Migrant care workers torn apart from children – protest in Sheffield 27 sept

Date: Friday 27 Sept, at 12 noon

Where: UKVI office, Vulcan House Steel, 6 Millsands, Sheffield

Following a crisis in social care, thousands of people, mostly women, have been recruited by UK employers, such as the NHS, from Southern African and other Global South countries to the UK to work in our care system.

While changes to legal migration rules that came into place on 11 March 2024 prevent migrant care workers from bringing their dependents with them, the government was clear this only applies to those arriving after 11 March. Those who arrived before this date are legally permitted to bring their children with them.

However, Women of Zimbabwe (WoZ) has been contacted by hundreds of care workers (approx. 300) from countries such as Zambia and Zimbabwe, who arrived before 11 March, whose children have been denied visas multiple times despite meeting the eligibility criteria.

The reasons they are given for refusal range from not having enough evidence that these single mothers are the primary caregivers to the child having their father’s surname.

Home Office decision makers appear to have created new arbitrary additional conditions for these care workers, which are not supported by law and which the women did not sign up for. There are indications that this policy application also discriminates against mothers – in particular single mothers.

Patricia Chinyoka, Women of Zimbabwe: “No parent should be denied the right to care for their child, when working for UK or local government. We know of hundreds of care workers who are accumulating huge debt and are at their breaking point due to the separation from their children, some of whom are in precarious situations.”

Tricia Sibbons, ACTSA: “Imagine moving to another country to build a better life for your child, leaving him or her with a relative and promising them they’d be joining you soon – and then being told that they can’t come after all. It’s bad enough to tell new care workers that they can care for our elderly people and vulnerable children but not their own children. To move the goal posts for care workers already in the UK whose children are waiting to join them is inhumane.”