A Slow Violence: How immigration control forces people in Greater Manchester into destitution

People in Greater Manchester are spending years, even decades, in destitution

A new joint report by the Boaz Trust and Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) has found that people in the city-region are forced into destitution for years, sometimes decades, as a result of their immigration status. One woman interviewed spent 16 years in immigration limbo.

The report, based on in-depth interviews with Greater Manchester residents, finds destitution is being used as a form of racialised violence, embedded within immigration law, which damages people’s physical and mental health, pushing some people towards self-harm and thoughts of suicide.

As well as making a series of recommendations to national government, the report also lays out what can be done to design destitution out of our city-region, building on positive regional developments in recent years.