Rizwaan Sabir, who was arrested in 2008 as a suspected terrorist whilst conducting postgraduate research at the University of Nottingham, gives his first public reaction on the recent suspension of Dr Rod Thornton. It has now been over three years since my friend, Hicham Yezza and I were arrested for allegedly being involved in the
Revolutionary poems from Chris Searle
A beautiful collection of poetry by Chris Searle, recalling the people and incidents he has encountered in his many lives as a committed teacher in East London, Canada, the Caribbean, Mozambique and Sheffield, has just been published. All the poems gathered together here in Doodlebug Boy written over some forty years, convey what it really
Look beyond the headlines
Hertsmere Young Researchers’ Network, in advocating for young people, has produced first-rate research into the media portrayal of youth, gangs and knife crime. The National Youth Agency Young Researchers’ Network funded Hertsmere Borough Council to support a team of seven young people in Hertsmere, Hertfordshire, aged 14 to 19, to research a topic of their
Catalonia – far-right party gains in regional elections
Against the backdrop of citizens’ protests against the Socialists’ austerity package, the Right made significant gains in Catalonia by focusing on anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim themes. Democratic municipal elections were held in Catalonia (four constituencies and forty-one counties) in 1979 for the first time after General Franco’s death, and since then the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC)
Eastern European workers under attack
Racist attacks on Eastern Europeans and, in particular, migrant workers continue to occur regularly and are being perpetuated by policies which foster destitution. Earlier this month, speaking through a translator from a hospital bed in Exeter, where he had spent the last three weeks, Daniel Sobieraj pleaded for information regarding three men who attacked him
Three days of anti-immigrant violence shakes Athens
Following three days of anti-immigrant violence in Athens, questions are being asked about possible far-right involvement in the murder of Bangladeshi migrant worker Alim Abdul Manan. The attacks on immigrants started on Tuesday 10 May after Manolis Kantaris, a 44-year-old Greek man, died after a stabbing in what appeared to be a street robbery in
Living Wage campaign
A few weeks ago, as thousands queued outside Westminster Abbey to catch a glimpse of Kate’s wedding bouquet, hundreds of others gathered nearby in Central Hall for another kind of celebration. The event was organised by Citizens UK, which has over 240 member organisations – churches, mosques, synagogues, trade unions, community groups, from all over
Brutal and unlawful detention
Corporate Watch has produced a thorough analysis of UK immigration detention policies by examining the detention of children and families at Yarl’s Wood removal centre. The report Immigration Prisons: Brutal, Unlawful, and Profitable: Yarl’s Wood a case study examines the procedures at the centre, the closure of the family unit,[1] and the implications for the
Culture of abuse in treatment of HIV/Aids
Medical Justice, the charity that assists detainees access healthcare in detention, has once again published compelling research about the treatment of people within immigration removal centres. In its latest report, Detained and Denied: The clinical care of immigration detainees living with HIV, Medical Justice provides a thorough analysis of the inhuman way in which people
IPPR: fuelling popular racism?
The hardline message of the new report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) on irregular immigration is designed to reassure working-class voters that a Labour government would control immigration. The IPPR, an influential think-tank with strong links to the Labour Party, starts with the policy position that ‘irregular immigration’ must be reduced, because