ALL migrants should come within the scope of the public inquiry into the UK Government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic – including those without status, according to campaigners.
In an open letter to inquiry chair Baroness Heather Hallett, as it sets out its terms of reference, leaders of almost 20 groups, including the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, the BMA, Shelter and the Race Equality Foundation, said ethnic minorities who are migrants, especially those with insecure immigration status, have existed on the sharpest end of the pandemic crisis.
They have called for an assessment into how current immigration policy and law may have impacted their vulnerability and outcomes.
Their calls follow a JCWI report last month that found the UK lagging behind other European countries in protecting undocumented migrants during the health crisis.
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It highlighted how the Government’s Hostile Environment policies such as no recourse to public funds (NRPF) and right to rent checks have exacerbated the risks of Covid-19 for undocumented people and hampered public health efforts.
The JCWI’s latest research came after prior evidence revealed a huge disparity in Covid outcomes between black and minority ethnic people, and their white counterparts.
“Public health should have been Government’s number one priority over the past two years,” said JCWI chief executive Satbir Singh.
“Instead, we’ve seen our politicians continually put lives at risk through their dangerous and discriminatory hostile environment.
“These policies, which push people to lose status and then punish them when they do, have left people destitute, homeless, and scared to access care – making many migrants’ lives virtually impossible and increasing their vulnerability to Covid.
“And while we already know the UK’s black and brown communities have disproportionately suffered and died from Covid-19, but so far, the government has ignored the role its immigration policies could have played in this – they are missing a key piece of the puzzle.
“It’s now time for the government to acknowledge its mistakes, and learn lessons from the pandemic. This means listening to migrants’ voices in the public inquiry, and taking action to ensure that no-one’s life is put at risk because of their immigration status.”
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, council chair of the BMA said they had seen a disproportionate and devastating impact” of the pandemic on people from ethnic minority backgrounds and immigrant communities. “Within healthcare alone, we know that more than 85% of doctors who died from Covid-19 are from ethnic minority backgrounds and the majority were born and trained overseas,” he said.
“More widely, the way that immigrant communities were affected by the pandemic is inextricably linked to longstanding systemic and structural inequalities.
“For those with insecure immigration status, as this letter highlights, they face daily disadvantages in their lives, be this related to employment or housing, which have a direct impact on their health, and this has been cruelly highlighted by Covid-19.
“For healthcare itself, the sad reality is that even in the midst of a dangerous pandemic, services largely remain inaccessible for those with insecure immigration status, even if doctors and their colleagues are willing and able to treat them.
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“It is vital that these issues, and Government policies that have exacerbated these existing inequalities, are considered within the scope of the public inquiry.”
CEO of the Race Equality Foundation, Jabeer Butt, added: “Mountains of evidence have made it plain as day that Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities suffered disproportionately during the pandemic.
“We signed this joint letter because we believe the public inquiry into COVID-19 must fully consider the underlying factors driving these severe inequalities. The role that immigration law and policy played here is fundamental and must be fully investigated as a factor if the inquiry is to hold water.”
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