Over the past decade the Hostile Environment agenda, legal aid cuts, and exclusionary immigration policy under successive governments have drastically limited the rights and support available to many migrants. Routes to settlement have also become more costly, lengthier, and more complex. In this context, people can become undocumented and consequently find themselves marginalised from society, and vulnerable to poverty, homelessness and exploitation. Organisations like Hackney Migrant Centre provide vital support and a place of safety and community in these circumstances.
I recently carried out research at Hackney Migrant Centre into the experiences of undocumented women and the impact of their status on their everyday lives and sense of belonging in the UK. Over the course of three months, I spoke with six women who had become undocumented for different reasons. Someone is “undocumented” when they lack the legal right to reside in the UK, usually because they don’t have a valid visa or other documentation to prove their status. Individuals can become undocumented for a variety of reasons that are often beyond their control, including a health crisis, poor legal advice, relationship breakdown, or because of the high fees they have to pay on routes to settlement.
Once undocumented, it is very difficult to change course, and individuals usually remain in this precarious position for many years. During this time, you are not entitled to work or to access mainstream welfare benefits, social housing or free hospital care and are at risk of deportation.
Being undocumented had drastically impacted the lives of each woman I spoke with. All six of the women I spoke with had suffered ill health, impoverishment and had difficulty meeting their own basic needs and, in the case of the three mothers among them, those of their children. Fear of the risk of deportation permeated their everyday movements. For instance, one woman said:
It’s like, it’s not restricted that you can’t go out or you can’t go anywhere, but like what might happen? Like going to a party, going to socialise. If someone makes trouble there, and they call police… Let me say it will affect my movement, if I went to a party and there’s a fight or something, there’s a riot. Or maybe when even going to church, sometimes going to church. You might not know that, maybe the police will come around. So it’s like, any steps I take, I can only say “Ohh God take me there and bring me back home safely”. But it’s scary. It’s very scary
Bouts of poor mental and physical health (including depression and anxiety) were common and made worse by the poverty and stress they were experiencing. Each of the women had experienced unstable living conditions, including “sofa-surfing” between different friends and family and becoming homeless. Moving around made it difficult to build a community and to create stability and routine for themselves and their children.
The women described their fear of forming close relationships given the risks involved in relying on others or divulging their immigration status. They navigated social networks with caution, and all described having felt socially isolated and as a result not knowing how or where to get support. Several also women described how their status had made them more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation while simultaneously making it difficult to seek help.
Yet despite these challenges, the women showed extraordinary resilience and determination. They wanted to work and several volunteered at Hackney Migrant Centre and other charities so as to “give back”. They tried to take care of their physical and mental wellbeing. One woman told me, “That’s my gym bag [pointing]. I go to the gym five days a week. Five days in a week. Because I’m trying to look after my mental health. I want to be strong for my daughter.”
They cautiously built social networks and sought support from friends, family, and support services, to create stability and a sense of belonging for themselves and their children. Speaking with them highlighted the crucial importance of Hackney Migrant Centre both as a place to get vital immigration, welfare and housing support and as a welcoming, safe space and community. The word that came up time and time again to describe HMC was “home”. One woman told me:
Before I met Hackney Migrant Centre it was just me and my ex-partner. I was like, feeling tied up, but since I met them, I feel more comfortable. That fear that I have before is gone. I feel safer.
– Author: Louisa Long (HMC Volunteer)