Dear IRR News subscriber,

As we wait for the jury at Chelmsford Crown Court to deliver a verdict in the Stansted 15 trial, IRR News reports on the worrying escalation in ‘crimes of solidarity’ this year. Liz Fekete and Anya Edmond-Pettitt cover investigations and prosecutions brought against 99 people, not only anti-deportation activists, but the captains and crews of search and rescue NGOs, amongst others. The Stansted 15, as is by now well known, were attempting to stop sixty people from being deported via charter flight. Charter flight deportations form part of the UK’s border regime, which is explained in a new book by Corporate Watch, The UK Border Regime: a critical guide, reviewed here by Frances Webber.

Over the last week, the case of Jamal, the 15-year-old Syrian refugee schoolchild racially bullied in Hudersfield, has been highlighted in the media. In our regular calendar of racism and resistance, we recall the way Jamal’s story unfolded. We also provide a round-up of other serious racist incidents across the country as well as in Ireland, where a former hotel in Moville, Donegal, which was set to open as an asylum accommodation centre, was set on fire.

In the run-up to Christmas, the IRR is reducing the prices on A. Sivanandan’s Catching History on the Wing (£10.99) as well as our DVDs including Struggles of Black Communities (£11) and Catching History on the Wing: a conversation with A. Sivanandan (£7).

This is our last newsletter for 2018 (view our 2018 annual report here) but we will continue to publish our fortnightly calendar of racism and resistance. Have a good break, we’ll be back in the New Year.

IRR News Team