May 2003
Some stories
Australia signs refugee deal with Iran - will Europe follow?
The government of Iran has signed a deal with Australia agreeing, for the first time, to accept back rejected asylum seekers. The deal could set a precedent for Europe where there are about 10,000 Iranian asylum seekers, whose claims have been rejected.
31 May 2003 (1233 words)
Police chief alleges migrant crime rise
The president of the Association of Chief Police Officers has alleged that 'massive migration and a whole new type of crime, from the Nigerian fraudster ... to the Jamaican concentration on drug dealing' was sweeping the country.
30 May 2003 (90 words)
Abbas Amini gets leave to remain but continues protest
Abbas Amini, an asylum seeker from Iran who has stitched up his ears, eyes and lips, is continuing his protest on behalf of all asylum seekers, though the Home Office has been refused permission to appeal against the original decision to allow him indefinite leave to remain.
29 May 2003 (608 words)
We will stay here and die say refugees at frontier
A spokesman for 700 Roma refugees stranded on the Macedonian border says they are prepared to die where they are - if refused the right to cross into Greece.
29 May 2003 (338 words)
Crisis of black underachievement in London schools
Nearly 2,500 delegates participated in the second conference on the underachievement of black pupils in London schools on Saturday 10 May 2003.
28 May 2003 (1214 words)
Campaign success for Ugandan rape survivor
A Ugandan woman, whose rape by state agents was described by an adjudicator as 'simple and dreadful lust', has won the right to stay after a successful public campaign.
22 May 2003 (533 words)
Action needed to provide for Europe's minority ethnic elderly
Urgent action is needed to prevent a looming crisis in provision for Europe's minority ethnic elderly, according to the first report of a major Europe-wide research project, covering ten countries, into the problems of ageing and ethnicity.
21 May 2003 (179 words)
Iraqi asylum seekers fear being sent back
Thousands of Iraqi refugees in the UK are being left in a legal limbo, as the government plans to begin deportations to Baghdad in the near future. Since 20 March, the day the war on Iraq began, the Home Office has put all 7,000 Iraqi asylum cases on hold.
15 May 2003 (733 words)
Kurdish refugees attacked in Plymouth
Two Iraqi Kurds were the victims of a racist attack in an underpass in the centre of Plymouth.
14 May 2003 (103 words)
Inquest finds Spencer Weston's death was not an accident
An inquest into the death of a 21-year-old black man, who died in Leicester in 1999 after a police chase, has ended with the coroner taking the unusual step of giving a 'narrative verdict', providing a more informative account than the traditional verdicts of 'open', 'accidental' or 'unlawful'.
14 May 2003 (371 words)
The BNP in the local elections
The British National Party, with eight councillors, has become the main party of opposition on Burnley Council. And, in a significant number of wards in other towns in the North of England and in the West Midlands, the party has been able to win over a quarter of the votes cast in the recent local elections.
5 May 2003 (1691 words)
After Sangatte - assistance criminalised
Calais residents who dare to help asylum seekers in northern France are being criminalised by the French authorities, according to the Kent Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers.
1 May 2003 (272 words)