AEN

Immigration detainees have been short-changed of £5 million a year by being paid £1 an hour instead of the minimum wage for work they did while in removal centres, it has been claimed. A solicitor described the wage paid to people detained in a network of immigration removal centres as “slavery”. Frightening link between Nazis and Tories  Toufique Hossain, of Duncan Lewis, said: “They are working as cleaners, barbers, laundry workers, litter-pickers and food servers. This work would otherwise need to be done by workers paid at least the minimum wage. If this isn’t slavery, I don’t know what is. Read More

What are the Tories trying to hide?  Diane Abbott has written to the home secretary, Amber Rudd, to ask why she has been refused permission to visit the controversial Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre despite at least a dozen requests over more than a year. The shadow home secretary said getting access to the centre in Bedfordshire, which has regularly seen concerns raised about inappropriate treatment of highly vulnerable detainees, was a necessary part of her job. Yarl’s Wood, where foreign nationals are detained before being deported, faced criticism last month after  the chief inspector of prisons, Peter Clarke, said  he had found increasing numbers of women held there despite evidence they were victims of torture, rape and trafficking. Clarke said he was concerned to find that the Home Office had refused to accept that rape came within the legal definition of torture. In July a Kenyan asylum seeker  won a court victory , with the ...

Millions of women and men are leaving their homes in the search of work and education. Millions are on the move, because they have no choice, to flee war and persecution, to escape the vicious circles of poverty, food insecurity and environmental degradation. © Shutterstock.com / Giannis Papanikos Migration is a global phenomenon driven by many forces. These start with aspirations for dignity, safety and peace. The decision to leave home is always extreme, and, too often, the beginning of a dangerous, sometimes fatal journey. UNESCO is acting to advance the migration-related commitments of the  2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development . This starts with education, by promoting access to quality education for Syrian refugees, by facilitating recognition of education diplomas and qualifications. Through our  International Coalition of Inclusive and Sustainable Cities , we promote a welcoming approach towards migrants at the local level. We are bolstering the...

Gay people who seek asylum in Britain and end up in detention centres continue to face the "reverse of justice" and the threat of deportation. Sitting in the visitors’ hall of high-security Colnbrook immigration removal centre, Eric cuts a feeble figure beside two burly security guards who are keeping a watchful eye. Eric was just 20 when he fled death threats in his native Ghana. The son of two farmers, he says since his village in the conservative African nation discovered he was gay, neighbours are no longer buying crops from his family’s smallholding, and now his relatives are struggling to survive. Eric manages just a few of minutes of talking – whispering, almost – before he winces in pain and slowly lifts himself out of his chair. “I was beaten by men with sticks and nails,” he mutters. “It hurts to sit down. It hurts to talk and it’s painful even to breathe.” “I fear going back because my life would be in danger. My parent’s used to call...