A keynote address to the annual conference of the Churches’ Refugee Network by Frances Webber. The political and media campaign against immigration and asylum seekers shows no signs of abating. It is seen by the Home Affairs Committee as a matter of shame that so many asylum seekers, stuck in the system without a decision
Theme: Health
Anti-terror whistleblower suspended by Nottingham University
Rizwaan Sabir, who was arrested in 2008 as a suspected terrorist whilst conducting postgraduate research at the University of Nottingham, gives his first public reaction on the recent suspension of Dr Rod Thornton. It has now been over three years since my friend, Hicham Yezza and I were arrested for allegedly being involved in the
Revolutionary poems from Chris Searle
A beautiful collection of poetry by Chris Searle, recalling the people and incidents he has encountered in his many lives as a committed teacher in East London, Canada, the Caribbean, Mozambique and Sheffield, has just been published. All the poems gathered together here in Doodlebug Boy written over some forty years, convey what it really
Look beyond the headlines
Hertsmere Young Researchers’ Network, in advocating for young people, has produced first-rate research into the media portrayal of youth, gangs and knife crime. The National Youth Agency Young Researchers’ Network funded Hertsmere Borough Council to support a team of seven young people in Hertsmere, Hertfordshire, aged 14 to 19, to research a topic of their
Eastern European workers under attack
Racist attacks on Eastern Europeans and, in particular, migrant workers continue to occur regularly and are being perpetuated by policies which foster destitution. Earlier this month, speaking through a translator from a hospital bed in Exeter, where he had spent the last three weeks, Daniel Sobieraj pleaded for information regarding three men who attacked him
Living Wage campaign
A few weeks ago, as thousands queued outside Westminster Abbey to catch a glimpse of Kate’s wedding bouquet, hundreds of others gathered nearby in Central Hall for another kind of celebration. The event was organised by Citizens UK, which has over 240 member organisations – churches, mosques, synagogues, trade unions, community groups, from all over
Brutal and unlawful detention
Corporate Watch has produced a thorough analysis of UK immigration detention policies by examining the detention of children and families at Yarl’s Wood removal centre. The report Immigration Prisons: Brutal, Unlawful, and Profitable: Yarl’s Wood a case study examines the procedures at the centre, the closure of the family unit,[1] and the implications for the
Culture of abuse in treatment of HIV/Aids
Medical Justice, the charity that assists detainees access healthcare in detention, has once again published compelling research about the treatment of people within immigration removal centres. In its latest report, Detained and Denied: The clinical care of immigration detainees living with HIV, Medical Justice provides a thorough analysis of the inhuman way in which people
Heathrow death preventable?
Kirsten Heaven, a barrister at Garden Court Chambers, writes about the inquest into the death of Jianping Liu, who died at Heathrow airport hours after being released from police custody. Jianping Liu, a Chinese national had settled in the UK with her husband and died at Heathrow airport on 12 November 2009 after jumping from
IPPR: fuelling popular racism?
The hardline message of the new report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) on irregular immigration is designed to reassure working-class voters that a Labour government would control immigration. The IPPR, an influential think-tank with strong links to the Labour Party, starts with the policy position that ‘irregular immigration’ must be reduced, because