IRR News
bbc news
New powers over Traveller sites to be introduced
The government has announced it will be giving councils new powers to stop Gypsy settlements and expand enforcement.
24 August 2010 (external article)
guardian Seven HMRC workers sacked for racial misconduct
Seven workers of HM Revenue and Customs in Belfast have been fired for deliberately underpaying child benefits to BME citizens by tampering with their records.
19 August 2010 (external article)
guardian Migration impacts fund to be scrapped
A £50 million government fund, that was introduced in 2008 to help ease local pressures on housing, schools and hospitals, has been scrapped, although the £50 levy on visas of non-EU migrants used to fund the scheme will still be charged.
9 August 2010 (external article)
Home Office hits international students - again
New rules, to make it harder for international students to come and study in the UK, will become law unless Parliament intervenes.
29 July 2010 (737 words)
Not integration but civil rights
The Institute of Race Relations publishes the alternative European integration report.
19 July 2010 (270 words)
bbc news EU-Pakistan repatriation deal debated
The UK has opted in to an EU-wide 'readmission' agreement to standardise procedures for the return of illegal Pakistani and Afghan immigrants to Pakistan. The European Parliament will vote on the deal in September.
16 July 2010 (external article)
End of Prevent?
The government's controversial preventing violent extremism programme is apparently to be dismantled.
15 July 2010 (282 words)
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Duplicity behind immigration cap
By Frances Webber
Electoral politics, rather than economic necessity, are behind the cap on non-EU economic immigration.
8 July 2010 (1679 words)
Supreme Court upholds asylum rights for gays
An important legal ruling has clarified refugee law and should provide better protection for those claiming asylum on the basis of their sexuality.
8 July 2010 (387 words)
March for LGBT asylum seekers
A march to highlight the issues facing LGBT migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
3 July 2010 (61 words)
independent Tory MP proposes law banning burkas
Philip Hollobone, the MP for Kettering, is seeking to make it a criminal offence to wear a burka in public. He has tabled a private members' bill called the Face Covering Bill which would ban certain facial coverings from being worn in public.
1 July 2010 (external article)
bbc news Restrictions on non-EU migrants announced
Home secretary Teresa May has announced a 'temporary limit' on non-EU arrivals until next April, before the introduction of a permanent maximum cap next year.
28 June 2010 (external article)
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Child detention review: the challenge for NGOs
By Frances Webber
How should the voluntary sector respond to the government's review of children's detention?
24 June 2010 (1211 words)
children and young people now Hundreds of children deported alone under EU rules
The government's use of EU regulations has been criticised by organisations seeking to ensure the safety of asylum-seeking children. In total, 445 children have been removed under the powers since 2004, 334 of whom were unaccompanied.
22 June 2010 (external article)
comment
Freedom - but not for all
By Frances Webber
The government's much vaunted freedom agenda entrenches a two-tier system of rights, with migrants and other unpopular minorities largely excluded.
17 June 2010 (637 words)
comment
New government seeks to bully judges
By Frances Webber
Those expecting a new spirit of fairness and social liberalism to engulf the UK Border Agency (UKBA) following the insertion of the LibDems into government are perhaps beginning to realise the folly of their hopes in the light of recent news.
10 June 2010 (1790 words)
comment
Deportation targets trump children's rights
By Liz Fekete
When the newly-elected government announced it would end the detention of children, IRR News cautioned against early optimism. This week's developments explain why.
9 June 2010 (759 words)
guardian Child asylum seekers to be deported to Kabul
The government has revealed a plan to establish a £4 million 'reintegration centre' in Kabul in order to forcibly return unaccompanied child asylum seekers back to Afghanistan.
8 June 2010 (external article)
comment
Playing the Gypsy 'race card'
By John Grayson
The Con-Dem coalition has started an offensive against the most marginal and disadvantaged of all Britain's minorities, Gypsies and Travellers.
4 June 2010 (2957 words)
Defend the remaining travelling Gypsies and Travellers, and Showmen
Below we reproduce a letter signed by campaigners and academics in protest at proposed funding cuts aimed at the Gypsy and Traveller communities.
3 June 2010 (594 words)
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