On Saturday, 17 September, two days after 35-year-old Manuel Bravo, an Angolan asylum seeker, was found hanged in a stairwell at Yarl’s Wood removal centre in Bedford, campaigners held a vigil at the centre in his memory. On Thursday 15 September, Manuel Bravo who had been detained at the centre overnight with his 13-year-old son,
Theme: Alternative voices on integration
Two asylum seekers took their own lives within 24 hours
On Wednesday 14 September, 26-year-old Edmore Ngwenya, a Zimbabwean asylum seeker jumped into a canal in Manchester. The following day, Manuel Bravo, an Angolan who was detained in Yarl’s Wood with his 13-year-old son, was found hanged in a stairwell on the morning of his 35th birthday. According to the Independent, which ran the story
Yet another Black death in the Met’s custody
Paul Coker, 32, died on 6 August 2005 in a police cell in Plumstead, South east London, just two hours after being arrested for causing a breach of the peace. It was reported to the Coker family that Paul had been restrained by police officers but an initial post mortem was inconclusive as to the
Racial violence after 7 July – week 10
Incidents of racial violence and harrasment in this, the tenth week since the London bombings. 15 September 2005: Glasgow Herald reports that a Methodist church in Edinburgh has been targeted by racists because the church enjoys a ‘close relationship’ with a local mosque. Defaced Islamic literature was pushed through the letterbox and racist graffiti was
Round-up of racial violence
The Institute of Race Relations’ research over the nine weeks since the London bombings shows that racially motivated attacks are a daily occurrence and many appear, through the use of offensive language, to be a consequence of the bombings. Though much of the harassment has been ‘low-level’, the effects of such sustained and targeted attacks
Round-up of racial violence
Eight weeks after the London bombings racial violence attacks are still on the rise. 31 August 2005: BBC News reports that international students at Nottingham University are scared to go out after Om Prakass Malik suffers serious facial injuries in an attack by two White men shouting racist abuse. (BBC News 31.8.05) 30 August 2005:
The racist backlash goes on…
In the seven weeks after the London bombings the racist backlash against has continued. 21 August 2005: Racists graffiti is painted all over the Daud Tandoori in Llandudno, just days after windows at the restaurant were smashed and paint thrown at the building. (Wales Daily Post 24.8.05) 21 August 2005: Newcastle Sunday Sun reports that
Victim of racist attack facing charges
Campaigners are calling for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to drop charges of assault and affray against Eileen Jia, whose partner, Mi Gao Huang Chen, was attacked and murdered by a gang of youths after facing a sustained campaign of racism at their Chinese restaurant in Wigan. On 23 April 2005, Mi Gao Huang
The racist backlash to the London bombings continues
Across the UK, serious violent racial attacks are still on the increase, as are incidents of persistent ‘low-level’ harrassment – of people, their homes, and businesses. 10 August 2005: A Muslim woman tells BBC Wales how a man abused her and her family and threw stones at her home; breaking a window. (BBC News 10.8.05)
Anti-Muslim backlash goes on
A month after the London bombings, police forces across the country are reporting rising levels of racial incidents. 4 August 2005: Police in Scotland report a rise in racial incidents by nearly a third; Tayside police report the largest increase of 70 per cent. (Scotsman 4.8.05) 4 August 2005: Metropolitan police announce that religious hate