We publish below the introduction to The deportation machine: Europe, asylum and human rights. We live in an age in which the rich industrialised world pronounces on human rights abuses abroad while failing to live up to its own standards at home, particularly in relation to its obligations under international law. But whereas the erosion
Asylum seekers on the march
On Saturday 2 April 2005, demonstrations took place across Europe ‘against racism, for freedom of movement and for the right to stay’ for asylum seekers. In the UK, there were actions in Glasgow, London, Nottingham, Oxford and Canterbury, with the largest demonstration in Manchester. Uniquely, the demonstrations were largely organised by those facing deportation. Manchester
Asylum seekers ‘held’ in unsuitable conditions
Recent unannounced inspections of centres used to hold asylum seekers in transit to detention centres and to ports for deportation have found that no centre meets the minimum requirements in relation to child protection. Officials carried out their first (unannounced) inspections into ‘holding’ centres for asylum seekers between June and October 2004. The holding centres,
No place for a child
A report from Save the Children suggests the need for an entirely new approach towards children who are subject to immigration control. Children in Young Offenders’ Institutions have rights, children in immigration detention do not. Children who are convicted of a crime know how long they have to serve; those in immigration detention have an
Solidarity and active compassion
A new report from the Church of England, ‘A place of refuge’, commissioned by its Mission and Public Affairs Council and written by Hannah Skinner, challenges Christians to live up to fundamental principles on the issue of asylum. The churches’ response, it writes, ‘must begin from the principles of solidarity and active compassion. Confronted with
Support grows for detentions inquiry as teenager alleges mistreatment
14-year-old Sebrin Thaha, who was detained with her mother and younger sister by immigration authorities a month ago, claims that she was mistreated by escort officers during her deportation last week. A month ago, she was just another teenager at Notre Dame School for Girls in Plymouth. But on 24 February 2005, Sebrin Thaha’s home
Government’s anti-terror briefing does not add up
Research by the Institute of Race Relations suggests that one of the briefing document that accompanied the new anti-terror bill may have been somewhat misleading. In the week the government published details of its new Prevention of Terrorism Bill, it also published four background papers to justify the new legislation. Paper 1 details the current
Campaigners demand inquiry into immigration detention
Campaign groups calling for a public inquiry into the treatment of immigration detainees have revealed that thirty-five cases of alleged assault have been referred to solicitors. The National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns (NCADC), the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (CARF), and the Campaign To Stop Arbitrary Detentions at Yarl’s Wood (SADY) have revealed details of
Turkish-speaking communities in Britain: a rude awakening
A new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation examines some of the major issues affecting young people from one of Britain’s long established, yet little heeded, ‘invisible’ minorities. Here, a community worker reflects on some of those issues and the need to air them in a wider debate. ‘I’d rather be a P*ki than a
Greeks demand the end of arbitrary detention and the release of child asylum detainees
Campaigners are targeting the Amygdaleza Centre, a former shelter for female victims of trafficking, which has now been transformed into a brutal removal centre for women facing deportation. Greek refugee rights campaigners are taking to the streets. On 6 March 2005, Mothering Sunday, a demonstration will be held outside the Amygdaleza Centre near Athens demanding,