Tahir Mehmood, a 43-year-old Pakistani man, has died in Pennine House, a short-term holding facility near Manchester airport. A typically terse statement from the Home Office reveals: ‘A 43-year-old man from Pakistan died in Pennine House short term holding facility and his death has been reported to the police and the coroner. The family of
Ali Aarrass – condition critical, but where is the Belgian government?
The Belgian government has set its face against saving the life of its citizen, on hunger and thirst strike in prison in Morocco, despite protests in a number of countries. As we go to press, Ali Aarrass, a dual Belgian-Moroccan national, is in a critical condition in a prison in Salé, Morocco. As of 30
IRR News 19-25 July 2013
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week, we have a report on how violent anti-Roma demonstrations are occurring on a weekly basis in the Czech Republic and news from France where campaigners say police harassment sparked the ‘riots’ at Trappes. We also have a review of a new play (that is only on for a few more days),
One stunt too many
This week the Home Office announced a new pilot scheme, lorries with ads, to encourage people in the UK illegally to ‘go home or face arrest’. The one-week £10,000 advertising campaign will involve vans driving around six London boroughs (Barking & Dagenham, Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Hounslow and Redbridge) carrying ads asking ‘In the UK illegally?’,
‘It’s like a war’
Roma communities under fire from the far Right in the Czech Republic need pan-European support. Hitler’s genocide against the Roma, which started with the roundup of Sinti in Germany in 1933, is commemorated annually on 2 August. A day of action in London begins with a protest outside the Czech Embassy. The background to the
Battling against the odds
A combination of documentary and theatre in north London looks at twenty-first century poverty from the point of view of those experiencing it. Lost Nation, by Red Room Productions, explores the human cost of the government’s politics of austerity. Beginning with a short film, local Brent residents explain in detail the realities of low wage
France: police blamed for Trappes unrest
Campaigners say police harassment sparked the ‘riots’ at Trappes. On Friday 19 July violence broke out in the Paris suburb of Trappes as young Muslims protested outside a police station at what they described as the provocative treatment of a veiled Muslim woman and her elderly mother. The violence continued on the following night, and
IRR News 12-18 July 2013
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week, we have a report on an event taking place on Friday 19 July where family campaigns will gather to mark the seventh anniversary of the detention of Talha Ahsan. And we reproduce an article from the Edge Fund that provides ‘radical funding for radical change’. And in news from
Long Walk: Family Campaigns for Justice in the UK
On Friday evening, family campaigns will gather in London to mark the seventh anniversary of Talha Ahsan’s detention without trial. The event curated by Hamja Ahsan, brother of Talha will be held at London’s Rich Mix in Bethnal Green (19 July 2013, from 6.30pm). The event entitled, ‘Long Walk: Family Campaigns for Justice in the
Nothing about us without us
Below we reproduce a call from the Edge Fund for people to join its Advisory Group to help make it truly representative. The Edge Fund was initiated by a group of philanthropists and activists in early 2012 to explore how funds could be distributed so as to devolve the power of donors and create real