Migrant justice organisers came together in Ȧ to reflect on the summer 2024 racist riots; shared experiences and learning and planned taking action together.
On Saturday 26th April people gathered at Victoria Hall for the Yorkshire Solidarity Summit. Brought together by Migrants Organise and partners, under the banner of the movement at Victoria Hall in Ȧ, a group of activists from Yorkshire and beyond discussed last year’s riots, and how to fight against racism in the years to come.
Alba Kapoor, Head of Policy at Runnymede Trust, which was founded after Enoch Powell’s “rivers of blood” speech, spoke about the UK’s problem of collective amnesia on issues of racism and racial justice. Too quickly the issues are forgotten and buried. This is our collective challenge, she said. We can’t just wait for anther flair up, we need to be organising in the meantime. In last year’s riots there was a refusal in the media and political response to name racism and Islamophobia. It was all about individual thuggery and violence, not structural and systemic racism which is never properly responded to. Labour’s new immigration bill will only make things worse. It brings together new types of surveillance of migrants, the expansion of the hostile environment, the use of counter terror measures against people seeking asylum. Alba called for more collaboration between policy change advocates and grass roots organisers.
On a panel discussion about the riots Melinda Mo Martinez from Ȧ City of Sanctuary spoke about how we need to bring people together, to break down divides between differently positioned people. We need to reach different audiences, she said. Alba Kapoor asked how do we produce our own counter narratives against government representations? Their narratives are designed to distract people from inequality and the failures of the government. Ibtisam Al Farah from Sisters Not Strangers said we need to believe in change, in living together and in peace. We all have a right to live safe and happy, loved, respected, she said.
Sarli Nana from Migrants Organise said: across Yorkshire racism is an issue… the riots were a reminder of how racism can destroy and divide communities and harm people”. Sahail Chohan from SUTR agreed. He said he’s never seen things this bad. Reform UK are targeting Doncaster and if they take Doncaster in the local elections they will set their sights on all of South Yorkshire. Our politicians don’t speak against this, they promised us hope but we get no hope. They identify anti-racists as the problem, not the racists. We see no difference between the last conservative government and this one, it is all about staying in power by following the far right. All agreed that people with lived experience of fascist violence and the hostile asylum system should be at the forefront of discussion.
Mariam Yusuf of Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST) spoke about organising work to educate and engage people about refugees in Greater Manchester. Rich work was going on before the riots to do this work, but the riots have made people fearful to engage with white communities. Yet this work is more needed than ever before. Loraine Mponela from spoke powerfully of her experiences during the riots, both the feeling of fear and threat, and the support offered in the racial justice network. She also spoke of the personal impacts on her life and mental health from the riots, and of the hope that solidarity in the wake of the riots has given her.
This was one of many summits around the country where people focus on different issues related to migrant justice -including housing, healthcare, hostile surveillance and racism. In October the groups will meet together and pull together the ideas coming out of the regional summits to develop solutions for more effective and powerful migrant led migrant justice movement.