A WEST YORKSHIRE charity has released a new report claiming that a "toxic combination" of government policy, Brexit and the pandemic has had a "devastating impact" on migrant communities across the UK.

The Racial Justice Network (RJN), which has an office on Bradford's North Parade and in Leeds, says that migrant communities have found accessing medical treatment, mental health support and essential items such as food and hygiene products particularly hard of late, due to a range of factors.

The report, which is titled 'Between a Rock and a Hard Place' and was produced in partnership with Queen Mary University of London, suggests that migrant groups were "left to their own devices during recent lockdowns", and that they are "grappling with, and still enduring, systemic racism, the hostile environment policy, border controls, poverty and fear and suspicion of authorities."

It adds that the pandemic brought "existing inequalities" to the surface, also claiming that authorities have failed to address "the inequality brought on by the new Immigration Plan, the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill, the Domestic Abuse Bill and Brexit."

Based on interviews with refugees and asylum seekers, the report reveals that some people from these communities are so poor that they have been unable to afford PPE and sanitary products, while migrants' mental health has also been "severely impacted", with suicide among young asylum seekers on the rise.

The report also claims that "anti-blackness and racism" has prevented many from getting medical help during the pandemic.

The report makes several recommendations, including giving migrants and those with precarious status in England voting rights like in Scotland and Wales, with authors arguing that this will ensure that migrant communities are represented when it comes to policy development.

Penny Wangari-Jones, RJN Director, said: "This report comes from listening and acting upon community concerns. It highlights the resilience and resourcefulness of marginalised communities, but also the manufactured structural barriers and inequality that made the situation much worse during the pandemic. The authorities, decision and policy makers, as well as the general public, should take heed."

Laura Loyola-Hernández, Lecturer at the University of Leeds and RJN Trustee, added: "The pandemic shone a light on inequalities. It is clear that with or without support from authorities, migrant communities stuck between a rock and a hard place have come together to build a sense of solidarity and mutual support before, during and after the pandemic."

Tesfalem Yemane, a PhD researcher at the University of Leeds and a member of West Yorkshire's Eritrean community, also said: "The effects of colonial legacies will continue to exist and strive under the hostile environment policies, and we need to resist them by coming together and showing our solidarity with migrants."