Earlier this week, South London Citizens, an alliance of trade union branches, faith communities, schools and student groups from six south London boroughs, launched its own ‘citizens enquiry’ into service provision at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate offices at Lunar House in Croydon. The enquiry is to take oral and written evidence and will consider
Geography: South-East England
Roma: the forgotten victims
Over sixty people gathered outside the Houses of Parliament today to protest against the continued ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Roma people across Europe and the British government’s policies against Roma and Travellers in this country. The event was organised to coincide with the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Many of the protestors wore the
Collective Black voice or ‘comfort zone’ for ministers?
A personal view of the third conference on the education of Black children, held recently in London. Nearly 1,000 people filled the halls of the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre to participate in the third conference on the achievement of Black pupils in London schools on 11 September 2004. The conference was dubbed ‘reaching for
Race & Class celebrates milestone
Speaking at the 30-year celebration of the radical journal Race & Class, IRR chair Colin Prescod took stock of the past, while founder editor A. Sivanandan called for new political analysis to inform struggles against racism, empire and globalisation over the coming years. At a celebration event hosted by Jeremy Corbyn MP at the House
Huge response to Omid Jamil Ali appeal
An appeal by an Iraqi family for the body of their migrant son to be returned home for burial, three years after he died trying to enter Britain, has received a strong response from IRR News’ readers. The necessary £3,100 has now been raised. Two weeks ago, IRR News reported on the plight of Jamal
Help a grieving Iraqi family to bring their son home
The impoverished parents of an Iraqi man, who died trying to enter Britain in 2001, have appealed to the British public to help raise £3,100 – the cost of sending the body from a Kent mortuary, where it has been left for the last three years, to Iraq for burial. (ADDENDUM, 8 SEPT 2004: The
Hundreds demonstrate outside Home Office against ‘war on terror’
The campaign against the criminalisation of Muslim communities under anti-terror laws stepped up a gear this week as over 300 people protested outside the Home Office. The emergency protest on 13 August 2004 was called following the re-arrest two weeks earlier of Babar Ahmad, a 30-year-old university IT officer. Babar was first arrested under anti-terror
Father speaks out against son’s arrest
At a public meeting held by the ‘Stop Police Terror’ group this week in Tooting, south London, Ashfaq Ahmad called on the government not to extradite his son, Babar, to the US, where he faces terrorism charges. ‘I want you to know the truth about my son despite everything that has happened and all the
Failing the vulnerable: the death of ten asylum seekers and other foreign nationals in UK detention
The self-inflicted death of a Ukrainian asylum seeker at Harmondsworth removal centre on 19 July would have gone unnoticed if it had not been for the subsequent eruption of large-scale violence forcing the closure of the centre and the dispersal of detainees to other detention centres and prisons. One of those dispersed, a 23-year-old Vietnamese
Alliance to fight anti-Gypsy racism
Two weeks after the CPS announced that it would not prosecute a Sussex bonfire society for burning a caravan bearing effigies of a Gypsy family and the number plate ‘P1KEY’, activists have decided to form their own Gypsy Bonfire Society to inform people about anti-Gypsy racism. Twelve members of the Firle Bonfire Society were arrested