An important new drama by Neil Biswas, to be broadcast on Channel 4 next week, shows how the lives of members of the Pakistani community of Mannigham were defined and destroyed by the Bradford riots of July 2001. The riots were the worst outbreak of street violence on mainland Britain in a generation and involved
Geography: North-West England
‘My life doesn’t belong to me anymore’
Innocent Nkung, a 35-year-old asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), suffered such homophobic and political persecution that he had to flee the DRC and is now fighting to stay in the UK after his asylum claim was refused. Innocent, who has a background in campaigning on human rights issues had been arrested
Flores hands in petition to Home Office
19-year-old campaigner Flores Sukula, of Bolton, went to the Home Office in London this week to hand in a petition of 2,500 signatures in support of her family’s anti-deportation campaign. Five of the Sukula family’s six children – including an eleven-month-old baby – face being taken into care as a result of support being withdrawn
Digital Diaries – the right to stay
A series of short online videos by Manchester-based groups tells the ‘untold stories behind the political and media hype’ surrounding asylum seekers. Asylum seekers, the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns (NCADC), the Basement café, Community Arts North West and No Borders Manchester have joined forces for this project that focuses on asylum seekers in the
Victim of racist attack facing charges
Campaigners are calling for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to drop charges of assault and affray against Eileen Jia, whose partner, Mi Gao Huang Chen, was attacked and murdered by a gang of youths after facing a sustained campaign of racism at their Chinese restaurant in Wigan. On 23 April 2005, Mi Gao Huang
Fate of Sukula family in the hands of Bolton Council after lost appeal
Pressure is mounting on Bolton Council, from national and local organisations, not to force an asylum-seeking family into homelessness and take their children into care under new government measures. In the first test of new legislation, which provides for the withdrawal of all support from ‘failed’ asylum-seeking families, the Sukula family lost their appeal at
Asylum-seeking children face being separated from their parents and placed in care under new powers
A family in Bolton, whose campaign to stay in Britain has won strong local support, is one of the first to face new powers to separate asylum-seeking children from their parents. Powers introduced under last year’s Asylum Act, which allow the Home Office to cut off support to families with children whose asylum claims have
Primary school children rally to save their friends from deportation
St John’s RC Primary School, Rochdale, is to hold a rally today as part of its campaign to prevent the deportation of seven asylum-seeking children and their families. School children will join a procession along the streets of Rochdale to a local church, where a mass will be held in support of children’s rights. Children
15-year-old Daniel launches anti-deportation campaign
Daniel Sukula wrote to IRR News earlier this year to tell us of his fears of being deported to Congo. Now he asks readers to support his anti-deportation campaign. ‘My name is Daniel and I am 15 years old’, begins his letter. ‘I am writing this because me and my family face deportation to Congo.
Greeks demand the end of arbitrary detention and the release of child asylum detainees
Campaigners are targeting the Amygdaleza Centre, a former shelter for female victims of trafficking, which has now been transformed into a brutal removal centre for women facing deportation. Greek refugee rights campaigners are taking to the streets. On 6 March 2005, Mothering Sunday, a demonstration will be held outside the Amygdaleza Centre near Athens demanding,