Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
More On Tabloid Racism
We've grown rather bored with pointing up the incredibly obvious nature of the racism of stories in the Daily Flail and Daily Excrescence (even if they chose to try and defend themselves against the 'sanctimonious' amongst us that have the audacity to point out this racism and label it as being exactly what it is). However, we are more than happy to point out other sites that take the time to analyse the papers' latest ventures into outrage.
Check out the Enemies of Reason and Five Chinese Crackers takes on the Flail's article on the supposedly astounding revelations that 'New figures reveal barely half of new mothers in parts of suburban England are of white British origin' (the page title of the on-line version). Nothing particularly new or startling in this - it is standard Flail fair, trawled up racially profiled titbits presented with its standard anti-immigration bias that panders to the prejudices of its readership and keeps its sales figures so high. What is interesting however, is exactly how this type of reporting is subtly (and not so subtly) twisted (sub-edited) to make it fit that agenda more, whilst at the same time providing ammunition for those, unlike the Flail editorial staff, who are proudly and openly racist.
The Daily Excress story 'Police fear being called racist so illlegal immigrants stroll free'* in contrast, is one of those that we routinely pass over as it is so obviously stupid that it doesn't require commenting on but it wasn't until we read the Tabloid Watch piece on it that we realised just how outstandingly twisted and stupid it really was.
* Yes, that is how it is spelled on the website.
Check out the Enemies of Reason and Five Chinese Crackers takes on the Flail's article on the supposedly astounding revelations that 'New figures reveal barely half of new mothers in parts of suburban England are of white British origin' (the page title of the on-line version). Nothing particularly new or startling in this - it is standard Flail fair, trawled up racially profiled titbits presented with its standard anti-immigration bias that panders to the prejudices of its readership and keeps its sales figures so high. What is interesting however, is exactly how this type of reporting is subtly (and not so subtly) twisted (sub-edited) to make it fit that agenda more, whilst at the same time providing ammunition for those, unlike the Flail editorial staff, who are proudly and openly racist.
The Daily Excress story 'Police fear being called racist so illlegal immigrants stroll free'* in contrast, is one of those that we routinely pass over as it is so obviously stupid that it doesn't require commenting on but it wasn't until we read the Tabloid Watch piece on it that we realised just how outstandingly twisted and stupid it really was.
* Yes, that is how it is spelled on the website.
Monday, 9 August 2010
Fly Border Police Airways
It appears that the French Interior Ministry has come up with a novel way of beating French anti-deportation campaigns - their own airline! These consist of 15-seater Beachcraft planes flown by border police (PAF) officers with pilots licenses from small provincial airfields where they will attract little notice. According to one such cop, this is especially favoured in the case of deporting children as deportations on commercial airline flights attract the opposition of passengers and are liable to be opposed publicly by detainee support groups.
Saturday, 7 August 2010
Campsfield Hunger Strikers' Second Statement
Despite what the UK Borders Agency and the BBC are saying, the 147 Campsfield detainees are still maintaining their hunger strike. Here is the second of their statements:
We appreciate all the effort and support we have received.
Today we continue to fight for our rights, today, all we detainees will continue to fight for liberty and security which is our fundamental rights.
It is unbelievable that a country so great that advocates human rights and liberty, eradicated slavery still practice such inhumane treatment of humans with equal rights in its backyard with the expectation that the whole world would be unaware of these treacherous nature adhered by the institutions.
Today we raise our voices until liberty is ours. Over 140 detainees have maintained the decision not to feed and sleep until our lives and the lives of our families are restored.
Until this moment, we have not been contacted by the UK Border Agency or Immigration in respect to our protest. The onsite immigration have hidden away and refused to engage in any communication or dialogue. This is evidently a sign of weakness by UKBA and an acceptance that our cry is for a good reason.
We read that in media that we have vending machines and onsite medical services. It is evident that the Immigration is not in touch with fundamental issues we are facing. Our lives are at risk, we have no freedom or liberty, we are been tortured, yet Immigration speaks about vending machine. These are malicious claims in an attempt to deny or play down the gravity of our determination. Can any vending machine feed 140 people?
Our lives and liberty should be considered like the rest of the 6 billion humans in the world. Our families are undergoing pain, our cases should be reviewed frequently, our detention should be justifiable, we should be given time for adequate judicial proceedings, we should not be detained indefinitely.
In July 2010 Honourable Justice Silber ruled that the fast-track policy was "unlawful and must be quashed”, however, the UK Border Agency still indulge in the fast track policy which is against the ruling of Honourable Justice Silber.
We put this question to all. Can it ever be justifiable for any organisation, institution or country to detain any human being with family (wife and children) for 3 years with?
We are also aware that there is a possibility that our efforts will be suppressed and not channelled to the appropriate body or government, however, we will continue to fight with everyday.
We all would humbly request that the parliament and cabinet address our heartily concerns as our wives, children, and we detainees are all dying, very slowly.
Tonight, we would all sleep outside on the grass floor and would refuse to sleep indoors. We deserve to be heard and until such time, we fight.
In spite of all, it is our believe that people are good at heart and should be giving a right to life.
Our humble selves - Detainees
On behalf of all detainees
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Indymedia updates: [1], [2], [3]
We appreciate all the effort and support we have received.
Today we continue to fight for our rights, today, all we detainees will continue to fight for liberty and security which is our fundamental rights.
It is unbelievable that a country so great that advocates human rights and liberty, eradicated slavery still practice such inhumane treatment of humans with equal rights in its backyard with the expectation that the whole world would be unaware of these treacherous nature adhered by the institutions.
Today we raise our voices until liberty is ours. Over 140 detainees have maintained the decision not to feed and sleep until our lives and the lives of our families are restored.
Until this moment, we have not been contacted by the UK Border Agency or Immigration in respect to our protest. The onsite immigration have hidden away and refused to engage in any communication or dialogue. This is evidently a sign of weakness by UKBA and an acceptance that our cry is for a good reason.
We read that in media that we have vending machines and onsite medical services. It is evident that the Immigration is not in touch with fundamental issues we are facing. Our lives are at risk, we have no freedom or liberty, we are been tortured, yet Immigration speaks about vending machine. These are malicious claims in an attempt to deny or play down the gravity of our determination. Can any vending machine feed 140 people?
Our lives and liberty should be considered like the rest of the 6 billion humans in the world. Our families are undergoing pain, our cases should be reviewed frequently, our detention should be justifiable, we should be given time for adequate judicial proceedings, we should not be detained indefinitely.
In July 2010 Honourable Justice Silber ruled that the fast-track policy was "unlawful and must be quashed”, however, the UK Border Agency still indulge in the fast track policy which is against the ruling of Honourable Justice Silber.
We put this question to all. Can it ever be justifiable for any organisation, institution or country to detain any human being with family (wife and children) for 3 years with?
We are also aware that there is a possibility that our efforts will be suppressed and not channelled to the appropriate body or government, however, we will continue to fight with everyday.
We all would humbly request that the parliament and cabinet address our heartily concerns as our wives, children, and we detainees are all dying, very slowly.
Tonight, we would all sleep outside on the grass floor and would refuse to sleep indoors. We deserve to be heard and until such time, we fight.
In spite of all, it is our believe that people are good at heart and should be giving a right to life.
Our humble selves - Detainees
On behalf of all detainees
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Indymedia updates: [1], [2], [3]
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Campsfield Hunger Strikers' Statement
Unlawful Detention Of Detainees
147 detainees are staging a protest by refusing meals at Campsfield immigration removal centre. The protest erupted as a result of the treatment of detainees in detention centres especially for people who have been detained for a long period of time. We continue to refuse meals indefinitely for our voices to be heard.
Some of us detainees have been detained for over 3 years with no prospect of removal or any evidence of future release. There is no justification whatsoever for detaining us for such period of time. Our lives incidentally have been stalled without any hope of living a life, having a family or any future. More often than not, we are been detained even when our family (wife and children) are resident in the United Kingdom, depriving us of having a life with our family. We the detainees are also humans.
In certain cases, some of us are tortured and even face death or mental distress. On 14 April 2010, a detainee of Kenya national Eliud Nyenze died at Oakington IRC due to negligence. Mr. Nyenze, age 40, had a heart attack, requested for painkillers, repeatedly and kept crawling around the floor in pain before he died.
Detainees are currently undergoing mental stress with some of us developing mental problems on a monthly basis. We are issued removal directions without given enough time for an appeal.
It has become a habit by the UK Border Agency to use force in enforcing removal of detainees who have a pending Judicial Review without giving appropriate time or consideration to our case and forcing our removal before our cases are concluded. In some situations, we are not given enough time to appeal against the decision which breaches our rights under Article 6 of the ECHR. Our liberty and security has been taking away.
We as foreign nationals are often been criminalised for the purpose of detention and removal as the law under the European Convention of Human Rights permits the removal of foreigners who have established there lives in the United Kingdom and are a treat to national security. Foreign nationals are now been sent to prison for 12 months custodial sentence or more prompting the deportation of such individual. Removals are enforced on specially chartered flights with security personnel who abuse and torture detainees in the process. Detainees are restrained, strapped, beating and forced on the airplane.
On 26 July 2010, one of the detainee at Campsfield attempted suicide due to the level of treatment received at the detention centre.
The Amnesty International has also reported that our detention breaches the internationally recognised human rights.
On a regular basis, we are tortured, restrained, strapped like animals and beating to effect removal. This cannot be lawful given that there is provision within the ECHR convention that prohibits torture both mentally and physically.
We painfully ask that the government, the house of parliament, the house of common, the parliamentarians and all concerned to rise to our aid and address these issues that affects not only our lives and our future but the lives and future of the thousands of our families who are constantly under pain and torture.
Detainees - Campsfield House
147 detainees are staging a protest by refusing meals at Campsfield immigration removal centre. The protest erupted as a result of the treatment of detainees in detention centres especially for people who have been detained for a long period of time. We continue to refuse meals indefinitely for our voices to be heard.
Some of us detainees have been detained for over 3 years with no prospect of removal or any evidence of future release. There is no justification whatsoever for detaining us for such period of time. Our lives incidentally have been stalled without any hope of living a life, having a family or any future. More often than not, we are been detained even when our family (wife and children) are resident in the United Kingdom, depriving us of having a life with our family. We the detainees are also humans.
In certain cases, some of us are tortured and even face death or mental distress. On 14 April 2010, a detainee of Kenya national Eliud Nyenze died at Oakington IRC due to negligence. Mr. Nyenze, age 40, had a heart attack, requested for painkillers, repeatedly and kept crawling around the floor in pain before he died.
Detainees are currently undergoing mental stress with some of us developing mental problems on a monthly basis. We are issued removal directions without given enough time for an appeal.
It has become a habit by the UK Border Agency to use force in enforcing removal of detainees who have a pending Judicial Review without giving appropriate time or consideration to our case and forcing our removal before our cases are concluded. In some situations, we are not given enough time to appeal against the decision which breaches our rights under Article 6 of the ECHR. Our liberty and security has been taking away.
We as foreign nationals are often been criminalised for the purpose of detention and removal as the law under the European Convention of Human Rights permits the removal of foreigners who have established there lives in the United Kingdom and are a treat to national security. Foreign nationals are now been sent to prison for 12 months custodial sentence or more prompting the deportation of such individual. Removals are enforced on specially chartered flights with security personnel who abuse and torture detainees in the process. Detainees are restrained, strapped, beating and forced on the airplane.
On 26 July 2010, one of the detainee at Campsfield attempted suicide due to the level of treatment received at the detention centre.
The Amnesty International has also reported that our detention breaches the internationally recognised human rights.
On a regular basis, we are tortured, restrained, strapped like animals and beating to effect removal. This cannot be lawful given that there is provision within the ECHR convention that prohibits torture both mentally and physically.
We painfully ask that the government, the house of parliament, the house of common, the parliamentarians and all concerned to rise to our aid and address these issues that affects not only our lives and our future but the lives and future of the thousands of our families who are constantly under pain and torture.
Detainees - Campsfield House
Hunger Strike At Campsfield & Possibly Yarl's Wood
There seems to be some confusion on the newswires but there is definitely a hunger strike at Campsfield detention centre and, according to the Press Association, at Yarl's Wood. 147 detainees at Campsfield began refusing food - "indefinitely for our voices to be heard" - yesterday evening in protest against the poor treatment of long-term detainees.
The Home Office claim that only 108 detainees are involved but, just as they did with the Yarl's Wood hinger strikers last year*, their line is to attempt to suggest that the hunger strike is not genuine - Jonathan Sedgwick, UK Border Agency deputy chief executive: "they still have access to food from the on site shop and vending machines."
The Press Association have also got a release out linking the same UKBA statement to what is claimed to be a hunger strike at Yarl's Wood but this appears to be a mistake on their part as none of the websites for the local papers have the story.
More hopefully to follow.
UPDATE: The Press Association link above now goes to a new much shorter corrected version of the story (without mentioning that they got it wrong earlier). If you want to see the earlier version then 24Dash have more or less an exact copy of the PA text.
* There is an article in today's Guardian with a number of the women who took part in that hunger strike and they talk about their experiences and the fact that they are still involved in "a legal battle to gain official recognition that the protest even took place."
The Home Office claim that only 108 detainees are involved but, just as they did with the Yarl's Wood hinger strikers last year*, their line is to attempt to suggest that the hunger strike is not genuine - Jonathan Sedgwick, UK Border Agency deputy chief executive: "they still have access to food from the on site shop and vending machines."
The Press Association have also got a release out linking the same UKBA statement to what is claimed to be a hunger strike at Yarl's Wood but this appears to be a mistake on their part as none of the websites for the local papers have the story.
More hopefully to follow.
UPDATE: The Press Association link above now goes to a new much shorter corrected version of the story (without mentioning that they got it wrong earlier). If you want to see the earlier version then 24Dash have more or less an exact copy of the PA text.
* There is an article in today's Guardian with a number of the women who took part in that hunger strike and they talk about their experiences and the fact that they are still involved in "a legal battle to gain official recognition that the protest even took place."
Monday, 2 August 2010
European-wide Anti-Roma Racism
Ma de pr'oda, savi hinmanuces morci, ale dikh, savo les hin jilo.
[Don't look at the skin of a man; look at his heart.]
—Romani proverb
Eric Pickles, the rather unpleasant Tory communities and local government minster, seems hell bent on making sure that he is not left out of the wave of anti-Roma/Gypsy/Traveller activities that are sweeping Europe. Pandering to apparently nimby but essentially racist sentiment, he is busy drafting a swathe of new laws that will make it easier for the police to evict and arrest people that trespass on public land, the very land that Gypsies and Travellers are being forced to camp on following the increased number of court actions forcing the eviction of the very same families from land that they own but for which they have no planning permission to live.
The most notorious recent example of this phenomenon is Basildon Council's on-going attempts to try and evict the Dale Farm community. Just last week eight families were issued with eviction notices and a further 70 families are under threat of losing their homes. Yet, by European standards, they can count themselves relatively lucky, they may face daily racist antipathy and violence from hostile locals but at least they do not face forced deportation as other Roma and Travellers are.
Across Europe they are being scapegoated for the failures of politicians and economies with apparently ever increasing vigour. So much so that organisations like UNICEF, Amnesty International, the European Roma Policy Coalition and the European Roma Rights Centre have all issued recent stark warnings about the treatment of the Romani and how the EU appear to be "turning blind eye to discrimination against Roma" as the Guardian put it.
These people are EU citizens and should have the right to freedom of movement and protection under the ECHR, but nobody appears to care. Just this year we have had a series of forced evictions of Roma in Slovakia, Serbia, Italy, Romania and the Czech Republic; the forced deportation of 23 Roma from Denmark, with a two-year entry ban, for camping in the wrong place and the city of Copenhagen has requested government assistance to deport up to 400 more Roma from the country; Swedish police had expelled 50 Roma so far this year for begging, which is not illegal in Sweden; the caravan of 700 Roma who were attempting to hold an evangelical rally on squatted land forced out of the Dutch-speaking Flanders region of Belgium but managed to negotiate temporary permission to camp in Dour, in the French-speaking Wallonia; Sarkozy announced plans to dismantle 300 or so 'illegal' Roma and Travellers camps and expel them from the country in response to the recent riots that followed the shooting dead of 22-year-old Luigi Duquenet in the quiet French village of Saint Aignan*; and German plans to forcibly return 12,000 Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians to Kosovo, more than 5 000 of whom are children, including a majority that were born or grew up in Germany and speak no language other than German.**
One small piece of welcome news has been the success of a test case brought in the Hungarian supreme court against the segregation of schools in Miskolc, Hungary's third-largest city. Five Roma children were awarded damages for the detrimental effects they suffered from this form of persecution. The 100,000 florint (about £300) damages may not be much but it remains an historic decision that hopefully should bring to have an effect in the Hungarian educational system.
* "France's estimated 400,000 Travellers already have to undergo regular police checks and critics fear they are at risk of becoming the scapegoats of a government in need of a populist boost."
** There are numerous stories of the persecution of returnees and the particular problems faced by the children. Germany is not the only EU country returning Kosovans as it has been the policy of a number of Western European countries to deport refugees back to what they now consider a 'safe' country, whatever the consequences.
[Don't look at the skin of a man; look at his heart.]
—Romani proverb
Eric Pickles, the rather unpleasant Tory communities and local government minster, seems hell bent on making sure that he is not left out of the wave of anti-Roma/Gypsy/Traveller activities that are sweeping Europe. Pandering to apparently nimby but essentially racist sentiment, he is busy drafting a swathe of new laws that will make it easier for the police to evict and arrest people that trespass on public land, the very land that Gypsies and Travellers are being forced to camp on following the increased number of court actions forcing the eviction of the very same families from land that they own but for which they have no planning permission to live.
The most notorious recent example of this phenomenon is Basildon Council's on-going attempts to try and evict the Dale Farm community. Just last week eight families were issued with eviction notices and a further 70 families are under threat of losing their homes. Yet, by European standards, they can count themselves relatively lucky, they may face daily racist antipathy and violence from hostile locals but at least they do not face forced deportation as other Roma and Travellers are.
Across Europe they are being scapegoated for the failures of politicians and economies with apparently ever increasing vigour. So much so that organisations like UNICEF, Amnesty International, the European Roma Policy Coalition and the European Roma Rights Centre have all issued recent stark warnings about the treatment of the Romani and how the EU appear to be "turning blind eye to discrimination against Roma" as the Guardian put it.
These people are EU citizens and should have the right to freedom of movement and protection under the ECHR, but nobody appears to care. Just this year we have had a series of forced evictions of Roma in Slovakia, Serbia, Italy, Romania and the Czech Republic; the forced deportation of 23 Roma from Denmark, with a two-year entry ban, for camping in the wrong place and the city of Copenhagen has requested government assistance to deport up to 400 more Roma from the country; Swedish police had expelled 50 Roma so far this year for begging, which is not illegal in Sweden; the caravan of 700 Roma who were attempting to hold an evangelical rally on squatted land forced out of the Dutch-speaking Flanders region of Belgium but managed to negotiate temporary permission to camp in Dour, in the French-speaking Wallonia; Sarkozy announced plans to dismantle 300 or so 'illegal' Roma and Travellers camps and expel them from the country in response to the recent riots that followed the shooting dead of 22-year-old Luigi Duquenet in the quiet French village of Saint Aignan*; and German plans to forcibly return 12,000 Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians to Kosovo, more than 5 000 of whom are children, including a majority that were born or grew up in Germany and speak no language other than German.**
One small piece of welcome news has been the success of a test case brought in the Hungarian supreme court against the segregation of schools in Miskolc, Hungary's third-largest city. Five Roma children were awarded damages for the detrimental effects they suffered from this form of persecution. The 100,000 florint (about £300) damages may not be much but it remains an historic decision that hopefully should bring to have an effect in the Hungarian educational system.
* "France's estimated 400,000 Travellers already have to undergo regular police checks and critics fear they are at risk of becoming the scapegoats of a government in need of a populist boost."
** There are numerous stories of the persecution of returnees and the particular problems faced by the children. Germany is not the only EU country returning Kosovans as it has been the policy of a number of Western European countries to deport refugees back to what they now consider a 'safe' country, whatever the consequences.
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