Speaking at the Third Claudia Jones Memorial Lecture on 28 October 2004 organised by the National Union of Journalist’s Black Members Council*, Dr. A. Sivanandan, Director of the Institute of Race Relations, examined how the two trajectories – the war on asylum and the war on terror – had converged to produce the racism/imperialism of
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Open verdict on death of asylum seeker who slept in a wheelie bin
Not suicide but an open verdict, was the pronouncement of coroner Leonard Gorodkin on the death of a failed asylum seeker, who walked in to the offices of Refugee Action in Manchester and set himself on fire. On 21 October 2004, Manchester Coroner’s Court heard that a verdict of suicide could not be established beyond
Racial violence soars after Beslan siege
Since the Beslan school siege tragedy, levels of racial violence in Russia have spiralled. Six racist murders have taken place in the last few weeks. If your name has an ending which says you’re from the Caucasus, if you are recognisably Muslim, if you have darker skin, if you are from Africa or south-east Asia,
Living in fear
Speaking at the European Social Forum seminar on Civil Liberties and the War on Terror*, Liz Fekete, Deputy Director of the Institute of Race Relations, called for the protection of the most vulnerable in society – refugees and asylum seekers. Refugees are the main victims of terror. They have fled the terror of war and
‘I prefer to be killed here than go back to my own country’
A meeting at the House of Commons on 19 October saw the launch of a report on women’s experience of immigration detention in the UK. The report by the Bail for Immigration Detainees project and Asylum Aid’s Refugee Women’s Resource Project examines the experience of thirteen women asylum seekers, the majority from Africa, who were
Racial violence soars after Beslan siege
Since the Beslan school siege tragedy, levels of racial violence in Russia have spiralled. Six racist murders have taken place in the last few weeks. If your name has an ending which says you’re from the Caucasus, if you are recognisably Muslim, if you have darker skin, if you are from Africa or south-east Asia,
The psychological toll of ATCSA detention
On 13 October 2004, a panel of psychologists and a psychiatrist made public a report showing that the damage to men held indefinitely without trial under the Anti Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 (ATCSA) was both grave and predictable. The experts reported that there had been a ‘progressive deterioration in the mental health of
Protection FROM refugees
Detention in Europe, published this week, by the Jesuit Refugee Service in Europe criticises European refugee policies as ‘repressive and restrictive’, and moving from the ‘protection of refugees’ to ‘protection from refugees’. The report which aims to achieve ‘freedom, security and justice not only for citizens of Europe, but also for refugees and migrants in
Suspected of something – accused of nothing
On Sunday 3 October over 300 people – campaigners, families and concerned individuals – gathered outside Belmarsh prison to protest against the detention without trial of eleven men, all ‘foreign nationals’ and all Muslim. On 19 December 2001, just three months after the September 11 attacks, the British government arrested eight men under the Anti-terrorism
Marking Black History
To mark Black History Month, the Institute of Race Relations has published a Black History section – including personal memoirs of Paul Robeson, W.E.B. Du Bois and Ed Scobie. Published in the October 2004 issue of Race & Class, the Black History section also includes original research on Britain’s continued involvement in the slave trade