Guest post: "At this year's Glastonbury, we will celebrate refugee and migrant mothers"

[KiranMumsnet]

This country has a proud tradition of welcoming people in need of sanctuary, and Glastonbury as a festival has long championed women's rights. As the refugee crisis has unfolded, it has been clear that pregnant women, mothers and young children are especially vulnerable - and so at this year's festival the White Ribbon Alliance will be celebrating mothers, with a focus on those who have come to the UK as migrants and refugees.

The WRA advocates for every woman's right to be safe and healthy before, during and after childbirth - a right that is often jeopardised when women are fleeing war or persecution.

Unfortunately, this right is not assured even once women reach the UK. Undocumented pregnant migrant women face NHS maternity charges of up to £6000. These women are vulnerable; they may be undocumented because they were refused asylum, yet have no home to return to, or fear violence if they do. Ironically, our government actively supports free maternity care in many of the countries from which these women have fled.

Hospitals are required to report unpaid debts, which creates fear in migrant women who feel they can't go to hospital in case officials report them to the Home Office, while putting midwives and doctors in an extremely difficult position. Groups working with undocumented pregnant women say that some women are even deciding to give birth at home, alone. The bottom line is that all pregnant women, wherever they live and wherever they are from, have the right to decent, respectful health care.

Much of Glastonbury festival is run by women and many of us, myself included, have young children. We understand the physical and emotional demands of pregnancy and motherhood, so this is a cause that's close to our hearts.

At the festival, half a dozen different organisations and many individual volunteers who have been supporting refugees and migrants this year in Calais, Greece, the UK, and other parts of Europe, will come together in the White Ribbon Alliance's 'Tent of Sanctuary'.

This is a collective space for all those activists, including migrant women volunteers, who have given such heartfelt support to those who are seeking to rebuild their lives. It will be a special opportunity to listen to the voices of women who are rarely heard - we'll have some amazing speakers every day, talking about where they come from, how they have survived and thrived. It's also an important place for connecting with others who want to do something to help, for celebrating the contribution of migrants to this country – and for recognising the fact that at one time or another, we are all migrants.

If you're at the festival, we'd love you to join us in making a noise for mums in the Glastonbury tradition - you'll find the Tent of Sanctuary under the Park Tower. Or, find out more more on the Glastonbury Festival website and the White Ribbon Alliance website and share your messages via #WeAreAllMigrants.

[YabuDabbaDoo]

I have to apologise to the OP as I've had another look and it does look a good cause with the intention being to raise awareness at the festival rather than to actually offer sanctuary (although that took a bit of reading to understand.) So I might have mislead other posters there.

Like a lot of fundraising and awareness raising, the events themselves are a world apart from the causes, has always been this way.

Still seems a muddled message though.

[specialsubject]

'awareness raising' rarely does anything.

giving money correctly often does.

why not meet somewhere without a £200-odd admission fee?

[OlennasWimple]

I believe we should offer sanctuary to women who are fleeing horrific situations in their home country. I don't believe this means allowing unrestricted access to NHS maternity services and refusal to work with the Hone Officd to allow women to stay under the radar.

And yes "undocumented" means "illegal"

[neverknowinglywrong]

I'm actually cringing at how out of touch this is.

And no, we are not all migrants, what a bizarre thing to say.

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

'Undocumented migrants' doesn't generally mean people who have sneaked into the UK illegally. The group includes children who have been born here without status (many of whom only discover they are 'illegal' when they try to apply for college, university or a job), refused asylum seekers (many of whom cannot simply return home despite their asylum application being refused), people who have overstayed their visas because the immigration rules have changed and they were not made aware, or their relationship has broken down or they have developed serious health problems. Some undocumented migrant women will be giving birth to British citizens.

I don't want to live in a country where any woman is denied basic maternity care because they cannot afford to pay. NHS charges for undocumented migrants (and those here legally but without recourse to public funds) are set to be extended to GP and A&E services as well, so we can look forward to people dying from lack of access to emergency care and the health and wellbeing of some very vulnerable people taking a nosedive, with knock-on effects for public health as a whole.

I haven't been to Glastonbury for a few years but raising awareness for various causes has always been a big part of the festival. I hope it was a resounding success.

[emilybohemia]

Refugees have to pay, sporting? Are you having a giraffe? Nice to see you're still trawling what I post on. I don't think the post is about getting you to go to Blasters is it? Not everything is about you.

Illegals? Mean spirited nonsense.

Bloody good on you op. This lot maybe feel guilty because they haven't the gumption to help.

[OlennasWimple]

I thought Sporting was saying that refugees did not pay for maternity care?

Without being too pedantic, "undocumented" absolutely does include people who entered the country illegally, as well as those who entered legally but now have no legal status to remain

[emilybohemia]

she was insinuating they should pay as she would have to in another country, putting herself on a par with a refugee fleeing war or persecution

the term Illegals may be correct, but it's still fucking horrible

[sportinguista]

Bog off Em, can't be arsed!

[sportinguista]

I meant that if I find myself in a country where there is no reciprocal arrangement and my travel insurance did not cover enough, I would be told hardluck, however vulnerable I was. Since I am not one of the lucky people who have lots of savings that most likely would be the case. Also I don't reckon if I was in the unlucky position of fleeing persecution some countries would be that helpful either.

I'm not sure that Glastonbury is the best place for this, maybe awareness or something but not a medical facility. The best idea is to help women as close to the communities as possible to keep their support networks of family etc. Often these campaigns are laudable but they lack long term and practical thinking.

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

sporting, I'm pretty sure they weren't running a medical facility at Glastonbury! From the OP:

At the festival, half a dozen different organisations and many individual volunteers who have been supporting refugees and migrants this year in Calais, Greece, the UK, and other parts of Europe, will come together in the White Ribbon Alliance's 'Tent of Sanctuary'.

This is a collective space for all those activists, including migrant women volunteers, who have given such heartfelt support to those who are seeking to rebuild their lives. It will be a special opportunity to listen to the voices of women who are rarely heard - we'll have some amazing speakers every day, talking about where they come from, how they have survived and thrived.

[OlennasWimple]

Actually, refugees do get full access to the NHS. It's those who have been refused asylum (or who have never claimed and do not have other legal status) that have no entitlement to free NHS maternity services.

"Illegal" is a factual label - I've seen plenty of other terms used that have a pejorative connotation, but I can't complain about this one

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

"Illegal" is a factual label - it's not really though, is it? We're talking about people who, for one reason or another, do not have legal status in the UK. People themselves cannot be 'illegal'. To call people 'illegal immigrants' (or worse, 'illegals') is dehumanising and inflammatory and, in the current climate, is really dangerous.

'Undocumented migrants' is far more accurate and avoids all that nastiness.

[OlennasWimple]

I don't think anyone has used the reductive term "illegals", though, have they? I said that, in this context, "undocumented" means "illegal", but please don't put words in my mouth and then tell me I'm using dehumanizing inflammatory terminology

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

A couple of people have used 'illegals' on this thread. You haven't but you do seem very insistent on making sure everybody understands that 'undocumented' means 'illegal'. I'm just wondering why you're so attached to the term when it's now increasingly accepted that calling people 'illegal' is dehumanising. Words matter.

The United Nations General Assembly, International Labour Organisation, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, European Parliament, United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, European Commission and the Associated Press have all committed not to use the term “illegal” when referring to irregular or undocumented migrants.

It's not even a new idea: The term “illegal immigrant” wasn’t widely used to describe a population of people until the second world war, when the media began ascribing it to Jews fleeing to Palestine without authorization. In fact, it was Holocaust survivor and Nobel peace prize winner Elie Wiesel who first framed the debate: “You who are so-called illegal aliens must know that no human being is illegal.” From here.

[OlennasWimple]

Ok, I just read the thread back and saw one pp use the term "illegals" (then other pp refer to that in turn) apologies. Thanks also for the article - interesting.

I'm still not convinced that the term "illegal immigrant" is as pejorative as some suggest - "unauthorized" or "undocumented" is a similar way to say the same thing, and is technically correct. It's not loaded in the same way as "bogus asylum seeker", for example, and when I think terms are being used deliberately to obscure the status of groups or individuals being discussed, I will call it out

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

Isn't it up to the people who are directly affected to decide whether a term used to describe them is pejorative or not? That's the way it generally goes with language around disadvantaged / discriminated against groups.

This is good