As part of a three-year project entitled Local Stories / Global Times, Birmingham-based Banner Theatre has been working with asylum seekers in Sandwell in the West Midlands and Salford in Greater Manchester to create Migrant Voices, a new piece of multimedia documentary theatre based on their real-life experiences. The show is touring in October during
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Reviewing anti-terrorist laws
The Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC) has recently submitted evidence to the Privy Council which is reviewing the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001. Its submission,Terrorising minority communities: ‘anti-terrorism’ powers, their use and abuse, examines how legislation disproportionately affects refugee and migrant communities and argues that the legislation is undemocratic and discriminatory. The submission contains
Destitute Iranian dies after suicide protest at refugee charity
Yet another asylum seeker has taken his own life after suffering misery at the hands of the British asylum system. Israfil Shiri had been thrown out of his Salford council flat and been denied benefits, under the government’s tough new rules. He set himself alight last week in the offices of Refugee Action in Manchester
Yarl’s Wood trial – a miscarriage of justice?
The restraint of a woman, who asked to attend church, sparked the disturbance that led to Yarl’s Wood detention centre being burnt to the ground. Of the eleven men charged in connection with the fire, only four were convicted, after a trial that may have been flawed. And yet, next month, Yarl’s Wood will be
Legal aid cuts will target those most in need of protection
Last January, the government threw asylum seekers onto the streets, under the new ‘Section 55’ rules. This January, it plans to deny them access to proper legal advice, under new proposals to ration legal aid. The result will be the ‘warehousing’ of cases and the end for many of a chance of a fair hearing.
What happened to my son?
‘I sent him to the airport; he was so excited! It will be his first time living apart from us. I am proud of him and the next time we meet he will be a man!’ – Mr Lee was thinking as he saw his son, Lee Kyung Woon (also known as Michael), off to
If they have your passport, they have your life
It might sound innocent enough. A family brings someone from abroad to work in their home, under the domestic worker visa programme. For the sake of ‘convenience’, the employer hangs on to the worker’s passport. But a new report from Kalayaan, a group supporting the rights of migrant domestic workers, shows how the withholding of
Hidden voices
An important new booklet from Churches Together in Britain and Ireland records the struggles of asylum seekers in their own words. In Asylum Voices, we hear of experiences usually hidden in British society. Behind the tabloid headlines screaming ‘bogus’, ‘scrounger’, ‘economic migrant’ are the ‘hidden voices’ of people who come to the UK seeking refuge.
Fortress America
As America plunges into a period of imperialist expansion, immigrant communities – particularly of Middle-Eastern and South Asian descent – have been caught in the teeth of a new domestic totalitarianism. Every Friday, a small group of protesters holds a picket outside the New York offices of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) on Manhattan’s
Hull: Hundreds of asylum seekers protest against racism
Around 300 asylum seekers – mostly Iraqi Kurds – gathered at Pearson Park in Hull this week to demand a stronger response from Humberside police to the racist attacks they are suffering. In the last two weeks, the number of assaults against asylum seekers and refugees in Hull has increased dramatically. A number of victims