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April RJ Update
Thank you very much for your feedback to the last month’s update. I appreciate your comments and suggestions. Please do keep sending them to me.
I am sure you are aware that we (ACTS) and the National Trust of Scotland will hold a very important national ecumenical service and an open weekend to mark the bicentenary of the abolition of slave trade in Scotland on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 of June. The events will take place at David Livingston Centre in Blantyre. A great amount of work is going into planning and organising this event. The Scottish Church leaders and dignitaries from countries affected by the slave trade will be attending the events on Saturday. Besides the Ecumenical Service there will be talks, music, educational resources, museum tours, workshops, activities for children, etc. Please put this date in your diary and publicise in your church and groups. Further information and publicity material will be available soon from our dedicated website: www.scotlandandslavery.org.uk and from ACTS.
This update is also available on our website: www.racialjusticescotland.org.uk
Some of the highlights this month:
1. Racist incidents in Scotland:
18 Racist crimes every 24hrs
Shocking figures have revealed a rising tide of racist crime in Scotland.
Police recorded 6439 racist crimes last year - that's18 a day. The figure was up sharply from 5732 the previous year and 4556 in 2004. More than half of all the victims were of Asian origin. Offences ranged from "racially aggravated conduct" - usually verbal abuse - to vandalism, fire-raising and serious assault. The figures were set out in the first Scotland-wide report into racist crime, published by the Executive.
Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson admitted that more action was needed to tackle the "sickening" trend. She said: "Crime in Scotland is falling but there remain key issues we need to tackle. "All crimes are an affront to the values we hold dear, but crimes committed against someone because of the colour of their skin or their country of origin are particularly sickening." The main target was Scotland's 32,000 Pakistanis, the biggest ethnic minority.
Daily Record, 28 March 2007
Rise in racist crime in Scotland
Police in Scotland have recorded an increase in racist crime of 13 per cent last year, about half of the perpetrators being under 20. BBC
Kebab shop staff's race attack hell
STAFF at a kebab shop in Midlothian are reported to be set to ask the Turkish government for help after a series of racist attacks. Scotsman
Player charged with racial abuse on the pitch
A footballer is due to appear in court after being charged with racially abusing a player. Scotsman
Asylum Seeker And Baby Sexually Attacked
An Algerian woman and her one-year-old baby were sexually assaulted in broad daylight in Glasgow in a racially aggravated attack. Herald
Poles in Scotland
Sarah Ormiston asks two Poles living in Scotland about the problems they have faced, their feelings towards their host country and what their futures hold. Catalist
2. Developments, Reports and Investigations
Police may force ethnic minority promotions
Chief constables in Scotland will be forced to promote black and Asian officers if senior ranks remain "white-only", the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police will today warn. Scotsman
STUC delegates are urged to guard against increasing racism, Herald
Youth summit aims to stamp out racism
Youngsters from 13 secondary schools across Edinburgh are set to take part in a conference aimed at tackling racism. More than 100 pupils will be taking ... Scotsman
Forced Marriage Toll Exposed
More than one-third of women from black and ethnic minority backgrounds have been affected by forced marriage, according to research. Herald
Curry King In Jobs Appeal To Black And Asian Youths
One of Glasgow's most prominent businessmen is urging black and Asian teenagers to join a city apprenticeship scheme. Evening Times
EU set to criminalise racial hatred
European governments are on the brink of agreeing a deal on EU-wide laws to criminalise racial hatred. Proposals call for jail terms for inciting violence or hatred against a person's 'race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin'. Guardian
Racial but not religious hatred becomes a crime in EU
Incitement to racial hatred and xenophobia is to become a crime across the European Union. But after a fraught debate involving significant national differences, attempts to single out religious aggravation and holocaust denial were rejected. In Britain the EU law will not mean any changes to domestic law because the 2006 Racial and Religious Hatred Act is tougher. Ekklesia
Multiracial Britain confuses Poles
Church is mobilised to warn immigrant families after claims of racist behaviour in the classroom. The Polish Educational Society of London approached the priests following claims of racist behaviour among Polish children and their parents. Headteachers reported that pupils were moving their desks away from Asian and black children in fear and saying that white people were superior. Guardian
Eastern Influx Helps Boost Scotland's Population
Scotland's population grew by 22,100 last year, buoyed by immigration from eastern Europe and a higher birth rate. Herald
3. Election report
Christians urged to vote against racist candidates, Ekklesia
Is 'Christian nation' rhetoric aiding the far right?
Christian denominations and church groups have been falling over themselves to denounce the British National Party (BNP) in the last few weeks, ahead of the impending local elections. During the last European elections, I was taking part in a BBC phone-in on political extremism when the BNP's press officer called the programme. Not only was the BNP a Christian party, he claimed, but the institutional church had let the country down. His party would defend British culture because churches had failed to do so. Ekklesia
Tracking the far right, Ekklesia
4. Asylum refugees
Family Returns After Last-minute
Scottish-based refugees win right to court review, Herald
Immigration adds fuel to Scottish economic boom
Immigration was cited as a positive contributor to Scotland's economic growth in a key survey by the chief economist of Lloyds TSB Scotland released today. Herald
Something remarkable
The arrival of asylum seekers in Glasgow's poorest areas has fostered a new community spirit. Guardian
Asylum hardships 'are deliberate', BBC
Dawn raids demo targets ministers
Campaigners against the use of dawn raids to remove failed asylum seekers have held a protest outside the first minister's official residence in Edinburgh. BBC
City To Offer Child Asylum Seekers A New Home
Hundreds of unaccompanied asylum seeker children are in line to be housed in Scotland to ease pressure on English local authorities, The Herald has learned. Herald
'Right To Jobs For Asylum Seekers' Plan Is Scrapped
Plans to give asylum seekers the legal right to work have been put on ice by the Scottish Executive. Herald
Arrest in immigration protest
One person has been arrested outside Brand Street immigration offices in Glasgow following a protest at the centre against dawn raids and the detention of children. BBC
Forcible deportations of asylum seekers to double in Scotland
The number of failed asylum seekers forcibly removed from Scotland is set double, the man in charge of immigration north of the Border has revealed. Scotsman
Speed Of Deporting Asylum Seekers To Double
The Home Office is seeking to double the rate at which it deports failed asylum seekers from Scotland - in a drive to clear a backlog of cases. Herald
Five Arrested As Police Crack Down On Fake Marriage Scam
Police and immigration officers yesterday broke up a gang behind a major sham marriage scam. Four men and a woman were arrested on suspicion of marrying off vulnerable Glasgow women, including drug addicts and prostitutes. Herald
Government promises trafficking investigation after TV programme
The Employment Protection Minister has promised an investigation after the BBC revealed in a programme the trafficking of migrant workers into 'modern day slavery' to work in poor conditions and with little pay. BBC
Set the children free
The article pleads for the children in our midst who are robbed of their childhood. The answer given by the Presbytery of Ayr, and their friend the Labour Party, is that it is a non-devolved matter and therefore not their responsibility. Can you escape responsibility for what goes on in our midst? Is England the holder of our conscience when the children cry out? To be able to do so little makes me ashamed to be a Scot. The Concentration Camp at Dungavel shames us all. IanHmilton webpaper
New underclass
The trafficking and exploitation of Britain's migrant workers, BBC
Watch undercover filming
Immigrants 'should be allowed to change churches', Ekklesia,
5. Marking the Bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade
A number of other new items at www.scotlandandslavery.org.uk
We are all slave owners
Slavery may have been officially abolished 200 years ago but we all collude to ensure its survival. Guardian
6. Publications
The Scottish Refugee Council has published research carried out by the Glasgow Centre for the Child and Society: 'This is a good place to live and think about the future...The needs and experiences of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Scotland'.
Download the executive summary, pdf file, 216kb
Book: Migration 'tipping point reached': 'A Nation of Immigrants?', A brief demographic history of Britain
Price: £7.50 , by Civitas (a right wing lobby group)
Immigration, politics and an open debate, Guardian
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) has published research conducted by the Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute: 'Race relations 2006: a research study'. Download pdf file, 456kb
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) has published research conducted by the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr): 'The reception and integration of new migrant communities'. Download pdf file, 737kb
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) has published its second factfile: 'Ethnic Minorities In Great Britain'. Download pdf file, 152kb
Nationwide Review Of Asylum System Told That Detainees Are "Treated Like Animals", Download PDF file