Amplifying Voices Award
These Walls Must Fall
@wallsmustfall
Manchester Pride parade, August 2023
These Walls Must Fall: Migration justice campaigners building knowledge, radical solidarity, and power
The Campaign
“Building knowledge, radical solidarity, and power in 2024. In order to campaign, we need to organise, but first we need to survive.”
Amid rising hostility towards migrants, even within some parts of government, the These Walls Must Fall campaign have reached out to communities to build the radical solidarity that will help them to survive, to thrive, and to organise for change.
These Walls Must Fall is a lived-experience migration justice campaigning network, formed by Right to Remain in 2018. Over the past year, the campaign has been running a series of monthly Solidarity Sessions in the northwest. A regular space for community groups and organisations to get together to discuss and collaborate; to build knowledge, radical solidarity, and the power to make change.
@wallsmustfall
Protest at the HQ of Bibby Marine in Liverpool, owners of the Bibby Stockholm detention barge
We are deeply honoured to be nominated by SMK for this prestigious award. This recognition speaks volumes about the dedication and resilience of our incredible team. Amidst challenges, they stand as fighters, amplifying the voices of those impacted by the system. Thank you for this humbling acknowledgment.”
Magadaline Moyo, Organiser, These Walls Must Fall
Protest at the HQ of Bibby Marine in Liverpool, owners of the Bibby Stockholm detention barge
We are deeply honoured to be nominated by SMK for this prestigious award. This recognition speaks volumes about the dedication and resilience of our incredible team. Amidst challenges, they stand as fighters, amplifying the voices of those impacted by the system. Thank you for this humbling acknowledgment.”
Magadaline Moyo, Organiser, These Walls Must Fall
The Change
These Walls Must Fall is working with allies to build the radical solidarity and power in their communities necessary to survive the hostile environment, and then to bring it down. The campaign believes that the movement to bring this change must be led by those who understand it most – people with lived experience of the oppression, together with community allies.
Right to Remain supports groups of lived-experience campaigners to organise in their local communities, getting involved in alliances, networks, and campaigns. Members speak from direct experience at events, meetings, and protests, demanding change and rallying others to the movement. Many These Walls Must Fall campaigners are also still fighting for their individual rights, fighting for their own right to remain, living under the hostile environment. They know the nature of the problem better than anyone else. When they speak, people listen.
For the last six months, These Walls Must Fall groups have been organising monthly meetings in Manchester and Liverpool for community organisations and migrant solidarity groups. These sessions have been building knowledge and sharing skills and information, focusing on the Right to Remain Toolkit, the self-help and mutual aid guide to the immigration and asylum system.
The Future
Regardless of any future election, the struggle for migrants’ rights will continue in one form or another. The Illegal Migration Act 2023 remains a deep concern to the campaign and could be implemented at any time. These Walls Must Fall will continue to organise in their communities, growing the networks of solidarity and building power to bring the change they are seeking.
“Migration is life. No one is illegal. These Walls Must Fall.”
Who else was involved?
Everything we do is in collaboration with others, and there are too many to mention all our friends and allies! In recent months it has been wonderful campaigning together with Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, with special mention to their Community Organiser, Fatou Jinadu. And whatever we do in Manchester, we always try to do it WAST, Women Asylum Seekers Together.
On Merseyside, we have been organising with Solidarity Knows No Borders, Medact, Patients Not Passports, and running legal education events with Asylum Link Merseyside, SHARe Knowsley and others.
