Dear IRR News subscriber, Testimonies to the London hearing of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal, held at Friends House on 3 and 4 November, revealed the workings of the hostile environment – in health and education, in policing and detention – and some of the inspiring acts of resistance and solidarity they have evoked. But they
News Service
‘Reclaiming our collective past’; meeting Amrit Wilson
IRR’s Sophia Siddiqui has a discussion with Amrit Wilson, an activist and writer, whose seminal book Finding a Voice: struggles of South Asian women has just been republished, forty years later. Why did you write the book in 1978 and why is it relevant today? Back in the 70s like many other community activists and South Asian
Humanitarian volunteers detained in Lesvos must be released
Meena Masood, Seán Binder’s partner and member of #FreeHumanitarians, calls for solidarity and support for the three humanitarians arrested and detained in Greece since August. On 20 October, protests took place in Dublin, Berlin, London, Boston and Stockholm in support of three humanitarian volunteers currently detained in Greece. Seán Binder (24), Sarah Mardini (23) and
Calendar of racism and resistance (25 October – 8 November)
Asylum and migration 24 October: In northern Bosnia, around 250 people protesting at the closure of the EU Maljevac crossing at the Croatian border are dispersed with tear gas. (Are You Syrious, 24 October 2018) 25 October: Home secretary Sajid Javid apologises to Afghan and Gurkha immigrants who were unlawfully required to take DNA tests
IRR News (10 – 24 October)
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week, we learned that the Home Office is facilitating the exploitation of migrants working in the construction of the £2.6bn Beatrice windfarm off the Scottish coast, by granting an immigration waiver to employers bringing in non-EU workers, who in many cases have been paid a fraction of the UK minimum
Calendar of racism and resistance (10 – 24 October)
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. Anti-fascism and the far Right 10 October: The army launches an investigation after Tommy Robinson posts a photograph and video footage of himself at Watford Gap motorway services surrounded by young uniformed squaddies who chant his name. (Express,
Language and vulnerability: interpreting in Immigration Removal Centres
Aisha Maniar discusses Stephen Shaw’s follow-up report on the detention of vulnerable people from the perspective of interpreting facilities for detainees. The United Kingdom has one of the largest immigration detention estates in Europe. While detention is punitive in nature, the measure itself is administrative and not criminal. In 2017, for the non-offence of not holding a British passport, 27,331
Calais two years after the ‘Jungle’
Eliane Edmond-Pettitt describes how the situation in Calais has changed for volunteers on the ground since the Jungle came down in 2016. In October 2016 bulldozers entered the Calais ‘Jungle’, a shanty town built on an asbestos field on the edge of Calais near the port. The event gained a lot of media attention and
IRR News (25 September – 10 October)
Dear IRR News subscriber, Against the backcloth of austerity, and amidst warnings that universal credit and deep cuts to the welfare budget will massively increase poverty and reliance on food banks, it’s perhaps not surprising to learn that the use of force by police is rising. In the Metropolitan Police, such force – handcuffing, stun
Calendar of racism and resistance (25 September – 10 October)
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. Asylum and migration 25 September: A court in Boulogne finds 21-year-old Loan Torondel, a worker for L’Auberge des Migrants, guilty of criminal libel for an ironic tweet about police harassment of migrants, a conviction described by Human Rights