 |
August 08 Racial Justice Update
A selective digest of news, events and other relevant information from Scotland.
Welcome to August Racial Justice Update. To received this update by email please contact the editor
This update and previous updates can also be viewed at http://www.acts-scotland.org/racialjustice/news.shtml
Some stories from this edition:
- Conference on Migration for Scottish Churches see ACTS website.
Please book soon as places available for this conference are limited!
- A new book on Asylum Revd. Canon Anthony Harvey, free to download
We welcome contributions to this update. Please contact the editor at the address below.
1. Racist incidents in Scotland:
State of the Nation Report
With the lack of information on race and racism increasingly recognised, Glasgow Anti Racist Alliance (GARA) has launched its “State of the Nation – Race and Racism in Scotland 2008” report, a collation of statistics and data relating to Black/Minority Ethnic (BME) people in Scotland. GARA
Footballer who suffered racial abuse wants his battle to inspire others
A footballer who fought for two years to prove he had been the victim of on-field racial abuse said last night he hoped his case would be a deterrent to racists on the pitch. Speaking exclusively to Scotland on Sunday, Dan Gerrard said he hoped the successful outcome of his legal action can act as an inspiration to others who find themselves victimised. Scotland on Sunday
Cleared lawyer hits out at ‘institutionally racist’ Scottish judiciary
The first solicitor to face charges of contempt of court for remarks made after a conviction blamed his ordeal on a north-south divide in the interpretation of the law and the “institutionally racist” and demographically unrepresentative Scottish judiciary. Muslim News
Moslems voice concern over interviews at Scots airport
Islamic leaders met police yesterday to discuss the impact “stop and search” procedures have on Moslems using a Scottish airport. Press and Journal
Met chief faces racism claims
Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Ian Blair faces a potentially damaging public row after one of his closest colleagues pushed ahead with claims against him. Scotsman
Top Asian officer lodges racism claim
Britain's most senior Asian police officer has filed for racial discrimination against the Metropolitan Police, the BBC said on Friday. Reuters UK
2. Developments, Reports and Investigations
Anti-Semitic incidents 'rise 9%'
There was a 9% rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the UK in the first half of 2008 compared with the same period last year, a charity has reported. There were 266 incidents up to June, compared with 244 last year, according to the Community Security Trust (CST). BBC
A question of identity: are you Scottish or British?
Scottish? Or British? For generations many Scots were happy to be a bit of both. Now, for the first time, they will officially have to decide between the two. The Scottish Government yesterday published the likely questions on national identity for the next census. People living in Scotland in 2011 will be asked to tick one of 21 boxes that they think best defines their ethnic or national background. There will be a box for "Scottish" and a box for "British" but none for both. Herald
Scottish & proud of it
Maybe it's the grins, or perhaps it's the yellow turbans. Or maybe it is the sight of one of the group, who looks old enough to be a great grandad, running faster than a 20-something. Whatever it is, the sight of the Scottish Sikhs training in Bellahouston Park attracts a lot of smiles from the public. Evening Times
Inquiry into lack of minority MPs set up
Gordon Brown has called for a cross-party inquiry to examine how to increase the number of women and ethnic minority MPs, Commons Speaker Michael Martin said yesterday. Herald
Deportation threat beggars belief
Heather Cavin has lived in the UK for more than 50 years, nursed the sick for more than 40 years and needs to keep on working to care for her elderly husband following a heart operation. She has paid her taxes and spent not a day on the dole. She is Canadian by birth, but embodies everything that the government tells us we should expect from people who wish to live in Britain. Yet Heather, who should be looking forward to putting up her feet in retirement, is now facing up to the prospect of being deported because it has only just come to light that she does not have an official Home Office stamp on her passport. Press and Journal
Man who has been in UK for over 50 years told ‘prove you’re British’
A Moray man who has lived in the UK since the age of three and served his country in the armed forces has been told he can no longer work without a British passport. Mental health nurse Keir Hardie, from Forres, received a phone call from NHS Grampian on Tuesday informing him he could not return to work at Dr Gray’s Hospital, Elgin, until his British citizenship status had been resolved. Press and Journal
Strict new rules for foreign students
Foreign students hoping to come to the UK to study will have to meet strict new criteria, the Government announced today. The Home Office has published proposals for much tighter rules for foreign students - and the universities and colleges hosting them - under the student tier of its new Points Based System. Home Office
Life inside Dungavel
They are like ghosts, moved without warning or explanation across the country in the dead of night, transported in unmarked vans. A silent cargo, often handcuffed, frozen by fear and unable to make a call or let their family know what is happening to them. "Ghosting" happens most nights as detainees at removal and detention centres are taken from their families and driven, sometimes more than 500 miles, the Sunday Herald has been told. Staff claim Dungavel is at crisis point, with overcrowding at up to 150% and chronic staff shortages which often leave inadequate cover for "suicide watch", according to sources. Five to 10 families with children are detained there at any one time, detainees claimed. Sunday Herald
As racism fades into my memory, it begins yet again for others
Today, walking around London with my teenage son, it's hard to explain why it was no great surprise back then, as those first pictures of howling mobs chasing black men through the streets were shown around the world. … On the other hand, it is impossible to escape the realisation that, for many, more recent migrants, the city offers an experience which feels uncomfortably like the way it was for black migrants in the Fifties. In the last few months, I've heard more than one diatribe directed at assistants in shops or banks, beginning with the familiar: 'You people ...' and ending with the suggestion that the object of the abuse should 'go back where you came from'. A familiar narrative which I would have labelled racist, had it not been for the fact that the abuser was black and the abused an embarrassed European or African. Guardian
3. Asylum refugees:
Anger Over Asylum Seeker's Deportation
The Home Office was condemned last night over its decision to deport an asylum seeker and her two-year-old son back to China after five years living in Scotland. Herald
Unity Glasgow, win First Gold Medal at Beijing Olympics
Qin Wang's flight to China was stopped yesterday and she and Jian are still in Yarl's Wood (staff at Yarl's Wood when contacted yesterday said she had "gone". NCADC
UK Asylum Statistics: 2nd Quarter (April/May June ) 2008
The Home Office published their asylum statistics for April/May June 2008
Control of Immigration: quarterly statistical summary
4. Immigration
Scotland enjoys baby-boom after immigration influx
Scotland's population is at a 25-year high thanks to a baby boom and increased migration. Official figures to be released this week will show the country has defied predictions that the number of people north of the Border would plunge below five million, triggering an economic crisis. The biggest factor in the turn-around has been the recent arrival of thousands of skilled workers from other parts of the UK and Eastern Europe. Daly Record
Migrants savour slice of Scottish culture
Migrant workers living in Moray sampled a flavour of Scottish culture at the weekend when a celebratory event was held to mark their efforts to integrate into the community. Press and Journal
Illegal immigrants ‘should buy residence for £5000’
Britain's estimated 500,000 illegal immigrants should be offered the chance to turn legitimate in exchange for a £5000 fee, it was claimed today. Liberal think-tank Centre Forum said that anyone here illegally for more than three months should be allowed to begin an "enrolment period" for a £200 charge, followed by five annual instalments of about £1000. At the end of the process, they could be granted permanent residence in the UK if they fulfilled a series of criteria, such as being able to prove they were paying taxes, holding a stable job and able to speak basic English. Herald
Some migrant workers in fishing industry earning just £1 an hour
A probe into working conditions for migrant workers in the Scottish fishing industry has found that some are earning little more than £1 an hour, it emerged last night. The International Transport Union is demanding an end to a “cycle of corruption and exploitation” after discovering that some Filipino crew have to hand over hundreds of pounds to loan shark agencies in their homeland in return for work in the UK. As a result, the union found that some are earning as little as £1.24 an hour – or £250 a month – because agency bosses are seizing their pay. Press and Journal
5. Publications and Resources:
Report on the Situation of the Roma Community in Govanhill, Glasgow
Oxfam [pdf] report
New book Asylum in Britain: a question of conscience
Revd. Canon Anthony Harvey
Anthony Harvey has made the whole of his book available as a free download. See CTBI website
Immigration and social cohesion in the UK
This research draws on original material gathered from six UK sites with different experiences of migration and post-industrial transformations, and comprising different populations of long-term residents and new immigrants. Between them, they illustrate various contexts of social cohesion in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Face to Face and Side by Side: A framework for interfaith dialogue and social action consultation – summary of consultation responses
Marriage Visas: the way forward
Home Office
Immigration and Social Cohesion in the UK
This study is about understanding the relationship between recent immigration and social cohesion in the context of other social and economic transformations that affect everyday life for everyone living in the UK.
Summary of the report here
Download a pdf copy of the full report from here
Scotland's New Ethnicity Classification for Scottish Official Statistics and Recommended for Scotland's 2011 Census
Gypsies/Travellers in Scotland: The Twice Yearly Count - No. 13: January 2008 [pdf]
Report on an announced inspection of Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre by Anne Owers, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, inspection 4 - 8 February 2008, report compiled May 2008, Thursday 21st August 2008 [pdf]
Events:
Scottish Churches and Contemporary Migration
A conference on Migration organised by ACTS and the Scottish Churches
Wednesday 8th October 2008, 9.30 am – 4.15 pm
at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SR
See more details on ACTS website.
Editor
Nelu Balaj