A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe.
ASYLUM AND MIGRATION
Asylum and migrant rights
12 March: The Danish country coordinator for the EC’s website on migration accuses the Social Democrat coalition government of drifting towards the far Right, citing its recent decision to revoke the residence permits of 94 refugees, the first country in Europe to do so. (Politico, 12 March 2021)
17 March: The immigration tribunal rules that the state of ‘legal limbo’ endured by a Belarussian man on immigration bail since 2003 following an attempt to remove him from the UK in 2001, resulting in destitution, drug and alcohol addiction and criminality, breaches his rights to a private life and he must be granted leave to stay in the UK to regularise his situation. (Free Movement, 23 March 2021)
24 March: Home secretary Priti Patel’s ‘New Plan for Immigration’ is criticised for creating a ‘two-tier system’ which gives refugees on official resettlement schemes immediate settlement but penalises spontaneously arriving refugees by the grant of a temporary status and reduced family reunion and subsistence rights, and imposing new tests making refugee status more difficult to obtain. (Sky News, 21 March; Guardian; Independent, 23 March 2021)
Borders and internal controls
3 March: The Spanish newspaper Okdiario reports that four people died in 30 hours after swimming to Melilla from a nearby Moroccan port. (Okdiario, 3 March 2021)
9 March: A new report by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, A distress call for human rights: the widening gap in migrant protection in the Mediterranean, questions the credibility of European countries’ commitment to human rights and calls on them to end policies endangering lives. (Council of Europe, 9 March 2021)
12 March: Following an attempt by 150 migrants to scale the fence between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla, Alarm Phone accuses the northern Moroccan police of stepping up raids on migrant shelters, torching their tents, and rounding up people for detention or deportation. (Guardian, 12 March 2021)
18 March: In Greece, the Afghani father charged with causing the death of his young son when the rubber dinghy they were in hit a rock and capsized en route to Samos in November, sues the Greek coastguard for failing to provide assistance. (Deutsche Welle, 18 March 2021)
18 March: On the fifth anniversary of the EU-Turkey agreement, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights rebukes Cyprus for its illegal push-backs of asylum seekers at sea, as the Greek Cypriot authorities begin to lay barbed wire along the UN-patrolled ceasefire line in an attempt to deter arrivals. (Guardian, 18 March 2021)
20 March: In the Mediterranean, the search and rescue ship Ocean Viking waits at sea for access to a port, following 5 requests for safe harbour, with 116 people rescued from the sea, 5 of whom have tested positive for Covid and are now isolating. (Are You Syrious, 21 March 2021)
#OceanViking is waiting for a Place of Safety to be assigned by authorities for the disembarkation of 116 survivors following 4 requests in 4 days.
Weather in the central Med is strongly deteriorating now and in the days to come, affecting many of the survivors' health state. pic.twitter.com/nVkJ97LkZC
— SOS MEDITERRANEE (@SOSMedIntl) March 21, 2021
21 March: In Spain, a 2-year-old Malian girl dies in hospital of severe hypothermia and cardiac arrest, 5 days after being rescued from a boat carrying 52 people to the Canary Islands. Attempts to revive her on the quayside at Arguineguin were unsuccessful. (InfoMigrants, 22 March 2021)
Reception and detention
10 March: In Thessaloniki, northern Greece, three migrants, believed to be Algerians, are found dead after a fire in an abandoned building. (Ekathimerini, 10 March 2021)
11 March: The European Court of Human Rights rules that detention of migrants in a Covid-ridden former barracks in Malta amounts to inhuman and degrading treatment, in breach of their human rights. (Free Movement, 17 March 2021)
12 March: The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) criticises a 3-hour delay in providing medical help to a badly injured Sudanese man who died of injuries sustained in a bid to escape detention from Malta’s Lyster barracks in September 2020. The CPT also criticises the use of pepper spray as a form of punishment of detained migrants. (Times of Malta, 12 March 2021)
12 March: In Belgium, 11 people detained for over a year continue a hunger strike begun on 3 March to demand their release from the closed Merksplas detention centre. (Getting the Voice Out, 15 March 2021)
14 March: A Swiss human rights group for ‘The Right to Stay in Neuchâtel’ accuses an asylum reception centre of grave mistreatment, with an alarming number of suicide attempts recorded at the facility and the death of one person. (RTS, 14 March 2021)
16 March: In Spain, at least six people are arrested, and several injured, after riot police break up a protest about poor food and living conditions at the Las Raíces camp in La Laguna, Tenerife. (Diario de avisos, 16 March 2021)
18 March: The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights calls on Cyprus to comply with human rights standards in the reception of asylum seekers and criticises the recent deregistration of several associations providing support to migrants and refugees. (Council of Europe, 18 March 2021)
21 March: The Home Office hands back Penally barracks to the Ministry of Defence after highly critical inspection reports condemned its use and that of Napier barracks in Kent for housing asylum seekers, but refuses to close Napier, where nearly half the residents became ill with Covid-19. (Guardian, 16 March; BBC News, 17 March 2021)
21 March: Several legal actions are brought against the Home Office following defective age assessment processes by its own social workers results in children being detained as adults and threatened with deportation. (Independent, 21 March 2021)
22 March: Thousands of asylum seekers are being shunted into filthy, damp slum accommodation, sometimes being moved several times within weeks with no Covid testing and no financial support, it is revealed, in what campaigners call a ‘shambolic’ operation to move them out of hotels. (Independent, 22 March 2021)
24 March: The Home Office admits that new rules coming into force in May will see trafficking victims locked up for longer. It also proposes raising the threshold for recognition as a suspected victim of trafficking, and narrow the scope of protection. (Independent, 24 March 2021)
Criminalising solidarity
16 March: In France, Utopia 56, whose teams accompany minors to the police station in Calais to request accommodation every evening, receive two fines for breaking curfew, despite having the appropriate paperwork to allow them to do this work. They have received 72 fines in total during the pandemic. (Are You Syrious, 17 March 2021)
À l'instant, 2 amendes supplémentaires (total : 72) pour non-respect du couvre-feu à Calais, devant le commissariat. Comme chaque soir, les équipes venaient accompagner un mineur à la rue pour une demande de mise à l'abri. Toutes les attestations sont en règles. pic.twitter.com/dS2fJ9IEqo
— Utopia 56 (@Utopia_56) March 16, 2021
23 March: In Belgium, Brussels court of appeal hears an appeal involving charges of human trafficking and participation in a criminal organisation against 11 people – 7 migrants and four hosts (including magazine editor Anouk Van Gestel) for their actions in helping displaced people in 2017. A solidarity protest is held outside the court. (Le Soir, 19 March 2021; Grow Funding, n.d.)
Citizenship
18 March: Three Britons of Bangladeshi heritage win an appeal against deprivation of British citizenship as the tribunal finds the move would leave them stateless. (Guardian, 18 March 2021)
Deportation
21 March: An infection control specialist offered a senior NHS job tackling the pandemic, 49-year-old Nigerian Charles Oti, faces deportation and is not permitted to work despite acute shortages of such specialists on the government’s own ‘shortage occupation’ lists. (Observer, 20 March 2021)
POLICING, CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND MILITARY
9 March: Following a trial in Greece condemned as unfair by the Legal Centre Lesvos, two young unaccompanied asylum seekers are sentenced to five years in prison for arson at the Moria refugee camp in September 2020. A charge of membership of a criminal group was not proven. (Legal Centre Lesvos, press release, 9 March 2021)
11 March: The Met police disproportionately highlight black criminals in their media feeds, perpetuating racist narratives about black criminality, Huffpost reveals. (Huffpost, 11 March 2021)
11 March: Campaigners warn of a ‘staggering assault’ on protest rights as HM Inspector of Constabulary (HMICFRS) publishes plans for the future of policing protests calling for powers to ban assemblies, more covert intelligence gathering, increased use of facial recognition technology and expanded stop and search use. (Guardian, 11 March 2021)
12 March: The jury at the inquest into the 2013 death of 39-year-old father-of-two Leon Briggs in Luton finds that police restraint contributed ‘more than minimally’ to his death. (Guardian, 12 March 2021)
14 March: Footage captured by the Tamil Guardian shows police in London drawing batons to break up a peaceful vigil outside the home of a Tamil woman on hunger strike, the day after the Met police are widely criticised for violently breaking up the Sarah Everard vigil on Clapham Common. (Squawkbox, 14 March 2021)
14 March: In Belgium, the mayor of Liege appeals for calm after disturbances follow a BLM protest called when a video of a police officer forcing a black woman to the ground went viral on social media. (Politico, 15 March 2021)
16 March: The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which encompasses a vast range of drastic measures, passes its second Commons reading by 359 votes to 263, after over 150 organisations warn that the Bill represents an ‘attack on some of the most fundamental rights of citizens’. (Guardian, 14 March; Guardian, 16 March 2021)
16 March: The police watchdog IOPC begins an investigation into four more police officers, in addition to one already under investigation, in its inquiry into the death of Mohamud Hassan shortly after his release from police custody. (Guardian, 16 March 2021)
16 March: Campaigners and charities warn that a plan to protect women by placing plainclothes officers in nightclubs is ‘frightening’ and ‘spectacularly missing the point’. (Guardian, 16 March 2021)
16 March: A letter signed by Black groups accuses the police of persecuting black activists. Black women also say they were targeted and harassed by police during the London demonstration against the police bill the previous day. (Guardian, 16 March 2021)
16 March: A review by the Chief Inspector of Probation finds widespread racism towards offenders and staff including stereotyping, racist language, false allegations, the inappropriate allocation of racist offenders to BME staff, and systemic neglect of race issues in the probation service since its part-privatisation. (Guardian, 16 March 2021)
16 March: The Ghent court of appeal in Belgium upholds the dismissal of a case against eight police officers who caused the death of Lamine Bangoura during his eviction from his home. His family is considering referring the case to the European Court of Human Rights. (RTBF, 16 March; Le Vif, 17 March 2021)
16 March: Researchers at University College London find that the death rate from Covid is three times higher in prison than outside, despite restrictions keeping inmates locked up in their cells for 23 hours a day. (Guardian, 16 March 2021)
17 March: An investigation by Mediapart, which tracked videos and posts on social media, identifies 50 French soldiers of different ranks with ties to neo-Nazi movements and accuses the defence ministry of inaction. (Yenisafak, 17 March 2021)
17 March: In Belgium, civil society actors call for an investigation into another case of police brutality, following the tear gassing and beating of a black female nursing assistant in Liège on 8 March. (Le Vif, 17 March 2021)
18 March: In Belgium, the media report that the military intelligence service SGRS has around 30 serving soldiers under close surveillance, on suspicion they have extreme right-wing or neo-Nazi sympathies. (Brussels Times, 18 March 2021)
18 March: Feminist direct action group Sisters Uncut, who organised five consecutive days of action after police violently broke up a peaceful vigil for Sarah Everard on 13 March, declare victory as the controversial police powers bill is delayed until April. (Sisters Uncut, 18 March 2021)
21 March: Priti Patel condemns a Bristol ‘Kill the bill’ protest as ‘thuggery and disorder’ after a peaceful sit-down protest outside Bridewell police station escalated into violence against police vehicles, officers – with some reportedly suffering injuries – and the station as riot police, dogs and horses were deployed. (Guardian, 21 March 2021)
23 March: Police violently break up a peaceful sit-down protest on College Green, Bristol, using dogs, horses, helicopters, batons and shields to forcefully disperse around 200 people protesting the provisions of the Police and Crime Bill that criminalise Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. (Bristol Cable, 24 March 2021)
22 March: A video is circulated on social media showing a man being arrested at his Essex home for inciting ‘anti-police views’ on social media. (Twitter, 23 March 2021)
Counter-terrorism
17 March: Over 450 Muslim organisations and individuals, including the Association of Muslim Lawyers, announce a boycott of the review of the government’s Prevent strategy, in protest at the appointment as chair of William Shawcross, whose ‘track record of hostility to Islam and Muslims’ prevents a ‘serious, objective, critical review’, they say. (Guardian, 17 March 2021)
23 March: The independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall QC, says there is no evidence that the ‘desistence and disengagement’ programme in the government’s Prevent strategy is effective in its aim to ‘deradicalise’ those convicted of terrorist offences. (Independent, 23 March 2021)
ELECTORAL AND PARTY POLITICS
14 March: In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany loses about a third of its previous vote in state elections in Baden-Württemberg (9.7 percent) and Rhineland-Palatinate (8.3 percent). (Independent, 15 March 2021)
17 March: In Denmark, the interior minister announces new legislation to limit ‘non-western’ residents in disadvantaged areas to 30 percent of the population, adding that too many non-western foreigners in one area risks the creation of ‘religious and cultural parallel societies’. (Guardian, 17 March 2021)
18 March: In the Dutch general election the far-right Freedom party loses 3 MPs (total 17 seats). Forum for Democracy now has 8 seats and the new far-right party JA21 (Right Answer) has 4. Social Democrat and Socialist losses are blamed on their support for disadvantaged families, particularly from a migrant background, treated as fraudsters for claiming child benefit, causing the resignation of the previous government and the election. (Guardian; Statista.com; Dutch News, 18 March 2021)
ANTI-FASCISM AND FAR RIGHT
22 March: Far-right groups British Hand and the National Partisan Movement are recruiting young people on Instagram, warns Hope not Hate, as the lockdown accelerates the move online of the British far Right. (Guardian, 22 March 2021)
23 March: Nicholas Brock, a 53-year-old who lives with his mother in Maidenhead, collects neo-Nazi memorabilia and firearms and has a framed ‘certificate of recognition’ from the KKK, is convicted of 3 counts of possessing terrorist materials at Kingston Crown Court. (Independent, 23 March 2021)
HUMAN RIGHTS AND DISCRIMINATION
11 March: Research by King’s College London and UCL finds that one in five people from ethnic minority groups report racial discrimination and these individuals are more likely to develop poorer mental and physical health. (King’s College London, 11 March 2021)
14 March: Government cuts to foreign aid are forcing the charity Voluntary Service Overseas to close down operations in 14 countries, and its Covid-19 response initiative in 18 countries, cutting off support to 4.5 million people. (Guardian, 14 March 2021)
15 March: In Portugal, an association defending black families facing housing eviction say they have received a letter from the agency managing the property saying that as the families are not Portuguese, their rights should not be defended. (Público, 15 March; StopDespejos, 16 March 2021; Expresso, 17 March 2021)
17 March: Civil servants are rebuked for leaking foreign secretary Dominic Raab’s comments that the UK intended to do business with countries which did not respect human rights, days before the government joins the EU, the US and Canada in imposing sanctions on Chinese officials involved in mass internment of its Uighur minority. (Guardian, 17 March; Guardian, 22 March 2021)
21 March: For the first time in the UK 2021 census, Roma are included in the list of ethnic minorities. (Al Jazeera, 19 March 2021)
EMPLOYMENT AND EXPLOITATION
11 March: An NHS workforce survey in which nearly half the workforce reported work-related stress affecting their health finds that more staff experienced discrimination from managers and colleagues, and fewer said their employer provided equal opportunities, than in 2019. (Guardian, 11 March 2021)
15 March: A new report by Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) and Fife Migrants Forum exposes serious risks of forced labour including duress and inability to leave employers in the UK’s post-Brexit Seasonal Workers’ Pilot. (FLEX, 15 March 2021)
17 March: After a landmark ruling in the Supreme Court, the UK becomes the first country to treat Uber drivers not as freelancers but employees eligible for benefits. The minimum wage will apply to drivers after they accept trip requests on the company’s app. (Al Jazeera, 17 March 2021)
19 March: The government’s outsourced school catch-up tutoring programme teaching maths to disadvantaged primary schoolchildren in England relies on Sri-Lanka based tutors paid as little as £1.57 per hour, some only 17, employed by a subsidiary of Third Space Learning (TSL), it is revealed. (Guardian, 19 March 2021)
19 March: A culture of casual racism and misogyny prevails within pockets of the London Fire Brigade, its chief admits, following the inquest into the death of 21-year-old trainee firefighter Jaden Francois-Esprit, who killed himself in August amid alleged bullying by colleagues. (Guardian, 19 March 2021)
HOUSING
10 March: The company that sold the combustible panels that spread the Grenfell fire was warned a decade before the disaster that they burned like fuel oil, the public inquiry hears. (Guardian, 10 March 2021)
EDUCATION
9 March: It is revealed that three professors at the Grenoble Institute of Political Studies, France, have been placed under police protection following a dispute between them as to whether Islamophobia is a form of racism, and a wave of student protest over the issue. (France Bleu, 12 March 2021)
12 March: Students at SOAS call for the sacking of director Adam Habib after he used the racist n-word in a meeting. Asked to apologise, Habib replied ‘I come from a part of the world when somebody uses it, the context matters.’ SOAS later announce that Habib is to step aside as director pending an investigation. (Guardian, 12 March; SOAS, 18 March 2021)
17 March: Students at several UK campuses accuse their universities of granting police officers access to halls of residence to check for breaches of coronavirus rules, with some complaints of officers entering accommodation in the middle of the night. (Guardian, 17 March 2021)
18 March: A right-wing member of parliament files a complaint of racial discrimination against a French university student union for holding meetings open to people of colour only. (France Info, 18 March 2021)
19 March: Black history lessons and education about racism are to be made mandatory in Welsh schools, Wales’ education minister announces. (BBC News, 19 March 2021)
24 March: A Guardian analysis citing the IRR’s report How Black Working-Class Youth are Criminalised and Excluded in the English School System, finds exclusion rates for black Caribbean students in English schools are up to six times higher than those of their white peers in some local authorities, with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children also excluded at much higher rates. (Guardian, 24 March 2021)
MEDIA, CULTURE, SPORT
10 March: The Equality and Human Rights Commission is to be asked to investigate racism in English cricket following the issue of a claim against the England and Wales Cricket Board by umpires alleging discrimination and an Early Day Motion by MPs expressing alarm at the ECB’s failure to tackle institutional racism in the game. (Guardian, 10 March 2021)
11 March: Following an investigation triggered by complaints about a National Trust report on links between places it cares for, slavery and colonial history, the Charity Commission finds there are no grounds for regulatory action against the Trust. (Charity Commission, 11 March 2021)
13 March: The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is criticised for publishing a cartoon entitled ‘Why Meghan quit’ which shows the Queen kneeling on the neck of Meghan Markle, and Markle saying ‘Because I couldn’t breathe anymore’, after prince William denies Markle’s allegations of racism in the royal family. (Guardian, 11 March; Guardian, 13 March 2021)
14 March: The Lampedusa Cross, a cross made from the wreckage of a refugee boat that capsized in the Mediterranean, drowning 311 people, is to tour English museums and art galleries to encourage debate and reflection, the British Museum announces. (Guardian, 14 March 2021)
15 March: The Black feminist organisation BAMKO calls for greater awareness of Belgium’s past in light of the renaming of the Léopold II tunnel to honour a Belgian singer whose most famous song is a collection of stereotypes about sub-Saharan Africans. (Le Soir, 15 March 2021)
16 March: Writer Julie Burchill agrees to pay substantial damages to journalist Ash Sarkar after sending Sarkar a series of racist and Islamophobic messages on Twitter. (Guardian, 16 March 2021)
17 March: After Burchill announces her forthcoming book will be published by Stirling Publishing, it is revealed that director Tabatha Stirling is connected to the far-right ethno-nationalist group Patriotic Alternative. Burchill terminates the relationship, as do a group of BME writers who published the ‘Colour of Madness’ anthology with Stirling. (Guardian, 17 March 2021)
17 March: The French TV channel CNews is ordered to pay a fine of €200,000 for inciting hate and violence, for repeatedly platforming Eric Zemmour, the polemicist convicted for racist remarks on multiple occasions. (Mediapart, 18 March 2021)
18 March: The head of Kew gardens pushes back against criticism that the gardens are ‘growing woke’ in response to a 10-year manifesto outlining the garden’s commitment to ‘decolonise’ their collections by acknowledging and addressing ‘exploitative and racist legacies’. (Guardian, 18 March 2021)
19 March: BBC Breakfast presenters Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty are criticised on social media after Stayt jokes about the size of minister Robert Jenrick’s Union flag. Munchetty later issues an apology for ‘liking’ tweets supportive of Stayt, after an apparent reprimand for inappropriate social media use. (Evening Standard, 19 March 2021)
18 March: The entire community advisory board of the organisation behind London’s LGBTQ+ Pride event resign amid allegations of racism and bullying, the day after its communications director resigned alleging the organisation ignored bigotry and ostracised black volunteers. (Third Sector, 18 March 2021)
19 March: Five directors of Pride in London, including both co-chairs, resign following longstanding allegations of racism within the organisation. (Forbes, 19 March 2021)
19 March: The Society of Editors indefinitely postpones its national and regional press awards following a series of withdrawals from the national ceremony, prompting executive director Ian Murray to resign, after Murray denied Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s accusation of media bigotry. (Guardian, 19 March 2021)
23 March: Reporters without Borders (RSF) files a lawsuit against Facebook in France for allowing hate speech and disinformation to flourish on its site, as French law allows companies using ‘deceptive commercial practices’ to be sued. (RSF, 23 March 2021)
23 March: The German government is negotiating to return up to 500 Benin bronzes currently in its museums, putting pressure on the British government which has so far resisted calls to return artefacts looted from its colonies. (Guardian, 23 March 2021)
Football racism
12 March: A 43-year-old man is charged with sending racial abuse to former Kilmarnock FC manager Alex Dyer on social media in January 2021. (BBC Sport, 12 March 2021)
17 March: Police in Scotland charge a man in connection with online racist abuse sent to Middlesbrough footballer Yannick Bolasie. (Guardian, 17 March 2021)
19 March: Scottish champions Rangers demand action from football governing body UEFA after their player Glen Kamara was allegedly racially abused by Slavia Prague’s Ondrej Kudel during their Europa League game the day before. (BBC, 19 March 2021)
19 March: Ex-England defender Gary Neville defends the appointment of Maheta Molango as the next chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association and condemns criticism of the appointment as containing ‘elements of xenophobia’. (BBC, 19 March 2021)
21 March: Manchester United’s Fred receives racist abuse online after making a mistake in United’s 3-1 defeat to Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-final. (Guardian, 21 March 2021)
23 March: A 17-year-old boy is arrested and charged with online racial abuse of Rangers’ Colombian striker Alfredo Morelos on 21 March. (Sky Sports, 23 March 2021)
RACIAL VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT
9 March: A 20-year-old man is charged with offences including racially aggravated assault, in relation to a robbery in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire on 6 March. (Nottinghamshire Police, 9 March 2021)
10 March: Stand Up to Racism Edinburgh plans an online rally for 20 March after a swastika is painted on the side of a convenience store in the city. (Edinburgh Evening News, 10 March 2021)
11 March: A man is arrested on suspicion of racially abusing and assaulting a victim in broad daylight, in east Hull. (Hull Live, 15 March 2021)
12 March: A 31-year-old man is ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work and must pay compensation to a neighbour whom he admitted racially abusing in Worthing, Sussex in September 2020. (Sussex Police, 12 March 2021)
12 March: NHS staff working at vaccination and testing sites, as well as GP practices, in Lincolnshire have been subjected to racial and other abuse in recent weeks, the NHS Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group reveals. (Deepings Nub News, 12 March 2021)
13 March: A 32-year-old Dudley man receives a suspended 40-week jail sentence and must do unpaid voluntary work and pay fines after he is found guilty of racially abusing three police officers. (Dudley News, 13 March 2021)
13 March: A 47-year-old Jamaican woman, who has lived in the UK since 2002, reveals that since moving to Neath, South Wales in 2017 she has received racist abuse in one form or another most days, which has left her the unhappiest she has ever been. (Daily Mirror, 13 March 2021)
13 March: Morecambe Area Police release CCTV images of a white man in his mid-twenties, who allegedly racially abused and assaulted a taxi driver in Morecambe in December 2020. (Lancaster Guardian, 13 March 2021)
13 March: Four vehicles are set on fire and racist graffiti left on three other vehicles, as well as the walls, at a car dealership in Midlothian. (Edinburgh Live, 13 March 2021)
15 March: The mayor and deputy mayor of Bristol reveal that they have received a ‘daily onslaught’ of racist emails after passing a slave reparations plan on 2 March, with over 6,500 hate emails sent to the pair thus far. (BBC News, 15 March 2021)
16 March: A 22-year-old man is given a 12-month community order and rehabilitation days after admitting offences in Cornwall in October 2020, including racially abusing an ambulance worker to the extent that she no longer wanted to work. (Cornwall Live, 16 March 2021)
16 March: Two men shout racist abuse at a woman in in Eldene, Swindon and one throws a plastic recycling bag at her. (Swindon Advertiser, 19 March 2021)
17 March: Devon and Cornwall Police appeal for information after a black shop worker was spat at and subjected to a tirade of racist abuse in Exeter city centre in February 2021. (Devon Live, 17 March 2021)
17 March: A 35-year-old man is handed an 18-month community order and must pay compensation to each of his victims after conviction of offences the religiously aggravated assault on a man in Cirencester, Gloucestershire in June 2020. (Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, 22 March 2021)
18 March: In France, a case is dismissed against a deceased man, who ran as a Front National candidate in regional elections, attacked a mosque and shot two attendees in Bayonne. Victims seeking compensation begin civil law procedures. (France Bleu, 18 March 2021)
19 March: A 31-year-old man is handed a 7-month custodial sentence for racially abusing workers at a Chinese restaurant in Connah’s Quay, Flintshire and damaging restaurant property, on 4 February. (The Standard, 19 March 2021)
19 March: A 25-year-old Ramsgate man is charged with assaulting five police, criminal damage and racially abusing an officer whilst in custody. (The Isle of Thanet News, 21 March 2021)
20 March: A group of youths aged between 13 and 16 verbally abuse and assault a 14-year-old boy in a racist attack in Bradford, inflicting injuries to his hands, arms and body and leaving him hospitalised. (Telegraph & Argus, 22 March 2021)
The calendar was compiled with the help of Tania Bedi, Graeme Atkinson, Lou Khalfaoui, Kaiisha Kukendra, Inês Silva, Neal Tank and Joseph Maggs.