Oxfam and 153 other organisations call on Government to “act immediately” over rise in racist violence

Oxfam and 153 others including Amnesty International, Mind and PCS Union have written a joint statement calling on the Government “to act immediately” over racist violence. The statement is in response to a weekend that saw disruption and agitation in Portsmouth and Dover by ‘Patriot Platform’ as well as a building being set alight in Glasgow allegedly after misinformation spread that it would be used to house people seeking asylum.

The letter outlines how “levels of racist violence and intimidation that were once considered extreme are now becoming weekly occurrences across the UK”, and that this reflects “the consequences of years of growing inequality, underinvestment in communities and public services, and political and media narratives that have normalised racism, anti-migrant sentiment and Islamophobia.”
It calls on the Government to “act with the urgency” in tackling “the dangerous cycle of political narratives” and to “work with impacted people and communities to ensure their rights are protected and no one is forced to live in fear due to their religion, ethnicity, immigration status or skin colour.”

This statement is a joint one by 154 organisations including faith groups, trade unions and civil society organisations such as the Runnymede Trust, City of Sanctuary, Choose Love, Together Alliance, Action Aid, the Muslim Council of Britain and many others.

Siân Summers-Rees, Chief Officer at City of Sanctuary said: “When people are struggling, the far right offers up migration as an easy target. But migrants are not the reason wealth has been hoarded, public services stripped back and communities left behind. Migrants are people trying to rebuild their lives as neighbours, colleagues and friends. It's up to all of us to resist this scapegoating and stand together for a country where everyone can live with dignity and security.”

Dr Shabna Begum, CEO of the Runnymede Trust, said:
"From the racist riots that began in Southport two years ago, to the pogroms we witnessed in Belfast this summer, and now this weekend’s events, racist violence and intimidation is increasingly normalised in the UK.

"Those of us working in the racial justice and migrants’ rights sector have consistently called for the government to address the political and structural conditions enabling this escalation, most recently through our joint call with more than 100 organisations for a comprehensive national anti-racism strategy. We all deserve to live in safety and without fear. We need decisive government action to stop this cycle of violence from escalating further, it is already long overdue."

Notes to editors: The full list of signatories of the statement are ActionAid UK, Aegis the Union, African Rainbow Family, Alliance for Police Accountability, Amos Trust, Artists' Union England, ASAP, Ashaadibi Centre, ASLEF Waterloo Nine Elms Branch, Association of Filipino Domestic Workers, Aziziye Mosque, Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union, Bandofla Podcast, BARAC UK, Bengali East End Heritage Society, Better Story, Beyond Skin, Black Equity Organisation, Body & Soul, Bridging Change, Bridport Refugee Support Campaign, Business Declares, Campaign Against Climate Change, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, CARAS, Care4Calais, Caribbean Solidarity, Centre for Media Monitoring, Cheadle Masjid, Choose Love, Chorley TUC, City of Sanctuary UK, Communist Party of Britain, Connections Network Eastbourne, Day-Mer, Debt Justice, Doctors of the World UK, Dorset Red Choir, Eastbourne Solidarity, Education 4 All, Engels in Eastbourne, Equality Trust, European Network on Religion and Belief, Everyday Racism, Find a Protest, Finsbury Park Mosque, Fire Brigades Union, Forth Valley Welcome, Forum of Muslim Organisations (Greater Manchester), Friends of the Earth, General Federation of Trade Unions, George Lansbury Memorial Trust, Gisiad UK, Global Justice Now, Glossop Labour Club, Glossopdale Together Alliance, Greener Jobs Alliance, Haringey Welcome, Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees, Health Poverty Action (HPA), Helen Bamber Foundation Group, Herts for Refugees, Hindus for Human Rights UK (HfHR UK), Hoylake4All, Humans for Rights Network, Imkaan, Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), Indivisible London, Islam21c, Islamic Society of Britain, Jewish Socialists’ Group, Just Transition Wakefield, Kanlungan Migrant Centre, Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN), Lancaster and Morecambe Trades Union Council, Local Independents for Tiverton, Manchester Migrant Solidarity, Maryhill Integration Network, Medact, Mendip Trades Council, Merseyside Alliance for Racial Equality, Migrant Worker's Union NI, Migrante UK, Mind, Muslim Council of Britain, Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND), Muslim LGBT Network, Na’amod, NACCOM, New School of the Anthropocene, Newham Muslim Forum, No Sweat, North East Kent TUC, North Oxfordshire Socialist Alliance, Norwich & District Trades Union Council, Our Second Home, Oxfam GB, Pan-humanity, PCS (Public and Commercial Services Union), Peace & Justice Project, POA, Portsmouth Stand Up To Racism, Portsmouth Friends of the Earth, Praxis, Prevent Watch, Psychotherapy and Counselling Union, Punk Against Poverty, Rainbow Migration, Reach Volunteering, Red Letter Christians UK, Refugee Action, Refugee Employment Network, Reset Communities for Refugees, Runnymede Trust, Scottish Communities Climate Action Network (SCCAN), Settled, Society of Union Employees, South West Lancashire NEU, Southampton and Winchester Visitors Group (SWVG), Southwark Law Centre, Stand Up To Racism, Stop the War Coalition, Students' Federation of India - United Kingdom (SFI-UK), Sustainable Hackney, Tax Justice UK, Teaching for Solidarity, Tesla Takedown UK, The Bike Project, The Circle, The Cordoba Foundation, The Launchpad Collective CIO, The Rainbow Stores, The Sheila McKechnie Foundation, The Working Class Climate Alliance, the3million, Thread Ahead, Through the Cracks, Time for Inclusive Education (TIE), Together Alliance, UK Stop Trump Coalition, United East End, United Reformed Church Wessex Synod, VOICES ADFOCAD, Voices in Exile, Wakefield District Green Party, Warwickshire NEU, West Devon Art Workshops, West London Welcome, Women Against the Far Right, Women for Refugee Women, Women in Prison, Woodcraft Folk, WOW - Women of the World, Writers' Guild of Great Britain