A calendar of stories from the last week. Asylum seekers & refugees 27 August 2014: Medical Justice has published a report: Biased and Unjust: The Immigration Detention Complaints Process, you can download it here (pdf file, 6.4mb). 29 August: 44-year-old Wadih Chourey, who has Down’s syndrome, faces deportation to Lebanon after the Home Office refused
Sweden’s counter-extremism policies fail the accountability test
The Swedish model of countering far-right extremism is deeply flawed and should not be followed by other EU countries. The European Commission has recommended that EU member states set up special programmes for those at risk of radicalisation and the Swedish Ministry of Justice is already working to export its model of countering far-right extremism
Major accountability gap within Europe’s far Right deradicalisation programme exposed
In a timely report published today, the IRR cautions against the importation to the UK of Scandinavian-style Exit programmes for dealing with far-right extremists. It was one of the big news stories of October 2013 and something of a coup for ‘counter-radicalisation’, when Tommy Robinson and Kevin Carroll quit the EDL – and think-tank Quilliam
IRR News 22-28 August 2014
Dear IRR News subscriber We just wanted to let you know that there are going to be a few small changes to the format of the IRR News email bulletin in the coming weeks. At a time of austerity and increasing polarisation in society, we want to ensure that the analysis within IRR News on
Helen Bamber 1925-2014
With the passing on 21 August of Helen Bamber, we have lost a unique healer and campaigner against human cruelty. As a barrister specialising in asylum and human rights, I got to know her first in her role of expert medical witness, testifying at asylum appeals to the truth of the suffering of my clients,
IRR News 15-21 August 2014
Dear IRR News subscriber, This weekend, a group of stowaways were found at Tilbury Docks desperately trying to escape a container they had been sealed into. By the time it was opened, one of the migrants, 40-year-old Meet Singh Kapoor, was already dead. As we show, such deaths are by no means uncommon in the
Still being driven to desperate measures
At the weekend, a group of stowaways were found at Tilbury Docks desperately trying to escape a container they had been sealed into. By the time it was opened, one of the migrants, 40-year-old Meet Singh Kapoor was already dead. Thirty-four migrants, Sikhs from Afghanistan, were found in the container, ten men, nine women and
Enforced poverty amongst asylum seekers and refugees
Nicky Road reviews a publication on refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. A new Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS) Working Paper has been published which analyses the link between poverty and refugees and asylum seekers in the UK from the 1980s to the present. Focusing on three main groups: asylum seekers; refugees; and
IRR News 8-14 August 2014
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week, Matt Carr reflects on the complicity of Britain and France in the horrific situation for migrants in Calais. And the family of Jay Abatan who was murdered in a racist attack in January 1999 is calling for an inquiry into his death after learning that a serving police officer was with a group of
The battles of Calais
Matt Carr reflects on the complicity of Britain and France in the horrific situation for migrants in Calais. For millions of British tourists, Calais is a gateway for continental driving holidays and the pleasures of the Summer. For others it’s a city of designer shops, of the massive Euroshopping mall Cité Europe, where the Daily Mail and P&O