A recent conference called by a coalition of groups and organisations against the deportation of asylum seekers to Iraq, called on the government to stop deportations. It also wants the government to grant protection to all Iraqi asylum seekers and recognise them as victims of war and allow them the right to work or to
Theme: Education
Birthday wish for freedom
Coventry Refugee Centre is fighting to keep a Congolese asylum seeker in the UK, claiming that she could face danger and sexual violence if deported. Birthdays have traditionally been seen as an annual celebration, offering us release from the monotony of the everyday and providing us with an opportunity to laugh and enjoy ourselves with
Research with refugees
A new publication examines the methodological challenges in doing research with refugees. Three decades ago, the issue of how to conduct research on Britain’s Black communities (BME had not yet been coined) rocked academia and caused a palace revolution within the Institute of Race Relations and threw a spanner into the works of race relations
A day in the death of an asylum seeker
IRR News reports on the recent inquest into the death of an Ethiopian asylum seeker found hanged in September 2004, just hours after being taken to hospital by friends because he had suicidal feelings. Almost once a month in the UK, an asylum seeker, wracked with anxiety about the possibility of being returned and worn
Demands for better asylum seeker mental health care
A new report has been published by the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) on the provision of mental health services to asylum seekers and refugees in London, the most ‘vulnerable and socially excluded people in our society’. The research for the report, Unheard Voices- listening to the views of asylum seekers
New hope for Hassan family
An investigative journalist, who was forced to flee from Pakistan after uncovering and publicising details of official corruption, has lodged a fresh asylum claim to stay in the UK. Mansoor Hassan and his family, who are currently living in Manchester, fled from Pakistan in 2002, after alleged incidences of abuse and threats. Mansoor’s journalistic exposés
Highlighting the mental health needs of child asylum seekers and refugees
An expert in child and adolescent psychiatry has called for agencies to be more active in meeting the mental health needs of unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee adolescents. On 17 May, Dr Matthew Hodes, Senior Lecturer in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Imperial College, London, spoke at a meeting of the Association for Child and Adolescent
In memory of Manuel Bravo
A new project has been established in Leeds in memory of Manuel Bravo, an Angolan asylum seeker, who was found hanged in Yarl’s Wood removal centre on 15 September 2005, where he was detained with his 13-year-old son pending deportation. Before his death, Manuel had settled in Leeds and regularly attended church with his family.
‘No Place for a Child’: a campaign to free children in detention
A major campaign is underway to generate public and parliamentary support to free the 2,000 children detained in the UK each year for immigration purposes. The campaign, entitled ‘No Place for a Child: Stop Detaining Children Now!’, was set up by a coalition of organisations including Save the Children UK, Bail for Immigration Detainees, the
‘Quick death is preferable to slow death’
On Tuesday 25 April, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission met to decide the fate of an Algerian man, known only as ‘Y’, who is facing deportation to Algeria as a ‘suspected terrorist’. The man, who was acquitted of involvement in an alleged plot to use the poison ricin, has been subject to a control order