An investigation is underway as to how a man died following a raid by police and immigration officers at his home in Woodford Green, Essex. 36-year-old Frank Odame was found with head injuries below a block of flats after ‘police officers and UK immigration officials attended a residential address in Lambourne Court, Woodford Green’. A
News Service
Two thirds of newspaper stories say British Muslims are ‘a threat’ or ‘problem’
A new report has found that, since 2000, two thirds of newspaper articles about Muslims in Britain portray British Muslims as either ‘a threat’ or ‘problem’ and increasingly utilise negative and stereotypical imagery. The forty-page report, entitled Images of Islam in the UK, set out to analyse a representative sample of newspaper articles in British
Pressure to deport foreign national prisoners
As the drive to deport foreign criminals goes on, Frances Webber, a leading human rights lawyer, reports on new legislation affecting foreign national prisoners and their families. The automatic deportation provisions of the 2007 UK Borders Act came into force on 1 August 2008. From that date it became possible for the UK Borders Agency
Two suspicious Black deaths in south London
The family of a Black man who died after being arrested by Brixton police is appealing for witnesses to come forward. On 21 August, 40-year-old Sean Rigg was arrested, according to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) which investigates deaths in custody, on suspicion of public order offences and alleged assault on a police officer
Two asylum seekers take their own lives
In August, two asylum seekers apparently took their own lives: one was found hanged in a Manchester park and another shot himself two days after being deported to Kurdistan. According to Indymedia, on 5 August, an Iranian asylum seeker, Nadir Zarabee, was found hanged in a park in Longsight, Manchester after being asked to leave
How are thinktanks shaping the political agenda on Muslims in Britain?
Policy Exchange, the Social Affairs Unit and the Centre for Social Cohesion are driving the political agenda on Muslims in Britain while thinktanks on the left are largely silent. Over the last two months, a number of writers, journalists and policymakers associated with the Policy Exchange (PX) thinktank have taken up key positions on Boris
Two murders investigated as racist
In the recent furore about the murders of young people, it may have been overlooked that two look distinctly as though they were racially motivated. Hastings On Sunday evening, 24 August 2008, 16-year-old Mohammed Al-Majed died in Kings College hospital in London after suffering brain damage two days earlier in an attack outside a Hastings
Gone too far!
An award-winning play by first-time playwright Bola Agbaje, Gone too far!, explores Black identity in a clever, funny and very entertaining way. ‘Nigeria, England, America, Jamaica; are you proud of where you’re from? Dark-skinned, light-skinned, Afro, weaves, who are your true brothers and sisters? When two brothers from different continents go down the street to
Appeal for funds to send Iraqi man home
The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees (IFIR) is appealing for funds to send the body of Mohammad Hussain home to Iraq to be buried after he died from cancer on 3 August 2008. According to the IFIR, for the eight years Mohammad was in the UK he was a constant and fierce defender of refugee
Control order bans contact with ex-Guantanamo detainee
A recent court hearing has banned a desperately ill man, whose daily movements are restricted by a control order, from having any contact with Moazzam Begg, who was detained in Guantanamo Bay for nearly three years. Mahmoud Abu Rideh, a refugee from Palestine, whose health is in a serious condition after numerous suicide attempts since