Anne Singh reports on recent changes to policy affecting migrant care workers. You would be forgiven for missing it, but in mid December 2010, amidst the sustained stream of government announcements about restricting the numbers of spouses, students, migrant workers – pretty much anyone – coming to the UK from outside the EEA, there was
Theme: Violence and harassment
Segregation myths exposed
A crucial book questioning dominant ideas about race, ethnicity and segregation deserves to be widely read. Claims about the growing impact of segregation have permeated policy-making to such an extent within the UK that they have visibly impacted upon a wide range of criminal justice, social policy, education, and anti-terrorism strategies. They are central to
Sledgehammer approach to forced marriage rejected
The Court of Appeal has told the Home Office to disapply marriage rules for the majority of couples applying for a visa. In November 2008, the Home Office amended the immigration rules to require that only couples over 21 could benefit from family reunion. Applications by under-21s to join spouses here, or applications by older
Legal aid cuts: exclusion from justice
Today the IRR publishes a briefing paper about the impact of the proposed legal aid cuts in the field of immigration. The legal aid cuts proposed by the ministry of justice, which remove most immigration cases from the scope of all legal help and advice, will have a devastating effect on migrants’ access to justice,
Woolas: hoist by his own petard
Phil Woolas, one of the harshest of immigration ministers, has lost his parliamentary seat for distributing misinformation about immigration to tar his opponent. The ejection of Phil Woolas from Parliament, and suspension from the Labour Party, on 5 November 2010, for untruthful and inflammatory statements made when campaigning in the general election earlier in the
Coalition announces cuts in ESOL funding
A lecturer in a further education (FE) college examines the impact of planned cuts to ESOL funding. The recently published coalition strategy for further education, Investing in Skills for Sustainable Growth,[1] makes little reference to ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), but what reference there is makes extremely worrying reading. In brief, from September
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.
Swiss architects challenge Islamophobia
The IRR News Service met up with three members of Foreign Architects Switzerland (FAS) who are challenging the Swiss ban on minarets.[1] Liz Fekete: You are in London, at the invitation of the Architecture Foundation, to speak at a forum on architecture’s political and social role in the context of the Swiss ban on minarets
Study the past if you would define the future*
A report comparing Irish and British Muslim experiences of the government’s counter-insurgency policies provides a unique insight into their impact on those who find themselves on the frontline and national security. The report Countering Terror or Counter-productive?: Comparing Irish and British Muslim Experiences of Counter-insurgency Law and Policy, produced by Professor Mark McGovern with Angela
Ending children’s detention: hope deferred
The announcement that children will continue to be detained until at least March 2011 reveals the coalition’s true priorities. It was supposed to be the face of the compassionate, caring coalition, defying cynical critics and overriding entrenched bureaucratic cruelty to do the right thing. ‘We will end the immigration detention of children’, the bold announcement