This week, a single Oxfordshire village's symbolic vote to “leave the UK” became a national story about who bears the cost of asylum dispersal, a joint Guardian investigation traced how organised anti-migrant vigilante activity has spread across the country, and new figures on the one in, one out deal raised fresh questions about its cost and its human impact. Our analysis of what was covered, what wasn't, and what the sector can do with it.

This week’s migration media coverage was shaped by three stories: the masked blockade of Dover and the violence that followed in Portsmouth, an anonymous “1% of claims are genuine” briefing that ran on Monday and was contradicted by two data sets on Thursday, and the deepening rows over former military bases earmarked as accommodation. Below we look at what the coverage revealed and what it left out, followed by the week’s secondary stories, what to watch next week, and practical takeaways for sector organisations.

This week, faith leaders and more than 200 charities pushed new Prime Minister Andy Burnham for a fresh start on asylum policy, a Home Office asylum refusal built on what a judge suspects was “AI hallucinated” evidence exposed cracks in the system's own evidence base, and the Refugee Convention's 75th anniversary landed alongside protest, spectacle and a handful of quietly hopeful human stories. Our analysis of what was covered, what wasn't, and what the sector can do with it.