Abdullahi Yussuf, a We Belong member, stayed home for a week. ‘I really tried to not let the riots stop me doing my daily activities, but it was heartbreaking to see not only me but many Black and brown people afraid to go about their lives.’

Six young migrants who were due to graduate from our Emerging Young Leaders course had their graduation ceremony hastily cancelled due to concern for their safety and well-being.

The disorder that happened across England over the summer created real fear and disrupted the lives of our members, but it’s not just racist thugs who limit what we can do and send us the message that, whatever our immigration status, people of colour don’t truly belong in the UK. The Home Office and politicians have done their bit to tell young migrants we don’t deserve to be here. Alongside the use of incendiary language by some former ministers, the government places systemic barriers that bring stigma and prevent us from fully integrating into the society that is our home.

In the past 10 years, the Home Office has hiked the fees that many of us need to pay to maintain our lawful immigration status by 540 per cent – a level of increase that would cause an outcry if applied to any other government service. Each limited leave to remain application now costs us up to £3,845, and applications have to be renewed every 30 months.

Young people’s wages have not grown at anything like these rates over the same period and the fee increases have taken a terrible toll on people’s lives. We also regularly hear of employers withdrawing job offers and young people being suspended from work because companies don’t understand their limited leave to remain status and are wary of falling foul of immigration law.

For many young migrants, it is a constant battle to secure and maintain the immigration status on which our whole lives in the UK depend. Milana Bout, 23, who began her immigration journey age 11, says: ‘Even after finally getting my limited leave status after 10 years, there’s still so much uncertainty about how I’ll afford to pay my bills and rent while having to worry about how the Home Office can keep raising the fees with no control. As well as implementing new policies, such as the eVisa scheme, with very little to no information. It’s mentally very hard.’

Milana is a psychology student and also works part time alongside her degree. Despite having lived in the UK half her life, she and thousands like her are categorised as international rather than home students. This means she is ineligible for a student loan and must pay university fees several times higher than those charged to home students, which sets her apart from her peers.

These are just some of the ways we are stigmatised and isolated due to our immigration status. The financial burden and insecurity caused by Home Office policies stop us from being able to pursue our dreams and contribute as fully as we would like to our communities and UK society more generally. Despite this, senior politicians – including former prime minister Tony Blair – continue to scapegoat migrants and blame us for ‘failing to integrate’ without looking at the impact of their own behaviour and policies.

As long as the new government does nothing to address the hostile environment, young migrants will continue combating systemic barriers, racism, feelings of not belonging, and insecurity around our immigration status.

We would echo Zarah Sultana, MP for Coventry South, who wrote:

As my colleague, We Belong’s policy and public affairs lead, Mariam Bafo, says:

Until they do, even though the riots may have ended, young migrants will still be getting the message that we are not welcome in the UK.