THE controversial 'Go Home' campaign, which urged immigrants to leave the country, is to be the subject of a major research project involving academics at Glasgow University.
The 18-month research project has received £200,000 in funding to uncover the impact of the Home Office 'Go Home' vans and poster campaigns on local migrant and non-migrant communities, public debate and activism.
The Home Office admitted in October that the campaign persuaded just 11 immigrants to leave Britain.
The team will be led by sociologist Dr Hannah Jones, of Warwick University, and includes Dr Emma Jackson from Glasgow University's Urban Studies department. They will also collaborate with the Glasgow Refugee Asylum and Migration Network, Migrant Voice, Runnymede Trust and Scottish Refugee Council.
Dr Jackson said: "Understanding the impact of the 'Go Home' posters and related campaigns is crucial. We need to understand how such policies affect the lives of migrants, local communities and good community relations.
"Public and political debate on migration and borders will continue with the Scottish independence referendum in September 2014, and the general election in May 2015. This provides a real opportunity to examine the impact of policy interventions on public debate about immigration across the UK. Glasgow is a key case study in the research as posters reading 'Is life here hard, why not go home' were piloted in the UKBA Brand Street Offices."
It comes after the Home Office launched a series of high-profile interventions in July this year, which drew public attention to an increasing hard line from the government on illegal immigration.
It included an advertising campaign in London boroughs using a van emblazoned with a "Go Home" slogan encouraging migrants with insecure legal status to text for information on how to leave, as well as high-profile immigration checks and raids.
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