More Info

Brighton Migrant Solidarity is a grass-roots community and campaign group. We work to support migrants in Brighton and beyond according to the good ol’ fashioned principles of mutual aid and solidarity. We believe that everybody has the right to cross borders. Our aim is to build a strong and diverse movement where we support each other in our personal and political struggles to make the world a place where there truly is space for all.

Access

At BMS we are really aware that taking part in activist groups can be difficult for people with childcare needs or access requirements. We do not want that to be the case. If you have kids and you want to take part, that should not be a problem. Let us know what you need, and we can find a way of sorting it out. Possible solutions might include, moving our meeting to a time that suits you, helping out with babysitting, finding space for your child at our meeting. Children are the future, but their parents are the present.

As well as thousand for £1000, the spare room network and the destitution solidarity fund we do other practical and political stuff. Here is some more info:

Network of Care

There is a good provision of services for people who find themselves on the wrong side of the UK’s border rules. Brighton Voices in Exile have a legal advice service and anti-destitution service. Brighton Housing Trust will do asylum applications. The Migrant English Project do what their name suggests. What there isn’t is day to day love and support. We try to rectify that. In addition, because we are most definitely not a charity, we are able to support people in giving voice to their political struggles. If you fancy our mutual aid and solidarity, drop us an email brimigsol@riseup.net or come to our meeting.

Film Screenings and Discussions

We aim to put on a film-screening and discussion evening each month. As the crisis situation for migrants grew during 2015 we focused on raising awareness about the situation at Europe’s borders: Calais, Morocco/Spain, Greece and Lampedusa/Italy, as well as some of the issues surrounding migration and the criminalisation of migrants in the UK. We also plan to screen films exploring some of the conflicts people have left behind.

Fundraising, Calais Migrant Solidarity and No Borders Morocco

We raise money and scavenge resources to support migrants in Brighton and migrants in transit. You might have seen some of the news reports coming out of Calais. The situation is bad and getting worse. Who would have known that people don’t magically disappear if you impose strict border controls? At the moment we are fundraising for Calais Migrant Solidarity (check out the blog,
www.calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com for more info). We also collect bike stuff, warm clothes, cooking equipment, tents, Sim cards, mobile phones and other useful bits and bobs to send them over to Calais from time to time.

There is a Spanish border with Morocco. It is another bottleneck for the dispossessed. We also raise money for No Borders Morocco. Have a look at their blog, https://beatingborders.wordpress.com, for more info.

Anti-raids, Anti-UKBA

Here in Brighton immigration enforcement officers spend their time looking for anyone they can lock up or throw out of the country. We have been spending some of our time looking for them and trying to prevent them from completing their draconian task. We also, in conjunction with Brighton SolFed, provide information to some of the people most at risk of harassment by these people, namely workers in the hospitality industry, about the limits of the immigration enforcement officers power and your rights with respect to them. We are hoping to offer some anti-raids training to community groups just as soon as we feel more up to speed on the issues. Currently we have lost some of the momentum to do this work. We really need your help to revitalise it.

Changing the Discourse

We want to start providing positive messages about migrants and countering the xenophobic myths dominant in that which passes for public debate about migration. Look out for our
blog:, our twitter feed @brimigsol, and our space on SolFed’s Saturday stall in the North Laine. We want to get the message out there that migration is a human good and that there is #SpaceForAll

Brighton Migrant Network Email List

We host an email list that has been set up to connect activists, NGOs, charities and service providers who work with migrants, refugees and asylum seekers across the Brighton and Hove area. Please feel free to use this list to post relevant events, as well as requests for help across service providers. Examples might be: ‘Where can I get advice about housing asylum seekers in Brighton?’ or ‘Does anyone know how to find low cost immigration advice services in Sussex?’ The list has so far been successful in helping people get access to services such as legal advice and counseling services.

To join the list, send a blank email to brightonmigrantnetwork-subscribe@lists.riseup.net, or visit the following web page:
https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/brightonmigrantnetwork
For more info, contact us:
brimigsol@riseup.net
If you want, you can use our pgp key:
brimigsol.asc
The key fingerprint:
1ED0 39BE 1963 7E2B 9865 88BC EA57 C5B3 81DB 8144