Black migrant and refugee solidarity evening

Last week, 7th November, we had our Black migrants, refugees and asylum seekers’ solidarity evening in SOAS University of London. We opened with a rich collective conversation and delicious Ghanaian food. We discussed how anti-Black racism and Afriphobia intersect with xenophobia, policing, immigration surveillance, and economic inequality to amplify the impacts of the hostile environment for Black migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. We concluded that for Black migrant justice to be truly transformative, it must address the root causes of migrant injustice being embedded in colonialism, neocolonialism, capitalism and the British empire. We also reflected on how liberatory education, internationalist solidarity, and building our own African institutions to defend international human rights could allow us to co-create a better world for Black migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and all Black peoples.

The second section of the solidarity evening was to amplify the work and campaigns of Black migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and groups. We learnt about the urgent necessity of regularisation and supporting undocumented and underdocumented peoples through the work of Regularise. We celebrated Migrants Organise’s Justice for Simba campaign to encourage us to show up and contribute to petitions, mobilisations, and actions. Finally, we learnt about the Solidarity Knows No Borders community and explored their Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) Charter and its implications for Black communities globally.

This event formed part of KIN’s work, to amplify and empower Black migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in the UK Black activist community. Check back on our news section for the full report of this project work at the end of the year.