The release, last week, of the asylum statistics for 2002 was greeted by politicians and media alike as ‘bad news’. But a closer examination of the numbers reveals a more complex picture. ‘Asylum up 20%’ and ‘Record levels of asylum seekers’ were the headlines proclaimed across last week’s news-stands. And, since the government, earlier this
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The hate industry
Britain’s tabloid media has become obsessed with ‘scrounging’ asylum seekers, out of control immigration, foreign ‘plagues’ and Muslim terrorists. The emerging politics of hate, fear and hysteria is set to dominate Britain in 2003. Following the anti-terrorist raids in Wood Green, north London, and the death of Detective Constable Stephen Oake during an anti-terrorist raid
Terror policing brings many arrests but few charges
British police have made 304 arrests under anti-terrorist legislation since 11 September 2001. But only forty of those arrests have led to charges being brought. And only three have so far resulted in convictions, none for involvement in Islamic terror groups. The three successful convictions were related to membership of banned organisations rather than any
Doreen Lawrence accuses Blunkett of burying Macpherson report
David Blunkett lost interest in the fight against institutional racism following the riots in Oldham, Burnley and Bradford, says Doreen Lawrence. Speaking at yesterday’s Unite Against Racism conference, organised by the National Assembly Against Racism (NAAR), with UNISON and the South-East Region TUC, Doreen Lawrence won a standing ovation before and after her speech. She
Asylum seekers win temporary reprieve from impending destitution
In denying the right to food and shelter, Blunkett’s new benefit rules breach the European Convention of Human Rights. Mr Justice Collins, sitting at the High Court, has blocked the implementation of Section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, which denies ‘late claimants’ for asylum the right to state-funded shelter and food.
Yarl’s Wood, one year on
Today is not only Valentine’s Day, but also the day, one year ago, that Yarl’s Wood Immigration Detention Centre, the government’s flagship, was burnt, almost to the ground. The government’s asylum policy of ‘faster, firmer, fairer’ was dealt a severe blow. Now, the victims of British asylum policy, those asylum seekers who were locked up
Afghan asylum seeker killed in Southampton
Police have launched a murder inquiry after a 22-year-old Afghan asylum seeker was found unconscious at his home in Southampton on Monday 10 February. Mohammed Isa Hasan Ali had survived imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Taliban regime. But a year and a half after seeking asylum in Britain, he was murdered. According
Racism and the police – the case of Sylbert Farquharson
On 31 January 2003, Sylbert Farquharson won a civil case against police officers who subjected him to a racist beating in Stockwell, south London. The facts before Judge Michael Dean, sitting at the Central London County Court, must have been so horrific as to make him cast aside the normal reserve of his office. Mr
Haslar – a place of no return
Ukrainian asylum seeker, 42-year-old Mikhail Bognarchuk, was found hanged by his shoelaces in a toilet at Haslar Removal Centre on 31 January. He was due to be deported that day to the Ukraine – a country with a questionable human rights record. A Home Office Country Assessment Report on the Ukraine states that ‘police and
Passer-by joins in attack on asylum seekers
Two asylum-seeking brothers in their early 30s were left with serious injuries at the weekend after confronting a group of youths harassing them outside their home. About ten youths had gathered outside the asylum seekers’ home in Hemlington, Middlesbrough, on the evening of Saturday 1 February – throwing snowballs at the house. After a while,