New research by Article 19 shows how the press is biased against asylum seekers. But change will not come about unless we go beyond liberal pleading. As long ago as the 1970s, the anti-racist movement learned an important lesson. Then, as now, we were faced with newspapers that warned of an invasion of immigrants, of
Theme: Education
Iraqi asylum seekers fear being sent back
Thousands of Iraqi refugees in the UK are being left in a legal limbo, as the government plans to begin deportations to Baghdad in the near future. Since 20 March, the day the war on Iraq began, the Home Office has put all 7,000 Iraqi asylum cases on hold. Beverley Hughes, the immigration minister, told
Kurdish refugees attacked in Plymouth
Two Iraqi Kurds were the victims of a racist attack in an underpass in the centre of Plymouth. The attack, by two young white men, took place at about 9.30pm on Friday 9 May. The attackers repeatedly asked ‘are you f***ing Turks?’, before assaulting one man with a skewer and the other with a belt
After Sangatte – assistance criminalised
Calais residents who dare to help asylum seekers in northern France are being criminalised by the French authorities, according to the Kent Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers. Since the Sangatte refugee camp was closed, just before Christmas 2002, French asylum support groups have tried to provide food and material support to asylum seekers in northern
Britain’s detention centres: harassment, exploitation and insecurity exposed
Britain’s immigration detention regime has been subjected to a damning condemnation by prison inspectors this week, revealing that detainees are not given basic information about their cases, are exploited by unscrupulous legal representatives and are routinely strip-searched without reason. In one centre, Campsfield House, 12 per cent of detainees said that they had experienced sexual
Home Office caves in to populist anti-asylum movement
The populist movement against asylum seekers scored another victory this week, as the Home Office abandoned plans to build induction centres in Sittingbourne and Saltdean. Sittingbourne, Kent, has been the scene of a strong local campaign opposed to government plans to convert the Coniston Hotel into an induction centre for 111 asylum seekers. The protests,
Britain ‘fast-tracks’ Roma back to discrimination
Members of one of the most socially deprived communities in Europe, the Roma, are being deported in large numbers and at huge expense, even though in a year’s time, when their home countries become EU members, they will be able to legally reside in the UK. The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Roma Affairs in Stage
From refugee protection to managed migration: the EU’s border control programme
Since the Seville Summit of June 2002, European heads of state are increasingly questioning the continuing relevance of the 1951 Geneva Convention. In this – the first in a series of reports examining various aspects of the EU’s new focus on ‘managed migration’ – we examine the EU Council’s new Border Control Programme in relation
Summary – the EU’s new Border Control Programme
Under plans to be presented tomorrow by the home secretary, David Blunkett, to the European Union summit in Brussels, asylum seekers will be held in ‘temporary processing centres’ outside the EU – possibly in Ukraine, Russia, Turkey or North Africa. A report by the Institute of Race Relations, published today, shows how this proposal is
Libraries rebuff police surveillance of asylum seekers
Police in Plymouth have asked local libraries to log internet activity by asylum seekers in the city, following an unfounded terrorism scare. But library bosses have told police that they are unwilling to violate the public’s right to privacy. Recently, a member of the public called the police after seeing a foreign student using a