Migrants' Rights Network

Who we are

Migrants’ Rights Network is a UK-based charity that works alongside migrants in their fight for rights and justice.

We co-curate campaigns using anti-oppression practices to create transformational change, extending beyond the individual impact on migrants’ lives, to tackle oppression at its source.

"We believe everyone has the right to live a dignified life in a society free from all forms of oppression and discrimination."

Our vision

MRN’s vision is a society in which:

• People are free to move because migration is, and has always been, an integral part of the human experience.
• Everyone, including all migrants, live in a society which is free from all forms of oppression and discrimination.
• Nobody’s access to safety, rights and security should be determined by their immigration status.

We are a values-led organisation that co-creates its work with those affected, and centres those with lived experience in its staffing structure, leadership, decision-making, and our activities to strengthen our work and the communities we work alongside.  We constantly strive to tackle power imbalances by putting people with migration and refugee experience in leadership positions/lead and shape our work and approaches. 

We are a diverse team majority led by migratised people and People of Colour, essentially first and second generation migrants but there are also numerous other intersecting identities in our team including religion, nationality, age, gender, sexuality and those with disabilities. We take an intersectional approach and inform our work with the understanding that people will experience multiple interconnected forms of oppression, where immigration status/migration experience is but one factor. These wide ranging identities and experiences inform our work, and particularly our work on language and how we challenge policies, established norms and narratives. 

We are unique in the migration and refugee sector because we know that to tackle systemic injustices and discrimination within the UK immigration system, we must understand the history and role of prejudice at the root of these systems, and consider how they intersect with other social justice issues.

We believe it is not enough to reform structures and systems which are foundationally discriminatory. We are calling for a complete overhaul, and for people with lived experience to lead that change. 

We particularly focus on issues that are less notable or publicly palatable, and can be overlooked.  We do this to ensure that ALL migrant groups and communities that are seldom heard have access to platforms, support and resources to advocate for themselves and achieve change.