Hundreds of people attended a meeting in Manchester last weekend to learn how to help build support for asylum seekers. ‘I GOT PASSPORT!’ was the text message I received on Monday. The Congolese man who sent it had just won his campaign to stay in the UK. He was one of 225 people from all
Geography: North-West England
‘How can I leave? I have no legs’ – a Greek campaign for mine survivors
At least sixty overland would-be migrants to Europe have lost their lives to the landmines on Greece’s borders. A campaigner against the mines writes of one small victory in the long struggle for the rights of maimed mine survivors. As representative of a Greek campaign of the Nobel Peace Prize award-winning International Campaign to Ban
Alem’s story
A school explores contradictions in attitudes to asylum seekers using video art. How would secondary school students react to finding out that one of their school friends was to be deported? And how would this help them reassess their beliefs about racism, belonging and asylum? As a Greater Manchester secondary teacher, I have been working
Who votes BNP?
New research into how people voted in local government by-elections in autmumn 2003 shatters some of the myths about who votes for the BNP. The British National Party (BNP) has fifteen councillors. Though not a large number in itself, it demonstrates that in certain parts of England, significant sections of the population are willing to
Athens Olympics under the shadow of anti-Muslim racism
The Olympics in Athens this August will be the first summer games since September 11. Amid the fears about a possible terror attack, it is the Muslim community of Athens – many of whose members are actually involved in building the Olympic Village – which is bearing the brunt of a new form of racism.
Destitute Iranian dies after suicide protest at refugee charity
Yet another asylum seeker has taken his own life after suffering misery at the hands of the British asylum system. Israfil Shiri had been thrown out of his Salford council flat and been denied benefits, under the government’s tough new rules. He set himself alight last week in the offices of Refugee Action in Manchester
Oldham: Asian boy left unconscious after racist attack
A 16-year-old boy was left with a fractured skull after being attacked and racially abused by a group of teenagers in Chadderton this week. The Asian teenager was smashed on the head with a blunt object and knocked unconscious after being chased along Garforth Street by a gang of youths on Saturday. He received treatment
Nine months for white racist thugs who sparked the Oldham riots
A mob of football hooligans and neo-Nazis who terrorised the Asian community of Glodwick, Oldham, in May 2001, were cheered as ‘heroes’ by their supporters in the gallery of a Manchester court this week, as they heard that they had been sentenced to just nine months imprisonment. Following the sentencing of the so-called ‘Oldham 12’
Man charged with murder of Asian taxi driver
Paul Craig, 46, of Higginshaw, Oldham, has been charged with the murder of taxi driver, Israr Hussain. Craig has also been charged with assault and intent to rob. 42-year-old Israr Hussain, a father-of-six from Glodwick, Oldham, died after a stab wound to his neck following an incident in his taxi in the early hours of
Asians do mix, say researchers
The idea that Asians ‘self-segregate’ has been challenged by researchers investigating housing in Leeds and Bradford. Since the riots in Oldham, Burnley, Leeds and Bradford, during the summer of 2001, a number of reports and commentators have promoted the notion of Asian ‘self-segregation’. What began as a racial myth – ‘Asians don’t mix’ – became