The genesis of this book took place in the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, London. I was sitting in court hearing a request to release a young Iraqi Kurd from long-term immigration detention. I was not aware of the background to the case, but as it progressed I was informed that the appellant had a criminal record. He had served a sentence for a sexual assault on a teenage girl. At the time I felt unsympathetic towards this man. Later, I talked to his solicitor and learned more about his life. He had arrived in the UK as a 19-year-old asylum-seeker and been dispersed to live in Home Office-commissioned accommodation in a northern city. Regulations meant that he was not allowed to work or attend college to improve his English. Nor was there advice and assistance available to him from non-governmental organisations or members of his own community, as he had been sent to live in an area where there were few refugees. He had no close friends and, unlike in his home country, he could not turn to members of his own community to broker a relationship or marriage. There was no one to guide his behaviour and provide the informal counselling that most of us receive from friends and family. A friendly conversation with a British woman was misinterpreted by him and he ended up in prison with a recommendation of deportation at the end of his sentence.

Of course, the young man bears responsibility for his actions. But he was set up to fail by a system that prevented his economic and social integration. He could not work or study and had no social networks to guide him. At the time, migrant integration had slipped down the political agenda and I wanted to draw attention to this shortcoming of government. I wanted to try to prevent others from failing as seriously as the young Iraqi Kurd.

This man was a new migrant in the UK. Today the UN estimates that one person in 25 is a long-term resident outside the country of their birth and is thus defined as a migrant. This book is about two aspects of international migration – how migrants integrate and their social relationships within the UK.