An anti-racist student organiser discusses, in the light of the upcoming English Defence League (EDL) event in Bradford, what anti-fascists can learn about recent state interventions and particularly the policing of anti-fascist demonstrations. The upcoming English Defence League (EDL) demonstration in Bradford on 28 August had been described as ‘the big one’ by EDL spokesman
News Service
Asylum battles: two victories and one setback
The rights of asylum seekers were upheld in two recent court judgments – but those facing deportation on national security grounds were denied justice in a third. In the first case, the charity Medical Justice (MJ) challenged the UK Border Agency (UKBA)’s practice of snatching refused asylum seekers, including children, and removing them from the
Nottingham asylum seeker jumps to his death
Campaigners are desperately trying to raise the necessary funds to send the body of 27-year-old Osman Rasul Mohammed, an Iraqi Kurdish asylum seeker who jumped from the seventh floor of a Nottingham tower block, back home. On Sunday 25 July 2010, according to the Guardian police officers talked to Osman as he was perched by
Racial violence laid bare
Ongoing research by the Institute of Race Relations exposes the reach of racial violence that continues to spread across the county. Following the publication of a briefing paper, Racial Violence: The buried issue in June 2010, the IRR has continued to monitor racist violence in its various guises across the country; the list reproduced below
Stop and … spy?
Are the security services in the UK so desperate to recruit spies and informers that they stop random travellers coming to the UK in order to recruit them? IRR News has heard that a Sri Lankan man, visiting London was stopped as he passed through the Eurostar terminal in St Pancras and asked to spy
Home Office hits international students – again
New rules, to make it harder for international students to come and study in the UK, will become law unless Parliament intervenes. On 22 July, the Home Office published rule changes which make life more difficult for international students. One of the changes says that from now on, graduates from UK universities who wish to
Court rules against unauthorised police surveillance
Last week, at Inner London Crown Court, three activists were cleared of charges of obstructing the police as they attempted to film and photograph those attending two London NoBorders meetings in south London in June 2008. The three campaigners were arrested after protesting at the surveillance being carried out by police officers from the Forward
Not integration but civil rights
The Institute of Race Relations publishes the alternative European integration report. What do minority organisations, refugees and migrants in Europe think about the debate on integration? Is it a debate that stigmatises and humiliates ethnic minorities, or one where institutionalised racism is adequately addressed? Over the last year, the IRR’s European Race Audit has been
New Travellers, old story
A unique set of free resources about the culture and history of Britain’s New Travellers has been created by The Children’s Society. A year-long piece of work, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the New Travellers, Old Story project collected oral histories from New Travellers across the South West and used them to make three
End of Prevent?
The government’s controversial preventing violent extremism programme is apparently to be dismantled. According to a report in the Guardian on 14 July, the Home Office, in addition to carrying out a review of anti-terror powers relating to control orders, stop and search, surveillance and detention powers, is about to dismantle its Prevent Programme. This £60