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Northern Anti-Racist March January 19th 2008

Tyneside Community Action for Refugees (TCAR) | 04.12.2007 21:25 | Anti-racism | Migration | Social Struggles

MARCH AGAINST RACISM! STOP CRIMINALISING IMMIGRANTS! WE DEMAND THE RIGHT TO DECENT LEGAL WORK FOR ALL! 19th JANUARY March from General Hospital to Newcastle's Monument. Meet outside the Old Fire Station on West Road at 12noon. Bring banners, music, your friends and energy! please spread the word. Organised by TCAR.



CALLING ALL ANTI RACISTS.....
Tyneside Community Action for Refugees (TCAR) invites you to

ANTI RACIST MARCH in NEWCASTLE on 19th JANUARY
March from General Hospital to Newcastle's Monument
Meet outside the Old Fire Station on West Road at 12noon
Bring banners, music, your friends and energy! please spread the word

March Against Racism!
Stop Criminalising Immigrants!
We demand the right to stay and the right to legal work for all!

The Government is gradually making immigration a crime. In the last 10 years the Labour Government has introduced five major pieces of legislation on immigration, creating new 'offences' that apply exclusively to immigrants. Here are just a few examples of how immigrants are being turned into criminals:

• the right to work for asylum seekers was taken away in 2001
• stop and search policies by the police target black people
• so-called anti-terror laws do nothing to address the causes of terrorism, but are another way to terrorise and criminalise whole communities.
• Asylum seekers have to sign weekly or monthly at an Immigration Reporting Centre. Electronic tagging and telephone voice-recognition systems are used to track asylum seekers.
• Forcing asylum seekers to live where they are told and not allowing them to invite friends to stay at their house. At the same time we are forced to see friends go homeless and hungry due to government policies.


The right to work for asylum seekers was taken away in 2001. But many people are forced to work to look after their families because for asylum seekers with benefits, benefits are so low (70% of British benefits). And for asylum seekers receiving 'vouchers' or nothing at all, the situation is even worse.

Working is a right not a crime! It is not only asylum seekers who are affected by these racist policies. Many immigrants have strict controls on the jobs they are allowed to do and they have less rights than British workers. For example, they often have no rights to benefits if they loose their job and they may have to leave the country or become destitute.

TCAR is in solidarity with all immigrants and we also demand the right to decent work for everybody, both immigrants and people born in Britain. We stand against divide and rule tactics used by a racist Government and media. This is why we invite you to join a march against all racism on 19th January.

DEMANDS OF THE MARCH! These haven't been finalised in TCAR yet, however, some demands to be discussed include:
• WE DEMAND DECENT LEGAL WORK FOR ALL!
• WE DEMAND AN END TO THE CRIMINALISATION OF IMMIGRANTS! -
o No detention centres!
o No reporting centres!
o No tracking systems!
o No stop and search laws!
o No racist anti terror laws!
• NO DEPORTATION! NO NEW ASYLUM MODEL!
• NO DESTITUTION! DECENT HOUSING FOR ALL!
• GET RID OF NASS!
• FREEDOM TO STAY! FREEDOM TO WORK!
If you have any demands you would like us to consider, please email them into us and we will discuss them in TCAR.
DETAILS OF THE MARCH
Saturday 19th January
March from General Hospital to Newcastle's Monument
Meet outside the Old Fire Station on West Road at 12noon
Bring banners, music, your friends and energy!
We look forward to seeing our friends and comrades from Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. Together we are stronger! Together we will win!
POLICE RESPONSE
We have a democratic right to demonstrate. We have informed the police of our plans but they are currently opposing the route AND the day on the grounds that they don't have the resources. However, we're not demanding their resources. Demonstrators from Sheffield to Lindholme marched for 3 days with minimal police presence. Representatives from TCAR will be meeting with the police soon to discuss the issues but rest assured that we will not be intimidated into making significant changes to our plans. We know our rights and we have the right to march.
Please spread the word about the demonstration. We'll keep you posted.
If anyone can distribute leaflets or put up posters or requires more information please get in touch –  tynesidecarn@yahoo.co.uk.

Tyneside Community Action for Refugees (TCAR)
- e-mail: tynesidecarn@yahoo.co.uk

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