As the government announces that NHS England and Public Health England will lead an inquiry into the disproportionate impact of coronavirus on BAME communities, a Black health activist warns that the vague social construct of ‘race’ is being used to explain the mortality and morbidity of diverse populations, and more must be done to hold
In this wide-ranging and disturbing interview, Suresh Grover and Dorothea Jones[1] describe how a combination of Covid-19-linked racism, the ‘Blame China’ narrative and lockdown social distancing measures, are impacting on the caseload of The Monitoring Group; and reflect on the weak responses from the multiple agencies that should be assisting. Liz Fekete: The Guardian has
Dear IRR News subscriber, The consequences of Covid-19 are not indiscriminate. In addition to doctors and nurses, low paid members of the workforce – bus drivers, care-home workers, hospital staff, retail and delivery workers– are on the frontlines and are more likely to catch the disease as they are more exposed. The global pandemic, as
The pandemic is revealing the ways in which global health outcomes are shaped by race, class and indigeneity. As the pandemic spreads to every region of the world, and threatens Indigenous Peoples [1] who are now developing their own ‘self-determined protection mechanisms’[2] early signs suggest that the global war on Covid-19 is morphing into a war on
Below we publish a roundup of race and civil liberties issues related to coronavirus in the UK and Europe. See our regular calendar of racism and resistance here. INTERNATIONAL 31 March: The UN warns that the lack of capacity to deal with the consequences of a pandemic and a global recession would be catastrophic for
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe News stories related to coronavirus have been compiled in a separate calendar, view here. ASYLUM AND MIGRATION ASYLUM AND MIGRATION RIGHTS 25 March: In response to a Law Commission report published in January, which recommended the simplification of the ‘overly complex and
South Yorkshire Migration & Asylum Action Group continues to investigate and support people confined in horrendous conditions during the Covid-19 lock down. Neglect of Christine, put in an isolation house Video of Christine in a Mears Covid-19 isolation house in Newcastle, 27 March Christine, who is a 37-year-old married professional worker from the Middle East,
Before the Covid-19 lockdown in France the Gilets Noirs, the headline-grabbing protest movement of sans-papiers in France, were continuing to break new ground and finding exciting ways to sustain their effort through the innovative ‘solidarity pot’. There can be no doubt that the Gilets Noirs are a formidable ensemble. Their occupations and protests certainly seize
Dear IRR News subscriber, The Institute of Race Relations may have had to close its office in London (please keep in touch with us through email, twitter or facebook), but staff and volunteers, operating remotely, have been working extra hard to ensure that we bring you news of the ways in which civil society are
A review of differential policies towards different populations draws attention to the ways in which civil society is mobilising to demand protection and an end to the stigmatisation of those with no escape from infection. The growing coronavirus crisis has exposed many faultlines in the UK and in Europe, and in particular, governments’ treatment of
