UK Anti-racism Feature Archive
Dignity Not Detention!
30-10-2007 10:08
Asylum seekers, refugees, trade unionists and supporters from all over the North marched from the Home Office in Sheffield to Lindholme Detention centre near Doncaster between 26-28th October. The marchers were demanding "The right to work for asylum seekers" and stating that "Seeking asylum is not a crime." They finished at Lindholme immigration removals centre, the nearest such centre to Nottinghamshire, where asylum seekers are often held without having committed any criminal offence. The demonstration there on Sunday 28th was joined by supporters from Nottingham.
A rally was held at the fence of Lindholme and the marchers could hear detainees inside chanting in response to them. A candlelit vigil for those who'd died in detention centres was held and speakers from many countries, including the Congo, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Iran, Iraq and South Africa spoke. The demonstration is the latest in a series of protests at Lindholme making the demand to "Shut Down Lindholme!"
Links: "Dignity Not Detention" March on Lindholme | Photos from the start of the "Dignity Not Detention" march on Lindholme | The start of the "Dignity Not Detention" march on Lindholme (Pitsmoor) | Dignity Not Detention! march arrives at Lindholme | Dignity Not Detention! leaflet (pdf)
Previously at Lindholme: No Borders demonstration at Lindholme Immigration Removals Centre | Lindholme Noise Demo Photos | 10 Lindholme Detainees still free | Detainees held in 'filthy' conditions, Lindholme, nr Doncaster
In Notts: Nottingham demo called against deportation charter flight to DR Congo | Nottingham Congolese Community demonstrated against continued deportations | No Borders Nottingham 'National Day of Action on Asylum Rights' | Mayday in Nottingham (Round Two)
"Dignity Not Detention" March on Lindholme
25-10-2007 23:19
The "Dignity Not Detention" 3 day march on Lindholme started on Friday 26th October with a demonstration outside the Home Office in Sheffield, and a march, via the Town Hall [photos] to Ellesmere Green, Burngreave [photos]. They stayed the night in Rotherham and spent Saturday marching to Doncaster. On Sunday 28th the march arrived at Lindholme where about 70 people demonstrated solidarity with detainees and called for the centre to be shut down.
Anti-fascists successfully blockade BNP meeting venue
17-10-2007 20:17
Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, was scheduled to speak at Kimberley Parish Hall on Tuesday 16th Oct. The hall was surrounded by anti-fascists from well before the event was scheduled to take place. The anti-fascists massively outnumbered the police as well as the BNP and their supporters. Anti-fascists were responding to a callout from Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP for a mass demonstration against the planned meeting.
Police numbers were very low though and they did not really have the resources to make arrests. There were 3 arrests though, mainly around the chaos of a particular scuffle or other. All this resulted in was 2 cautions and 1 released uncharged. The evening ended with the anti-fascists agreeing to leave. It was only this gesture that allowed Nick Griffin to leave the building. No more than about 10 people managed to pass through the lines over a period of more than 2 hours.
Reports: tonight in Kimberley | Stopping the BNP in Kimberly
Previous feature articles: BNP wins seat in Broxtowe | Campaign against racism in Lincoln is gaining ground | Founder of British fascist gang stabbed to death | BNP Action in Loughborough
From the newswire: Stop the Nazi BNP in Nottinghamshire! | BNP Standing in Notts. Griffin Speaking | Anti-BNP demo in Beeston | BNP councillor's neighbour | Sadie Graham shoots straight | BNP morons hold 'national demo' | Griffin in court
BNP wins seat in Broxtowe
07-05-2007 12:19
Sadie Graham, the BNP's East Midlands Organiser, has taken Brinsley ward in Broxtowe, beating three other candidates. She has claimed a seat on Broxtowe Borough Council, following last week's local elections. She polled 439 votes in Brinsley, in the west of the borough.
Reverend Robert Murray, a local vicar running as a Labour Party candidate, received 295 votes, while independents Kenneth Phillips 109 and Wlady Wilhardt polled 185. In the last borough council elections, the BNP received 43% of the vote, but were beaten by Labour in a two horse race. This victory comes despite anti-fascist activity in the ward, including leafleting and a meeting. Attended by around 40 people, this event took place in February when Graham was the only candidate to have put her hat in the ring.
Report: Anti-BNP Demo in Beeston
Links: Sadie Graham Shoots Straight | Evening Post coverage | BNP councillor's neighbour
Kick Israeli Apartheid Out of Football
26-03-2007 20:34
On Saturday, 24th March, England played Israel in a Euro 2008 qualifying match. A group of activists picketed the Football Association in Soho Square calling for a Sporting boycott of Apartheid Israel [Newswire Report].
Prevous boycott actions and campaigns include:
Agrexco: 1 | 2 | video | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 Text of Letter to Carmel Agrexco | Apartheid and Agrexco in the Jordan Valley | War on Want's Report - Profiting from the Occupation
Caterpillar: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Caterkiller Shutdown | Jewish Voice for Peace - Rachel Corrie (1978-2003) | Caterkiller
Supermarket protests: Marks and Spencers Stencilled | Repression of M&S Protesters
Academic boycott: AUT Boycott | NAFTHE Boycott | CUPE Ontario | COSATU (South Africa).
Full article | 3 additions | 2 comments
Deaths in Custody
06-12-2006 14:05
The very mention of custody deaths brings to mind nasty foreign repressive regimes. But these deaths happen in Britain, too - on average, one a week in police custody alone. Then there are the deaths in immigration detention centres and in prisons, including children. Many of these deaths occur under dubious circumstances. Moreover, those in custody may not not have been convicted of any crime and are supposed to be presumed innocent.
The suicide rate is much greater in custody - as much as 18 times the UK average for young males, and disproportionately large among black people, especially as a result of "the excessive use of force by functionaries of the state", according to the group Inquest [example]. Deaths can also occur as a result of deliberate police inaction.
There is a lack of transparency in investigations into deaths in custody and very long delays before inquests (up to five years in some cases) as well as lack of accountability after juries return 'unlawful killing' verdicts. Of those verdicts since 1990, which the group Inquest is aware of, 18 police officers were prosecuted but all were acquitted. As far as is known, no police officer has ever been brought to justice for such killings.
Links: United Friends and Family Campaign’s annual Remembrance Procession (2006) | 19 minute video | photos Guido, Real2Reel, Marc Vallée | 2005 (photo report) | 2003 (photos & audio) | Ireland 2006 part 1, part 2.
Campaign against racism in Lincoln is gaining ground
03-12-2006 20:47
Over 100 people took part in a demonstration in Lincoln on Saturday (2nd Dec) to voice their anger over the not guilty verdict given recently against Nick Griffin and Mark Collett on charges of inciting racial hatred as well as recent local press reports suggesting that the BNP are intending to stand a number of candidates in next years local council elections. Despite this increase in attention on the BNP the LARF (Lincoln Against Racism and Fascism) campaign is gaining ground with more and more people expressing support, especially young people.
Links: Stop the BNP! | Unite Against Fascism | Lincoln organises against the far right
Articles: Lincoln LARFs at the BNP (photos) | Demo Against the BNP Activities in Lincoln on Saturday 2nd Dec | Lincoln BNP member in court !
Founder of British fascist gang stabbed to death
27-11-2006 23:17
The founder of the hardline Nazi drinking outfit known as the 'Wolf's Hook White Brotherhood' was stabbed to death at around 4.00am this morning, Monday November 22nd. The Nazi, Mick Sanderson, known as 'Belsen', of Nottingham, was stabbed to death in a drunken fight with another WHWB member, who is now under arrest. Sanderson was stabbed through the heart.
The 'Wolf's Hook White Brotherhood' have been in existence for around 2 years, running their own Hitlerite website, and being closely involved with the 'Nationalist Alliance'. Apart from hard-drinking, the gang specialise in wearing Nazi insignia, styling themselves very much on the form of an 'outlaw' motorcycle club, and sporting Hitlerite and fascist tattoos. They also claim to have been involved in violence against ethnic minorities.
External Links: Stab victim member of neo-nazi Wolf's Hook White Brotherhood | Worksop man remanded in murder case | Info on the The Wolf's Hook White Brotherhood
Full article | 2 additions | 13 comments
Race attack victim sentenced to 2 and ½ years
26-11-2006 12:48
Full article | 1 addition | 3 comments
The Discriminatory Asylum Vouchers
14-10-2006 18:11
Over 5,000 'failed asylum seekers' in the UK receive £35-a-week vouchers instead of cash for their NASS support under Section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, despite concerted efforts by the Home Office to open routes of enforced and 'voluntary' return to get rid of them. The so-called "hard-case support" claimants are stigmatised, demeaned and discriminated against on a daily basis. Yet, the House of Commons have recently debated extending the use of vouchers for more asylum seekers, 4 years after the original Asylum Voucher Scheme was abolished following huge public pressure [1 | 2] and a lot of criticism.
Read: Shaming Destitution: Citizen Advice Bureau's report | the Home Office review of the voucher scheme (pdf) | Token Gestures: the effects of the voucher scheme on asylum seekers (pdf) | Joint parliamentary briefing (pdf)
Links: Birmingham No Borders | other No Borders groups in the UK
Full article | 2 additions | 11 comments
The Racist 'War on Terror'
13-10-2006 18:08
If the 'war on terror' were really about stopping terror, then you would have thought that, when the largest ever haul of bomb-making chemicals, rocket launchers and a nuclear biological suit were found by police at a house in Lancashire, the suspect would be interned for 90 days, the story would make headlines for days, and they would be assumed to be guilty. Well, that's what you would expect if the suspects were Muslims.
But in this case, they are white nationalists; one of the two was the BNP candidate for the Vivary Bridge ward of Colne last May. So the police assumed he was innocent: "He's not a terrorist and it's not a bomb factory", Superintendent Neil Smith said, reassuring residents. He has been charged under the Explosives Substances Act 1883 and remanded in custody, and is due to appear in Burnley Crown Court on October 23rd. The second suspect was released without charge.
Read: Genuine Terror Cell Found | The fascist bomb factory you won't hear about | The terror plot that didn't fit
BNP Action in Loughborough
30-09-2006 11:17
Loughborough Shelthorpe Ward by-election
*****Important leafleting this Sunday 1st October *****
Assemble 11am outside McDonalds on Ling Road/Shelthorpe Road roundabout
Leicester Unite Against Fascism are calling a day of action to leaflet Loughborough Shelthorpe Ward against the fascist British National Party this Sunday. The fascist British National Party(BNP) are standing in the election on Thursday 5th October in Loughborough Shelthorpe Ward. Shelthorpe is a largely white working class estate in Loughborough and the BNP have been campaigning on the issue of a recently opened East Midlands regional immigration reporting centre. The seat is a two councillor seat and both seats were won at the last election by the Labour Party. There are fears that a low turnout may provide opportunities for the fascists. The fascist BNP is relying on a low turnout in order to get elected. The vast majority of people in Shelthorpe oppose the fascist BNP and can use their vote to stop the BNP.
Hundreds demonstrate in Leeds against Zimbabwean deportations
15-09-2006 13:39
Zimbabweans from across the UK led a huge demonstration in Leeds on Saturday 16 September against the resumption of deportations of refused asylum seekers back to Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe [see report]. The protest, called by the Zimbabwe Refugee Community Organisation with the backing of the Refugee Council (Yorkshire and Humberside) and campaign group Leeds No Borders, began outside Leeds Central Library at 12pm. It was addressed by, among others Mafungasei Maikokera, one of the famous Yarls Wood hunger strikers who resisted deportation on a plane bound for Harare. Hundreds of people then spontaneously marched into the main shopping precinct to the sound of samba and song.
The demonstration was called in response to a legal ruling in August that 'refused' asylum seekers no longer automatically face persecution if returned to Zimbabwe - despite the UK government's own very public condemnation of human rights abuses by the Mugagbe regime. These Zimbabweans now face the possibility of imminent deportation. Only last Wednesday in Zimbabwe, the country's main trade union leader was arrested by police for attempting to hold a demonstration which the government had earlier banned. Wellington Chibebe was beaten with batons and rifle butts as the police arrested him and 15 others. Zimbabweans are not alone - the Home Office has recently stepped up its efforts to forcibly remove asylum seekers en masse back to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Read: Demo call out | Report of Original Ruling, October 2005 | Recent legal ruling, August 2006, & Report | Refugee Council briefing | Zimbabwe Situation | Amnesty International Country Overview | Satellite images of Mugabe's community destruction scheme
Links: Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq | International Federation of Iraqi Refugees | National Coalition of Anti- Deportation Campaigns | Noborders UK communication channels | No Borders | Asylum Policy.info | Barbed Wire Britain | Peter Tatchell
Full article | 4 additions | 2 comments
No Deportations to Iraq
07-09-2006 22:21
32 Iraqi asylum seekers, who had been incarcerated in different detention centres, were deported to Arbil, northern Iraq, on 5 September, 2006, on a specially chartered flight from the RAF Brize Norton military base in Oxfordshire. There was a demonstration at the Home Office in London, called by the Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq and the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees, but that did not apparently stop the process, and neither did the warnings from international organisations [1 | 2 | 3] or the legal challenges.
The first forced deportation of Iraqi Kurds from the UK took place on 19 November, 2005. 15 men were taken to an airport at night, handcuffed, beaten and forced onto a military plane headed for Arbil through Cyprus. The move then sparked a lot of anger and protest [1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5], and the deportation of Iraqis was halted for a while until resumed this month. Tens of Iraqi Kurds are believed to be interned in UK detention centres, while thousands more have been served notice that they will be 'removed' from the country [latest report].
Read: initial report | call-out for demo | names of deportees | Home Secretary resumes forced removals to Iraq | EU-coordinated deportation of Afghani refugees
Links: Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq | International Federation of Iraqi Refugees | National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns | Noborders UK communication channels
Protest in solidarity with refugees Sat 09.09.06 Nottingham
01-09-2006 15:28
Nottingham Refugee Campaign Group have organised a protest in solidarity with refugees on Saturday 09th September from 1pm - 2pm at St Peters Gate Nottingham. How would YOU get from here to Loughborough with no money? That is what many asylum seekers are now being forced to do!
From the 4th September, Asylum seekers who receive NO MONEY and are NOT ALLOWED TO WORK are being required to report to a new Immigration Reporting Centre in Loughborough (instead of reporting here at the central police station).
Come and join the protest and show your solidarity
Belgrade remembers Srebrenica - 11 years on...
19-07-2006 16:03
The Srebrenica massacre was the July 1995 killing of up to an estimated 8,106 Bosniak males, ranging in age from teenagers to the elderly, in the region of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina by a Serb Army of Republika Srpska under general Ratko Mladić including Serbian state special forces "Scorpions". The Srebrenica massacre is the largest mass murder in Europe since World War II and considered by many as one of the most horrific events in recent European history. It is also the first legally established case of genocide in Europe after the Holocaust. (source: Wikipedia).
11 years on, a large crowd gathered in the city centre of Belgrade to remember the victims killed in the Srebrenica massacre. Last year the same vigil was attacked by nationalist groups, some of who trew teargas in the crowd. The police guarded the protest heavily this time. We took some photos...
Links: Wikipedia on the Srebrenica massacre | Preliminary list of 8106 Bosniaks killed in Srebrenica - (PDF version) - Issued by Federal Commission for Missing Persons on June 5, 2005 | The Association Women of Srebrenica - Official Website | Srebrenica Genocide Blog - Independent Blog Regarding Srebrenica Massacre | "Cry from the Grave" documentary film detailing the account of the massacre | Chemical Warfare in Bosnia? The Strange Experiences of the Srebrenica Survivors (a Human Rights Watch report) | BOSFAM - Non-Governmental group supporting displaced women in Bosnia
Anti-terror Raid in Forest Gate - Demonstration
17-06-2006 03:56
A crowd of several hundred demonstrators, mainly Muslim, gathered outside New Scotland Yard on Sunday afternoon 11 June to voice their disquiet at the June 2 raid in Forest Gate. The police raid which involved some 250 officers, was one of the largest single 'anti-terrorist' raids in Britain. Two houses were targeted based on intelligence that they were the location for a chemical bomb factory run by two brothers, Mohammed Abdul Kahar and Abdul Koyair.
The raid was brutal and Koyair was shot in the shoulder in circumstances that remain a mystery. The two brothers were eventually released without charge late on Friday June 9.
A demonstration was called for the 18th of June to show support for the families of the Forest Gate raid. More than 2000 people marched in East London to show the community’s anger and frustration at the raids. Demonstrators carried placards with statements such as “The War on Terror is a War on Us” [Report]
Full article | 1 addition | 2 comments
Protests Against The Economic Blockade Of Palestine
24-05-2006 16:15
A replica of the Israeli wall and a large banner with the words "Stop Starving Palestinians, End Israel's Occupation and Recognise Palestinian Democracy", acted as a back drop for the up to 20,000 demonstrators that gathered in London's Trafalgar Square on Saturday 20 of May.
Reports: 1 | 2 | Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
The demonstration, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, was prompted by the Israeli government's decision to strengthen the economic blockade of the Palestinian people after the landslide victory of Hamas in the recent Palestinian elections. The Israeli and US governments, together with the EU, brand Hamas as a terrorist organisation and have therefore stopped vital aid and funding from reaching Palestine, with devastating effects on the everyday lives of Palestinian people living in the Occupied Territories.
An Emergency Vigil was held in Sheffield on Thursday 25th May, called by Sheffield Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
For daily reports of life under Israeli occupation see the Middle East Media Centre and the Palestine Today audio reports in the IMC-UK newswires. Also check out IMC-Israel and IMC-Beirut for information about grassroots strugless and campaigns in the Middle East.
Full article | 5 additions | 1 comment
Hunger Strike in Colnbrook Detention Centre
10-04-2006 06:11
Updates: 27th April: Some remain on hunger strike.
24th April: The hunger strike in Colnbrook seems to have ended [Timeline | Solidarity Page]. Meanwhile, around 20 Turkish Kurdish detainees in Harmondsworth began a hunger strike on 20 April.
17 April: About 25 detainees in Haslar have staged a peaceful protest in the courtyard early this afernoon and are still there, refusing to re-enter the building. There are also news that the hunger strike have spread to Tinsley House.
15 April: More than 120 detainees in Haslar detention centre, Protsmoth, have gone on hunger strike in protest againts arbitrary detention and in solidariety with the detainees in Colnbrook.
In protest at their inhumane treatment by security guards during the No Borders demonstration last Saturday (8th April, 2006), over 150 detainees in Colnbrook detention centre went on hunger strike. According to the latest updates, nearly 100 of them are still on indefinite hunger strike. A delegation from the Home Office is supposed to pay them a visit to hear their demands for release. [Strike update 17/04]
The hunger strikers have been subject to repression from Colnbrook’s management, with one detainee, deemed to be the "organiser" of the protest, having been locked in an isolation cell on Saturday night, then later removed to another detention centre.
Many of the people inside Colnbrook have been there for over 6 months, with some being detained for up to 3 years. There is no automatic bail review process for immigrants who are being detained. Last January, a detainee at Harmondsworth Detention Centre took his own life out of despair. Fellow detainees responded with a one-day hunger strike and a written statement about their conditions and treatment in detention.
On Thursday 13, a solidarity protest took place outside the Home Office building in central London [Report and Pics]. This had been urgently called by London No Borders and The Square Social Centre. On Satuday 15 No Borders fundraiser also took place in London. And on Thursday 20 Cardiff saw another solidarity demonstration called by the No Borders South Wales group.
Read: initial reports [1] [2] | press release | detainee tells of beatings in Colnbrook (video)
Full article | 6 additions | 3 comments
Noborders Demo at Harmondsworth Detention Centre
08-04-2006 11:58
Harmondsworth, 8 April 2006. Around 300 people from London, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Brighton, Reading and Cardiff demonstrated at the Harmondsworth and Colnbrook detention centres near Heathrow to ensure that "those inside will hear our voices and know that they are not alone." The call out for the demonstration was made by London No Borders, the Campaign to Close Heathrow Detention Centres, London Against Detention, and The Square Occupied Social Centre in solidarity with the Noborder actions in Australia [see the NCADC report].
There was a large police presence and they prevented detainees and demonstrators from establishing a line of sight: the demo was not allowed to take place in the field where detainees could see it from their windows. Security guards also prevented detainees from accessing the centre's exercise yard and didn't even allow them to approach the windows. Some detainees were reportedly beaten up when they protested against these restrictions. In response, some 150 detainees in Colnbrook have gone on hunger strike [Read press release on updated situation in Colnbrook].
Many phone calls from detainees were passed on to the demonstrators via a small sound system. Former detainees also gave live testimonies of their own experience in detention [Sekindi's speech]. Meanwhile, about 40 people managed to make their way around the side of Colnbrook where detainees could see and hear them from the windows, and they spent a long time communicating with people inside, before being moved on by the police.
See the full timeline of events
Reports and Pics: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Audio reports
Videos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
In Glasgow, around 300 asylum seekers, refugees, sans-papiers, Unity activists, and their supporters marched from the Home Office Reporting Centre in Ibrox to a rally in the Carnival Arts Centre in town calling for the right to work and an end to deportations. On Monday, 10th April, the All African Women's Group and other organisations protested outside Communications House in London in solidarity with international actions for immigration and asylum rights, and against detention.
In Manchester, a demo and rally [more] were held on 15 April under the slogan "Manchester: city of detention, destitution and deportation". On the same day, the offices of Ethiopian Airlines in London were targetted by anti-deportation activists. Their locks were glued and anti-deportation slogans were painted over their office and in the surrounding area.