East of England  Multi Agency Chairs’ Forum 

The purpose of the Chairs’ Forum is to represent local Multi-Agency Forums and Groups at a strategic regional level

Regional Meeting Dates.  

Dates Time Group (back to back meeting with lunch break in between) 7.6.2012 6.9.2012 6.12.2012 11:30-13:00 RG (recommended for MACF members with interest in refugee/asylum issues) 7.6.2012 6.9.2012 6.12.2012 13:30-15:00 MWSG ((recommended for MACF members with interest in migrant worker issues)

Main activities:  Representing the local Multi-agency Forums at the regional level and informing these Forums about the regional policy development

Regional Networks:

Our Multi-Agency Fora have formed into a regional network which meets quarterly. The regional network includes the chairs of the individual MAFs and other regional stakeholders. The regional meetings are held at the East of England Regional Assembly to discuss, coordinate and develop regional strategies.

The aims of the regional Multi-Agency Chairs Forum are:

• To share information to improve local practice
• To develop and support solutions to problems
• To feedback and influence regional and local policies

The Regional MAF Chairs’ Forum (MACF) meetings are coordinated by MENTER’s Partnership Development Project.
Contact person: Pa Musa Jobarteh. Tel: 01603 617076 Email: pamusa@menter.org.uk

Key partners: stakeholders involved in the Regional Multi-Agency Chairs Forum include:

• Chairs and designated representatives of Multi-Agency Forums
• The UK Border Agency (UKBA)
• East of England Local Government Association-Strategic Migration Partnership (EELGA-SMP)
• Refugee Council
• MENTER (Minority Ethnic Network for the Eastern Region)

The East of England regional Structure Diagram Showing links to other national forums can be found here:

Asylum & Refugees

Asylum and Refugee Integration: As a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the United Kingdom has a legal obligation to consider all applications for asylum, or sanctuary, made in this country. Under the UN Convention anyone has the right to ask for asylum in another country if they are suffering persecution in their own.

Who is an asylum seeker? (Link to myth busting leaflet) In the UK we define an 'asylum seeker', as someone who has fled to the UK, lodged an asylum claim with the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) and is awaiting a decision on that claim.

Who is a refugee? If a person has their asylum claim granted they become a refugee. For this to happen they must have demonstrated a well-founded fear of persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group. In addition, they must be unwilling or unable to seek protection from their own country, or to return there, for fear of persecution. The UK has a proud heritage of welcoming refugees, many of whom make a huge contribution to the enrichment of our national life, and some of whom have gone on to become well-known public figures through their achievements, despite facing immense adversity.

What is integration? The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) has agreed a Europe-wide definition of integration as: "a long-term, two-way process of change that relates to both the conditions for and the actual participation of refugees in all aspects of life of the country of durable asylum as well as to the refugees' own sense of belonging and membership of European societies. The objective of integration programmes and policies should be the establishment of a mutual and responsible relationship between individual refugees, civil society and host states which promotes equality, self-determination and sustainable self-sufficiency and acceptance and positive action in favour of refugees by European governments and societies.

Migrant Workers

There have been migrants to Britain for more than two thousand years. They helped to create the foundations of the country we know today. Some have stayed for only a short while, going back home or moving on. Others have made homes here. Over recent years there has been a steady increase in the number of migrant workers coming to the East of England, particularly since the enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004.

Who is a migrant worker? (link to myth busting leaflet) A Migrant worker is a person who migrates from one country to another for the primary purpose of work, whether permanently or temporarily.
Migrant workers thus can include the following categories

• Nationals of the European Economic Area (EEA) who have a right to travel, live and work in the UK
• Nationals of all other countries who require a work permit, which is obtained by an employer who cannot find a suitable national to fill a post.
• Nationals of Switzerland and British Overseas Territories and people employed in a limited number of activities, who require clearance to enter the UK but do not require a work permit
• Commonwealth Working Holiday makers: individuals between the ages of 17-30 who can work in the UK for up to 2 years.

NB: Asylum seekers and refugees are not considered migrant workers as they enter the UK other than for work reasons.

New European States One of the new trends in migration, especially in the East of England, has been arrival of workers from the European Union's new eastern states.

On 1 May 2004, ten countries - Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia - joined the European Union (EU). From that date, nationals of Malta and Cyprus have had full free movement rights and rights to work, throughout the EU. Prior to enlargement, existing EU member states had the right to regulate access to their labour markets by nationals of the other eight countries - the 'Accession 8' or 'A8'. The UK Government put in place transitional measures to regulate A8 nationals' access to the labour market (via the Worker Registration Scheme) and to restrict access to benefits.

On 1 January 2007 Bulgaria and Romania, often described as the A2 countries, joined the European Union. The Government announced on 24 October 2006 that nationals of Bulgaria and Romania would be afforded gradual access to the United Kingdom's labour market. There would continue to be access for skilled workers who met the skills requirements of the United Kingdom's work permit arrangements and the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme. Access for lower skilled workers, however, would be quota limited and restricted to those accessing existing schemes (the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme and the Sectors Based Scheme) for the agricultural and food processing sectors. At the same time these low-skilled schemes would move to being restricted to Bulgarian and Romanian nationals only.

Help for Migrants:   The Migrant Gateway® website http://www.migrantgateway.eu/ provides access to information, advice and guidance for EU and non-EU nationals who want to, or already do, work and live in the United Kingdom (UK). The information is provided both directly and through links to other services and resources.

Partnership Development Project of MENTER