical care on the high seas: An immigration voyage to colonial Australia 1848–1849

BackgroundThe lives of individuals are infinitely fascinating, especially when viewed at the intersection of their relationship with other people and their environment. Of interest in this article are the incidents of childbirth and the role of midwife and doctor in these crucial life events. Perhaps of greater significance is the story of those on board this one voyage of the Steadfast within the grand narrative of British immigration to Australia in the nineteenth century. AimThis article aims to demonstrate that it was the human cargo and their need of health care in the voyage of the Steadfast, which contributed to the historical narrative of immigration and quarantine, the prelude to life in the colonial environment. MethodThis is qualitative research using historical methodology involving the selection of available documents. The primary document sourced is that of the surgeon-superintendent’s journal on the Steadfast. The methodology used is narrative, recording the medical information as well as providing background context for the main characters for the purpose of situating them in the immigration story. FindingsHealth care, particularly maternity care, on immigration ships was limited. Birthing at sea was a dangerous process for an immigrant woman often resulting in her death, the death of her infant or both mother and child could perish. If disease occurred during the sea voyage, then quarantine of the ship and passengers was instigated on arrival at Sydney Harbour. DiscussionThis article draws on the journal notes of the surgeon superintendent which logs the health incidents of immigrants requiring midwifery, nursing and medical care on a sea voyage from London to the colony of New South Wales in the mid-nineteenth century. This article focuses on the maternity events and the necessity for quarantine measures to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in the colony of New South Wales.

Strategies of Australia’s Migration Policy: the Stages of Becoming, New Challenges and Responses to Today’s Threats

The article examines the Australia’s migration policy, the stages of its formation and development, the current situation. There are three stages of Australia’s post-World War II migration strategy: assimilation policy, integration policy, and a policy of cultural diversity and multiculturalism. This policy is regulated by the Australian Department of Immigration. Since its inception, the name of the Department has been changed more than ten times, reflecting the main directions of its activities and functions during these periods.
 Summing up the results of the article, it can be said that the first head of the Department of Immigration in 1945 had promoted mass British immigration, proclaiming the slogan “Populate or Perish”, however the policy on immigrants and the name of the Department changed over time. In March 1996, the name of the institution had changed to the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, whose slogan was “Enriching Australia through migration”. The main idea of immigration strategy was to create a multicultural country with strong potential due to its diversity. In 2007, the concept of multiculturalism was excluded from the name of the structure; more emphasis in the work of the Department was placed on the recognition of national identity, based on a number of core values, which still contribute to the development of a multicultural society. And in 2017 Department of Home Affairs was officially established, which today deals with all migration issues.
 The country has an Australian migration program at the beginning of the XXI century, which provides several main reasons why citizens of another country can enter the continent for long-term residence: student’s, qualified immigration (taking into account the professional experience, skills or qualifications required by Australian economy at the time), family reunification (family members living in Australia), special circumstances (return of Australian citizens who have previously left the country). There is also a humanitarian program for refugee’s migration and adaptation to Australian life.

Seeking Asylum, Speaking Silence

“How could she ever put those terrible pictures into words?” (Naidoo, Truth 51). This question is at the heart of Beverley Naidoo’s The Other Side of Truth (2000), which narrates the trauma of Nigerian asylum seeker children Sade and Femi as they flee to Britain. Speech and silence are ambivalent within the text, fluctuating in meaning dependant on the social context in which they are enacted. Showing this text to be primarily a narrative of activism, I explore how Naidoo’s representations of trauma inform her critique of the British immigration system. This text invites a reading that draws on recent postcolonial theories of trauma. Using both textual and paratextual analysis of the novel and Naidoo’s archive, held by Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books in Britain, I draw on Forter’s model of psychosocial trauma to demonstrate that the trauma the protagonists face is a result of their encounter with a racist society and bureaucracy. Reflecting Kertzer’s claim that social justice should be central in trauma narratives for children, Naidoo shows healing from trauma to be the locus of political awakening for both characters and implied reader. The aim of this article is to integrate contemporary models of postcolonial trauma with an understanding of the activist nature of Naidoo’s work, showing that in this sort of children’s trauma narrative, the site of healing from trauma is simultaneously the site of social change. Since the trauma that the child protagonists face is a social phenomenon, the speech that allows the children to begin to heal is similarly socially situated, and their healing is synonymous with social justice.

Becoming an Immigrant? Border Harms and \u201cBritish\u201d Men with Previous Convictions in British Immigration Removal Centers

In the context of heightened debate around increasingly hostile immigration policies, the detention and deportation of people with long-standing connections to the United Kingdom (UK) have, within the last few years, received public attention. Such individuals—people who were born in or came to the UK as children—make up a significant proportion of the “foreign criminal” population in detention. This article examines how those individuals with long-standing links, who also have criminal convictions, are often “erased” by the British state. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork with men currently and formerly held in immigration removal centers, I argue that institutional failings in immigration and local authority care “guide” some who grow up in the UK toward (and into) the criminal justice system. Shunning responsibility for these failings, the British state enacts a further punishment through immigration detention and attempted deportation. Despite acts that resist and problematize foreignness, detained “Brits” experience specific harms that change the way they feel about identity and belonging in Britain. These processes highlight the ways that national identity and immigration status intersect with class, gender and race to produce traumatic experiences of cultural denationalization.