Report
The International Day was actually 21 March, but we chose 28 March for our event to fit with diary commitments. The original date was chosen by the
United Nations to commemorate the Sharpeville Massacre of 21 March 1960, when
the South African police opened fire on an unarmed crowd protesting against the
apartheid pass laws, killing 69 and wounding about 180. It shocked the world
and, far from strengthening apartheid as the government intended, unleashed the
antiracist movement which eventually abolished it just over 30 years later, in
1992.
Introducing the event, Dr Nazia Khanum OBE DL, Chair of
UNA-Luton, explained that Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, has taken
his inspiration for this year from the young people across the world who took
to the streets after the racist murder of George Floyd to protest against what
he called ‘the vicious global pandemic of racism.’ Condemning racism as
dangerous, abhorrent and ugly,’ Mr Guterres has set the UN theme for 2021 as ‘Youth
standing up against racism.’
Young people are growing up in an interconnected world,
where diversity is taken for granted and climate change is the common enemy. Dr
Khanum speculated that they may have stronger immunity against the virus of
racism than the older generations, so maybe this is at last a turning point.
After all, apartheid seemed invincible in 1960, but we saw it crumble with our
own eyes.
There were strong statements of support from Helen Nellis,
Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, and Councillor Maria Lovell, Mayor of Luton,
followed by two powerful speakers from the University of Bedfordshire.
Dr Mohammed Alramahi pointed out that islamophobia is a form
of racism. It is used as a cover for targeting hatred at particular minority
communities. The media have a key role, both positive and negative. Too often,
they perpetrate stereotypes. For example, the killing of innocent people is
only described as a terrorist attack if it is perpetrated by a Muslim. If a
non-Muslim carries out a similar atrocity, it is just murder or mass murder. On
the other hand, the media can be a crucial force for good, by presenting the
facts and combating misinformation.
Dr Helen Connolly made a disturbing presentation drawing on
evidence from her research for Amnesty International, the Refugee Council and
Save the Children on the plight of unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee
children in the UK. Her findings have been published as Without my family: The impact of family separation on child refugees in
the UK. Our website has a link to the published report. The arrival of these
unaccompanied children in the UK is a testament to the desperation of their
parents. One father explained that, if your house is on fire and there is no
escape, you will throw at least one of your children out of the window in the
hope that they will survive. They have no legal right to bring their families to
join them, and many cry at night for their mothers.
Susan Lousada, High Sheriff of Bedfordshire, and Sarah Owen,
MP for Luton North, gave their responses to the two presentation. The High
Sheriff commented that she had been made aware of the efforts of sinister
individuals to use the pandemic to play upon people’s fear and suspicion by disseminating
fake news about Muslims breaking the lockdown. She had been delighted to give
High Sheriff’s awards to local people who had bravely taken a stand to present
the true facts. Sarah Owen referred back to the evidence Dr Alramahi had
presented that Muslim job applicants are often rejected simply because of their
name. She urged employers to practise blind selection. In a recent recruitment
exercise, she had instructed Human Resources to remove from the applications
all references to name, gender and age. This produced the most diverse shortlist
she had ever seen.
All participants were deeply concerned about the
circumstances of unaccompanied children.
Government consultation on immigration
The goverment launched a consultation on 24 March about its New Plan for Immigration. This is an opportunity to influence government policy
on immigration more generally, and on refugees and asylum seekers in
particular. The
closing date is 6 May.
