Report from the Immigration and International Workshop

David Landau from Camden & Islington branch minuted issues and action points.

The extreme right is on the rise across Europe threatening the established bourgeois parties – especially in France, Germany and Austria. In Britain the organised forces of fascism and the far right are currently in disarray but the popular sentiment is there, reflected in the rise in hate crime. There is a definite threat and a significant amount (not all) of the Brexit vote was against migration. The potential for an extreme right wing political organisation to re-emerge is real.

The situation likely to get worse as Brexit unravels and the places those left-behind will still be getting the worst deal. There will be growing anger looking for an outlet. UKIP or similar could seize on this to address the ‘betrayal’.

There is concern as to how to relate to people under the thrall of forces like UKIP. Shouting at them might be counter-productive.

Although it is not all doom and gloom. We see support for refugees, I.E. last year’s big march; support for Gary Linneker and Lilly Allen. On the other hand we see plenty of hate too.

Not just Tory, but also Labour Councils have, over the years, played a big part in cuts etc. making living conditions harder for all and leaving room for blame to be placed on new residents, I.E. immigrants.

Suggested actions:

• Cultural events that bring people together – Worthing described and example.
• Defiance not Compliance – ever more groups of people are expected to investigate and report people to the Home Office about their immigration status. We should encourage defiance of this and campaign for unions to encourage their members not to be surrogate immigration officers and to back members who take a stand.
• Update Toolkit so that comrades are better equipped to argue the case and win people over.
• Work to ensure that migrants and refugees are involved and have a voice in our struggles and campaigns against austerity cuts, housing etc.
• Campaign for the rights of EU people resident in Britain – Defend Freedom of Movement.

As we were finishing, a debate started about Freedom of Movement. Some people argued to Defend and Extend Freedom of Movement whereas others thought this would confuse issues. There was a specific urgency about people from EU countries. We still have a position against controls but this is a specific threat that needs to be addressed.

There were other action points agreed at conference that were not touched on in the workshop. For completeness we should note:

• Action in Solidarity with Calais.
• Engaging with campaigns against immigration detention.
• Campaign against new proposals like employers collecting information.