Following a spate of racial violence against Muslims in Scotland in response to the attack on Glasgow airport, various Muslim community groups are organising a ‘Scotland United Against Terror’ rally in Glasgow’s George Square this weekend. The week following the attack on Glasgow airport has seen a number of violent incidents taking place against Muslims
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Black history project launched
The Institute of Race Relations has been awarded a grant of £49,800 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to create an educational Black History Collection. The grant has been made to allow the IRR, which has been collecting materials created by Black organisations and/or on Black struggles since the 1950s, to form these into a coherent
Churches tackle migration issues
The Churches’ Commission for Racial Justice has published Migration Principles, a booklet aimed at churches working with migrants and engaging with migration issues in order to guide their practical responses and to contribute to the national debate. Put together by an inter-denominational study group convened by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and edited by
Black Experience Archive Trust launch
An inspiring new project has brought activists and Black schoolchildren in North London together to create an innovative digital community history archive. West Green BEAT (Black Experience Archive Trust) is a collaboration between activist film-makers Migrant Media, Parkview Academy and the West Green Learning Centre in Tottenham and the London Metropolitan Archives. More than forty
The New Londoners
A new paper circulating in London, The New Londoners, produced by refugees and asylum seekers, provides a strong, alternative voice for these marginalised and often vilified communities. The tabloid-size 24-page newspaper, produced by the Refugee Media Action Group at the Migrants Resource Centre for Refugee Week, is slickly produced with quality pictures and interesting articles
The Blair legacy
As Blair leaves office, he leaves a country more divided – by race, class and status – than he found it. As Tony Blair finally relinquishes power, much has been and will be written about the legacy of his ten years. In the fields of immigration and asylum, as in other fields, his reign presents
‘The Accused’
A powerful and intelligent theatrical experience about migrants and asylum seekers is previewed. Last week, I saw a very inspiring work in progress at the studio space of the Birmingham Rep by Patrice Naimbana, a Sierra Leonean performer/writer/director. The Accused was about migrants/asylum seekers coming to Britain. Alongside the experiences of those coming here, it
Manchester Castaways campaign
The Manchester Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers (MCDAS) and Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST) have launched the Manchester Castaways campaign, calling for a new family amnesty for asylum seekers. The Castaways campaign believes that it is unacceptable that children from asylum-seeking families do not have the same protection of the right to be safe as
The ‘war on terror’: Libya and the UK
A recent legal judgment over deporting Libyans calls into question the protection afforded by Memoranda of Understanding (MOU). On 27 April 2007, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) gave its judgment on the appeals of two Libyan men facing deportation to Libya on the grounds that they are a risk to the national security of
Court of Appeal rules against Home Office ‘sham’ marriage rules
The Court of Appeal has ruled against the Home Secretary by upholding the right of non-European nationals, who are in genuine relationships, to marry in the UK irrespective of their immigration status. Under rules introduced in 2005, non-European nationals with limited leave to remain had to show they had a fiancé visa, or Home Office