Calendar of Racism and Resistance ( 16 – 30 September 2025)

Calendar of Racism and Resistance ( 16 – 30 September 2025)

October 2 2025 News

Written by: IRR News Team


ELECTORAL POLITICS| GOVERNMENT POLICY

20 September: At the Lib Dem annual conference, former leader Tim Farron says that those who hijack the national flag to try to insist on a narrow definition of Britishness or patriotism or who used the emblems to ‘intimidate and terrify’ do not truly love the country. (Guardian, 20 September 2025)

20 September: FOI requests reveal that Stormont officials had warned of a permacrisis from recurring race riots and considered the use of military bases to shelter people burnt out of their homes. For many weeks, officials took the public housing register offline lest it identify potential targets, and foreign health workers were offered personal safety alarms, security escorts and police ‘reassurance’. (Guardian, 20 September 2025)

21 September: At conference, the Lib Dems call on the government to introduce temporary ‘emergency’ asylum processing centres to bring down the backlog of asylum applications and end the use of asylum hotels. (ipaper, 21 September 2025)

22 September: Nigel Farage announces Reform UK’s plans to abolish indefinite leave to remain (ILR) for migrants, instead forcing them to apply every five years to renew visas, with higher income and English language thresholds, deportation for those not qualifying, a bar on welfare access to anyone not British, and a requirement that those applying for British citizenship renounce other citizenships. (BBC News, 22 September 2025)

24 September: London mayor Sadiq Khan hits back at Trump’s description of him at the UN as a ‘terrible’ mayor steering London towards ‘sharia law’, describing the US president as ‘racist, sexist, misogynistic and Islamophobic’. (Guardian, 24 September 2025)

25 September: The International Federation for Human Rights publishes France: dropping out of democracy, which finds that under President Macron, there has been a serious erosion of civil rights in France, citing the dissolution of the Collective Against Islamophobia in France as a ‘turning point’. (Le Monde, 25 September 2025)

26 September: The French interior ministry tells local authorities to take down Palestinian flags flown outside city halls as a tribute to the government’s recognition of a Palestinian state, arguing that it compromises the neutrality of the civil service and risks inflaming tensions. The local government of Lyon is instructed by an administrative tribunal to take down the flag. (Le Monde, 26 September 2025)

26 September: At a London conference, Keir Starmer says the Left has been ‘squeamish’ about the need to control borders and illegal migration, and says digital ID will be introduced to prevent illegal working and end the ‘pull factor’ bringing migrants to the UK. (BBC News, 26 September 2025)

27 September: Over 1.6 million people sign a petition against digital ID, describing it as a step towards mass surveillance and digital control. By 30 September, over 2.5 million people have signed. (Guardian, 27 September 2025; UK Parliament petitions, 30 September 2025)

29 September: A day after Keir Starmer called Reform’s proposals for mass deportation of undocumented migrants and the abolition of indefinite leave to remain (ILR) for migrants ‘racist and immoral’, home secretary Shabana Mahmood announces plans to restrict ILR to those in work, paying national insurance, not claiming benefits, having a high standard of English and a spotless criminal record, and contributing to the community; those not qualifying would be deported. (Independent, 29 September 2025) 

29 September: Over 100 charities from several sectors, as well as the PCS Union representing Border Force officials, call on the home secretary to ‘stop the scapegoating of migrants and performative policies that cause harm’. (Guardian, 29 September 2025)

29 September: The Belgian minister for asylum and migration, Anneleen van Bossuyt, says she will not pay penalties imposed by the courts for breach of reception obligations to migrants, a decision Brussels attorney-general Frédéric van Leeuw says ‘delegitimises the judicial and legislative branches’, telling her she must respect the constitution. (Le Soir, 29 September 2025)

ANTI-FASCISM AND THE FAR RIGHT

17 September: Europe’s far-right parties seize on the death of US far-right organiser Charlie Kirk, with an international convention in Madrid addressed by Giorgia Meloni of Italy, Andre Ventura of Portugal’s Chega party and Santiago Abascal of Spain’s Vox party, French and Flemish far-right actors all paying homage. (New York Times, 17 September 2025)

19 September: East Belfast Loyalists’ promise of Operation Shutdown, a day of anti-immigration protests, fails to materialise, with only a few protesters responding to a call from the Official Protestant Coalition on Facebook. (Belfast Media, 19 September 2025)

19 September: The Dutch parliament passes a motion to label Antifa a terrorist organization, following the US example. The proposal, backed by parties including PVV, BBB, FvD, VVD, SGP, and JA21, argues that Antifa cells threaten politicians and journalists. Critics like Volt’s Laurens Dassen warn that this move risks banning unwelcome opinions. (NL Times, 19 September 2025)

20 September: Church leaders condemn the co-opting and corrupting of the Christian faith and symbols, citing the Unite the Kingdom rally. A coalition of Stockport mosques points out that a New Zealand Destiny Church leader who addressed the rally said ‘This is a religious war… We’ve got to clean our countries up. Get rid of everything that doesn’t receive Jesus Christ’. (Mirror, 20 September 2025;  5 Pillars, 22 September 2025)

20 September: In Glasgow, anti-immigrant protesters holding union flags inscribed with ‘Stop the Boats’ and ‘Unite the Kingdom’, and including a Reform UK councillor, clash with counter-protesters. Podcaster John Watt, who has convictions for domestic violence, called the rally, which was then organised by Save Our Future & Our Kids Future. (Guardian, 20 September 2025; Morning Star, 21 September 2025)

20 September: An estimated 300 people attend an anti-immigration protest organised by Bournemouth Patriots and are matched by counter protesters. (BBC News, 20 September 2025)

20 September: In Germany, a member of neo-Nazi party III Weg wins a council seat in Hilchenbach, marking the party’s first electoral success after years of fringe activity and causing alarm among local community leaders. Analysts warn that alongside AfD’s rise, such victories show that the far Right cannot be dismissed as irrelevant. (Searchlight, 20 September 2025)

20 September: Hungary’s foreign minister Peter Szijjarto urges the EU to classify Antifa as a terrorist group, citing violent incidents in Germany, France, Italy, and Budapest, and pointing to Italian activist Ilaria Salis gaining immunity after becoming an MEP. He insists that Europe must follow the US, where Donald Trump recently designated Antifa a major terrorist organisation. (Al Jazeera, 20 September 2025)

21 September: Another demonstration against ‘illegal immigration’ is held outside the Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe, Norwich, and is met with a counter-protest. (Eastern Daily Press, 21 September 2025)

21 September: In the Hague, Netherlands, police use tear gas and water cannon to disperse an anti-immigration protest, after violence erupted, including an attack on the headquarters of the centre-left D66 party. Geert Wilders, who was invited but did not attend, calls the violence against police ‘utterly unacceptable’ and the work of ‘idiots’. (BBC News, 21 September 2025)

25 September: Following a recent attack on a bar in Brest, France, by twenty armed hooded men who sprayed tear gas, beat people up, and shouted ‘Brest is a Nation’, around, 2,000 people demonstrate against the far Right, which is linked to at least 12 recent attacks. Police use tear gas against anti-fascist protesters. (Contre Attaque, 26 September 2025)

25 September: Jewish students in Madrid, Spain, receive threatening letters with swastikas, Nazi imagery, and the words ‘Jewish rats. Palestine will win!’, sparking fear in the community. (YNet, 25 September 2025)

26 September: A court in Munich, Germany, sentences anti-fascist activist Hanna S to five years in prison for violent attacks on neo-Nazis during a 2023 gathering in Budapest. The judge rules the assaults a ‘manhunt’ that could not be justified despite claims of fighting the far Right.  Prosecutors had sought nine years for attempted murder. (Yahoo, 26 September 2025)

27 September: Amidst a heavy police presence, 3,000 counter-protesters outnumber between 100-200 UKIP supporters who march through Newcastle city centre calling for ‘mass deportations’ while holding Christian crosses and England flags. Advance UK also holds its founding meeting in Newcastle. (ITV News, 27 September 2025; Searchlight, 29 September 2025)

27 September: Five asylum centres in the Netherlands cancel open days following a week of violent anti-immigration protests, including the burning of a Quran outside one centre and a large anti-immigration protest in the Hague. (NL Times, 27 September 2025)

28 September: Anti-fascists protest outside the Village Hotel in Walsall after it emerges that the neo-Nazi Homeland Party is holding its AGM there. (Searchlight, 28 September 2025)

POLICING| PRISONS| CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM 

16 September: At a meeting of the London Policing Board, the head of the Met says that as there was no ‘intelligence basis’ for its use, live facial recognition technology was not deployed at the Unite the Kingdom rally. He is asked to explain the force’s difference of approach to the rally as compared to the Notting Hill Carnival. (BBC News, 15 September 2025).

19 September: The Met launch a criminal investigation into a hate crime after reports that racist graffiti containing the N-word is daubed on a toilet wall at Charing Cross police station in London. (Guardian, 19 September 2025)

22 September: Stockport mosques lodge a complaint with the Met about the policing of the Unite the Kingdom rally. They seek an investigation into alleged criminal offences under the Public Order Act 1985 such as incitement to violence by speakers, citing far-right Belgian politician Philip Dewinter’s comment that ‘Islam is our real enemy, we have to get rid of Islam’. They also argue that pre-event risk assessments with the Home Office and Border Force should be publicised. (5 Pillars, 22 September 2025)

23 September: HM Inspectorate of Prisons’ Children in custody 2024-2025 report finds that violence in prisons accommodating children in England and Wales is higher than in adult prisons. While the total number of children in custody has decreased, Muslim children and those from an ethnic minority background are overrepresented when compared to the 2021 census. (Howard League for Penal Reform, 23 September 2025)

24 September: Red Notice Monitor, a platform edited by leading human rights barristers, warns that a lack of knowledge about the politically motivated use by authoritarian states of INTERPOL Red Notices, which carry an assumption of criminality, is having serious consequences in immigration and asylum cases, as an inquiry by the Joint Committee on Human Rights warns that people escaping political persecution are being denied asylum because their persecutors are manipulating Red Notices. (EIN, 24 September 2025)

26 September: The charge against Kneecap rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, whose stage name is Mo Chara, is thrown out at Woolwich Crown Court as it was not brought within the statutory six-month time limit. (BBC News, 26 September 2025)

26 September: A Howard League for Penal Reform briefing finds that  59% of children on remand to youth custody are from an ethnic minority,  with the greatest disproportionality for Black children being in the East Midlands,  and for Mixed heritage children the South West. (Howard League for Penal Reform, 26 September 2025)

ASYLUM |MIGRATION| BORDERS| CITIZENSHIP

Asylum and migrant rights

21 September: Following months of campaigning, 34 Palestinian students with places at UK universities are granted visas to come to the UK, but most are told by the Foreign Office that they cannot bring their children with them. (Guardian, 21 September 2025)

22 September: Anthony Olubunmi George, a 63-year-old disabled Nigerian man who has lived in limbo in the UK for forty years as appeals to resolve his immigration status were rejected, finally wins the right to stay. (Guardian, 22 September 2025)

22 September: The government’s ‘global talent taskforce’ seeks to cut visa application fees and make it easier for eminent people in science, engineering, humanities, medicine, digital technology or arts and culture to move to the UK. (Guardian, 22 September 2025)

24 September: Following the removal of four people to France, a family of three including a small child are the first to arrive in the UK under the ‘one in, one out’ scheme. (Guardian, 24 September 2025)

Borders and internal controls 

16 September: A complaint to the public prosecutor of Trapani, Italy by SAR NGO Mediterranea: Saving Humans alleges that in August, a Libyan military vessel, one of several which surrounded and intimidated its rescue ship in international waters, later threw ten survivors of a shipwreck into the sea. The unit claims to be ‘countering illegal immigration’ in a ‘productive’ partnership with Italy. (Mediterranea Saving Humans, 16 September 2025)

19 September: The owner of Mandira’s Kitchen in Guildford, Surrey, condemns a Home Office ‘fishing expedition’ at her café, saying that 11 immigration enforcement officers, supported by police, turned up on the basis of a malicious complaint. No arrests were made. (BBC News, 19 September 2025)

27 September: Two Somali women die off the coast of northern France attempting to cross the Channel. (BBC News, 27 September 2025)

27 September: The body of a young migrant man is found in a canal at Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France. AFP puts the tally of Channel crossing deaths so far this year at 27. (Info Migrants, 29 September 2025)

28 September: The body of a teenage boy who is believed to have fallen out of an overcrowded boat is found in Saint-Étienne-au-Mont, near Boulogne-sur-Mer, northern France, the fourth death over the weekend. Another 48 people were rescued after falling out of the dinghy. (Guardian, 28 September 2025) 

Reception and detention 

22 September: Derby City Council passes a motion to assess whether two Derby hotels accommodating asylum seekers are in breach of planning laws. (Derby World, 22 September 2025)

Deportations

16 September: The Netherlands government returns 84 Syrians – some recognised refugees and others still in the asylum process – to Damascus in its first charter flight there, claiming that all are returning voluntarily. (NL Times, 16 September 2025) 

16 September: A 25-year-old Eritrean male victim of trafficking wins a high court challenge, the first legal challenge to ‘one in, one out’, temporarily halting his deportation to France. The government is criticised for its ‘arbitrary and chaotic’ approach to choosing people for the scheme, including mistakenly selecting children. (Guardian, 17 September 2025)

18 September: An Indian man is the first person to be deported to France under the ‘one in, one out’ scheme. After the home secretary says that ‘vexatious, last-minute’ modern slavery claims are being made to delay deportations, the independent anti-slavery commissioner accuses her of putting lives at risk with such claims. (Independent, 18 September 2025)

17 September: The Home Office blocks asylum seekers’ right to challenge decisions rejecting their claims of modern slavery before removal to France, in an overnight change to statutory guidance; they will now have to appeal the decision after removal. (Independent, 18 September 2025)

23 September:  New rules allow foreign offenders to be deported after serving 30 percent of their sentence. Last month Shabana Mahmood, as justice secretary, revealed plans to deport foreign prisoners immediately after they receive a custodial sentence. (Guardian, 23 September 2025)

23 September: An application by the home secretary to appeal the temporary bar on the deportation of a male Eritrean asylum seeker to France under Labour’s ‘one in, one out’ scheme is rejected, as she announces changes to modern slavery laws. (Guardian, 23 September 2025) 

HUMAN RIGHTS AND DISCRIMINATION

16 September: A special Middle East Eye investigation reveals the relentless use of legal threats against public institutions, including local councils and NHS trusts, by UK Lawyers for Israel in a ‘lawfare’ campaign to stop criticism of the genocide, along with recent complaints to legal regulators about its tactics. (Middle East Eye, 16 September 2025)

17 September: Human rights lawyer and former UN official Craig Mokhiber exposes allegations that UK lawyers acting or advocating for Palestinian and Hezbollah’s rights to self-defence against Israel are being investigated by their professional bodies, the Bar Standards Board and the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority, following complaints by UK Lawyers for Israel. (X [Craig Mokhiber], 17 September 2025)

19 September: Lawyers in Berlin, supported by the European Legal Support Center, Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy and Law for Palestine, file a criminal complaint against eleven German ministers, officials and arms companies for allegedly aiding and abetting war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by Israel in Gaza. The complaint comes days after the UN Independent International Commission on Palestine found Israel guilty of acts of genocide. (ELSC, 19 September 2025)

EDUCATION

16 September: Lord Carlisle of Berriew, citing statistics about the levels of children with special educational needs who fall into the criminal justice system, tables amendment 502Q to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which would ensure that when a ‘child is subject to police involvement, an educational plan is created that means they are not kept in custody or removed from school’. (They Work for You, 16 September 2025) 

HOUSING| POVERTY| WELFARE

23 September: Homeless Link, the No Accommodation Network and 60 organisations write to the government urging the reinstatement of the 56-day move-on period for newly granted refugees, as the September reintroduction of a 28-day move-on for single people will see increased homelessness and rough sleeping. (EIN, 23 September 2025)

EMPLOYMENT| EXPLOITATION| INDUSTRIAL ACTION

17 September: The RMT and TSSA unions organise a demonstration outside the Home Office protesting changes to immigration laws that restrict the length of time foreign-born workers can stay in the UK, increase the salary threshold and remove roles from the ‘skilled workers’ category, as up to 300 London Underground staff face a risk of deportation. (Standard, 17 September 2025)

18 September: A new report from anti-slavery charity Unseen says that abuses previously seen in the care sector have spread to hospitality, with many victims of modern slavery working in pubs and hotels. (International Business Times, 18 September 2025)

CULTURE| MEDIA| SPORT

15 September: Expert evidence published by the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee reveals that far-right social media accounts spread AI-generated fake images to reinforce racist stereotypes, accelerating extremism and anti-Muslim and anti-migrant violence. (Independent, 15 September 2025)

17 September: Twenty leading authors, including Sally Rooney, Annie Ernaux and Viet Thanh Nguyen, urge France’s president Emmanuel Macron to reinstate the suspended Pause programme, which had evacuated Palestinian writers and scholars from Gaza. They say the suspension, triggered by one student’s alleged antisemitic remarks, amounts to ‘collective punishment’ and call for similar lifelines to be created worldwide. (Guardian, 17 September) 

23 September: The director and staff of migrant support charity Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) face harassment and intimidation on social media after a front-page story in the Telegraph accused it of helping migrants avoid deportation. (Civil Society, 23 September 2025) 

24 September: A Channel 4 investigation into ‘digital vigilantism’ and ‘citizen journalism’ finds that viral content creators across the UK are a ‘cottage industry’, cashing in on protests targeting migrants, entering asylum hotels and harassing residents, employees and council staff. At least 50 so-called ‘citizen journalists’ livestreamed from the Unite the Kingdom march. (Channel 4, 24 September 2025)

28 September: A year-long Guardian data investigation finds that far-right Facebook groups are engines of radicalisation and normalisation of far-right ideas. While many who rioted in 2024 were not members of far-right organisations, they are part of an online ‘community bound together’ by ‘anti-immigrant sentiment, nativism, conspiracy and misinformation’. (Guardian, 28 September 2025)

28 September: GB News apologises to Islamic Relief over ‘untrue’ comments made in February 2025 on the Camilla Tominey show, where interviewee Amjad Taha falsely stated that Islamic Relief was sending money to terrorist groups in the Middle East. (GB News, 28 September 2025)

29 September: Appeals against convictions involving rap and drill lyrics in the UK have more than tripled since 2019, it is revealed, with campaigners warning that stereotypes are driving unfair prosecutions, particularly against young Black men. The Art Not Evidence campaign calls for stricter safeguards and independent experts, as cases like Ademola Adedeji’s overturned conviction highlight the risks of using lyrics as criminal evidence. (Guardian, 29 September 2025)

RACIAL VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT 

18 September: A man is arrested after a flag with a ‘threatening message’ was placed on the city walls in York and a woman was verbally abused. (BBC News, 18 September 2025)

19 September: Derby City Council says it will monitor incidents in which unauthorised English and British flags may have been erected as a direct form of intimidation, hate crime or harassment, citing Operation Raise the Colours. (Derby Live, 19 September 2025)

20 September: A man who allegedly defaced a mural in support of asylum seekers in Norwich, is charged with behaviour with intent to cause harassment or distress, and is barred from being in possession of a flag in a public place, as part of his bail conditions. (BBC News, 20 September 2025)

20 September: A woman receives a twelve-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to travelling to the Premier Inn in North Petherton, Somerset armed with three knives in August, and threatening to kill migrants she believed were accommodated there (they were not). (Metro, 20 September 2025)

20 September: While police say the murder of Dr Fortune Goma, a scientist from Zimbabwe, was not racially motivated, both service users and staff at Dundee International Women’s Centre report an increase in aggressive looks and racist comments, coming from children as well as adults, and the local community comes together to counter far-right disinformation. (Guardian, 20 September 2025). 

22 September: More than 150 lawyers and human rights, refugee and environmental organisations say they are being ‘pressured into silence’, with some receiving rape and death threats from far-right and anti-migrant protesters. At least two refugee non-profits close their offices due to credible threats to their safety. (Guardian, 22 September 2025) 

24 September: The Masjd Yusuf, Clarkston Community Centre in East Renfreshire, Glasgow, issues a statement about an Islamophobic incident which involved an unknown individual smashing a mosque window from outside with a metal pole, during children’s classes.(X, [Taj Ali], 24 September 2025)

24 September: After the Local Democracy Reporting Service reveals that by mid-August, there had been 431 assaults and hate crimes on bus drivers in London, Unite the Union calls on the mayor, TfL and bus operators to do more to protect drivers. (BBC News, 254 September 2025)

26 September: A man is arrested on suspicion of arson after a late-night fire at the Thistle City Barbican hotel in Islington, which accommodates asylum seekers, two days before, which police are treating as a hate crime. (Independent, 26 September 2025; BBC News, 26 September 2025)

27 September: Asylum Matters warns of an increase in hate crimes near Homes of Multiple Occupation, linking hostility to social media posts urging action against HMOs thought to be housing asylum seekers. In a recent incident, a former pub in Warrington, Cheshire, was daubed with graffiti saying ‘No HMOs’. Reform UK Warwickshire council leader George Finch has criticised the use of HMOs to accommodate asylum seekers. (Guardian, 27 September 2025)

28 September: The mayor of London issues a statement expressing deep concern about the alarming rise of racist attacks in the capital, which includes TfL workers being punched and abused and women chased down the street. (X [Mayor of London], 28 September 2025)

This calendar is researched by IRR staff and compiled by Sophie Chauhan, with the assistance of Graeme Atkinson, Sam Berkson, Margaret McAdam and Louis Ordish. Thanks also to ECRE, the Never Again Association, Research Against Global Authoritarianism and Stopwatch, whose regular updates on asylum, migration, far Right, racial violence, employment and policing issues are an invaluable source of information. Find these stories and all others since 2014 on our searchable database, the Register of Racism and Resistance.  

The Institute of Race Relations is precluded from expressing a corporate view: any opinions expressed are therefore those of the authors.

The majority of the IRR’s work is free to access. Please consider supporting our research and analysis by making a donation.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.