At a time when Asian women are only being discussed in terms of their veils, forced marriages and oppressive religion, what a relief it is to read a book about Asian women as agents not objects. And to read a book by a journalist-cum-campaigner which avoids the usual academic claptrap about ‘the other’ and culturalist
Theme: Health
Letter from the Netherlands
A contributor to the IRR’s European Race Audit writes on recent developments in the Netherlands. Dear IRR, ‘The party here in the Netherlands just keeps on getting better and better. Just when I thought I had heard it all, along comes immigration minister Rita Verdonk’s newest brain child. Regional police forces in the Netherlands can
Abiy Fessfha Abebe: ‘I can’t go back. I rather die’
On 20 September, a brief inquest was held into the death of Abiy Fessfha Abebe, a 35-year-old Ethiopian asylum seeker who was found hanged at Greenbank accommodation centre in Liverpool the day after he was told that his asylum claim had been refused. The coroner found ‘it more likely than not he died by his
And Still I Rise
A frank and affecting account of the enduring destruction wrought on a mother and her family, first by a racially-motivated murder and then by the racist reaction of the Metropolitan police that meant it was not investigated properly. The Lawrence family’s compounded tragedy eventually resulted in a landmark admission in the form of the Macpherson
Two landmark asylum judgements
Two important cases, reported this week, vindicate the rights of refugees to recognition and fair treatment. In the first case, the House of Lords upheld Zainab Fornah’s right to refugee status as a young woman from Sierra Leone who, after abduction and repeated rape by rebel soldiers during the country’s civil war, was threatened with
Remembering Naser Al Shdaida
Last week in Burgess Park, south London, the Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers (SDCAS), held a memorial service and tree planting ceremony for Syrian asylum seeker, Naser Al Shdaida, who took his life earlier this year after his asylum claim was refused. Naser was a regular user of the SDCAS which provides a ‘warm
Profiling Muslim students is unlawful in Germany
British universities are being asked to inform Special Branch of the suspicious behaviour of ‘Asian-looking and Muslim’ students. But a court in Germany has already ruled that profiling Arab students, in the name of countering terrorism, is incompatible with the German Constitution. Post-September 11, Germany developed the most extensive systems of religious and racial profiling
Deported asylum seeker condemns Home Office from Iraqi Kurdish hospital
IRR News has been forwarded two letters from Iraqi asylum seekers who were deported last month on a military flight. ‘My name is Burhan Namiq, I was born on 6 March 1980 and am from Kadamfary in Sulaimanyha city, Kurdistan Iraq. I was deported from the UK in September 2006. Since returning to Kurdistan I
Loyal to racism
A new book on Irish racism explains how racial violence in the North cannot be combated without dismantling state racism. Anyone who reads IRR News will be aware of the serious level of racial violence in the North of Ireland. In fact it was Bill Rolston writing for IRR News who first explained how to
Kenny Peter’s inquest points to asylum failures
On 15 September, an inquest found that yet another asylum seeker had taken his life in detention. Unusually, in such cases, in addition to a self-harm verdict, the jury also listed the numerous ways in which the system, supposed to care for vulnerable detainees, had failed to do so. Kenny Peter, a 24-year-old African asylum