Background

Migration does not merely entail physical and geographical movement. Rather, it is a transformative process that reshapes the individuals and societies that come into contact with each other. This is precisely why migration deserves a thorough investment in and analysis of its sociocultural and economic dimensions to understand not just the contextual reasons for patterns of migration, but also how migrants and the societies into which they translocate respond to each other. Ultimately, then, the story of migration is the story of humanity. 

Immigration has been instrumental in shaping the identity of the UK. According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 1.2 million people migrated to the UK in 2023. While these numbers suggest that the UK remains a favorable country for migration, immigrants are subject to discrimination for a variety of reasons, including ethnicity, race, nationality, language, and accent. In addition to social discrimination, migrants are also subject to several other systemic barriers, such as difficulties in accessing social housing and employment benefits, or a non-recognition of their education and qualification, preventing immigrants from fully accessing their rights and participating freely in civic life in the UK. Further, as public opinion in the UK remains divided in its attitude towards migrants, with opposition to immigration surging in 2023, it becomes crucial to structurally address these barriers.

It is only by documenting the lived experiences and histories of migrants that we can begin to take a step towards an inclusive public sphere that values the cultural specificities, hybridity, and the in-betweenness of migrant culture. Such efforts at sociocultural inclusion must then be supplemented by an inclusive policy response, through foregrounding the underlying idea that the history of migration must be one of the central frameworks for us to look at the history of the UK. This is why Bridge Beyond seeks to serve as a reparative platform to raise awareness and offer practical aid, with the goal of amplifying migrant voices.