The 113th session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is currently underway, to which Amnesty International and the Runnymede Trust submitted a report on how race and racism affect the lives of black people and people of ethnic minorities in England. Race Equality Network, Just for Kids Law and Equality Act Review are among the 43 NGOs and CSOs that endorse the report, supporting different parts of the content and recommendations.
The report covers many different overarching themes, including political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights, the definition of discrimination and the right to individual petition. Aspects of the report draw on statistics and data, making many recommendations for areas of weak protection. Among the findings was the statistic that black children are 5.3 times more likely to be subjected to strip searches than white children, and thus the report recommends the prohibition of the use of strip searches on children both in law and practice. Another high figure showed that 47% of children from black and minority ethnic groups live in poverty, with white children at 24%. On the back of this, the report recommends reform to the UK’s social security system to ensure accessibility and sufficiency without any discrimination. Highlighting the need for action to enhance the protection of civil and political rights, the head of policy for Runnymede Trust commented, “People of colour have faced a rowback on their civil and political rights over the past five years. From the inhumane changes to our asylum system, to the introduction of legislation that restricts protest rights and ramps up harmful policing powers, it is time to shift the dial.”
Other recommendations in the report include (but are not limited to) repeals to legislation, for example the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act, the creation of a strategy to eradicate racial discrimination and promote race equality, and the enhanced gathering of data on hate crimes. The recommendations and UN Committee session come at a timely moment, following the recent violent attacks in the UK on hotels housing asylum seekers and the looting of stores, for which many people have been arrested.
The groups also addressed their sentiments to the UK government, with the racial justice director at Amnesty UK, Ilyas Nagdee opining, “The new UK government must not move forward attempting piecemeal reform, it must reset the national debate and make tackling institutional racism and inequality foundational to its missions, and ensure we do not vilify but protect some of the most marginalised people in the UK.”
To read the report, click here.
To read an article on the recent riots, click here.