STOP PRESS: Since this article was published Ali Aarrass had been extradited to Morocco. European citizens of Moroccan origin fear that counter-terrorism cooperation with Morocco creates a second-class citizenship and denies dual nationals their human rights. In a prison cell in Madrid, Spain, a 45-year-old Belgian-Moroccan dual national is currently on hunger strike. Only an
Theme: Health
Glasgow eviction battle continues
The UK Border Agency’s (UKBA) shocking conduct over its proposed evictions in Glasgow needs urgent investigation, says Glasgow housing charity Positive Action in Housing (PAIH). Following the 15 November demonstration against UKBA’s service of eviction notices on 600 asylum-seeking families in Glasgow (read an IRR News story: ‘Asylum-seeking families in Glasgow face imminent move’), it
Justice for Jimmy Mubenga
Recent news from the campaign for justice for Jimmy Mubenga. Jimmy died on 12 October 2010 after an attempt to deport him to Angola on a BA flight. According to news reports Jimmy died after allegedly being restrained by three guards from G4S, a company contracted (at the time) by the UK Border Agency (UKBA)
Travels with Malcolm
A book on Malcolm’s X’s visits abroad has been published. From April 1964 until his assassination in February 1965, Malcolm X travelled widely in the Middle East and across Africa and paid a number of visits to France and the UK. In a new book, drawing on data from Malcolm’s own notebooks, his autobiography, many
Putting anti-Muslim hate crime on the agenda
A new report spells out the growing demonisation of and violence against Muslims. A report on Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate crime in the UK from the European Muslim Research Centre confirms much of what was intimated in its first, slim report in January this year. The new report, over 200 pages in length, concludes that
Start of inquest into death of Habib ‘Paps’ Ullah
On Monday 6 December, the inquest will begin in to the death of Habib ‘Paps’ Ullah, who died in July 2008 after he was arrested by police in High Wycombe. Habib’s family have waited over two years to find out how he came to die following a routine drugs search which involved five police officers.
Gypsy and Traveller evictions: Dale Farm odyssey continues
The government’s response to a United Nations inquiry into the proposed mass eviction of Travellers in Dale Farm, Essex, has been condemned as inadequate and misleading. In April 2010, the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Raquel Rodnik, who reports to the UN’s Human Rights Council on states’ compliance with non-discrimination norms in housing, wrote to
Giuseppe Conlon House opens in London
A new London Catholic Worker project offering hospitality to refugees and other vulnerable people has opened in East London. Named Giuseppe Conlon House, wrongfully imprisoned as a member of the Maguire Seven in 1975 and father of the Guildford Four’s Gerry Conlon, the house has already been functioning as a refuge for undocumented migrants in
Ricin – a jury man’s journey
A new book on the supposed ricin plot should be recommended reading for anti-terror police and the media as to how not to investigate or report on terrorism. Five men, all Algerians were rounded up by anti-terror police in connection with an alleged plot to produce the deadly poison ricin between September 2002 and January
Call for justice for Jimmy Mubenga
On 12 November 2010, over 150 people marched from the Angolan Embassy to the Home Office in protest at the death of Jimmy Mubenga during a deportation. Campaigners from the Angolan community first delivered a letter to the Angolan Embassy to call on the authorities to intervene. The march, led by the family and friends