Migration news roundup week commencing 24 August 2026

This Migration News Roundup presents a selection of news, policy, research and statistics from the previous week on migration-related topics. The contents of each story do not necessarily reflect the views of Migration Yorkshire.

• Specific migrant groups
• UK borders and migration policy
• Cohesion and integration
• International news

• Stories that inspired us this week

   

Specific migrant groups

In news about asylum:

• The government has produced two guides for asylum seekers;  a guide to staying with friends and family instead of asylum accommodation and  a booklet on expected behaviour in the UK –  which caused much media comment . (Sources: Home Office, Independent) 

• The Home Secretary shared her intention that  asylum accommodation will be more evenly spread across the country , including in wealthier areas. (Source: LBC)

• The Prime Minister said he'll ensure  the concerns about the potential accommodation site in Linton-on-Ouse raised by the mayor of York and North Yorkshire will be passed to the Home Office before decisions are made. (Source: Yorkshire Post)

• A Serco employee has been charged with misconduct in public office after sharing the addresses of asylum accommodation in Thetford that were later targeted by the far right. (Source: BBC)

People from the Windrush generation who make claims for compensation are disadvantaged when compared with similar schemes such as those relating to the Post Office and infected blood scandals, according to new research findings. A key problem is the lack of free legal support available to them. (Source: JUSTICE)

In case you missed it, this report looks at homelessness among modern slavery survivors , comparing systems in the four UK nations and making recommendations to improve prevention. (Source: The Passage)

Read about research on migrant entrepreneurship in Yorkshire in this blogpost where the approach included an advisory group of women who are small business owners. (Source: Leeds University)

UK borders and migration policy

This blogpost looks at the recent phenomenon of ‘mega-dinghies’ transporting people across the Channel and considers possible reasons for the fall in small boat arrivals. (Source: COMPAS - Centre on Migration, Policy and Society)

Here’s an overview published by parliament of what government's said about ‘safe and legal’ routes for people to come to the UK for humanitarian reasons, including recent arrival numbers and plans for three sponsorship schemes. (Source: House of Commons Library)

In light of figures showing a fall in care workers recruited from abroad and domestically , a union has warned that the government’s earned settlement plans will worsen labour shortages in this sector.  Another article highlights the lack of an impact assessment of the proposed changes to settlement policy upon health and care workers as well as Windrush communities . (Sources: Unison, The i Paper)

In a rather specialist independent analysis on how government uses evidence to support new legislation,  the Home Office’s impact assessment of the Immig­ra­tion and Asylum Bill has been scrutinised in terms of business impacts . It says the assessment doesn’t properly justify plans to restrict the application of Article 8 of the European Con­ven­tion on Human Rights (right to family life) in immigration cases. (Source: Regulatory Policy Committee)

Cohesion and integration

New polling shows that  the public consistently overestimates the percentage of criminals who are minorities and foreign nationals. The research explores the disparity between perception and data. (Source: King’s College London)

A new briefing looks at the limited data available on migration and crime in the UK highlighting that when age is taken into account, the proportion of non-citizens among people convicted or incarcerated is lower than that of citizens. In fact, there’s no reliable estimate of the migrant population, which makes it difficult to interpret other figures such as crime;  this new attempt to estimate the non-British population in the UK arrives at the figure of 13.5% of the total population age 16+ in 2025, although the methodology used is ‘highly uncertain’. (Source: Migration Observatory)

The Albanian ambassador to the UK has criticised 'a loud minority' in this country who stigmatise the Albanian community , following a short-lived peak in Albanians arriving on small boats several years ago. (Source: the Guardian)

The town of Greenock in Scotland is planning to attract more residents from overseas to combat depopulation . Inverclyde Council is offering support with English classes and finding skilled employment, with the hope that migration might stem falling population levels. (Source: BBC)

International news

Spain has announced plans to transfer around 500 unaccompanied migrant children from Ceuta to mainland Spain following the arrival of an estimated 70,000 migrants in the Spanish enclave last month, as it has a duty of care to them. It’s thought that  up to 10,000 people remain in the city . The UN has called for Spain to process any asylum claims made. (Sources: the Guardian, AP News)

Under new laws,  Germany is stepping up efforts to tackle organised criminal networks by seizing small boat equipment intended for crossing the Channel. (Source: BBC)

Stories that inspired us this week

You can  read a little about the story of Marks and Spencer in this article ; Skipton-born investor Tom Spencer and Michael Marks, a refugee who set up a successful stall in Leeds market with a £5 loan. (Source: Telegraph and Argus)

This article for World Humanitarian Day tells  stories from UNHCR staff who themselves had to flee their homes . (Source: UNHCR)