A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. Policing and criminal justice October: HM Inspectorate of Constabulary publishes a report: An inspection of undercover policing in England and Wales. Download it here. 17 October: The Guardian reveals the stories behind the statistics and the human toll
News Service
Holding football to account
IRR News speaks to Lord Ouseley about his twenty years of kicking racism out of football. When Herman Ouseley set up Let’s Kick Racism out of Football over twenty years ago, one of the driving factors was the rawness and frequency of racist abuse forcing people away from the game. ‘Football had become a game
Sixteen years of marching
For the sixteenth year, families and friends of those that have died in custody marched on Downing Street at the weekend. Behind the banner of the United Families and Friends Campaign, new families were walking in the procession including the family members of Rubel Ahmed, who died in Morton Hall immigration removal centre earlier this
Human rights – at the government’s discretion
There is more to the Tories’ proposals on human rights and free movement than mere electioneering. The October 2014 Conservative party conference was dominated by justice minister Chris Grayling’s announcement that a future Conservative government will repeal the Human Rights Act, replace it with a British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, and ignore unwelcome rulings
Islamophobia, loyalty and the treason debate
As the coalition government considers a revival of treason laws, sections of the media are hunting for national traitors and their fellow-travellers. No one would dispute the facts. An estimated 500 young British Muslims are fighting in Syria and Iraq, and an unknown number of these have joined the Islamic State. Yet instead of looking
Trial of three G4S officers to begin
Next week, on Monday 3 November, the trial of three G4S officers accused of the manslaughter of Jimmy Mubenga will begin. Jimmy Mubenga died on 12 October 2010 on board a plane at Heathrow airport during his deportation to Angola. He was initially held at Brook House, which is also operated by G4S, and then
IRR News 3 – 16 October 2014
Dear IRR News subscriber, It’s started again! All too predictably, the success of UKIP, in the Clacton by-election and the close call for Labour in its Greater Manchester stronghold of Heywood & Middleton, has led to a renewed Dutch auction as to which of the mainstream parties can take the toughest line on immigration. Meanwhile,
Calendar of racism and resistance (4-16 October 2014)
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. Asylum seekers and refugees 6 October: Corporate Watch reveals that NHS England has awarded G4S a series of contracts worth some £23 million to run medical facilities at four immigration removal centres in the UK. (Corporate Watch, 6
The nature of a society is exposed at its margins
This graphic account of the plight of the undocumented in Amsterdam first appeared on the web site Dreaming in Exile. Since 2012, a group of people from a number of countries have formed a group in Amsterdam called ‘We Are Here’. There are men and women, old and young. Some have been here for many years.
African refugees under attack in Israel
A Human Rights Watch report, criticising Israel’s inhumane treatment of African asylum seekers, provides an opportunity to reflect on the extension of the Prevention of Infiltration Law, first used against Palestinians in 1954. In recent weeks, Israeli nationalists, including ministers from the far-right Jewish Home party, have marched through the streets of Tel Aviv, with