ELECTORAL POLITICS | GOVERNMENT POLICY
28 May: La France Insoumise MP Sébastien Delogu is suspended from parliament for two weeks for waving a Palestinian flag during a debate about whether France should recognise a Palestinian state. (Le Monde, 28 May 2024)
30 May: After being barred from standing in the general election as the Labour candidate for Chingford and Woodford, Faiza Shaheen says she will fight the decision in court, claiming that ‘a systematic campaign of racism, Islamophobia and bullying’ is at play and that the party has a ‘problem with black and brown people’. (Guardian, 30 May 2024)
I’m in such shock, but I’m a fighter. Sign up to my mailing list below. I’ll put out more later today.
It’s hard for me to put me into words how much your support means to me, from my heart, thank you https://t.co/0sqHZJwov3 pic.twitter.com/5GxXvXIE3U— Faiza Shaheen (@faizashaheen) May 30, 2024
31 May: After an open letter signed by prominent Black British personalities criticises the Labour party’s ‘vindictive’ treatment of the Black MP Diane Abbott, the Labour leader ends speculation about Abbott’s future, saying she is free to stand for Labour in the forthcoming election.(Guardian, 31 May 2024)
31 May: According to the European Network Against Racism, only 4.3 percent of MEPs are from racial or ethnic minorities, though 10 percent of the EU population identifies as such. (Guardian, 31 May 2024)
3 June: Nigel Farage announces that he will stand as an MP in Clacton, Essex, at the general election and also lead the Reform party for the next five years. (Guardian, 3 June 2024)
4 June: The Slovenian parliament votes overwhelmingly to recognise a Palestinian state. (Politico, 5 June 2024)
4 June: Politicians in Germany call for calm after AfD candidate Heinrich Koch is stabbed in Mannheim as he confronts a group tearing down election posters. Chancellor Olaf Scholz subsequently tells parliament that the government will deport those convicted of serious crimes and those who ‘glorify and celebrate terrorist crimes’ to ‘high risk’ countries such as Syria and Afghanistan. (Guardian, 5 June 2024; Euronews, 6 June 2024))
6 June: Nearly all ethnic minority candidates running for Ireland’s Fine Gael party are targeted with threats and racist abuse in the run-up to the European elections. A recent report on intimidation of representatives concludes that abuse is ‘prevalent, problematic and targeted disproportionately at women and minority groups’. (Guardian, 6 June 2024)
6 June: It emerges that Frank Hester, whose comments on Diane Abbott and Black women in general had been condemned by Rishi Sunak as ‘wrong’ and ‘racist’, has since had £5m in donations accepted by the Tory party. (Guardian, 6 June 2024)
7 June: Luke Akehurst, Labour party candidate for North Durham and director of the lobby group We Believe in Israel, faces a complaint of antisemitism after a video emerges of him criticising ‘Marxist Jews’. (Byline Times, 7 June 2024)
7 June: The Green party announces that it has blocked a ‘small number’ of election candidates after an investigation into their online activity, amid claims of antisemitic comments. (BBC, 7 June 2024)
8 June: In the Netherlands, seven months after the justice minister wrongly stated that thousands of ‘family of family of refugees’ were entering the country, prompting the collapse of the coalition government, immigration service public statistics reveal that the real figure is just 70 people per year. (Dutch News, 8 June 2024)
9 June: The far-right Vlaams Belang comes second in the federal election in Belgium, with 17.5 percent of the vote. (AP, 10 June 2024)
9 June: In European parliament elections, the biggest gains for the far Right are seen by: France’s National Rally (31.5 percent) ; Alternative for Germany (14.2 percent, the top party in eastern Germany); and Austria’s Freedom party (leading with 25.7 percent). Meanwhile, Sweden Democrats’ share of the vote drops (13.2 percent) and the Finns party are left with one only MEP (7.6 percent). (Guardian, 10 June 2024; YLE, 10 June 2024; Yahoo, 10 June 2024; Deutsche Welle, 10 June 2024)
10 June: In France, President Macron responds to the far-right National Rally’s strong performance in the European parliamentary elections by calling a snap legislative election. (Guardian, 10 June 2024)
10 June: In a milestone in Irish politics, two far-right parties, the Irish Freedom Party and the National Party win county council seats, all in Dublin. Two far-right organisers of anti-immigrant protests, Malachy Steenson and Gavin Pepper, standing as independents, are also elected in Dublin. (Irish Examiner 10 June 2024)
ANTI-FASCISM AND THE FAR RIGHT
23 May: Far-right activists from Real Mallorca football ultras are linked to an attack on a Palestine solidarity camp at the University of the Balearic Islands, Spain. Vox deputy Jorge Campos expresses support for the assailants and is accused of ‘stoking hate speech’. (Majorca Daily Bulletin, 23 May 2024)
27 May: Three neo-Nazis from National Nucleus are arrested for an attack on a student Palestine solidarity camp at Ciudad University in Madrid, Spain, during which antisemitic slogans and other threats were hurled. (ABC, 27 May 2024)
29 May: In Oviedo, Spain, a man who attacked a student protest for Palestine is identified as Ignacio Moreno, who has links to Real Oviedo football fans for years and once stood as a mayoral candidate for National Democracy. (Nortes, 29 May 2024)
29 May: Hope not Hate reveals the identity of a major ‘migrant hunter’ intimidating asylum seekers in hotels as former wrestler and doorman Christopher Mayhew, who anonymously runs the St Audits Youtube page. (Hope not Hate, 29 May 2024)
31 May: Far-right anti-Islam activist Michael Stürzenberger and a police officer are among those injured during a knife attack during an anti-Islam Citizens’ Movement Pax Europa rally in Mannheim, Germany. The assailant, reportedly a 25-year-old Afghan man who had lived in Germany since 2014, is shot and seriously injured. (Euronews, 31 May 2024; Deutsche Welle, 1 June 2024)
1 June: A new investigation finds that far-right groups are exploiting victims of child sexual abuse in order to further anti-Muslim grooming gang narratives. Amid a lack of government support for survivors, groups like United Hull offer paid therapy sessions, food, clothes and televisions, while pushing false narratives that abuse is carried out by Asian men and pressuring survivors to speak about their abuse at rallies. (Byline Times, 1 June 2024)
2 June: 5,000 fascists led by Tommy Robinson march through London in protest of claims, driven by former home secretary Suella Braverman, that police are hard on the far right but soft on left-wing protesters. Two arrests are made, one following the racial abuse of a woman. (Morning Star, 2 June 2024)
2 June: In Italy, Lega MEP candidate Roberto Vannacci is filmed urging voters to mark their ballot with a ‘Decima X’ in reference to the Decima Mas, a group of fascist commandos active in World War 2. (Telegraph, 2 June 2024)
3 June: In Greece, the head of the far-right Golden Dawn party, Nikolaos Michaloliakos, will return to prison after a council of judges rescinds a decision to grant him early release. Michaloliakos is found to show no remorse for his crimes and must complete his 13-year sentence for running a criminal organisation blamed for violent crimes. (AP, 3 June 2024)
7 June: In Mannheim, Germany, anti-fascists mobilise to counter an AfD rally prompted by a knife attack on a local election candidate and the recent death of a police officer injured in a knife attack during a Pax Europa rally against Islam. The German Trade Union Federation organises ‘Mannheim stands together – for democracy and diversity’. (Deutsche Welle, 7 June 2024)
POLICING | PRISONS | CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
30 May: A report by Netpol finds that racist and Islamophobic policing of pro-Palestine protests since October 2023 specifically targets Black and brown people and is driven by a coordinated pressure campaign, with children as young as 10 subjected to police violence. (Netpol, 30 May 2024)
If you haven’t yet had a chance to read “In Our Millions” – Netpol’s report by the brilliant @Gargi_at_home on the policing of protests in Britain against Israeli genocide in Palestine – then here’s a thread on its findings 🧵[1/11] pic.twitter.com/Ldo8eY9mOU
— Netpol (@netpol) June 10, 2024
31 May: An inquest finds that Hassan Yahya, a 30-year-old Black man, was lawfully killed when he was shot by a City of London police officer in central London on 8 March 2020. Hassan, who was in possession of two knives, had made no attempt to harm the public. (Inquest, 31 May 2024)
4 June: Shaun Thompson, an anti-knife crime activist with Street Fathers, launches a judicial review against the Met police in relation to a stop at London Bridge station due to an identification mistake made by live facial recognition technology. (My London, 4 June 2024)
8 June: 121 organisations and prominent personalities sign a Black Lives Matter Cardiff statement condemning the actions of South Wales Police at recent demonstrations against the war on Gaza. Seven people, including a 12-year-old Palestinian girl and her mother, a well-known activist who is disabled and a 70-year-old woman, were arrested in Cardiff and Swansea amidst allegations of racial profiling and excessive force. (Voice Wales, 4 June 2024)
121 organizations, parties, politicians, prominent figures, and student encampments have signed our statement condemning the actions of South Wales Police, targeting pro-Palestine activists. 🚨 pic.twitter.com/6VNuHffg5V
— Black Lives Matter Cardiff&Vale (@BLMCardiff) June 7, 2024
10 June: A Runnymede Trust study and analysis of Home Office data finds that Black adults were 4.7 times more likely than white adults to be told they must strip by police, and Black children 6.5 times more likely than their white counterparts. (Guardian, 10 June 2024)
NATIONAL SECURITY | COUNTER-TERRORISM
31 May: In France, police arrest a teenager of Chechen origin suspected of planning an ‘Islamist-inspired’ attack on spectators at the forthcoming Olympics. (Deutsche Welle, 31 May 2024)
ASYLUM | MIGRATION | BORDERS | CITIZENSHIP
Asylum and migrant rights
29 May: A delay in processing 33,000 outstanding visa waiver applications leaves vulnerable families ‘in a permanent state of limbo’, as families experience even more anxiety and problems in accessing employment, housing and benefits. (Guardian, 29 May 2024)
3 June: A report by the Helen Bamber Foundation and Young Roots finds that the age assessment process can ‘significantly affect the mental health difficulties of already vulnerable unaccompanied young people seeking asylum’. (EIN, 3 June 2024)
6 June: Reunite Families UK launches a judicial review of the raising of the minimum income requirement of a British resident or settled resident to bring a partner, spouse or a child to the UK on the grounds that it disproportionately affects women, minorities and young people, breaching the Equality Act and the UN Child Rights Convention. (Guardian, 6 June 2024)
7 June: Following a case brought by Ramfel, the High Court rules that the Home Office acted illegally by failing to issue documentary proof of their legal right to be in the UK to thousands of migrants awaiting a decision on their application for further leave to stay. (Guardian, 8 June 2024; EIN, 9 June 2024)
8 June: As Schengen visa statistics reveal that the EU received €3,435,200 on rejected visa applications from Nigerians in 2023, and €130 million globally, with African and Asian applicants bearing 90 percent of the costs, Nigerians call on their government to demand a 50 percent refund when Schengen visa applications are rejected. (Naija247, 8 June 2024)
Borders and internal controls
5 June: Migrant rights activists in Warsaw, Poland, demonstrate against pushbacks on the Belarussian border, pointing out that the previous far-right government’s policy has worsened under prime minister Donald Tusk. (Anadolu Agency, 5 June 2024)
7 June: Data from Kent county council reveals that 772 unaccompanied or separated children made the Channel crossing from January to May 2024, three times the 242 who arrived alone in 2021. (Guardian, 7 June 2024)
Reception and detention
30 May: A Special Development Order is laid in parliament for the use of RAF Wethersfield for asylum accommodation. Braintree District Council subsequently withdraws its legal challenge against the Home Office. (BBC, 30 May 2024)
31 May: In a report detailing a rise in suicide attempts and self-harm by asylum seekers based at Wethersfield, Doctors of the World and Médecins Sans Frontières call for the immediate closure of the site and the abandonment of similar sites, as the home secretary claims that people lie about their mental health. (EIN, 3 June 2024; Guardian, 1 June 2024)
1 June: Lawyers mount challenges to the illegal detention of asylum seekers detained for deportation to Rwanda in ‘Operation Vector’ after the prime minister admits that no flights will take place before the election, with the first flight scheduled for 24 July. (Guardian, 1 June 2024)
3 June: A FOI request reveals hundreds of complaints by asylum seekers to the Home Office about ill-treatment from asylum accommodation staff including abuse and sexual harassment, entering bedrooms unannounced, and a failure to address vulnerabilities. (Guardian, 3 June 2023)
10 June: A freedom of information request shows that 3,045 asylum-seeking children in London are living in hotels, of whom 64 have lived in a hotel for more than two years. (BBC, 10 June 2024)
Crimes of solidarity
1 June: An investigation reveals that the 40-year German tradition of church asylum, sanctioned by a 2015 agreement between the Federal government and the major churches, is under threat as police, sometimes armed, raid parish halls, churches and vicarages and remove those sheltering there for deportation. (Deutsche Welle, 1 June 2024)
3 June: In Latvia, two Dutch citizens are released on bail pending trial for people smuggling after helping a group of asylum seekers, including a sister of one of the accused, enter Latvia from neighbouring Belarus. (Guardian, 3 June 2024)
5 June: A court in Reggio Calabria, Italy, rules that the seizure of the Sea Eye 4 in March, following a rescue operation in international waters near Libya, was ‘illegitimate and invalid’, and annuls the order, following the crew’s production of audio files revealing their cooperation with Libyan, Maltese and Italian authorities. The court orders the Italian authorities to pay €10,860 compensation. (InfoMigrants, 7 June 2024)
6 June: Norwegian human rights defender Tommy Olsen, who runs Aegean Boat Report reveals that the Greek authorities issued an international arrest warrant against him on smuggling charges in May, which could result in a 20-year sentence. (EU Observer, 7 June 2024)
HUMAN RIGHTS AND DISCRIMINATION
28 May: The Geneva International Peace Research Institute files a complaint at the International Criminal Court against the President of the European Commission, accusing Ursula von der Leyen of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza. (Middle East Monitor, 28 May 2024)
EDUCATION
Although we do not cover student protests for Palestine, we do track university administrative measures that deny the right to protest and authorise the use of force, or silence pro-Palestinian voices and display anti-Palestinian bias.
27 May: The government announces ‘tougher compliance standards’ for higher education institutions recruiting overseas students, including the potential loss of the sponsor license for those who fail to comply, but says it will keep the graduate visa. (THE, 27 May 2024)
30 May: University College Union staff hold a one-day strike over the failure to resolve long-standing issues in the union, including ‘workplace racism’ in the ‘disproportionate’ use of disciplinary procedures. (THE, 29 May 2024)
30 May: The Finnish government announces plans to charge university students from outside Europe ‘the full cost of their tuition if it is taught in a language other than Finnish or Swedish’. (THE, 29 May 2024)
31 May: Tom Bennett, the ‘national behaviour tsar’, urges the next government to commit to a ‘massive reinvestment in the alternative provision estate’ and ‘an expansion of AP mainstream provision for children with borderline mainstream needs’. (TES, 31 May 2024)
3 June: Kamna Patel resigns as chair of the UK Research and Innovation Equality Advisory Group, saying she was ‘offered no apology’ for being subjected to an investigation following ‘spurious’ allegations of extremist views by science secretary Michelle Donelan. She says changes to the Expert Advisory Group’s terms of reference place ‘mollifying politicians’ above the interests of the research community. (THE, 3 June 2024)
5 June: Data from the Office for Students reveals that, following higher education referrals, the number of students flagged under the Prevent programme has risen by 50 percent in two years (from 165 to 210 cases). ‘Mixed, unclear or unstable’ ideologies (including incels and conspiracy theorists) represents the biggest increase. (Guardian, 5 June 2024)
6 June: The government’ s annual data on school student numbers and characteristics show increases in students educated in Alternative Provision (AP), with rises of 20 percent in state-funded AP, 16.5 percent in non-state funded AP and a further 11,065 pupils with dual registration. 55 percent of pupils in these placements were eligible for free school meals, compared to 24.6 percent for all school pupils. (TES, 6 June 2024)
6 June: Research by the Institute of Fiscal Studies shows ‘significant inequalities at all stages of education’ in England. At GCSE, ‘just 43 percent of 16-year-olds eligible for free school meals achieved a grade 4 or higher in maths and English in 2023, compared with 72 percent of their better-off peers.’ (TES, 6 June 2024)
6 June: An online survey organised by the Union of Jewish Students and the Intra-Communal Professorial Group asks students about experiences of campus antisemitism since 7 October to help universities ‘decide how to respond’. (Jewish Chronicle, 6 June 2024)
HOUSING | POVERTY | WELFARE
3 June: In France, Le Revers de la Médaille, representing 90 groups, reports that thousands of homeless people, including asylum seekers, vulnerable families and children, have been removed from the Ile-de-France region to ‘socially cleanse’ the area for the Olympics. (Guardian, 3 June 2024)
5 June: Research by Generation Rent finds that a quarter of councils in England spent 5 percent of core spending power on temporary accommodation in 2022-23. (MJ, 5 June 2023)
10 June: Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth finds that that councils forced 319 households permanently out of London in 2023, with many given 24-hour ultimatums and threatened with being made destitute, and one in 10 households placed in the northeast. (Guardian, 10 June 2024)
HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
3 June: A University of Birmingham study finds that ethnic minority patients with heart failure are 36 percent more likely to die than their white counterparts. Ethnic minorities who also had atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm irregularity, were over twice as likely to die. (Guardian, 3 June 2024)
EMPLOYMENT | EXPLOITATION | INDUSTRIAL ACTION
29 May: It is revealed that 3 UN Special Rapporteurs and a UN Working Group wrote in March to foreign secretary David Cameron with evidence that migrants on the seasonal agricultural workers’ scheme (SAWS) were exposed to conditions of modern slavery and some had been trafficked. In May, the government extended the SAWS scheme for 5 years to 2029. (TBJ, 29 May 2024)
CULTURE | MEDIA | SPORT
While we cannot cover all incidents of racist abuse on sportspersons or their responses, we provide a summary of the most important incidents. For more information follow Kick it Out.
2 June: In the buildup to the UEFA Euros, German manager Julian Nagelsmann describes as racist a survey conducted by German state broadcaster ARD which asked participants if they would prefer more white players on the national team. In England, Kick It Out sends a letter to British media editors criticising the prominent use of pictures of Bakayo Saka, a substitute in the match, following England’s defeat to Iceland. (Guardian, 2 June 2024; Guardian, 10 June 2024)
3 June: Essex County Cricket Club is charged by the Cricket Regulator with failing to address alleged systemic racist language and conduct at the club between 2001 and 2010. (Guardian, 3 June 2024)
10 June: In Spain, over a year since a match between Valencia and Real Madrid was halted because of racist abuse targeting Vinicius Jr, three Valencia fans are sentenced to eight months in prison for hate crimes. The sentence, described as the first for racial abuse in Spanish football, also sees the men banned from any Spanish stadium for two years. (Guardian, 10 June 2024)
RACIAL VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT
For details of court judgements on racially motivated and other hate crimes, see also POLICING | PRISONS | CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.
31 May: Two security guards at an asylum centre in Suhl, Thuringia, Germany, are sacked, allegedly for inciting hatred, as police investigate a racist incident related to the singing of ‘L’amour Toujours’ with alternative lyrics, as reported by a co-worker. (Info Migrants, 31 May 2024)
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 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.