A Disabling Immigration System

Many of the restrictions and inequalities imposed on people subject to UK immigration controls prevent people from meeting essential needs.

The result is that new impairments are created. Significant mental distress is so common among people seeking asylum as to be considered normal. And people with existing impairments are further disabled.

The UK asylum and immigration system is actively designed to be disabling.

Many of these restrictions are imposed on people seeking asylum before being extended to other groups, including disabled citizens.

Labelling some individuals as 'vulnerable' or 'deserving' may be essential to enabling them to access essential services but does not stop the restrictions.

Instead, we need to bring together the insights and experiences of the disabled people’s movement, people in the asylum and immigration system, and allies of both to build greater solidarity, resistance and create a system in which people are valued on the basis of common humanity.

In this film, Deaf, disabled and asylum seeking people highlight the wider relevance of insights and experiences.

You can read this blog post for more about the power of collaborative art in research for social change.

See the page The Social Model for information on the relevance of ideas from the disabled people's movement