As evictions from privatised asylum housing continue, important new legal challenges are being mounted in the courts. On Monday 28 January the latest round of the Glasgow evictions saga which began two years ago took place in the Glasgow Sheriff Court. At a hearing adjourned from October 2012, Scottish homelessness charity Ypeople (formerly the YMCA)
Theme: Education
Indifference to asylum seekers’ property
As if being detained for removal is not trauma enough, asylum seekers in the North East are finding it impossible to reclaim their property from their asylum hostels. Laptops, cameras, cash, a family Bible and photographs of loved ones are among the personal possessions that have been destroyed or disposed of by landlords when asylum
Why the voluntary sector is under threat
A report into the independence of the voluntary sector holds important lessons for groups struggling for funding and their very existence. The voluntary sector is under threat. So, who cares, you might reply, everything is up for grabs these days. It is not enough to throw up ones hands and see the demise of the
‘Integration, integration, integration’
Does Eric Pickles’ integration speech last week foretell an emphasis on a new patriotism? Communities secretary Eric Pickles gave his first speech on integration last week, at an event hosted by the think-tanks British Future and Policy Exchange. Arguing that language was the cornerstone of Conservative integration strategy, he vowed to tackle the ‘statist’ policies which,
No One is Illegal gathering
A No One is Illegal meeting to discuss an anti-raids network, detention centre blockades and theStop G4S coalition. Saturday 9 February 2013, 12-5pm Friends Meeting House, 6 Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS Related links No One is Illegal
Through the generations
A new exhibition on the untold stories of Tamil migration includes interviews with the IRR’s A. Sivanandan. The exhibition is the culmination of a one-year project by Race On The Agenda (ROTA) and the Tamil Community Centre in Hounslow. The project: ‘Through the generations: untold stories of Tamil migration’ has collated the oral stories of
Through the generations
An exhibition featuring the histories of Tamil migrants to the UK. Official opening: Saturday 19 January 2013, 1-5pm Wednesday 16 January – Friday 25 January 2013 Paul Robeson Theatre Café, 1st Floor, Treaty Centre, High Street, Hounslow TW3 1ES Related links Download a flyer (pdf file, 704kb) Race On The Agenda (ROTA) Parking and Access
Free legal advice services in crisis
A conference to tackle the crisis in the provision of free legal advice. Saturday 9 February 2013, 10-4pm Friends Meeting House, Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS Speakers include: Steve Hynes – Legal Action Group Julie Bishop – Law Centres Network Lord Bach Workshops include: Disability and sickness Housing, employment and unemployment Migrants and BME communities
The Hague: refugees evicted from protest camp
Helen Hintjens, from the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam, reports from The Hague on the violent eviction of a refugee protest camp. …we are not people to be pitied, who need to be given shelter. We are demonstrators, who want to get our political message across, by staying visible to
Citizens UK – for the people or the state?
Is a human rights charity working too closely with the UK Border Agency (UKBA)? A recent HM Inspector of Prisons report into the privately-run Sandford House short-term holding facility states that: ‘Reliance’s detainee welfare forum minutes suggested that some diversity training by Citizens UK’ is ‘being rolled out.’[1] Citizens UK, when asked about this, told