Three days of workshops and plenaries followed by three days of action. Monday 13 February to Saturday 18 February 2012 Goldsmiths College, New Cross, London SE14 Monday 13 February 10.30-1.30pm: Deportations with contributions from National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, International Federation of Iraqi Refugees, Goldsmiths, Rutvica Andrijasevic and Stop Deportation Network 2.30-4.30pm: Migrant worker and
Theme: Education
Lies, damned lies and racism
The numbers game around immigration statistics has turned into a bloody battle. In January, Polly Toynbee called the Coalition’s benefits campaign to stir up ‘prejudice against the poor'[1] a ‘bloody battle’. It had, she wrote, initiated a ‘clever marketing’ campaign ‘where slippery figures abound’ as part of a ‘virulent debate’ designed to stir up ‘a
Solidarity demo for hunger strikers in the Ukraine
Demonstration in support of 58 Somali refugees on hunger striker in Lutsk Detention Centre, Ukraine. Monday 6 February 2012, 1.45pm The Ukranian Embassy, 60 Holland Park, London W11 3SJ Related links Border Monitoring Project Ukraine Barbed Wire Britain Migrants’ Rights Network
NACCOM conference
The annual conference of NACCOM which works with destitute asylum seekers. Saturday 4 February 2012, 10-4pm Victoria Hall, 61 Eldon Street, Sheffield S1 4GX Workshops: In-depth housing workshop Preventing blockages in accommodation schemes Getting the message out Advocating the asylum process Related links NACCOM
G4S and asylum seekers’ housing
Below we reproduce a letter signed by academics in the Yorkshire region expressing concerns over the awarding of a housing contract to a private company. As researchers and university teachers in the fields of housing and immigration in the Yorkshire region we oppose the plans of the Coalition government, through the UK Border Agency (UKBA),
Victory for campaign against daft deportation
A respected academic has won his fight against deportation on the ground that his bank balance fell below £800. This is the sort of story that the tabloids would love if it was about a sturdy British fight against a barmy EU directive or health and safety regulation. But because it’s about an outspoken Muslim
Gill Butler 1942-2012
Remembering a unique campaigner for asylum and human rights. Gill Butler was a dedicated campaigner for the rights of asylum seekers and against the injustices of the asylum system. A trained, specialist nurse until she retired, she brought this knowledge to bear in her work as both Chair of Yarl’s Wood Befrienders and as a
Abu Qatada decision causes alarm – to rights activists
As the prime minister derides the European Court of Human Rights as a ‘small claims court’, it isn’t just the anti-human rights brigade who are worried by its recent judgment. ‘Once again, he has made fools of us’, announced the Telegraph,[1] in response to the Strasbourg court’s ruling that Omar Othman, aka Abu Qatada, the
Fractured childhoods
A meeting on families separated by immigration detention followed by the Bail for Immigration Detainees AGM. Tuesday 24 January 2012, 6pm Amnesty International UK, The Human Rights Action Centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EA Speakers: Ellie Free – Bail for Immigration Detainees A mother who was separated from her children by immigration detention
Where detention is the norm
A report on the UK Border Agency’s management of foreign national offenders bears little relation to the press’ coverage. ‘The 5,000 crooks we can’t deport’: was the Sun headline which was repeated, with more or less polite variations, across Britain’s press on 27 October, from the Express to the Guardian, the message all the papers