Through the Greater Manchester Strategy, our politicians have committed to make Greater Manchester a place “where everyone can live a good life, growing up, getting on and growing old in a greener, fairer more prosperous city region”.
But at Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) we know that all too often our regional ambitions are eroded by national immigration laws that disproportionately affect people based on race, class and gender.
So we’ve created a set of expectations for politicians in Greater Manchester that we have been using in conversation with politicians in 2024 and 2025. Since its publication ahead of the 2024 General Election, it has become a collective document: 45 other organisations across all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester have put their names to it. They include campaigning organisations, grassroots community organisations, charities supporting homeless people and national organisations working in Greater Manchester.
We’re calling on all our politicians – representing the area in local, regional and national government – to uphold Greater Manchester’s commitments by
- listening to people with lived experience of immigration control
- speaking out about the importance of welcome, safety, justice, home and support for all Greater Manchester’s residents, regardless of immigration status
- being accountable in achieving this reality for our city-region, before and after the General Election.
For more detail on how we can embed welcome, safety, justice, home and support in our city-region, download our expectations here.
Please email rivka@gmiau.org for more information.