Labour’s plans to tackle high immigration numbers when it comes to the arrival of small boats include the creation of a new Border Security force, as well as a new agreement with the EU to combat smuggling gangs. These measures won’t be enough, argues Omar Hammoud-Gallego. A new asylum pact with the EU along the lines of the Dublin Regulation is needed, as well as the creation of legal and safe routes for asylum seekers.

The media plays a major role in influencing public opinion. This can lead to greater polarisation, but can media coverage also have a uniting effect? New research by Omar Hammoud-Gallego explores the relationship between what is printed in the press and how we feel about democracy.

Desde la asistencia jurídica gratuita en Nicaragua hasta el reconocimiento del derecho al refugio para las personas que huyen de desastres medioambientales en Ecuador, las leyes latinoamericanas sobre refugiados son excepcionales. Pero a menudo parecen representar más un manifiesto utópico que una base para la acción política.

From free legal assistance in Nicaragua to the recognition of the right to refuge for people fleeing environmental disasters in Ecuador, Latin American refugee laws are exceptional. Yet they often seem to represent more of a utopian manifesto than the basis for political action.

Aunque muchos países latinoamericanos han adoptado una legislación progresista sobre migración y refugio en las últimas dos décadas, estos mismos países han aplicado estas leyes de manera arbitraria en lo que se refiere al desplazamiento masivo de venezolanos. Las nuevas iniciativas sobre la “protección temporal” de venezolanos en Colombia y Estados Unidos parecen reconocer lo que otros países en América Latina todavía no asimilan: la mayor parte de los venezolanos desplazados en los últimos años han llegado para quedarse.

Despite having ratified increasingly sophisticated legislation on migration and asylum, many Latin American countries have applied their own laws arbitrarily in the case of mass migration from Venezuela. But new “temporary protection” initiatives in Colombia and the United States appear to recognise what the rest of Latin America needs to accept: most Venezuelans who have crossed borders are here to stay.