Roma communities under fire from the far Right in the Czech Republic need pan-European support. Hitler’s genocide against the Roma, which started with the roundup of Sinti in Germany in 1933, is commemorated annually on 2 August. A day of action in London begins with a protest outside the Czech Embassy. The background to the
News Service
Battling against the odds
A combination of documentary and theatre in north London looks at twenty-first century poverty from the point of view of those experiencing it. Lost Nation, by Red Room Productions, explores the human cost of the government’s politics of austerity. Beginning with a short film, local Brent residents explain in detail the realities of low wage
France: police blamed for Trappes unrest
Campaigners say police harassment sparked the ‘riots’ at Trappes. On Friday 19 July violence broke out in the Paris suburb of Trappes as young Muslims protested outside a police station at what they described as the provocative treatment of a veiled Muslim woman and her elderly mother. The violence continued on the following night, and
IRR News 12-18 July 2013
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week, we have a report on an event taking place on Friday 19 July where family campaigns will gather to mark the seventh anniversary of the detention of Talha Ahsan. And we reproduce an article from the Edge Fund that provides ‘radical funding for radical change’. And in news from
Long Walk: Family Campaigns for Justice in the UK
On Friday evening, family campaigns will gather in London to mark the seventh anniversary of Talha Ahsan’s detention without trial. The event curated by Hamja Ahsan, brother of Talha will be held at London’s Rich Mix in Bethnal Green (19 July 2013, from 6.30pm). The event entitled, ‘Long Walk: Family Campaigns for Justice in the
Nothing about us without us
Below we reproduce a call from the Edge Fund for people to join its Advisory Group to help make it truly representative. The Edge Fund was initiated by a group of philanthropists and activists in early 2012 to explore how funds could be distributed so as to devolve the power of donors and create real
IRR News 5-11 July 2013
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week, the IRR publishes a briefing paper by Liz Fekete on the growing tide of hostility against Europe’s Romani communities. We also have a review of a new book of Peter Blackman’s poetry, Footprints, which ‘gives this forgotten black British campaigner his due’. Two historic ‘unlawful killing’ verdicts have been
A culture of casual racism
No one should be surprised at the death of Jimmy Mubenga at the hands of three G4S officers. Twenty years ago, in 1993, a ‘specialist’ squad of deportation police – SO13, arrived at the home of Joy Gardner in Crouch End, London, to arrest and deport her and her 5-year-old son to Jamaica as overstayers.
From pillar to post: pan-European racism and the Roma
This week, we publish a briefing paper which documents a growing tide of hostility against Europe’s Romani communities. Europe’s Roma face a double victimisation both as Roma and as migrants and are fast becoming the number one scapegoat for the economic crisis, argues IRR’s Director Liz Fekete in this hard-hitting review of anti-Roma hate campaigns
Restoring Peter Blackman
A new book of Peter Blackman’s poetry gives this forgotten black British campaigner his due. I met Peter Blackman over forty years ago, when he was my age now. It was by accident, at Willesden Junction railway yard where we both worked. I remember I offered to sell him a socialist newspaper, interrupting him getting