Neurodiversity and migration

Proposer: Andy Forse

Seconded by Hann Sutcliffe

ND Labour notes

1. That due to climate change, conflict, and economic crisis global migration across borders is at the highest point in recorded history 

2. That present and previous UK governments have consistently sustained policies and ideas which have led to discriminatory and harsh conditions for migrants in Britain such as the Windrush scandal, the hostile environment, and the proliferation of detention centres for migrants.  

3. The case of Osime Brown, which highlights the profoundly harmful effects of a racist and discriminatory immigration system

ND Labour Believes

1. That migration is an inevitable structure of any human society. We should choose to address the question of migration on the basis of solidarity, compassion and inclusion.

2. The arbitrary nature of borders, immigration regimes and the structural racism that support them can bear a particularly acute burden upon neurodivergent individuals in a variety of ways, such as:

– Difficulty navigating the complexities and buaracracy of the immigration immigration system

– Difficulty understanding the abstract nature of social institutions, processes and borders

– Difficulty getting adequate legal representation

– Detention centres unable to meet the specific needs of neurodivergent individuals 

– The stress of deportation and the unfamiliarity and uncertainty that accompany it

3. That it is in the interests of the neurodivergent community to fight for an immigration system which enables the safety, stability and welfare of immigrants, and the least restrictive or coercive measures possible. 

ND Labour resolves:

To campaign for: defending and extending free movement, opposing the detention and deportation of migrants; and to produce an appendix to the manifesto on neurodiversity in the immigration system.