The Intersections between Migration and Disability: Narratives by EU Migrants to the UK, Disabled British People and Disabled EU Migrants

Abstract

This article lies at the intersection of migration studies and disability studies and aims to contribute to redressing the considerable gap in knowledge regarding disabled voluntary migrants. These two areas, migration and disability, respectively, have rarely been considered together, a significant gap given the situation faced by disabled migrants and crosscutting issues confronting disabled people and migrants. Dynamics of exclusion are viewed as a shared experience of migrants, disabled people and disabled migrants. This paper is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with voluntary EU migrants to the UK, disabled British people and disabled EU migrants, which are supplemented by key informant interviews. All were conducted in 2019 in the north of England. The findings highlight that when migration and disability are considered concurrently, barriers multiply and result in a nuanced disadvantage and experiences of social marginalisation. Migrant and disability experience translates into social vulnerability and is a contributing cause of exclusion in relation to social expectations and mainstream services. This paper concludes that there is an urgent need to change the narrative and perception that migrant and disabled people are less worthy of attention and bring their needs to the fore.

1. Introduction

This paper is written in response to a call for more research on the migration–disability nexus made by Burns (2020), Duda-Mikulin et al. (2020), Hughes (2017) and Pisani and Grech (2015). Migrant and disabled people have rarely been considered jointly even though their experiences are comparable in many ways (Duda-Mikulin and Głowacka 2023). Here, dynamics of exclusion are considered as a shared experience of those who identify as migrants, disabled people and disabled migrants.

This paper aims to contribute to addressing the gap between migration studies and disability studies in the bid to drive a more inclusive theory, policy and practice. The need to focus on migration and disability is urgent, given the context of welfare austerity and the ‘hostile environment’ of post-Brexit UK (Taylor 2017), the rise of populism and neoliberalism worldwide, the anti-migrant discourse (Jones et al. 2017), increased transnational mobility and the global humanitarian crisis which all sparked an increase in hate crimes against migrants (Duda-Mikulin 2019; Agerholm 2016) and disabled people (Harrell 2021; Inclusion London 2017). Within this context, this paper explores the accounts of EU migrants to the UK, disabled British people and disabled voluntary migrants in the post-Brexit UK.

Research today requires openness to other disciplines and this article lies at the intersection of sociology, social communication, social policy and health studies but it is critically sociological in its approach. It proactively seeks to open up conversations between and across related disciplines. Generally, these themes have been debated largely separately on the pages of this as well as other academic journals (see: Duda-Mikulin and Głowacka 2023; Duda-Mikulin et al. 2020). Thus, there is a need to redress this lack of cross-disciplinary workings which this paper calls for.

This paper has two-fold aims. On the one hand, it aims to explore the intersections between migration and disability in the lives of those who self-identify as disabled (voluntary) migrants from the EU in the UK. On the other hand, it aims to offer a comparative perspective around how those who identify as either migrants or disabled people, or both, are portrayed and experience discrimination in the post-Brexit UK. The findings highlight that when migration and disability are considered concurrently, barriers multiply and result in a nuanced double disadvantage and experiences of social marginalisation. Migrant and disability experience translates into social vulnerability and is a contributing cause of exclusion in relation to mainstream services and social expectations. This paper concludes that there is a need to change the perception that migrant and disabled people are less worthy of attention/space and bring their needs to the fore.

Firstly, the main themes from the literature around migration and disability are outlined. Secondly, a theorisation about Brexit is provided. Thirdly, the methodology is explained. Then, the findings are discussed and lastly, a conclusion is provided.

2. Migration and Disability

Historically, migration studies frequently excluded disabled people, while disability studies have ignored the experiences of people who migrate (Hughes 2017), reflecting a profoundly ableist approach in a discourse on migration. This is a surprising omission from both fields of study given that many migrants are disabled people, and many disabled people are migrants (Burns 2017; Pisani and Grech 2015). Indeed, disabled people migrate too, and many become disabled en route, with the implication that migration and disability are closely woven into each other (Duda-Mikulin and Głowacka 2023). These two interconnected axes of difference are useful in explaining how migration and disability may influence one another.

Migrants and disabled people represent significant minorities worldwide (IOM 2020). They are among the most vulnerable and prone to social isolation and exploitation (Duda-Mikulin et al. 2020; Soldatic et al. 2015). The relationship between social exclusion and migrants’ health works in a multidirectional manner. The experience of social exclusion, exemplified by low income, poor living conditions, difficulties in communication, exclusion from health and other services and racism, xenophobia or ableism, has detrimental effects on the general health and wellbeing of migrants. On the other hand, a health issue may lead to social exclusion due to difficulty finding formal employment and that can result in experiences of exploitation. These inequities were only further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which disproportionately affected marginalized populations, disabled migrants, for instance.

The complex needs of disabled migrants are largely unmet and unnoticed with a lack of reliable and consistent disaggregated data on the number and profile of disabled migrants (Burns 2017; IOM 2020; Forced Migration Review 2010). Migration policy excludes disabled people, and disabled migrants remain a hidden population (Burns 2020; Yeo 2015; SCOPE 2012). They continue to be characterised by epistemological, ontological and practical invisibility: “migration theory grows without the disabled person, disability studies without the migrant, and practice without the disabled migrant” (Pisani and Grech 2015, p. 425). This, arguably, can be said in relation to forced migration (e.g., asylum seekers and refugees) as well as voluntary migrants (e.g., migrant workers from the EU), and while the former has received some attention, the latter received very little (Duda-Mikulin and Głowacka 2023).

The World Migration Report declares that around 3.6% of the world’s population are migrants (IOM 2020), while the World Health Organization estimates that about 15% of the world’s population has a disability (WHO 2011). Demographic data related to disabled migrants in the UK or indeed worldwide are difficult to obtain (Roberts and Harris 2002). This lack of data means that disabled migrants constitute a largely invisible population whose social needs and circumstances are often unknown. Therefore, in writing this paper, the author wishes to add to the growing literature on migration and disability and bring attention to the importance of looking at these two minority identities concurrently.

While it may seem logical to assume that disability is closely linked to forced migration rather than any other type of migration, in this paper, voluntary migrants are considered with their intersectional lives related to migration status and disability. Intersectionality recognises that individuals can simultaneously be members of multiple disadvantaged groups (Crenshaw 1989). This creates a hierarchy of difference and dis/advantage. In order to analyse these systems of disadvantages, it is necessary to look at the intersections of different social categories. This is while focusing on only one category of difference does not allow recognising the complexity of how multiple discriminations interact with each other (Bešić et al. 2020). This paper responds to the need to bring together the two ‘conditions’ of migration and disability together. By drawing on how they intersect in the lives of migrants, disabled people and disabled migrants, this paper aims to explore the dimensions of exclusion (on societal, mainstream services and social expectations levels) they face as populations confronting some of the most intense challenges. More specifically, the author seeks to explore the dynamics of exclusion that (voluntary) disabled migrants experience. Through this, it is hoped to support broader efforts at understanding and articulating these voices and the problems they face as well as their agency, and to catalyse a more inclusive theory, policy and practice. This paper wishes to transcend the traditional disciplinary boundaries of migration and disability studies to instead consider how these can be brought into further conversation with one another to the benefit of disabled migrants.

The author follows the social model of disability in which disability is understood as a social problem, rather than the consequence of individual impairments. In line with social constructionism, migrancy and disability are viewed as social constructs and not something that people ‘have’. For the purpose of this paper, the author will use ‘disabled migrants’. Disabled migrants will be those who identify as belonging to both minority identities who accept and are willing to share insights related to both parts of their identity.

3. Brexit

As Hughes (2017, p. 11) writes: “Brexit—a political phenomenon that has invested heavily in cultural racism and ableism” is the latest manifestation of the neoliberal hegemony. At a time of post-COVID economic austerity, rising nationalism and resurgence of public racism, migrants have been increasingly cast as scapegoats, the cause of social and economic problems in the UK and as a drain on society (Duda-Mikulin 2019). “Anything foreign, except investment, is abhorrent” (Tyler 2020, p. 133). This narrative was part of the campaign to leave the EU by Brexit campaigners and resulted in an increase in racially motivated hate crime immediately after the referendum result revealed that Britain voted to leave the UK (Taylor 2017). The Brexit campaign was designed to appeal to voters’ emotions and facts were hardly at its centre. Whilst the UK decided to separate itself from the rest of the European continent, globally, the contemporary world is characterised by interconnectivity which leads to transnationalism with lesser significance of borders between nation states. This economic, global connectivity is put against increased separation with regards to immigration and welfare policies.

The UK has undoubtedly benefited materially and culturally from its long history of immigration (Spencer 1997). It has vibrant cultures and communities and is enriched by the participation of diverse people and diverse skill sets (Blinder and Allen 2016). Despite this, it seems that some British people still struggle to accept the significant contribution that migrants and disabled people have made to the country (Craig 2012).

4. Methodology and Methods

This paper reports findings from an empirical study undertaken in 2018–2019 in the north of England, funded by a Kickstart Grant from the Sociological Review Foundation. The author is aware of the multiple changes, including geopolitical ones that occurred between the time these data were collected1 and today; however, it is believed that these findings still resonate with regards to dynamics of exclusion, particularly in relation to disabled migrants, a population that remains on the margins, including of research.

A qualitative methodology was adopted in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the migration–disability intersection, prioritising the perspectives of disabled voluntary migrants. The author adopted a subjective definition of ‘migrant’, ‘disabled migrant’ and ‘disabled person’ to include those who self-identify as such. The majority of the research participants came forward following an advertisement while some purposive sampling was used to reach those who identify as disabled migrants.

The author conducted semi-structured interviews with 27 people. These included: eight migrants to the UK from the European Union; 10 disabled British people; five EU disabled migrants; and four key informants including professionals and activists working in the field of migration and/or disability in the UK. Further demographic details of the study population can be found in

Table 1. Demographics of the study population.

Pseudonym	Nationality/Ethnicity	Age	Gender	Relationship Status Children/NC	Household Composition	Education	Occupation	Other
Migrants (8):
Lucy	Slovak	39	F	Married/NC	With partner	College	Interpreter	Came to the UK in 2002 as an Au Pair
Kata	Hungarian	37	F	Partnered/1C	With partner + son	MRes	Research Assistant	Came in 2006 to work; son bi-racial
Katarina	Slovak	42	F	Single/NC	On her own	PGT	Debt Adviser	Came in 2004; suffers from anxiety and depression
Zenek	Polish/Jewish	53	M	Single/2C	On his own	MA	Psychotherapist	Came in 2004
Marcin	Polish	34	M	Partnered/NC	With partner + housemate (lodger)	College	Local Government Officer	Came in 2007
Liisa	Finnish	41	F	Separated/2C	1 adult + 2 children	PhD	Researcher	Came in 2006 to study
Al	Polish	40	M	Partnered/NC	With partner	BA	Self-employed Carpenter	Came in 2006 to work
Iris	Greek	32	F	Married/1C	With family	PhD	Researcher/Lecturer	-
Disabled people (10):
Claudia	White British	68	F	Married/4C	Husband + son	Degree level	Retired Nurse Teacher	M.E.
Rosie	White British	28	F	Single/NC	With partner	Studying towards a BA	Care Worker (Activist)	Dyslexia and dyspraxia
Alex D	British Pakistani	47	M	Married/2C	With family	PhD	Clinical Researcher	Epilepsy
William	White British	39	M	Married/3C	With family	MSc	Lecturer/PhD Student	Learning disability
Sez	White British	38	F	Married/3C	With family	BA	Manager	-
Keith	White British	63	M	Partnered/8C	With partner	PhD	Retired/-	Epilepsy+
Anthony	White British	33	M	Married/NC	With partner	Degree level	Awards Coordinator	Heart condition
Orwell	White British	37	M	Single/NC	On his own	PhD Student	PhD Student (Activist)	Wheelchair user
Wing	British Chinese	19	F	Single/NC	Student accommodation	Studying towards a BA	N/A	SEN+
Dylan	White British	45	Transgender male	Single/1C	On his own + child	BSc	Office Worker	Autism
Disabled migrants (5):
AMC	Italian + British	44	F	Married/NC	With partner	PhD	Academic	Blood clotting condition
Ola	Polish	37	F	Partnered/NC	With partner	Degree level	Banker—out of work due to ill health	Several conditions
Laura	Polish	43	F	Partnered/3C	With partner + child	College	Taylor—out of work due to health	Bone/spine issues
Anne	Dutch	40	F	-/NC	On her own	Degree level	PhD Student/Lecturer	Partially sighted, autistic+
Antonia	Polish	36	F	Married/NC	With partner	PhD	Lecturer	-
Key informants (4):
CL	German	42	F	-	-	MA	Journalist	Came in 2006; Activist; disabled
Olivia	French	38	F	Partnered/2C	With partner + sons	L3 Diploma; in education	Support Worker	Came in 2004; Activist
Alex K	White British	60	M	Married/NC	With partner	BA	Community Worker	Activist
Harry	White British	35	M	Engaged/NC	With partner	MA	Self-employed	Activist; disabled

. All of the quotes come from people who have experience of migration and disability. Thematic analysis was employed as it is an interpretative approach of moving between patterns of meaning, codes and then themes (Braun and Clarke 2006, 2021).

At the time of the interview, the migrants had been living in the UK for at least 12 years. The disabled participants shared that they had a range of conditions including Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.), a heart condition or autism. Please see the attached table with further demographic details.

A note on reflexivity is needed here. We ought to recognise that not all people experience and/or define disability in the same way, and not all people experience migration in the same way. In the case of the latter, it might include undocumented migrants, refugees, expats or so-called digital nomads. Their experiences will vary according to how different vectors of power (including, but not limited to gender, ethnicity, age, social class, language, legal status) intersect. This is all the more important given that the migrants interviewed for the purpose of this research are not forced migrants and most of them are from relatively privileged backgrounds (e.g., level of education; resident in the Global North; employment status). Some of the mentioned privileges also apply to the disabled people and disabled migrants who were interviewed. This is while the author is privileged by her dual nationality, having moved from the EU to the UK and back. The author has over 15 years of migration experience and 13 years’ experience of conducting migration research and six of disability research while she also has some experience of living with chronic conditions.

5. Discussion of Findings

The subsections that follow are related to some of the themes that emerged in this research and include the following: feeling targeted; negative stereotypes; (un)belonging; being seen; practicalities; betrayal; resistance; solidarity of experience; the threat of difference; added advantage; and discrimination. These themes are a portrayal of the varied complexities linked to minority group membership linked to migrant and disability status.

5.1. Feeling Targeted

Iris2 (non-disabled EU migrant): I am just a bit worried because of Brexit and because of the rise of nationalism and other things, and if things are going to change… (…) Of course I am more suspicious and I’m thinking, “Is this someone that has racist opinions and I haven’t realised this before?” and I’m more sensitive to comments.

Many research participants reported they observed a change of attitudes as a result of the process of Brexit3, including experiences of unequal treatment. Iris, quoted above, unexpectedly felt exposed due to difference related to her migrant origin and thus became suspicious towards others. Some participants explained that poorer treatment in comparison to the native population was to be expected since they are the outsiders. This rhetoric may be linked to the deserving versus undeserving narrative increasingly employed in British politics and worldwide as a means of cost-cutting and delegitimization of claims for rights (Jones et al. 2017). The deserving are those who are framed as productive and hard-working, while the undeserving are those who rely on state welfare. This dichotomy has previously been used to differentiate between good and bad migrants (Dhaliwal and Forkert 2015). This narrative is all too familiar to disabled people, especially those who need to rely on state welfare, framed as ‘scroungers’, where people are pitched against each other (cf. Malli et al. 2018) to deflect from the actual structural problems, including concentration of wealth. The following quote captures this:

AL (non-disabled EU migrant): we had to deal with the mental side of it that we’re migrants and we’re going to be always seen guilty for everything bad that happened.

Many EU migrants were anxious about securing their future and formally regulating their stay in the UK4 in a context increasingly characterised by populist discourse and the open articulation of hostility towards migrants. Interviewees acknowledged an increasingly more negative perception of migrants more generally which may be a direct result of the government billboards stating: “In the UK illegally? GO HOME OR FACE ARREST” (Jones et al. 2017). Some migrants were reluctant to openly disclose their migrant status and some actively hid it. This is a commonly reported situation, including in research (e.g., Fête et al. 2019). The following participants explain the situation:

AMC (disabled EU migrant): [the word migrant has] very bad connotations and it has got very dated connotations (…) they were considered uneducated, the poor, with no culture, I feel that this is what people here [UK] perceive to be a migrant, somebody who is not really up with things.

AL: If I can see they’re really offensive towards migrants I don’t say it [place of origin] but if I know they’re just curious I’ll tell them.

Migrant and disabled people are portrayed as inherently different, the other, those who need to prove their worthiness. The racialised global capitalist system produces violence and instability. People are dehumanised while “stigmatising representational practices which involve the extreme dehumanisation of people” are at play (Tyler 2020, p. 124). Dehumanisation devalues human life which creates unwanted people and waste populations (ibid.). “Europe’s racist crisis” (Tyler 2020, p. 126) mostly concerns forced or undocumented migrants, asylum seekers and refugees and not those who move voluntarily though it has repercussions towards other groups of vulnerable people.

5.2. Negative Stereotypes

Similarly, the negative stereotypes of disability create a real barrier to self-acceptance for disabled people. Disabled participants reported feelings of not fitting in and self-doubt, which often resulted in questioning one’s identity. Reeve (2006, p. 101) discussed these psychological and emotional dimensions, triggered by attitudes and behaviours that contribute to what she calls psycho-emotional disablism, including “feeling vulnerable, exposed and humiliated”. Some interviewees admitted to having dismissive families which was particularly burdensome for those with an acquired or newly diagnosed disability. Indeed, a family that is accepting and supportive of a minority group membership relating to disability is very important as the following quote demonstrates:

Orwell (disabled British person): For a period in my life, I wanted to be normal, like the other kids. So, I’d have operations to try and make things better. Now I remember being about 10 or 11 and I went for an operation and then the medical people decided it wasn’t going to be worth it, medically, and I always remember sitting in the toilet with my mum and crying and saying, ‘I’m always going to be disabled, aren’t I?’ And she went ‘yes’. Then I grieved at that realisation and then came more to terms with it.

Many negative implications of Brexit were mentioned by disabled EU migrants, among them feelings of not belonging after Brexit and not fitting in, feeling excluded, unwanted and unwelcome and somewhat guilty about it. Brexit has contributed to many further divisions, yet also occasional alliances—the quotation below refers to what AMC was told when visiting one of her favourite eateries immediately after the result of the Brexit referendum was communicated: “In this place only one person voted to leave, but all of us voted to remain so you are welcome here”. Further divisions following Brexit occurred when certain institutions decided to take a stand and issued a statement to show support for their European students and staff. Indeed, AMC’s workplace (Higher Education Institution) did just this, except that in their statement there was no mention of university staff. Instead, it referred only to their students from Europe being welcome there, reflecting the economic drive motivating many institutions and a dwindling sense of social justice (Breeze et al. 2019).

5.3. (Un)Belonging

Various social groups are effective forces in enacting boundaries, of who belongs and who does not, and are powerful in Othering and excluding those who are not part of the group (cf. Schierup et al. 2015):

AL: People who are really proud to be British and they think being born here... They’re basically better because of that and they... let you know it.

Liisa (non-disabled EU migrant): To an extent, I do feel, possibly a bit more, okay, probably a bit more, after Brexit, I felt like a migrant and I was questioning, do I belong in this country and what’s going on.

Labels are complex, they may be comforting but they include a dimension of categorisation and order. They also include performative dimensions (Cole 2018). When we meet someone, we usually try to work out certain characteristics of that person; sometimes this can be difficult and can translate into an inability to categorise, with the implication that these people become ontologically ‘uncontainable’. The quotations below demonstrate what a focus on difference meant for the participants in their everyday lives:

Dylan (disabled British person): [explaining bullying at school] I guess I was different because I was higher achieving academically than a lot of my classmates, certainly in primary school, and I’d moved from a different part of the country and so I had a different accent. But I think that aside I was just the weird kid in the corner, kind of thing, that didn’t fit in.

Olivia (non-disabled EU migrant/KI): In many ways compared to them [refugees from Congo] I’m lucky because until I speak, people do not know that I’m foreign.

The accounts above emphasise how difference becomes particularly problematic in situations where people try to blend in and wish to go unnoticed, as the interviewees referred to themselves as “the weird kid” because of their disability or “lucky” that others cannot tell they were migrants. Difference constructed as a threat exposes individuals to criticism and potential discrimination and insecurity and thus it fosters the need to hide these parts of their identities (cf. Landmann et al. 2019).

5.4. Being Seen

Disabled participants acknowledged the visible versus invisible divide and the necessity to disclose their disability in certain situations. While those who have a disability that is evident have no option to hide it; those whose disability is not noticeable have the opportunity not to disclose their identity status. Disclosure then becomes a tool of agency for identity negotiation and management. Similarly, migrants highlighted how individuals from the EU have more agency and choice around disclosure compared to non-EU migrants who may be visibly and evidently ‘different’ from what is constructed as a native UK citizen:

Wing (disabled British person): Yes, definitely more difficult for those who have visible [disability], because I’m a very lucky one (…) so because you are having a wheelchair, of course you are very inconvenient, you occupy more space than if you were standing. So, people talk about it. So, it definitely feels much worse.

As Wing noted above, wheelchair users may be perceived as “inconvenient” because they “occupy more space” and this is despite a lack of choice around using mobility aids which are necessary for some disabled people. Here, visible difference constructed as out-of-the-ordinary and inconvenient results in claims over used space. This is the negative rhetoric that, as is postulated here, should change to better the lives of those who are perceived as different due to their minority identity, be it due to a migrant or disability status.

5.5. Practicalities

Similar to other studies (Ruiz and Vargas-Silva 2021), many EU migrants worried about practical and pragmatic matters, including access to healthcare and entitlements post-Brexit. Some migrants noted that they would have liked to acquire UK citizenship, yet felt disappointed about the current pressures to secure it in these circumstances. They would have preferred to get it out of their own volition rather than purely for security post-Brexit. It seems this was often motivated by practicalities rather than a desire to belong:

AMC: I have dual nationality... I felt compelled to get British nationality. Before I would have it as a sign of pride but now, I feel that I had to have it to not get into trouble.

AL: I didn’t [get Settled Status] because I didn’t think it was important if we were still in the European Union. There was no reason why I would be worried that someone’s going to try to remove me from this country because there was no legal reason for it.

AL explained that because Brexit was looming, he felt he needed to secure his livelihood in the UK by gaining Settled Status5. He also explained how he wished to secure British citizenship in order to be able to travel freely, but he thought it was not worth the cost predominantly in financial terms. In contrast to AL, others found comfort in British citizenship acquisition or felt compelled to acquire it:

Liisa: I’m glad I applied for citizenship because of the uncertainties and it’s a lot less stressful having done it now.

AMC: [I got it] to not be kicked out. Because I’m very scared about [access to] the health system and I have several conditions.

AMC had an encounter that demonstrates a lack of knowledge and awareness of the implications of Brexit among medical staff. When she tried to sign up for her yearly flu vaccine, she was told “Things have changed since the [Brexit] referendum, you are not entitled to a free vaccine anymore”. In the end, she paid for it but later discovered that she was in fact entitled to receive it free of charge. Undoubtedly, situations like this influence people’s intentions regarding citizenship, for instance.

5.6. Betrayal

Due to a change around feelings of belonging because of Brexit, some migrants considered moving away from the UK but many more were settled there and thus in a difficult situation and somewhat torn between remaining and leaving due to feelings of being unwelcome. AMC explained how her perception changed due to Brexit and how it made her feel about the UK:

AMC: I felt stabbed in the back. Everything I believed was a lie and I was barely tolerated. I think I could see the signs because I work at [name] University and, as you know, [city] voted highly to leave the EU and when I started working there, I felt treated like a stupid person when I was speaking either in a coffee shop, or with the people at the B&B, they were looking at me like I was an alien and they couldn’t understand my accent, and this hadn’t happened to me since the first time I arrived in the UK.

AMC acknowledged that before 2016 she felt Italian, and in a way “adopted British”, but after the Brexit referendum, she felt strongly Italian and European instead. The European identity, therefore, became an act of resistance in a context that felt less and less European and obsessed with Othering (Van der Zwet et al. 2020). As she explained, she felt “stabbed in the back” which suggests that she felt hurt and betrayed and was unprepared for this, as previously she felt like she belonged there as “adopted British”. She also expressed preparedness to leave the UK if she continued to feel unwelcome: “I’m not going to be chained to a country that doesn’t acknowledge my contribution but takes my taxes”. She went on to explain the transition from belonging to Othering:

AMC: Because until then [Brexit] I felt that I was a member of society, I felt that there was no question about my contribution, I felt I had equal rights, and after the 23rd [June 2016, the Brexit referendum] it was like, yeah, totally wrong, “You misunderstood us, you are just a guest, an unwanted guest”.

The notion of stigma and ignorance may be useful here in explaining events that took place after the process of Brexit was complete. Arguably, Brexit has marked some individuals who are now targeted by the majority population (who voted to leave the EU) as not belonging or deserving of place (cf. Jones 2021; Tyler 2020). Migrant and disabled people share experiences of stigma due to difference which may be in/visible and is related to qualities which remain beyond people’s control.

5.7. Resistance

Many respondents referred to details pertaining to difference that they acknowledge they demonstrate. Some participants referred to a distinction between sameness and difference or a focus on diversity more generally, and how this space is navigated (cf. Ralph 2012). Disabled people, similarly to migrants, spoke about discrimination and unequal treatment they experienced:

Orwell: at school, periodically, I was called a spastic, a retard. Social workers tried to cajole me and my family into special educational needs institutions.

Dylan (disabled British person): I was bullied at school and that was quite substantial bullying. Apart from that, I guess there’s been subtle discriminations in adulthood, but not as obvious in the kind of areas where I’ve worked.

In line with migrants’ accounts, disabled people mentioned ignorance and a lack of awareness and understanding around minority group membership with regards to their needs and around reasonable adjustments. This is well documented in disability studies, and a dynamic force of negative attitudes and exclusion (Oliver 1996). This often required them to have a proactive attitude and to stand up for themselves. In Orwell’s case, there was a lot of professional worry that he would not be able to cope in mainstream education and mainstream life. However, Orwell had a very supportive mother who believed that he could be part of mainstream education despite his disability:

Orwell: My mum left school at 13, so she really had to fight people and institutions to get me the right support and, in a way, fight the institutions not to get hold of me and stick me in a home and take my own respite care and stuff like that.

If there is one common and well-studied dynamic, it is that disabled people have to be prepared to constantly fight for themselves in order to be able to access the most basic rights and freedoms (Shakespeare 2014). Orwell emphasised how it was like a constant battle: “let’s see how many barriers we can put up in your face and let’s see how determined you are”. He goes on to note:

Orwell: When I was born and there was life support machines and stuff, the doctors advised my mum that it was best that they turned the machine off, because they didn’t know the quality of life that I’d have and stuff like that and luckily my mum said no.

As Orwell explained, his right to live was questioned at birth. The health professionals suggested that his life quality is potentially going to be low and thus Orwell’s mother should let him pass on, yet his mother decided otherwise. In a similar vein, Wing seemed apologetic about her different abilities in a context of deep ableism:

Wing: Of course, you feel a bit sad to be fair, because, like, you did nothing wrong, you don’t know why they blame it on you (…) but because you have a SEN6 student you’ve got more paperwork to do, so they would sometimes have some words and I feel like ‘that’s not my fault though’.

Similarly to disabled people, migrants too must stand up for themselves and actively fight to have their needs met as otherwise they are likely to be exposed to discrimination and exclusion. This can be demonstrated by the experiences of AMC around administering a flu vaccination which she was first denied, to then find out that she is in fact eligible to receive it for free. Interviewees agreed that there is a long way to go for them to be treated equally with non-disabled people. They noted real and symbolic barriers and disabling societal structures that are prevalent:

Orwell: So, as a disabled person, as somebody who has an impairment and self-identifies as a disabled person, I didn’t really do that in a positive way until 2006. Before then, a phrase I use is, I know I’m in a wheelchair, but I’m not disabled. So now on reflection, I know what I was doing, I was rejecting the negative stereotypes of being disabled.

The same can be said about migrant people who face disabling societal structures which aim to strip them off their humanity—one example is the Brexit campaign which created further divisions and made bank clerks, housing landlords and university administrators into immigration officers who are meant to search for immigration offenders. This signifies the hostile environment post-Brexit which is punctuated by stigma and ignorance (Jones et al. 2017; Tyler 2020). It needs to be acknowledged though that EU migrants in the UK are in a relatively privileged position in comparison to non-EU migrants.

5.8. Solidarity of Experience

Focusing on difference as a threat leads to Othering and potentially extremism (Himmell and Baptista 2020). Instead, as the research participants pointed out, our differences should be viewed as positive qualities which lead to variety and thus enrich societies. In line with an affirmation model of disability (Swain and French 2010), some disabled participants called for a positive view of disability as a way of celebrating diversity as well as disability identity. Others noted solidarity with difference which brings this group closer to migrants who also feel different, who also often experience stigma (Tyler 2020), and who too do not neatly ‘fit in’ to contribute to a critical consciousness and ‘intraminority solidarity’ (Burson and Godfrey 2020):

Orwell: the school decided that because I was disabled, they were worried about the insurance and stuff, so I didn’t go on the trip to France, with the other kids. I ended up going on a disabled people only holiday to Austria.

When asked about what needed to change, disabled participants wished for more willingness to learn about their circumstances, non-judgement and open-mindedness which, according to some interviewees, are the best ways to be supportive. Many acknowledged that a change of perception and attitudes is needed with more understanding and acceptance of people’s diverse needs. Some felt that more ‘agents of change’ are required to educate others in navigating and managing everyday situations. All of the above applies to migrants too:

Orwell: we get othered a lot, to use a trendy academic phrase, I feel like we’re not quite … we’re like counterfeit citizens, not really fully contributing, somehow deviant almost, like we’re here and we’re about but it’s not exactly a welcoming environment for migrants or disabled people. It’s not a positive process, it’s a fight and you have to fight for your rights and institutions aren’t exactly welcoming to disabled people and/or migrants because of stuff like austerity and rhetoric around migrants and disability.

5.9. The Threat of Difference

Migration and disability intersect in a number of ways. Whilst international migrants by definition cross borders, disabled people often find it difficult to travel nationally, let alone internationally. Migrants and disabled people felt in some way excluded and different and felt they faced additional barriers. Thus, disabled migrants may experience double disadvantage on account of their minority identities; although, one of the important aspects of an intersectional approach is that it resists such ‘additive’ models of disadvantage. Both groups reported difference in treatment and a perception of not fully contributing ‘counterfeit citizens/residents’—fraudulent imitation of fully contributing citizens (cf. Anderson 2013). Both acknowledged a focus on difference and the perception that difference is unwanted. Disabled people may be seen as a threat to the majority as they are perceived to rely on state welfare; whilst migrants can be seen as a threat to national values and as competitors for resources, jobs or housing, for instance (cf. Bolet 2020). Still, Brexit worsened matters as it legitimised discrimination and the language of exclusion:

Orwell: genuinely I think people have been sold on the narrative of the European Union being this evil institution and migrants being bad and being a drain on the economy. The sheer demographics of it, Britain is an ageing population, so we need all these Polish people and Eastern Europeans to come over, be exploited, be happy to earn a low wage, to look after us.

Both migrants and disabled people often faced the need to disclose their identity status, particularly when they were assessed for welfare benefits or tried to access public services. This is when they had to prove their rights and entitlements based on their minority identity. Disabled or migrant people had to then demonstrate worthiness and convincingly perform their disabled/migrant identity (cf. Duda-Mikulin et al. 2020):

Orwell: when I’m getting assessed for [social welfare] benefits, I’m constantly being categorised as, are you disabled enough or not, do you fit within the category of what it is to be disabled, which constantly shifts, depending on where you are.

Some disabled people emphasised the need to be seen as people and the need for an intersectional lens in seeing them as possessing other important characteristics, e.g., age, gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity (cf. Crenshaw 1989). Dylan, quoted below, emphasised how important it is to accept that part of one’s identity, and view it as an added advantage:

Dylan: Because my disability is a hidden disability and because for most of my life, I’ve masked it socially to everybody, including myself, I’ve not been as aware of it. It’s not until kind of the last five or so years that I’ve become aware of the effects that it has on my life and my relationships and my general wellbeing. Part of it is taking it on as part of your identity and being not just accepting of it but embracing it and using the positive side of it as well, which I don’t think—it’s not widely accepted in society that there are positives to being disabled.

5.10. Added Advantage

While some disabled participants emphasised positive sides of their minority identity, some migrant participants pointed to advantages of living in the UK as their host country. Among these was the fact that the UK is perceived as relatively diverse due to its long and troubled history of immigration, and hence relatively more accepting of migrants in comparison to other countries, even if this meant growing anti-migrant hostility (McLaren et al. 2021). Some disabled people also acknowledged that the UK is generally more equal in policy and practice compared to other countries:

Dylan: I think stuff like the Equality Act [2010] and legislation and employment law and stuff like that means that when you tell your employer about your disability, they have to do something about it, and they have to mitigate the effects of it in the workplace.

It is noteworthy that the UK Equality Act 2010 applies in equal measure to migrants and ethnic minorities as it aims to protect their rights and freedoms too. However, as it is known from the literature, migrants are often unaware of their rights and thus cannot effectively use existing legislations to their advantage (Pisani and Grech 2015). Interviewees mentioned certain advantages to the UK setting, while stressing that having a disability can be tougher in other countries:

Harry (disabled British person): I’m very grateful and blessed that my situation, in the UK, I do have my wheelchair provided and the care money provided by the government. So, there’s very much a positive and a gratitude that I have the things I need, to live a full and good life here but yes, from what I’ve seen, if I was to ever move to another country, a lot of that would be compromised.

5.11. Discrimination

Some interviewees shared very vivid stories of when they experienced hatred, discrimination and became victims of racially aggravated crimes. As already mentioned, following the Brexit campaign, racial hate crimes have increased quite considerably (Duda-Mikulin 2019). Indeed, the Trump presidency in America and the process of Brexit in the UK validated language of exclusion and dehumanisation (cf. Jones et al. 2017) which has some serious consequences as the following quote demonstrates:

Olivia: It included vandalism, people throwing stones at our windows. Car windows, house windows. People throwing bottles at us whilst walking to school (…) And then sadly in April 2018 myself and my son were racially assaulted as well as [suffered] verbal abuse on a train. It was really, I mean, that’s the worst incident or the worst crime that we’ve ever encountered. It had a great impact on both myself, and my youngest son who was with me, he was eleven at the time.

Olivia was a victim of Othering and as a result experienced discrimination. Othering is based on oversimplifying and distorting complex problems by dividing the world into ‘us’ and ‘them’, and scapegoating and vilifying the latter. This us-versus-them narrative is based on difference as the divisions relate to dissimilarities which are present with regards to individuals/groups in question. These differences can be more or less visible and real or assumed (e.g., skin colour, origin, religion, nationality, etc). The political us-versus-them divisions are often concerned with immigrant status while belonging is equally important to migrant and disabled people:

Dylan: I don’t feel that I am different in the disability community and finding people online and locally who have hidden disabilities and talking about how it affects the way that we do what we do and realising that actually, for the first time, I’m not different from everyone else. In the disability community, I feel like I’m the same as everyone else—same but different, but I don’t feel like the odd one out.

Profound social changes cause anxiety and whilst human mobility is on the rise (IOM 2020); ethno-nationalism often leads to Othering or stigma. When societies undergo rapid change, they act as gatekeepers and assert who is allowed access and who qualifies as a full member and thus is permitted full rights to its resources.

Jones argues that the world today is divided between persons and racial subpersons (Jones 2021, p. 8); this is while migrants from Europe are also racialised (Rzepnikowska 2018) and thus perceived as members of the latter category. “When people are stigmatised to the extent that they are no longer seen as human, it seems we can’t comprehend the violence, we no longer see it, or we simply don’t care” (Tyler 2020, p. 156). Jones (2021, p. 13) refers to ‘chronic violence’ such as poverty, racism and disability and that ‘difference’ is often imagined “as a problematic difference from a norm of white Britishness” (ibid., p. 23).

The current migration regulation systems are often violent and intentionally disabling, this includes the violence of policing and deterrence infrastructure. The concept of “weathering”—physical and psychological wear incurred by stigma, Othering and instability experienced by migrants and others who are targeted by the dominant population as not belonging or deserving of place is particularly useful in explaining the current conditions (Gunaratnam 2019).

6. Conclusions

When migration and disability are considered concurrently, barriers intersect and multiply and result in a nuanced double disadvantage and experiences of social marginalisation for those who identify as belonging to both minority identities. Indeed, as the interviewees’ accounts demonstrated, migrant and disabled people and disabled migrants are exposed to discrimination and often experience it intensely. Migrant and disability experience translates into a social vulnerability and is a contributing cause of exclusion in relation to mainstream services and social expectations.

In the UK, hostility to new immigration is part of a tough approach to controlling borders and movement with ‘immigration offenders’ implanting a sense of fear (Jones et al. 2017). Migrant and disabled people could be considered as ‘failed citizens’ who cannot belong in nation states or ‘communities of value’ on the same terms as ‘good citizens’ (Anderson 2013). The strengthening of state borders and increasingly hostile anti-migrant rhetoric in mainstream political debates both authorise and fuel ‘necropolitics’ and ‘border imperialism’ (Jones et al. 2017).

This article exhibited that forces of marginalisation applicable to migrants and to disabled people are particularly pertinent with regards to disabled migrants. The effect of multiple group membership (i.e., migrant, disabled) can potentially result in double marginalisation but an intersectional approach resists such ‘additive’ models of disadvantage. Disabled people and migrants are often understood as lacking in some way. These labels are constructed as undeserving, less than human. Both migrants and disabled people are portrayed as a burden (with regards to the welfare state, for instance) and a threat (towards British values, for instance). This paper pushes forward a view of migration and disability as socially constructed categories that come with struggles in a context of discrimination, but the material effects of legal status go beyond social construction. At the same time, it calls for a more positive view of both identities so as to redraw the pejorative meanings. Some disabled migrants noted that they are too often portrayed as incapable humans in need of support while this does not have to be or simply is not true. As one of the interviewees pointed out, everyone is different and thus divisions are pointless while there is a real need for a more inclusive diversity debate in social sciences. Indeed, emphasising differences can divide unnecessarily while diversity should be a celebration.

To conclude, this paper reinforces the need to bring migration studies and disability studies together. This is needed because both fields are fighting the same battle—for greater inclusion in debates, in research, in theory and in practice and for social justice for migrants, disabled people and disabled migrants. Indeed, there are many points of intersection between migration and disability. It is hoped that this fight for equality can be more fruitful when migration and disability studies join forces in order to shift the narrative and break down barriers and to normalise the idea of difference while recognizing diversity of experiences and acceptance of these regardless of what they are.

Through this paper, the author aims to make an original contribution in empirical, theoretical and conceptual terms. The former is related to the fact that (voluntary) disabled EU migrants are rarely considered within either migration or disability studies scholarship and that there is a gap in knowledge in relation to disabled migrants within social sciences. Disabled migrants remain on the margins of research, theory and practice and this paper aims to remedy this. In the presented research, the themes of stigma and exclusion were applied to disabled migrants to portray their marginalisation.

This study is not without its limitations, including those related to the qualitative research design which is characterised by relatively small samples. More quantitative scholarship is urgently needed to relieve the lack of data in this regard. The project was carried out in the Global North whilst more research from other regions including the ‘peripheries’ is encouraged. Additional empirical studies are needed to deepen the knowledge and understanding around disabled migrants, particularly those who are intentional migrants and who move for voluntary reasons.