New regulations affecting International Medical Graduates (IMGs) have been criticised by leading members of the medical profession and immigration practitioners. The NHS has developed and utilised the skills of IMGs, essentially Black doctors from Third World countries, since its inception in 1948. The arrangement between IMGs and the health service has traditionally been seen as
How the BNP entered the political mainstream
Recently published research gives us more data on where support for the British National Party comes from. But, in common with most analysts, it downplays the most important factor in the BNP’s rise: the legitimacy given to the party’s views by mainstream politicians and even liberal commentators. In 1993, Derek Beackon became the BNP’s first
‘No Place for a Child’: a campaign to free children in detention
A major campaign is underway to generate public and parliamentary support to free the 2,000 children detained in the UK each year for immigration purposes. The campaign, entitled ‘No Place for a Child: Stop Detaining Children Now!’, was set up by a coalition of organisations including Save the Children UK, Bail for Immigration Detainees, the
IRR gifts its library to Warwick University
A. Sivanandan, in a speech at the launch of the Institute of Race Relations’ library at Warwick University on 27 April 2006, explains how the collection (1956-2005) reflected the movements of the times – decolonisation, Black Power and globalisation. I am honoured that Warwick University should name the Institute’s library after me. And I thank
Criminalising dissent in the ‘war on terror’
The new crime of ‘glorifying’ terrorism, recently introduced under the Terrorism Act 2006, will lead to the suppression of legitimate debate on the causes of terror. Since 13 April 2006, it has been a criminal offence to directly or indirectly encourage terrorism; those convicted face up to seven years imprisonment. ‘Direct encouragement’ is largely the
‘Quick death is preferable to slow death’
On Tuesday 25 April, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission met to decide the fate of an Algerian man, known only as ‘Y’, who is facing deportation to Algeria as a ‘suspected terrorist’. The man, who was acquitted of involvement in an alleged plot to use the poison ricin, has been subject to a control order
Asylum: from deterrence to criminalisation
Below we reproduce Liz Fekete’s introduction to Asylum: from deterrence to criminalisation, a new report written by leading human rights lawyer Frances Webber. The EU’s spin about its harmonisation of asylum policy to create a supposedly fairer, more easily navigable system, masks the grim reality of life in Europe for would-be refugees. For European asylum
Bradford riots
An important new drama by Neil Biswas, to be broadcast on Channel 4 next week, shows how the lives of members of the Pakistani community of Mannigham were defined and destroyed by the Bradford riots of July 2001. The riots were the worst outbreak of street violence on mainland Britain in a generation and involved
Racism beneath the surface
A new booklet published by the Churches’ Commission for Racial Justice (CCRJ) draws some shocking conclusions about the state of race relations in America and raises troubling questions about the role of religion in politics. In May last year, twelve church leaders and members of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland’s racial justice committee spent
Report on woeful asylum support
A new report, by the London-based Migrants Resource Centre into the effects of current asylum laws on the living conditions of asylum seekers, is a much-needed tool for those working in the field. Researchers, who questioned fifty asylum-seeker users of the London centre about their living conditions, provide a snapshot of the daily humiliations would-be