The policy of commercialisation of migration leads inexorably to neglect and ill-treatment of the most vulnerable. At a recent conference organised by the Detention Advice Service (DAS), Rob Whiteman, the UK Border Agency’s (UKBA) chief executive, was unapologetic. ‘We implement the government’s policy of super-selectivity’, he said. ‘That means we want only the brightest and
News Service
Kick it Out and black self-organisation
Below we reproduce a letter by the IRR’s A. Sivanandan, published in the Guardian on the recent controversy surrounding the charity Kick it Out. At a time when the far right is on the rise in Britain and in Europe, and fascism chooses the football field for its recruiting grounds, Kick it Out has done
G4S, Jomast Stockton hostel and the mother-and-baby-market
John Grayson, researching the G4S asylum housing contracts and their impact on the North East, uncovers the latest G4S twist on asylum housing markets – a hostel for asylum seeker mothers and babies in Stockton on Tees. The hostel is contracted to G4S by Jomast Developments, a family property development company empire headed by Stuart
One law for non-Muslims
Victoria Brittain on the home secretary’s double standards in the Gary McKinnon case. Only former Labour home secretary Alan Johnson chose to stand aside publicly from the wave of support for the highly popular and welcome decision by Theresa May last week to stop the extradition of Gary McKinnon to the US. It was the
IRR News 12-18 October 2012
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week, the IRR’s Frances Webber reflects on a life in the law on the eve of the launch of her book, Borderline Justice: the fight for refugee and migrant rights. We report on a demonstration that took place last week which saw activists from a wide range of campaigns come together
UFFC marches again to Downing Street
Next weekend, the families and friends of those that have died in custody will once again gather to remember their loved ones. The fourteenth annual gathering of the United Families and Friends Campaign remembering those that have died in (police, prison and psychiatric) custody will take place on Saturday 27 October. On the day, a
Radicalising the law
On the eve of the launch of her book, Borderline Justice, IRR News interviews its regular contributor, Frances Webber, about a life in the law. IRR News: What took you into the law? Were you a radical who chose the law as an arena of struggle or did the law radicalise you? Frances Webber: As
Glasgow: solidarity with asylum seekers facing eviction
Campaigners in Glasgow monitored court proceedings on 17 October, in solidarity with asylum seekers who could be evicted from their homes and forced into destitution. Just as groups are launching a campaign against G4S’ treatment of asylum seekers in the north of England, groups in Glasgow are taking up the cause of asylum seekers facing
Holding G4S to account
Last week, activists gathered to protest at the activities of the multinational corporation G4S, whose guards were involved in the death of Angolan Jimmy Mubenga in October 2010. A ‘day of action for Jimmy Mubenga, victim of G4S and the deadly deportation machine’ saw people from numerous groups campaigning against the activities of G4S gather
One Game, One Community
This October Kick it Out, football’s anti-racism campaign, is encouraging action against racism. From October 18-29, Kick it Out, which works throughout the football, educational and community sectors to confront racism, is hosting events as part of their ‘One Game, One Community’ season of action against racism in the game. Throughout October, Kick it Out