RAMP Project

We are very excited to be launching a new programme, seconding expert policy advisers to a group of Mayors and Combined Authorities to support their work to welcome and include newcomers to the UK. We are looking for a fantastic Programme Manager to help get this project off the ground and to manage its development. We need someone with drive, energy and determination and an entrepreneurial attitude; excellent relational and interpersonal skills; sound political judgement and a good understanding of regional government structures, dynamics and financial processes; strong project, financial and people management skills; a good understanding of the policies that would support the inclusion of refugees and migrants to our wider communities; and demonstrable commitment to the power of working collaboratively with people who hold different views to yourself and each other. The role profile is here and full details can be found on our website. Applications are open until 31st October. Please help us to find an excellent person for this role. https://lnkd.in/ebiEhU4A

Join Our Board: Treasurer Position Available We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Srivatsallan V Sridharan for the invaluable support provided to RAMP as our Treasurer over the past couple of years. We are now seeking a new Treasurer to join our board of directors. If you are a finance professional passionate about improving the debate on immigration in the UK and eager to support a growing not-for-profit, we would love to hear from you. Details of the role can be found here: https://lnkd.in/ebiEhU4A To express your interest, please send your CV and a cover letter/email which sets out why you are interested in applying for this role to info@rampproject.org  by 9am on Friday 13th September. Please use ‘RAMP Treasurer’ in the email subject line. Please also reach out via that email address if you have any questions about the role. 

At RAMP, our primary focus is on providing support directly to parliamentarians as they engage in complex policy areas. To do that well, it is really helpful to receive well informed and timely briefings from a range of actors across the immigration and asylum fields - and we really appreciate the relationships we’ve been able to build up with a huge range of excellent organisations. Last month, the RAMP team hosted two workshops for colleagues in the immigration and refugee policy sector to share some of the things we’ve learnt from our work to support parliamentarians. The first session was facilitated by our Strategic Engagement Adviser Sabrina Huck, alongside RAMP advisers Oussama El Fatihi and Angela Afzal, who have worked with Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs and Peers. The workshop focused on the technicalities of the passage of bills through parliament and offered practical tips on how the sector can engage MPs and Peers effectively through the process. The second workshop was focused on post-election engagement and was facilitated by Sabrina Huck and RAMP advisers Evie Lingwood and Nabeel Sheraz, who have worked with Labour and Conservative parliamentarians. It offered insights on how to identify and approach the right stakeholders with the appropriate asks, on understanding the dynamics in parliamentary offices, and how to make the most out of your relationships with policymakers. It was a pleasure to facilitate a space of discussion and learning for friends across the sector, and we hope to run similar workshops again in the future. Please get in touch if you would like to be kept informed about upcoming events. 

RAMP Retrospective:🧳 Visits🧳 We have  facilitated several visits for parliamentarians to provide them with first hand experience and knowledge to inform future discussions Napier Barracks Visit After much back and forth between Principals and the Home Office, including the use of a point of order by Tim Farron in the House, RAMP Principals were finally granted a visit to Napier Barracks accommodation centre on 27 January 2022. A delegation of Parliamentarians - made up of Caroline Nokes MP, Tim Farron MP, Bishop Paul Butler, as well as the Bishop of Dover representing the Archbishop of Canterbury - went to visit the Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent with some of the RAMP Team. The visit included a tour of the facilities, the opportunity to speak to asylum seekers at the site, and introductions with Home Office officials, staff from private contractors managing the site and charities working there. Principals were able to assess first-hand the living conditions at the site and this visit informed their parliamentary work and wider media interventions, for example Bishop Paul Butler raised the Napier Visit in the debate on asylum accommodation in the Lords in early February 2022, and was quoted in the Church Times. Channel Crossings: The APPG Migration Visit to Calais Led by APPG Chair David Simmonds MP, RAMP organised a cross-party delegation of APPG Migration parliamentarians to travel to Calais to meet asylum seekers attempting to cross the Channel. The visit, organised with the support of the British NGO Care4Calais included a two-hours visit to the informal asylum seekers’ settlements in the outskirts of Calais and discussions with the French local MP and NGOs in order to better understand motivations for the crossings and explore solutions to the dangerous journey. Harmondsworth Detention Centre In January 2024 Olivia Blake MP and Lord German visited the Harmondsworth Detention Centre to see the facilities and conditions there for themselves and to speak to residents, staff and officials. The parliamentarians noted that the welfare support provided was better than some other detention centres but that a number of significant improvements were still necessary. 

RAMP Retrospective: 📚 Briefings📚 To ensure our Principals and Associates were well-informed and prepared, we organised numerous briefings with policy and academic experts, as well as those with lived experiences, helping parliamentarians to gain a deeper understanding of  complex issues. Examples include:  Wendy Williams Windrush Roundtable. We held two briefings with Wendy Williams, the author of the Windrush Report.  The first public briefing, attended by the Permanent Secretary to the Home Office Matthew Rycroft, and Home Officer Minister Kevin Foster and Chaired by David Simmonds MP, outlined the political, cultural and operational mistakes that led to members of the Windrush generation being affected by the Government’s attempt to create a hostile environment for people in the UK illegally. The second briefing, a private roundtable, took place a  year on from the publication of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, and aimed to consider the progress made to date by the Home Office in implementing the recommendations. This event, chaired by Sir Stephen Timms MP, provided an opportunity for Wendy to set out her thoughts on how parliamentarians could continue to hold the Home Officer to account on the delivery of the most important of her recommendations. UNHCR Afghanistan Briefing The briefing, from the UNHCR's representative to the UK,  took place ahead of an emergency debate in the Commons chamber concerning the situation in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of international troops. The briefing highlighted the humanitarian and displacement crisis as the UNHCR called for access to asylum for Afghan civilians, and the suspension of forced returns for those outside the country, including rejected asylum seekers, due to the ongoing crisis and humanitarian emergency. UNHCR briefing on the Illegal Migration Bill.  Chaired by APPG on Migration member Baroness Lister of Burtersett, the briefing was delivered by UNHCR Representative to the UK, Vicky Tennant, with assistance from UNHCR’s Senior Legal Associate Elizabeth Ruddick, and set out how different elements of the Bill would affect those seeking refuge in the UK. NRPF and Domestic Abuse.  Chaired by Baroness Lister, this was a panel discussion on the support required by migrant survivors of domestic abuse with NRPF. Parliamentarians heard directly from migrant survivors of domestic violence who shared how the NRPF condition had hindered their access to safe accommodation at a time of most need, prevented them from leaving their abusive partners while maintaining a relationship with their children due to financial dependence and fear of deportation, and affected their journey to regain confidence and financial independence post-abuse. These sessions have been instrumental in shaping informed and high quality discussions around migration. 

RAMP Retrospective: 🗣️ Debates 🗣️ Our principals played key roles in securing and speaking in several important debates which enabled them to get responses and new information from Ministers on key topics. For example: Sir Stephen Timms MP led a Backbench Business Debate on No Recourse to Public Funds. His arguments highlighted the lack of accurate and current data on how many are subjected to NRPF, how NRPF pushes families into foodbank use and destitution, and also at the unfairness that many with NRPF work and are contributing to the UK economy without having access to the safety net available to others. Tim Farron MP led a Westminster Hall debate on support for newly recognised refugees, focusing on the challenges they face in integrating into British society, particularly regarding housing, work, and benefits. Lord German led across-party debate in the House of Lords on the findings and recommendations of the Brook House Inquiry report, specifically the recommendation for a 28-day time limit on immigration detention, and the associated issues of detainee welfare and oversight. Two other RAMP members, Bishop Gulli, and Baroness Lister also took part. Olivia Blake MP led a Westminster Hall Debate on the Nationality and Borders Bill and its effects on members of the LGBTQ+ community. She highlighted concerns about the difficulties LGBTQ+ individuals face in proving their identities and experiences to immigration officials and argued that the bill increases the burden of proof for asylum applications, making it harder for LGBTQ+ people to seek refuge in the UK. Our Parliamentarians' contributions have been pivotal in advancing important discussions. For a collection of their insights and articles, follow us on Twitter or visit the RAMP website

RAMP Retrospective: 📊 Inquiries and Reports 📊 The  APPG on Migration, for which we provide the secretariat, completed three inquiries: 1. The Effects of UK Immigration, Asylum, and Refugee Policy on Poverty – a joint report with the APPG on Poverty. The Inquiry found that rates of poverty are generally higher for migrants than for the UK-born population and that migrants are more likely to face deep poverty and deprivation. It set out a series of recommendations for concrete changes that a new Government could implement - including giving asylum seekers the right to work and reviewing the level of asylum support payments, and giving more migrants the right to access public funds and reducing the costs of visa renewals. 2. The Impact of the EU Settlement Scheme on EU citizens in the UK. The report explored the ongoing challenges faced by EU citizens in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), highlighting issues such as application backlogs, difficulties with digital status, and the need for continued support for vulnerable groups. The report made several relevant recommendations such as the commitment to a review of the progress of immigration applications currently in backlog across the Home Office; and automatically granting settled status to those with pre-settled status after five years have passed. 3. The Impact of the New Immigration Rules. The report highlighted the challenges faced by the UK economy due to labour shortages exacerbated by changes in immigration policy post-Brexit.  Recommendations in the report called for the consideration of allowing sponsored work permits to be issued for perceived ‘low skilled’ roles in instances where there are likely to be acute shortages, and adjust minimum salary level for those roles accordingly. The report also urged the need to improve the quality of guidance around Right to Work checks to help employers to recruit  with confidence, improving their access to migrant labour where people are already present in the UK, and minimise potentially discriminatory behaviour. RAMP Report 'Delivering on Operation Warm Welcome’: Reflections on the Welcome and Integration support provided to Afghans evacuated under Operation Pitting' RAMP also conducted a rapid assessment of the the aftermath of the British withdrawal from Afghanistan and the subsequent evacuation of 15,000 people through Operation Pitting. This report focuses on the reception and integration of 12,000 evacuees still in temporary accommodation and aimed to provide a snapshot of the reception and welcome of the Afghan evacuees. The report also aimed to assess the effectiveness of the support for their short, medium, and long-term integration; develop recommendations to improve their integration prospects; and offer insights to enhance future integration and resettlement infrastructures at national and local levels. The full reports and findings are available to read in full on our website. 

RAMP Retrospective: 🏛️Legislation 🏛️ (Part 2) Illegal Migration Act (2023) This Act focuses on small boat crossings across the English Channel, and addresses the conditions for entering and staying in the UK, citizenship, and the inadmissibility of certain protection and human rights claims. It also intended to set a limit on the number of people allowed to enter the UK each year through safe and legal routes and to improve the credibility of asylum and human rights claims. Olivia Blake MP tabled an amendment to the Act which would create a ‘safe passage’ visa, giving entry clearance to those already in Europe wishing to come to the UK to make an asylum claim. The amendment was supported by PCS Union and Care for Calais and attracted over 40 signatures. Caroline Nokes MP gave an interview to Times Radio in March, stressing that she was horrified by the government's Illegal Migration Bill and that she will not be voting for it. Caroline also used her position, as Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee, to ask the Prime Minister a number of questions about the impact of the Bill on children when he appeared before the Liaison Committee, and his responses to her got considerable coverage in the national media. In the Lords, Baroness Mobarik tabled an amendment on the detention of children. Amendment 51, would retain the existing limit of 24 hours on the detention of unaccompanied children. She noted the government’s argument that to exempt children would incentivise more adults to pretend to be under 18 or for smugglers to carry more children by boat. But she felt “preventing presumed future actions of an unknown number of adults is not a justification”.  Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act (2024) The Safety of Rwanda Act makes provisions about the removal of certain migrants to the Republic of Rwanda. RAMP member Baroness Lister spoke in the House of Lords on the Rwanda Bill. She focused on  the need for a genuine safeguard against wrongful removal of children and suggested discussions to strengthen safeguards beyond legislation, aiming to minimise the risk of wrongful removals. RAMP principal Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani The Bishop of Chelmsford wrote for The Independent on  the passing of the Safety of Rwanda Bill in the UK. Her article discussed the need for constructive dialogue, safeguards, and compassion in immigration policies to uphold human rights and protect asylum seekers.

As we reflect on our achievements since the 2019 election, we wanted to highlight the work RAMP has done with our parliamentarians across different areas. First up in our retrospective series:🏛️ Legislation.🏛️ The last Parliament saw 4 immigration-related Bills debated and enacted, including the Immigration and Social Security Coordination Act (2020), Nationality and Borders Act (2022) Illegal Migration Act (2023) and the  Safety of Rwanda Act (2024) . RAMP parliamentarians participated during the passage of these bills in both the Lords and Commons. 1. Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Act (2020) This Act ended the free movement rights of people under EU law in the UK and updated rules on social security coordination with the EU. RAMP worked intensively with Kate Green and the other members of the Immigration Bill Committee to table amendments and to contribute to debates on different aspects of the Bill. In her closing statement, the Shadow Immigration Minister thanked Kate Green for her excellent contributions to scrutiny of the Bill and described Kate Green’s experience on this issue as “second to none”. The former Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler also tabled a probing amendment to this Bill on displaced talent visas which led to a new scheme being piloted. We worked with Talent Beyond Boundaries and Fragomen to develop the amendment, and following an APPG Migration discussion with the wider sector and a letter to the Home Office, Bishop Paul was invited to discuss the details of this proposed complementary pathway with Baroness Williams and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Home Office Kevin Foster. 2. Nationality and Borders Act (2022) The Nationality and Borders Act addressed issues relating to modern slavery, asylum and citizenship. The Act introduced designated places, or offshore hubs for processing asylum claims in other countries along with citizenship in British overseas territories. RAMP Principals tabled several amendments through the Committee and Report stages of the Bill’s passage. Tim Farron MP tabled an amendment attempting to remove Clause 11 on the differential treatment of refugees according to methods of arrival to the UK, as well as lending his support to a number of amendments - including on British National Overseas visa for Hong Kong Citizens, protection for modern slavery and trafficking victims and against the limitation of citizenship rights of stateless children born in the UK. Baroness Stroud tabled an amendment on the right to work for people seeking asylum, and their adult dependents, after six months of having lodged an asylum claim or further submission. Baroness Stroud and her advisor worked to raise the issue in Parliamentary debates across both Houses, liaising with RAMP Principal David Simmonds MP and succeeded in getting over 60 Conservative Parliamentarians to sign a letter to the Prime Minister in support of the policy.

As Parliament has now dissolved for the general election, we want to take a moment to reflect on our parliamentarian’s achievements since the last election in 2019. It has been a privilege to work  with our RAMP Principals and Associates on legislation, inquiries,  roundtables, debates, visits, meetings and discussions. We are so grateful for the time, energy and expertise that they brought to the political discourse on migration and asylum issues over the past 5 years. .  We will continue to highlight some key achievements over the next few weeks.