Below we reproduce the keynote address to the conference on Racism, Liberty and the War on Terror (held on 16 September at Conway Hall) by A. Sivanandan, director of the Institute of Race Relations. This conference is the end-product of a series of lunchtime seminars held at the IRR, to discuss the impact of anti-terrorist
Iraqi Kurdish asylum seekers recount enforced removal
Two of the thirty-two Iraqi Kurds who were deported to northern Iraq on a military plane this week have given eye-witness accounts of their enforced removal. The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees (IFIR) has spoken to two of the deportees, who have said they are ‘angry, tired and stressed’ after being handed over to militia
Students dance their way to cultural appreciation
Two UK schools have embraced Bollywood in an attempt to open up cultural conversation amongst students and to encourage the exploration of cultural difference. Methodology The Reel Bollywood initiative, run by British Asian Chix Chandaria, aimed to discover whether exposing students to an unfamiliar culture and involving them in that culture would result in a
Cant on cohesion
Communities minister Ruth Kelly today launches a Commission on Integration and Cohesion whilst calling for an ‘honest debate’ on multiculturalism. But the government’s whole approach to the issue relies on a mis-use of concepts and history. Ever since Margaret Thatcher’s comment in 1978, that the British people were worried that ‘this country might be rather
Bournemouth campaigner protests against arrest and strip search
A Black man, who has been campaigning against Dorset police since being sprayed with CS gas in his own car, and whose story was reported by IRR News in March, says he has been victimised again by police. Femi Ijebuode spent last night camped out in the lobby of Bournemouth police station in protest against
Tribunal of sacked refugee researcher reconvenes
Rhetta Moran, a researcher into refugee issues at the University of Salford, is about to face her twenty-fourth day of an industrial tribunal against dismissal. Dr Moran has, since Spring 2004, been battling to defend herself and her research against her employer, the University of Salford in Greater Manchester. Her colleagues, students and supporters believe
Report on Yarl’s Wood calls for complete overhaul of child detention
Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers, has published a report criticising the continued detention of children at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre. The report was based on an announced inspection from 13-16 February 2006 designed to ascertain whether recommendations made following the full inspection in the previous year had been adhered to. Yet despite identifying
Abiy’s family thank supporters
Abiy was returned to Ethiopia on 29 July and buried the next day by his brother and sister (Zelalem and Antenhe) with dignity in his homeland. (Read an IRR News article on Abiy Fessfha Abebe.) The International Organization for Migration paid the full cost of the return of Abiy’s body to Ethiopia, the £2,045 received
Innocent goes all the way to parliament
Congolese asylum seeker Innocent Nkung has taken his anti-deportation campaign all the way to the Houses of Parliament. On 24 July, Andrew Gwynne MP presented a petition to the House of Commons, with 4,199 signatures showing clear public support for Innocent Nkung’s asylum application. It is his supporters’ firm belief that Innocent would be at
Born on the wrong side
The fascinating autobiography of Cec Thompson, one of the first black Rugby League players in the UK, has been published by BlackAmber, a new imprint of Arcadia Books. I have to confess to neither knowing nor caring about rugby and yet found this a compelling read. It is a ‘rags to riches’ odyssey of a