An interview with Catriona Jarvis, former judge of the United Kingdom Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), and now a writer/ activist on human rights initiatives. Frances Webber: You have recently become involved in demanding a European-wide system for registering deaths at the borders, identifying bodies, notifying relatives and facilitating entry for burial. How did
Martha Osamor: unsung hero of Britain’s black struggle
Veteran campaigner Martha Osamor talks to IRR News about her experiences in political struggles. Martha Osamor, now 75-years-old is one of the many unsung heroes of Britain’s black community, yet she has spent almost all her life fighting to better the position of people in Tottenham and beyond – in the community, through the unions, women’s
The Race Relations Act 1965 – blessing or curse?
Jenny Bourne, long time anti-racist campaigner and editor of the IRR’s journal Race & Class, writes about the 1965 Race Relations Act and assesses the fifty years since it was passed. How should we be evaluating the impact of the race relations acts, the first of which became law fifty years ago? Fifty years ago,
‘Return to Streets of Eternity’
Chris Searle introduces Return to Streets of Eternity, a book of poetry by the late Guyanese writer and activist Jan Carew. On 27 November, the life and works of Jan Carew – writer, activist and scholar – will be commemorated in London with the release of two new books. Episodes in My Life: the autobiography of Jan Carew
IRR News 23 October – 5 November 2015
Dear IRR News subscriber, Over three thousand refugees from war, persecution and globalisation have drowned in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas so far this year. And as the militarisation of the EU’s borders intensifies, so too does the internal policing of those seeking security. In March 2015, the IRR published a report highlighting the role
Calendar of racism and resistance (23 October – 5 November 2015)
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. Asylum and migration 15 October: The Home Office announces the closure of Dover immigration removal centre, Free Movement, 23 October 2015) 19 October: The Hope Project publishes: Destitute and asylum-seeking women in the West Midlands: Immigration issues and
As ‘extremist’ as Finchley? The ‘Counter Extremism Strategy’ and the Irish context
Daniel Holder from the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) reflects on the recently introduced Counter Extremism Strategy and the scenario which we would see if the strategy was applied in Northern Ireland. Margaret Thatcher famously claimed Northern Ireland was as British as her own constituency, Finchley. Apparently however we are officially no longer
Europe must act now on refugee deaths
As borders become militarised zones, and internal policing of refugees and migrants intensifies, the IRR continues to monitor asylum- and migration- related deaths. Across Europe the humanitarian crisis continues as refugees continue to flee war-torn countries such as Syria. Front-line volunteers, who have witnessed the suffering first-hand over the summer and autumn, have now sent an
A secret punishment
A new report by Medical Justice, ‘A Secret Punishment’, highlights the human damage caused by the use of segregation in immigration detention, as well as its political purposes. Arriving at Heathrow Airport in 2011 on a family reunion visa, 24-year-old ‘MD’ expected to be reunited with her husband – a refugee whom she had not
IRR News 9 – 22 October 2015
Dear IRR News subscriber, In the week that the government announced new counter-extremism measures, the IRR publishes contributions from its seminar on ‘Securitisation, Schools and Preventing Extremism’, held at Garden Court Chambers on 7 October, amidst concerns that the new duty could undermine the Equality Act. Leading education consultant Bill Bolloten discusses how the new