An asylum seeking father’s suicide in Holland for the sake of his children has highlighted the growing local-national divide over the deportation of children. On 9 April 2012, Alain Hatungimana, a 36-year-old Burundian facing deportation with his two children, took his own life in a desperate attempt to prevent his children’s removal. Fourteen-year-old Abdillah and
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week on the News Service, we review a new play on stop and search (it’s still on in Catford, south London) and Saleh Mamon, a regular contributor, reviews the recent report from the Children’s Commissioner inquiry into exclusions. We are also sad to report the death of Gerry German, a
The Children’s Commissioner’s exclusion inquiry reveals entrenched discrimination and ‘illegal’ exclusions. In March, the Children’s Commissioner published the report of her first formal inquiry on schools exclusions after eight months of evidence-gathering by her team supported by a panel of experts. They listened to children and adults alike, as well as taking account of written
In a nutshell, Stop Search, plays out the devastating impact that the policy of stop and search can have on a family. This excellent new play shows a black middle-class family whose young teenage son is keeping a secret – his daily interactions with the police and a collection of over thirty records of being
Gerry was a life-long campaigner for children’s education rights and an unwavering supporter of all our struggles. Having been a former headteacher and Principal Education Officer at the Community Relations Commission/Commission for Race Equality, he helped to establish the Working Group Against Racism in Children’s Resources and thirteen years ago invited me and a couple
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week on the News Service the IRR comments on the plans by Newham council to move its homeless to Stoke-on-Trent: ‘Learning the lessons of dispersal‘ and Frances Webber reviews a recent legal decision on the detention of mentally ill foreign offenders. In news from across the UK, a BNP supporter has
Another High Court judge rebukes the UK Border Agency for its detention of mentally ill foreign offenders. On 17 April, Mr Justice Singh QC ruled that the detention by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) of a Nigerian offender was unlawful[1] after a psychiatrist said the man urgently needed proper assessment in a mental hospital, four
In the light of evidence that London boroughs like Newham are seeking cheap housing hundreds of miles away for their residents on housing benefit, the IRR points to the dangers of such a ‘dispersal’ policy. The cap on housing benefit imposed by the coalition government could lead more inner and outer London boroughs to take
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week the late Manning Marable (who was on the Editorial Committee of the IRR’s journal Race & Class) won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography, Malcolm X – a life of reinvention. In his honour we have freed up a number of his articles on the politics of the black
At the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), ‘privatisation’ seems to equate nicely with ‘efficient public services’. From private-run jails to forensic services, the justice system is up for grabs, without mention of the government’s current plans for secret courts or the Legal Aid bill working its way through parliament right now. Last summer, legal interpreting services
