ELECTORAL POLITICS| GOVERNMENT POLICY

4 March: The home secretary announces a suspension of study visas from 26 March for students from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan and of Skilled Worker visas for Afghan nationals, saying a high proportion of those claiming asylum after arriving through a ‘legal’ route are from these countries, which amounts to ‘exploiting our generosity’. (Guardian, 3 March 2025; EIN, 5 March 2026) 

5 March: In a speech at the Institute for Public Policy Research, the home secretary says that changes to settlement rights to be applied in August, such as increasing the qualifying period from five years to ten, will apply to those already in the UK who do not yet have settled status. (EIN, 9 March 2025)

5 March: After Green party deputy leader Mothin Ali receives death threats, he calls on the prime minister to apologise for appearing to back false claims made by GB News that he attended a rally in support of the Iranian regime. (Guardian, 5 March 2026)

8 March: Nigel Farage, challenged on the Isle of Wight on his claim that ‘thousands of illegal immigrants are housed in hotels in your community’ when Home Office data shows no asylum seekers there, says he doesn’t know the local numbers, but bets £100 that there will be some within 18 months. (Isle of Wight County Press, 9 March 2026)

9 March: In state elections in Baden-Württemberg, Alternative for Germany, which comes third, nearly doubles its share of the vote to 19 percent, its best ever result in west Germany. (Guardian, 9 March 2026)

9 March: The government announces an action plan to ‘strengthen social cohesion’ involving a further £5m investment in the Common Ground Resilience Fund and the introduction of a Campus Cohesion Charter. Police powers to tackle extremism and Charity Commission powers to shut down charities will be strengthened, and a new whistleblowing route for university staff set up. The role of the English language to ‘bring communities together’ is stressed. (Guardian, 9 March 2026)

9 March: The communities secretary says the government’s new non-statutory definition of anti-Muslim hostility – part of its Protecting What Matters strategy – is necessary to tackle record levels of hate crimes against Muslims and will not undermine freedom of speech about religion. Muslim organisations criticise the definition, particularly the use of ‘anti-Muslim hostility’ over the term Islamophobia. (Guardian, 9 March 2026; Hyphen Online, 10 March 2026)

10 March: In the context of calls for the annual al-Quds Day march for Palestine to be banned, courts minister Sarah Sackman tells LBC that those who support the ‘regime in Iran and the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and its proxies have no place in our society’ and are ‘thoroughly anti-British’. (Guardian, 12 March 2026)

11 March: The home secretary, at the request of the Met, bans the annual al-Quds Day march for Palestine and counterprotests for one month, citing public disorder risks. Accusations are also made that the organisers support the ‘Iranian regime’. The Islamic Human Rights Commission says that the ban – the first since far-right EDL marches were banned in 2012 – is the result of an ‘Islamophobic hate campaign’. (Al Jazeera, 12 March 2026; Guardian, 11 March 2026)

11 March: A mass lobby of Parliament, coordinated by migrants’ rights groups, brings together over 500 people, representing unions, NHS staff and community groups at Westminster, urging MPs to oppose the government’s ‘earned settlement’ proposals. (Praxis, 12 March 2026)

This time last week, over 500 people marched to Parliament and met with over 100 MPs about the Government’s devastating proposed changes to settlement.

And we’re not stopping here. It’s vital we keep up the pressure. Sign the open letter to the Home Secretary.

act.praxis.org.uk/open-letter-…

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— Praxis, for migrants and refugees (@praxisprojects.bsky.social) 18 March 2026 at 11:03

12 March: Less than a month before the Hungarian general election, prime minister Viktor Orbán uses video clips of him calling his family to claim on social media that Ukrainians pose a threat to his children and grandchildren. (EU Observer, 12 March 2026)

ANTI-FASCISM AND THE FAR RIGHT

6 March: The Scottish leader of Reform UK is criticised for participating in ‘street vigilante’ patrols organised by North2South, who claim to be protecting women and girls. After Lord Malcolm Offord says he went on a ‘fact finding’ trip with ‘working class fathers’ carrying out late night patrols permitted by police, Police Scotland say they do not ‘endorse, condone or encourage’ the activities of self-appointed street patrols. (Daily Mail, 6 March 2026; The Herald, 6 March 2026) 

7 March: Police on horseback wielding batons are deployed to keep counter-protesters and the far Right apart as Bristol Patriots demonstrate in the city centre. Six arrests are made. (Mirror, 7 March 2026)

7 March: In France, two more suspects are charged and placed in preventive detention in relation to the death of far-right activist Quentin Deranque. Lawyers for others arrested say their clients are being treated as ‘domestic terrorists’ and call for the responsibility of far-right groups in triggering ‘reciprocal violence’ to be investigated. (Le Monde, 7 March 2026)

8 March: Hannah Spencer MP has to be driven away by police for her own safety after far- right activists try to attack her as she leaves a rally to launch the Greater Manchester Together Alliance. (Searchlight, 8 March 2026; BBC News, 9 March 2026)

8 March: Anti-migrant commentator Katie Hopkins joins the weekly march at Crowborough, east Sussex, against the use of the military training camp to house asylum seekers. (Argus, 10 March 2026)

11 March: In Heywood, Manchester, protesters waving St George’s flags and Union Jacks descend on the former home of a Coronation Street star after false claims it was being used to house immigrants. (BBC News, 11 March 2026)

12 March: Police carry out coordinated raids in Germany, Poland and Spain targeting Der Schelm, one of Europe’s most active Nazi publishers, which has been circulating Nazi material and propaganda, including Holocaust denial, since 2014. The publisher’s founder, Adrian Preissinger, is believed to be hiding in Moscow, while leaked records show that an expelled AfD councillor was among the publisher’s customers. (Searchlight, 12 March 2026)

12 March: A media investigation reveals that far-right groups in Birmingham and the Black Country are using racist video games and online chat rooms to exploit vulnerable children and young people in its ‘biggest and boldest’ recruitment drive. (Birmingham Live, 12 March 2026)

15 March: The National Rebirth Party’s first national meeting of 2026 is cut short when around 50 members are asked to leave the Albany Theatre in Coventry, after the venue discovers the true hosts of the event. (Searchlight, 15 March 2026)

16 March: Salford City Council trade unionist and anti-racism campaigner Ameen Hadi faces a workplace investigation following allegations made against him after a rally in Manchester on International Women’s Day, with supporters saying that the complaints are driven by far-right YouTubers and activist Tommy Robinson. A coalition of MPs, trade union leaders and campaigners, including John McDonnell MP and Kim Johnson MP, call for the investigation to be dropped, arguing that far-right harassment campaigns should not be allowed to dictate disciplinary proceedings against trade unionists. (Action Network, 16 March 2026) 

POLICING| PRISONS| CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

6 March: A jury awards significant damages to Duane Binns after finding that an officer who carried out a stop-and-search lied when he reported doing so because he smelt cannabis, and that the force used – including a strip search – amounted to assault. The search of his home was unlawful and Mr Binns had been discriminated against by police at each turn, on the basis of race. (Bhatt Murphy, 6 March 2026)

10 March: A study commissioned by the mayor’s office, which examined 152,000 stops in 2023, finds that Black people are up to 48 times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people in the richest areas of London, with weaker grounds for stops of Black people also recorded. (Guardian, 10 March 2026) 

11 March: The High Court upholds the dismissal of the case against Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who performs as Mo Chara, on allegations of support for terrorism for allegedly displaying the Hezbollah flag during a concert. The CPS failed to obtain the DPP’s permission to bring the charge until it was too late to charge him. (Guardian, 11 March 2026)

11 March: As the Courts and Tribunals Bill passes its second Commons reading, the Public Bills Committee calls for evidence on the restrictions on jury trial and other rights of defendants in the Bill. (UK Parliament, 11 March 2026)

11 March: The parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights launches an inquiry into recent restrictions on protest rights and the expansion of protest-related police powers, and is calling for evidence. (UK Human Rights Blog, 16 March 2026)

15 March: 1000 police officers are mobilised for the al-Quds Day rally on London’s Albert Embankment, where twelve arrests, including for showing support for a proscribed organisation, are made. A counter protest organised by Stop the Hate and the Lion Guard of Iran takes place on the opposite side of the Thames (Guardian, 15 March 2026; Al Jazeera, 15 March 2026)

Twelve arrests at al-Quds Day rally and counterprotest in London

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— Unofficial Guardian (UK) Bot (@guardian-uk-rss.bsky.social) 15 March 2026 at 17:35

ASYLUM | MIGRATION| BORDERS| CITIZENSHIP

Asylum and migrant rights

5 March: New Immigration rules include visa restrictions, changes to refugee protection, procedures for failed asylum seekers and English language requirements for settlement, as the home secretary announces plans to replace the duty to support destitute asylum seekers with a discretionary power. (EIN, 5 March 2026)

9 March: A report by UNHCR sets out poor standards of interviewing, interpreting and decision-making in asylum cases, and makes ten recommendations, of which seven are fully accepted by the Home Office and three partially. (EIN, 9 March 2026)

10 March: The home secretary rejects an appeal from foreign secretary Yvette Cooper to exempt government-funded Chevening scholars from the suspension of student visas, to enable vulnerable women from Afghanistan and Sudan in particular to study for a master’s degree. Those already selected must cancel their plans. (Guardian, 10 March 2026)

10 March: Migrants’ Rights Network publishes Not a Stranger: Earned Settlement Hostile Immigration Reforms, a survey of migrants’ views on the proposals to double qualifying thresholds for settlement. (Migrants’ Rights Network, 10 March 2026)

16 March: As Home Office statistics reveal that, at the end of 2025, over 80,000 people were waiting for asylum decisions to be reconsidered or appealed, double the number from the previous year, lawyers say caseworkers’ use of AI could be unlawful, with an error rate in summarising interviews of 9 percent. Nearly two-thirds of asylum decisions are overturned on reconsideration or appeal. (Independent, 16 March 2026; Guardian, 12 March 2026) 

The failure to inform asylum applicants of the use of AI in decision-making is likely UNLAWFUL.

A new legal opinion for ORG finds that the use of AI tools doesn’t meet legal obligations nor standards in the AI Playbook.

We need full transparency to ensure lawful and fair decisions.

Read more ⬇️

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— Open Rights Group (@openrightsgroup.org) 16 March 2026 at 13:09

Borders and internal controls

5 March: Border rule changes affecting dual nationals are reportedly impacting those with an unmarried British father who, despite living in the UK for most of their lives, now have to prove their nationality, apply and pay for British citizenship. (Guardian, 5 March 2026)

12 March: A Medact briefing on US tech company Palantir and NHS data systems warns of the risks to patient safety, data privacy and trust of involvement in its federated Data Platform, posed by the company’s alleged complicity in human rights abuses and unethical practices, its contracts with policing and defence bodies, and its proposal for a common government operating system which could enable ICE-style raids – which Reform UK has said it would adopt. (Guardian, 12 March 2026)

Reception and detention

3 March: Following legal advice, Wealden District Council say that it will not pursue further legal action against Home Office plans to use Crowborough army camp to house asylum seekers, as the community campaign Crowborough Shield announces that it will renew its legal challenge to the plans. (BBC, 4 March 2026)

4 March: Belgium’s asylum and immigration minister refuses to comply with a Constitutional Court ruling requiring her to provide reception to asylum seekers with status in another EU member state, in a case involving Palestinian refugees granted status but left destitute in Greece. (ECRE Weekly Bulletin, 13 March 2026; VRT Nws, 4 March 2026)

5 March: Following a high court challenge by five refugees facing homelessness, a court orders the Home Office to inform refugees in writing, with their eviction notice, that there is discretion to extend the 28-day deadline if they are facing street homelessness, a rule which has been kept ‘secret’. (Guardian, 5 March 2026)

9 March: A fatal accident inquiry opens into the death of asylum seeker Badreddin Abdalla Adam Bosh, who was shot by police after stabbing six people at the Park Inn hotel, Glasgow, in June 2020, and hears evidence of his deteriorating mental state and repeated requests to be returned to Sudan. (BBC News, 10 March 2026)

10 March: Changes to detention centre rules will make identification of vulnerable detainees harder, warn lawyers, by allowing medical examinations to be delayed, removing the legal definition of torture and abandoning sexuality as an indicator of risk’. (EIN, 10 March 2026)

10 March: Figures obtained by the Journal reveal that a record 23 asylum seekers died in or shortly after leaving IPAS (asylum) accommodation in Ireland in 2025, up from 15 in 2024, taking the total number of deaths in or following asylum accommodation to 152. (The Journal, 10 March 2026)

12 March: £2.8bn of the UK’s foreign aid budget – which was cut from 0.7 percent to 0.5 percent of GDP in 2021 – was spent on housing asylum seekers in 2024, a billion more than on overseas humanitarian aid, costs that ‘distorted policy choices’, a report by the Independent Commission on Aid Impact reveals. (Independent, 12 March 2026) 

Deportations 

4 March: In a letter to the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, the minister for border security and asylum explains that from 22 March suspended sentences of 12 months or more (which were previously excluded) will attract automatic deportation. (EIN, 4 March 2026)

5 March: In a pilot scheme, the Home Office contacts 150 families whose asylum applications are refused and are living in hotels to offer them up to £40,000 to return voluntarily to their countries, giving them 7 days to respond and adding that if they decline the offer, they will be forcibly deported, including handcuffing children. Families beg for more time to decide, still fearing return, and having children in school and community ties.  (Guardian, 5 March 2026; Guardian, 12 March 2026)

6 March: UN experts express alarm over violations against refugees in EU external partner Egypt, citing raids on homes, workplaces and refugee centres, arbitrary arrests and deportations, and risk of refoulement to persecution and other dangers. (ECRE Weekly Bulletin, 13 March 2026)

11 March: Statewatch analyses the exponential increase in Frontex-assisted ‘voluntary’ returns from EU member states and the impact on the states and individuals affected. (Statewatch, 11 March 2026)

12 March: A judge stops the removal of an Eritrean asylum seeker under the ‘one in one out’ scheme to France, where treatment for victims of trafficking is reportedly inadequate, leaving the man at risk of serious harm to his mental health. A full hearing will take place in April. (Guardian, 12 March 2026)

HUMAN RIGHTS AND DISCRIMINATION 

6 March: The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders warns of a slow, gradual erosion of human rights in Sweden, including reports of threats, hate speech, stigmatisation and harassment, sometimes impacting student activists and journalists who have been stopped or intimidated for activities in relation to Palestine. (United Nations, 6 March 2026)

EDUCATION

4 March: After Ofsted finds no evidence of politically partisan views at Bristol Brunel Academy, which postponed a visit by Labour MP Damien Egan in September last year, the DfE commissions an independent review to examine how schools and colleges across England identify, respond to and prevent antisemitism, considering how external factors, from protests outside school gates to broader geopolitical events, can contribute to antisemitism within educational settings. (TES, 4 March 2026) 

14 March: At the Association of School and College Leaders annual conference, general secretary Pepe Di’Iasio says that students and their families are living in fear of racial harassment or violence amid ‘provocative nationalism’. (ITV, 13 March 2026|)

14 March: A survey of Association of School and College Leaders members finds that 36 percent report that their students or teachers have experienced racial harassment while on the school commute, and 11 percent say this involved physical attacks. (ITV, 13 March 2026) 

HOUSING| POVERTY| WELFARE

13 March: A campaign by Grenfell residents to save handprints in the soot on the wall of the tower’s stairwell, which appeared to have succeeded when demolition of the tower was paused, is thwarted by the discovery that they had been obliterated, possibly before the pause, along with Arabic script reading ‘Allahu Akbar’. (Observer, 15 March 2026) 

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

12 March: Health justice charity Medact publish a briefing that raises concerns regarding the involvement of US firm Palantir Technologies in NHS data infrastructure and operations, highlighting that with its record and contracts in policing and defence, Palantir’s software could enable ‘data-driven state abuses of power’, including the possibility of US-style ICE raids in the UK. (Guardian, 12 March 2026)

We were in front of the Palantir offices in London this morning where NHS senior leaders were meeting the company that has no place in our health service!

“Workers, students, patients say: Palantir cannot stay.”

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— Medact (@medact.bsky.social) 10 March 2026 at 10:58

13 March: The NHS’s 2025 staff survey shows that hundreds of thousands of NHS staff have been attacked, harassed, bullied or subject to racism. One in five Black and minority ethnic staff report abuse, bullying or harassment from patients or the public, compared to just one in 20 white staff, and one in 7 BME staff say they have faced similar behaviour from colleagues, double the rate reported by their white colleagues. (Guardian, 13 March 2026)

EMPLOYMENT| EXPLOITATION| INDUSTRIAL ACTION

9 March: Following an inquest into the death of Filipino migrant worker George Castrudes, who died in January 2025 of carbon monoxide poisoning after he lit a fire in his portacabin accommodation to keep warm, Jersey deputies and Caritas Jersey express shock that no targeted inspections of farm workers’ accommodation had been carried out, a year after they were promised. (BBC News, 9 March 2026)

9 March: The government agrees to extend for a year a concession allowing visas for around 75 sheep-shearers to enter the UK to shear around 1.5 million sheep, after its proposed withdrawal of the scheme sparked alarm among sheep farmers. (Agriland, 11 March 2026)

16 March: An inquiry by the APPG on global health and security finds that the government’s plan to cut overseas recruitment in the NHS to 10 per cent by 2035 is over-ambitious, given that 36 percent of doctors and 24 pe cent of nurses are from abroad, but recommends more investment and training in ‘partner countries’ to offset the poaching of trained staff. (Guardian, 16 March 2026)

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.

3 March: Groups including Amnesty International UK call on Ofcom to clarify whether online platforms must continue removing content supporting Palestine Action. Campaigners warn that algorithms have already been used to suppress Palestine solidarity posts and say the case highlights how easily counter-terror powers can silence political debate. (Guardian, 3 March 2026) 

4 March: Reports of online racial abuse aimed at footballers are rising, with players including Wesley Fofana, Hannibal Mejbri, Tolu Arokodare and Romaine Mundle all targeted in a single weekend in February. Anti-racism charity Kick It Out reports a 45 percent rise in online abuse compared to the same point last season, and warns that players may soon be forced to take matters into their own hands given the lack of meaningful action from social media platform and football’s governing bodies. (Guardian, 4 March 2026

6 March: Golden Bear winner İlker Çatak warns that recommendations from Germany’s culture ministry for the Berlin Film Festival, including a code of conduct for politically sensitive content, would amount to ‘censorship’, saying filmmakers ‘must be free to express everything they wish’. The row follows pro-Palestinian speeches at this year’s awards ceremony and threats to dismiss festival director Tricia Tuttle, who has since been confirmed in her role following an outpouring of support from over 3,000 film professionals and 32 global festival directors. (Euronews, 6 March 2026)

10 March: Antisemitic memes and far-right content are spreading rapidly among young people in Sweden, driven by algorithm changes at Meta and TikTok that reward the spread of hate and conspiracy theories, according to the Expo Foundation’s annual report. (Sweden Herald, 10 March 2026)

12 March: Danny Bones, an AI-generated white nationalist rapper whose videos targeting Muslims have been viewed millions of times, has been revealed as the creation of an anonymous group called the Node Project, which was paid by far-right party Advance UK to produce its campaign video for the Gorton and Denton byelection. (Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 12 March 2026)

12 March: Two Cheltenham jockeys, Declan Queally and Nico de Boinville, shake hands after Queally alleged he received racially abusive language from de Boinville before a race on Wednesday, though the British Horseracing Authority says it will continue collecting evidence before deciding whether to pursue the inquiry. (Guardian, 12 March 2026)

13 March: The film Everybody to Kenmure Street premiers, celebrating the community’s response to an immigration raid in Glasgow in 2021, when a crowd of 2,000 peacefully prevented the removal of the two men arrested in the raid. (Morning Star, 15 March 2026)

RACIAL VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT

9 March: In Belgium, counter-terrorism police open an investigation into an explosion in front of a historic synagogue, which government ministers describe as a targeted antisemitic attack. The mayor says that ‘we cannot allow foreign conflicts to be imported to our city’. (France 24, 9 March 2026)

9 March: After claims that people were racially abused and a woman assaulted in Bristol on 7 March, a man is charged with racially aggravated assault and related offences. (BBC News, 9 March 2026)

9 March: Scottish grant-maker the Robertson Trust awards a total of £225,000 in funding ‘uplift’ to 75 migrant and racial justice charities, aimed at staff protection and helping them counter rising anti-migrant sentiment in politics and media. (Third Sector, 9 March 2026)

9 March: A 55-year-old Barnsley man is sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to violent disorder outside a Rotherham Holiday Inn used to house asylum seekers in August 2024. (BBC News, 10 March 2026) 

12 March: In St Helier, Jersey, police investigate as racially motivated an attack on two men outside the island’s Islamic centre. A man and a woman are arrested. (BBC News, 12 March 2026) 

13 March: Jewish refugee charity HIAS+JCORE reports facing increased antisemitic abuse, including from far-right activists advancing the ‘great replacement theory’, which claims that Jews are orchestrating migration to undermine western societies. (Guardian, 13 March 2026)

13 March: In the Netherlands, security at synagogues and Jewish institutions is increased after an arson attack at a synagogue in Rotterdam. (Guardian, 14 March 2026)

14 March: In the Netherlands, a Jewish school on the south side of Amsterdam is damaged in an explosion that the mayor described as a ‘deliberate attack against the Jewish community’. No injuries are reported. (Guardian, 14 March 2026)

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.