THE EQUALITY IMPLICATIONS OF BEING A MIGRANT IN BRITAIN
13.4 Conclusions There is a mounting body of evidence of racial harassment against new migrants and Eastern Europeans in particular. Migrants also report overt acts of discrimination in the form of exclusion from premises or refusal of services as well as more indirect discrimination such as the denial of banking services (covered in some detail in the previous section). There is a need to identify and monitor victims and perpetrators which is not currently fulfilled by the British Crime Survey. There is also a need to ensure that new migrants know about the law on discrimination and harassment, understand how to recognise it and learn how to enforce it. A useful start would be to include such information in all welcome packs, such as those now being proposed by DCLG. The Government has acknowledged the need to make specific provision for victims of domestic violence and to ensure that migrant women are not excluded from this. It has so far, however, failed to make effective provision. If it is unwilling to simply lift the bar on recourse to public funds while applications to stay are made, then alternative provision that does not leave local authorities and charities out of pocket should be made. A model for this is the funding offered to local authorities for looking after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, which does not depend on the outcome of their cases but simply on the need to provide properly for vulnerable people while decisions are made.
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