South London Press

South London Press follows our very own Julie Camacho and the Latin-Americans on their journey from Elephant and Castle (or as locals say: Elefante y Castillo).

Julie tells the newspaper:

They can’t report crimes, either as a witness or a victim, they have to go to illegal doctors and dentists and are often paid less than the minimum wage.

An amnesty would not only put a stop to the exploitation, but these thousands of workers would all start paying taxes and help the economy.

Pictured: some of the Latin-Americans on St George's Rd, Southwark. The banner reads: "We are here, we're not leaving, and if we're kicked out, we're coming back."

A 'parish perspective' on SiC

Great piece by a Jesuit priest in north London whose parish, St Ignatius in Stamford Hill, is seen here lining up before the Mass for Migrants on 4 May. St Ignatius has been an anchor of support for the campaign since the start.
Fr Jim Conway's article in the Jesuits' e-journal Thinking Faith tells how a 'Strangers into Citizens' poster on the parish noticeboard drew an irregular to share his story.

Having sensed that this was a safe place, Ramoz disclosed that he himself ‘lived in the shadows’, and had done for almost nine years. It is difficult to trust people, he explained, as he expressed his relief at finding someone – a priest – who could listen to his story. Ramoz, like Jacob, had three jobs. Early each morning he travelled to the City to clean the offices of a prestigious finance company before going to work in a coffee bar for six hours. From 8pm until midnight he delivered takeaway pizzas in north London. Ramoz was distressed because he had not received payment from his cleaning job for six weeks. His manager, as well as refusing to pay him, had told him not to go back again. ‘But what can I do?’ Ramoz asked. ‘He knows I don’t have any papers.’ The implications of this are enormous because, as well as going unpaid, Ramoz had to change his address. He felt vulnerable because his former manager knew where he lived and, if he wanted to, could tip off the authorities. He described living in such a way that you must always be watching your back, whilst acknowledging the danger of becoming paranoid.

Fr Jim reviews the arguments, and makes a compelling case for the campaign on many levels, but settles on the importance of the moral and civic issue.

The conditions in which many of the undocumented are forced to live and work are an infringement on their human dignity, the dignity that is repeatedly highlighted and celebrated in Catholic Social Teaching. Surely one cannot ignore a situation in which the vulnerable are continuously exploited and silenced through their own fear? This is a problem that, if not addressed, will undermine any attempt to build meaningful local communities and a cohesive society. As a nation we have a duty to support these individuals. If one recognises, as the government does, that a sizable number of undocumented migrants live and work in the UK and that many of them have been here for a significant amount of time, then it must consider ways of resolving their and the nation’s predicament.

Well worth a read.

(By the way, spot the change to the St Ignatius banner.)

Prayers for regularisation at the nation's mother churches

Should there have been any doubt in anyone’s mind that the Christian Churches in Britain are backing the Strangers into Citizens call, Monday’s moving services at St Margaret’s (Westminster Abbey), Methodist Central Hall, and Westminster Cathedral should have removed it. Not only was the call for regularisation, but the campaign was name-checked – not surprisingly, given the biblical resonances of its name, and its origins in the Cardinal’s call at the 2006 Mass.

At the Cathedral, Bishop Thomas McMahon began the Mass for Migrant Workers with a prayer to bring people “out of degradation into dignity, out of darkness into light, from strangers into citizens”.

Over at St Margaret’s, meanwhile, Rev. Ralph Godsall opened the Service ‘to celebrate the presence of migrants in the UK’ by praying “that a pathway into citizenship may be granted those whose basic human rights have been denied”. And he continued: “So today we ask God to turn strangers into citizens.”

Did anyone catch any such prayers at the Gospel service and can share them?

And where do we get Bishop Tom Butler’s homily?

Bishop at Migrants' Mass calls for regularisation

Rt Rev Patrick Lynch, the Catholic bishop in charge of migration matters, gave the homily at Monday’s Mass for Migrants at Westminster Cathedral. You can listen to it and read it here – congratulations to Eddie at Archbishop’s House for fab communications.

Bishop Patrick said many interesting and challenging things that were picked up in this Press Association report by its religion correspondent, Martha Linden.

On regularisation, Bishop Pat gave a categoric, explicit endorsement of the Strangers into Citizens call. We are profoundly grateful – not least because he puts it so beautifully:

The Church is concerned for all workers - documented and undocumented. A migrant’s legal status is quite separate from his or her human dignity. A human being’s worth is defined by their God given dignity, not by the papers they do or do not carry. There is clear moral case that undocumented workers who have lived and worked in this country for five years or more should be given the opportunity to build a future in the United Kingdom and continue to contribute to British society. You have worked here: your children have been born here and attend school here: you are part of our parishes and our society here and a way should be found so that you can remain here.

Cycle for Citizens make their presence felt at Kings Cross Station

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on the eve of the rally, hard-pressed organisers take to drink

Great banner, but is that the right spelling?

Banner

Big banners for May 4th!

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Strangers into Citizens getting ready for the rally

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Cycle for Citizens

Join a cycle around the circle line in support of Strangers into Citizens prior to the Rally.. Get fit, see London and raise the profile of the issue. Start time 9am Embankment tube.
Details here

MPs meet SiC paddles at Westminster tube

MPs arriving at Parliament at Westminster tube over the next month have a daily reminder of the Strangers into Citizens campaign in the shape of bright orange “paddles” at the ticket barriers.

The paddles, advertising the Strangers into Citizens logo, will remain in place until the campaign’s historic gathering in Trafalgar Square on 4 May.

Strangers into Citizens is calling for an “earned amnesty” for some 450,000 of the nation’s estimated 750,000 undocumented migrants. The campaign is calling for the regularization of the status of those who have put down roots in the UK, have lived in the country for many years, and whom the Government admits cannot be forcibly removed.

Where regularization is combined with border enforcement, as in Spain in 2005, levels of “illegal immigration” have dropped.

The Strangers into Citizens campaign, which was begun by members of London Citizens following a call in 2006 by the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, is organizing the largest pro-migrants rally in UK history on 4 May following a series of simultaneous services at Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and Methodist Central Hall.

The thousands arriving at Westminster tube that day for the services or for the rally at Trafalgar Square will be greeted by the paddles.