A Suitable Enemy: Racism, Migration and Islamophobia in Europe deserves a slow and careful reading. Liz Fekete reaches into the unique archives of knowledge that she has personally accumulated together with the Institute of Race Relations over decades and provides a clear, detailed and insightful road map for those who want to navigate and understand
Theme: Health
Building for deportation
The government is creating more ‘spaces’ at removal centres as part of its drive to deport more asylum seekers. In March 2009, giving oral evidence to a Commons Public Accounts Committee, Lin Homer, Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency (UKBA), said that a ‘higher proportion’ of deportations occurred of those in detention centres rather
Europe’s shame – deaths linked to racism on the rise
As concern mounts that the economic downturn will lead to a surge in racism, a report from the IRR suggests that EU states are already pursuing policies which place vulnerable minority communities at risk. The IRR’s investigation into 105 deaths in the EU in 2007 and 2008 uniquely includes not only deaths due to direct
The minister versus the judges
The recent intervention of the Home Secretary in the dealings of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) shows a worrying disregard for the rule of law. The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, had been battling with judges at the SIAC (the court which hears appeals against national security deportation) at the end of February 2009, when
New teaching materials on Black history
Innovative lesson plans based on key documents from within the IRR’s Black History Collection can now be downloaded from its website. Teachers of Citizenship and History and anyone interested in Black history in the UK are invited to use the resources that have just been created around items selected from the Institute of Race Relations’
Coroners and Justice Bill
Some provisions in this vast, unwieldy Bill threaten to undermine still further civil rights and protections, particularly for victims of state violence. The Coroners and Justice Bill, which had its second reading in the House of Commons on 26 January 2009, is a massive hotchpotch which deals with child pornography, defences to homicide charges and
Conference highlights exclusions
A report on the recent London Schools and the Black Child (LSBC) conference organised annually by Diane Abbott, MP. The sixth London Schools and the Black Child conference was attended by about 1,200 people at Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster. A sample survey indicated that about 85 per cent of the delegates were
Looking back to move forward
Below we reproduce a speech by Rosemary Campbell-Stephens given at the recent London Schools and the Black Child conference. ‘Greetings. It is an honour to be invited back to address the sixth London Schools and the Black Child Conference and respect is due to Diane Abbott MP for organising these conferences annually. This conference, unique
Brilliant new play about David Oluwale
A new play on David Oluwale, which opened recently at West Yorkshire Playhouse, is a must-see dramatisation of Kester Aspden’s book on David’s life and brutal death at the hands of Leeds police officers. David Oluwale was a Nigerian migrant whose body was pulled from the River Aire in Leeds in May 1969. His death
Unlawfully detained asylum family compensated
The High Court has awarded a family, including a one-year-old baby and a child of eight, £150,000 damages after the Home Office accepted that it had unlawfully arrested and detained them. On 9 February 2009, in the face of court proceedings brought by the family, the Home Office accepted that the family’s arrests and subsequent