The IRR is running a series of training workshops for community groups. Community-based and other voluntary groups working with refugee, BME and newly-arrived migrants are invited to apply for places at a series of afternoon workshops organised by the Institute of Race Relations starting in May. These are practical workshops on the media, immigration and
Theme: Health
Excluded pupils’ group on brink of collapse
A vital community group working with excluded BME children faces closure because of funding shortfalls. The Communities Empowerment Network (CEN) was established in 1999 in response to the growing demand from BME parents and children for help, support and advice concerning school exclusions and reintegration. Since then it has established a small but effective caseworking
The political legacy of Blair Peach
From the death of Blair Peach on 23 April 1979 emerged a series of political struggles, which must never be forgotten. People are, inevitably, comparing the death of Ian Tomlinson at the hands of a Territorial Support Group officer with the death thirty years ago of Blair Peach at the hands of a Special Patrol
Remembering Blair Peach: 30 years on
A friend and colleague remembers Blair Peach, killed by a member of the Special Patrol Group in Southall during a demonstration against the National Front (NF) on 23 April 1979. Blair Peach was born in New Zealand in 1946. After earning his degree at Victoria University and periods of work as a fireman and hospital
Growing academic campaign against immigration rules
Thirty-seven academics have begun a boycott of government immigration rules on students, labelling them as discriminatory. Under the new points-based immigration system, universities require academic and administrative staff to monitor the attendance of international students and to check the ID of students and colleagues. The thirty-seven academics involved in the boycott, who describe themselves as
Legal reversal on highly skilled migrants
Home Office policy restricting settlement rights for highly skilled migrants has been quashed in a recent ruling. In another twist to what is becoming a long-running saga, a High Court judge has ruled that the Home Office acted illegally in not complying with an earlier court ruling. That ruling had struck down rules making it
Fear by design
The Home Office has recently introduced a range of new initiatives in partnership with the creative industries, with the aim of embedding counter-terror and anti-crime measures into the design of public spaces. In his 2008 review, security minister Lord West recommended that crowded areas would be better protected against attacks if professional bodies within the
Destitution in Scotland
A new report examining the causes and extent of destitution in Scotland has found that hundreds of asylum seekers could be ‘saved’ from destitution if a few simple changes were made to the asylum process. The report, 21 Days Later: Application, Decision, Confusion, Deprivation, Destitution, was produced by the British Red Cross and the Refugee
Can community campaigns against racism survive the new funding agenda?
A community racial attacks monitoring unit is threatened with closure because its exclusive focus on race no longer tallies with the funding priorities of its council’s ‘hate crime strategy’. IRR News explores the depoliticisation process which threatens all community-based anti-racist groups, be it via the government’s ongoing strategic partnership strategy or courtesy of the newly
Mobilising healthcare professionals
A recent conference organised by Médecins du Monde UK (MdM) highlighted the campaign to provide access to healthcare for refused asylum seekers and undocumented migrants. The obstacles faced by undocumented migrants and asylum seekers in obtaining access to health care were discussed by around seventy doctors and other healthcare professionals, lawyers and others at the