As EU leaders and their North African counterparts host a series of immigration summits, the European Race Bulletin seeks to establish what is really going on behind the scenes. In The Mediterranean Solution, Liz Fekete argues that under cover of combating human trafficking, EU countries are rescinding the rights of boat people travelling from Africa
Coalition to stop deportations to Iraq
A recent conference called by a coalition of groups and organisations against the deportation of asylum seekers to Iraq, called on the government to stop deportations. It also wants the government to grant protection to all Iraqi asylum seekers and recognise them as victims of war and allow them the right to work or to
No escape
According to a recent report, discrimination on the basis of caste is one of the most insidious and unacknowledged forms of discrimination in the UK today. It may well come as a shock to those who associate racism in Britain with White views of racial or ethnic superiority that an older form of discrimination within
Birthday wish for freedom
Coventry Refugee Centre is fighting to keep a Congolese asylum seeker in the UK, claiming that she could face danger and sexual violence if deported. Birthdays have traditionally been seen as an annual celebration, offering us release from the monotony of the everyday and providing us with an opportunity to laugh and enjoy ourselves with
Research with refugees
A new publication examines the methodological challenges in doing research with refugees. Three decades ago, the issue of how to conduct research on Britain’s Black communities (BME had not yet been coined) rocked academia and caused a palace revolution within the Institute of Race Relations and threw a spanner into the works of race relations
Police allow anti-terror protest
On 22 June, political comedian Mark Thomas, members of CAMPACC and other groups and individuals were given police permission to demonstrate in support of a proscribed political organisation and against the new ‘glorification of terrorism’ clause. The Metropolitan Police approved the demonstration in Parliament Square, which was called ‘to support the PKK’s [Kurdistan Workers’ Party]
Concern about Algerians
Two men, deported to Algeria from the UK over the weekend, have failed to contact their families on their return. Concern about the men is now mounting after security services in Algeria confirmed that they had arrived, were being held in custody, but gave no other details. The two men, known just as ‘I’ and
A day in the death of an asylum seeker
IRR News reports on the recent inquest into the death of an Ethiopian asylum seeker found hanged in September 2004, just hours after being taken to hospital by friends because he had suicidal feelings. Almost once a month in the UK, an asylum seeker, wracked with anxiety about the possibility of being returned and worn
Demands for better asylum seeker mental health care
A new report has been published by the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) on the provision of mental health services to asylum seekers and refugees in London, the most ‘vulnerable and socially excluded people in our society’. The research for the report, Unheard Voices- listening to the views of asylum seekers
Poems as vehicles for change
Lightning of Your Eyes, an exciting anthology of new and selected poems by committed writer and educationalist Chris Searle, has just been published. Chris Searle’s poetry is about words. It is words, he believes, that challenge the status quo, words which educate across geographical boundaries and words which can ultimately act as catalysts for change.