PUBLIC trust in immigration systems is determined by the ability of government to translate national interests into benefits that are experienced at a local level, a Canadian senator has revealed.
Ratna Omidvar, the senator of Ontario, Canada, made comparisons between Canada and the UK judging from the initial findings revealed in The National Conversation on Immigration, the biggest-ever public consultation on immigration. The interim report was released to the Home Affairs Committee in January.
“Every community visited in the UK has its own local experience with migrants, made up of a mix of positive and negative views,” Omidwarm revealed. “The perspectives of many people are clearly defined by what they see happening locally.”
She added being able to “touch and feel” the effects of migration are important to local communities, so they can truly experience the benefits.
The senator, who is of Punjabi origin, explained how every immigrant has a story to tell from a similar narrative: “Each one of us stars in the same four-part movie – there is arrival, rejection, reinvention and hopefully, there is redemption if not in the first generation but from our children.”
Omidvar made her comments alongside fellow keynote speakers, Labour MP Yvette Cooper and Professor Miles Hewstone at the Immigration and Integration: Getting It Right Locally conference at the British Library last Thursday (17).
The director of British Future, Sunder Katwala, shared Omidvarm’s sentiments, stating getting immigration right depends on the local places where communities live.
“We’ve seen how much positive work is taking place around the country, particularly in schools and in civil society,” he noted. “What has been missing is a national strategy for integration that knits that together, supporting local actors to make an impact.”
He added the challenge for the communities secretary James Brokenshire is to build on the integration Green Paper in ways that bridge the national and local divide.
