👉We need to hear from you so we can record incidents of racial profiling by police officers within the The Common Travel Area which is an open borders area comprising the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands.
👇See thread
Be like Pedro from the Sunflower, support the right to work and provide for themselves and their families for people who make NI their home in the hope of safety.
#LiftTheBan
on paid employment for people claiming asylum here.
#UppaSunflower
Just after 11am this morning a Belfast to Dublin bus was boarded by Gardaí just over the border in ROI. The Guards didn't even go through the pretence of requiring everyone's ID, they simply targeted non-white passengers.
No to racial profiling.
In one single day in Ireland:
1. Gardai are proven by Irish Times report to be passing the details of people who report or assist Gardai with crimes to immigration.
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One Northern Ireland MP was amongst the 69 MPs who voted for Jonathan Gullis’ failed bill to deport people to Rwanda even if a judge rules it is against their human rights. That MP was Sammy Wilson - on the same day of yet more channel loss of lives.
Dublin Coach this morning. Gardai operating unethically and absolutely outside the law again:
From a passenger:
"Guard asked ‘where are you from?’ And if you say ‘Belfast or wherever’ he asks ‘born and bred.? Have you a British or an Irish passport?’
See thread:
🚨Following the horrific scenes on our streets at the weekend across these islands, United Against Racism, End Deportations Belfast & Rainbow Refugees call on the people of Belfast to come together to take a stand against racism, Islamophobia & division.
More groups to be added.
The X4 Derry to Dublin bus was subjected to a Gardai immigration stop today. A black passenger was removed, a white passenger with no ID remained on the bus. This is discrriminatory ID checking based on
#RacialProfiling
. We are getting multiple reports of incidents. [1/2]
Big crowds in Dunmurry to say no to fascism and no to hate today. When the state offers no answers and is itself a driver of hate, a powerful solidarity-filled community rally like today is the right response, every time. No to fascists on our street, no to hate.
Just yesterday on cross border bus travel.
Know your rights - resist accordingly if you have secure status and feel safe enough to do so.
See thread for a reminder of your rights, and what to do if they are encroached upon by Gardai.
Sorry
@ukhomeoffice
you don’t get to do this.
Not when you are deporting LGBT+ people to persecution and death.
Not when you are turning your back on 1951 refugee convention.
Not when you shut down safe & legal routes for asylum.
Not when you force people into dinghies.
The Derry to Dublin x4 bus has been boarded this morning by three Gardai. A UK/Irish passenger exercised their right under the Common Travel Area rules not to carry / produce ID and was cited false law by one of the Gardai officers to overstep the law & deny this right.
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Belfast, in response to arson attacks on businesses, community facilities and people being intimidated from their homes - there's a rally against racist intimidation on Tuesday 26th at 6.30pm at Shaftesbury Square, Belfast. Proud to support and attend ✊.
#NoPlaceForHate
In Belfast we stand in shoulder to shoulder with everyone affected by the inbuilt institutional racism in Ireland, whether it is manifested on cross-border buses or anywhere else across these 32 counties.
Solidarity.
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What KJK's visit to
#Belfast
did:
1. Exposed the imported nature of hate & reliance on outside figures.
2. Brought the city together to stand up for communities under attack.
3. Turbo charged art & activism.
4. Was proof of the power of solidarity.
#NoPlaceForHate
💚
Palestine rally from outside the BBC in Belfast right now. We see you
@BBC
when choose not to broadcast the South African ICJ case, we see you parrot the Government's line, we see you underreport the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza. [1/2]
Exactly how it’s done. Call out the panderers to the far-right and UDA.
“Deputy FM, Can I ask why these “genuine concerns” are directed at immigrants rather than at the government that has contributed to the issues facing this country?”
No response from Ms Little Pengelly.’
2. Legal figure - Una McGurk SC who is a member of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal addressed a far-right rally in Dublin. Una McGurk decides who stays safe in Ireland and who is deported.
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These two top lads, Jeremy Corbyn and ex-Unite boss Len McCluskey endorsing this Saturday's rally. 12pm, Writers' Square, Belfast. Lots more groups still to be added.
Say no to hate, show up for your city.
Drop the charges for the
#KenmureStThree
. The day Kenmure St blocked these men being taken, it became the blueprint for how communities protect eachother and that's what these charges are about. Police don't protect anyone.
This is the Belfast we love. Communities, unions, human rights orgs & politicians ready to fight for change gathering to voice opposition to the Rwanda plan and welcome refugees and everyone that calls this place home. This is what solidarity looks like 💚. More photos to follow.
This means a) it is unsafe to report crime and is a denial of justice and protection b) figures close to the far-right are making life and death decisions on asylum and international protection
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Some good news from Belfast City Council✅
It is now BCC policy to write to the Home Office & Executive Office, calling for an end to the detention of pregnant women at Larne House & to advocate for the closure of Larne House with a shift in focus to alternatives to detention.
Let's not let Gemma O'Doherty's performance in Fingal
#GE2020
go unnoticed.
1,252 first preference votes out of an electorate of 101,043.
The solidarity shown by
@FingalTogether
shows that her hate has no place in Fingal and no place in Ireland.
15,000 anti-racists out in Belfast to reject hate, Islamophobia, paramilitarism and attacks on our workmates, friends, communities and city.
#WeAreBelfast
We still need to hear from you if Gardai board a NI to ROI bus.
EDB have set up a link for you to record incidents of racial profiling by police officers within the The Common Travel Area, an open border area comprising UK, ROI, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands
[THREAD]
This is how the people of Belfast, calling only for international law to be followed and UN resolutions to be followed are being policed today. This is an officer with video recording equipment feet away from people calling for an end to genocide.
We will not be uploading any photos of today's rally. We suggest that nobody does. PSNI deploying disproportionate & unequal policing, photos could be used as evidence.
Compare today with the free-for-all that was VE Day, a month ago when
#lockdown
was supposedly even tighter.
Last night these posters were up in Rathcoole. Report after report links posters w/ local paramilitaries.
What are police & DoJ doing? Nothing. That's why there has to be a full & independent panel-led inquiry into paramilitary-backed far-right violence, intimidation and terror.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Belfast is out to stand against racism, hate, Islamophobia and paramilitaries on our streets. Thursday 11am on the steps of Stormont with
@NIC_ICTU
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Important rally in Belfast this Friday (25th) at 5pm,
Bring your workmates, friends, organisations & groups and if you are in a trade union - bring your union. Belfast welcomes refugees & people seeking asylum - let's show it & say it louder.
Event 👇
⭐️7:45am X2a
@Translink_NI
BFS to DUB bus boarded just now.
"Guards asked ID from all passengers - some white people did not have ID and were OK. 4 people of colour asked to step off the coach and take their luggage with them. Guards took them to their car and our bus has gone"
🚨URGENT ACTION🚨
@ukhomeoffice
have scheduled their first flight to
#Rwanda
. Ask
@BALPApilots
to publish the guidance provided to their pilot members who may be asked to fly people against their will to
#Rwanda
under HO plans to block their right to claim asylum in the UK.
This is very important. Please show soldarity with our Gypsy, Roma & Traveller friends. There are a basic set of suggested responses - make them relevant to you and your groups.
[Consultation in the thread]
This is a really important question from
@StephenFarryMP
- the response is not simply mindboggling, it wilfully misrepresents Home Office’s own accepted findings & a UN assessment. Larne House must be shut down immediately, alternatives can no longer be ignored.
Know your rights and use our online tool to record these incidents if you experience or witness them. If you are UK or Irish citizens - you do not have to produce ID. Producing ID provides a cover for Gardai to carry out these discriminatory checks. [2/2]
This week, be vigilant of racial profiling around the N. Ireland border with ROI.
If you are on a Belfast to Dublin Bus which is boarded by PSNI or Gardai and witness racial profiling, there are things you need to do - see thread below:
No to racial profiling. Solidarity!
We’ve co-signed this very important
@IrishTimes
letter of the day. People arriving on our shores deserve the dignity, respect, safety & care envisaged in the UN 1951 Refugee Convention. Both Irish & British Governments must change the paths they are on.
The 9.30am Belfast to Dublin Aircoach was boarded by Gardai. Around 6 passengers removed and detained, the witness said that skin colour was a factor. No white passengers removed or detained.
#RacialProfiling
⭐️Solidarity to all those coming over the border today for
#RallyForChoice
in Belfast today - We will be among you.
⭐️If you are on a bus going home that is boarded by Gardai doing racially motivated, immigration checks we need you to record what has happened:
See below 👇
BBC News at 10 correctly reporting that the far-right in Belfast were 'swamped' by the counter-protest.
#WeAreBelfast
We go again tomorrow at noon from Writers' Square.
⭐️ Irish law also precludes such checks being conducted on EU citizens crossing the land border, there is no clear power to stop and board a vehicle for such a purpose, and no requirement for Irish or EU persons to carry passports or identification.
Take note
@belfastpride
. On London Pride & in the week the Home Office deported a gay man to persecution in Nigeria, worth remembering that in NI - PSNI provide barrack facilities & police security for the compound that the immigration detention centre - Larne House is in. [1/2]
More and more organisations are supporting the Unity Against Division rally in Derry today.
If you're in the area get down to the Guildhall Square at 6PM and stand up to racism and the far-right!
Ireland have removed visa requirements for Ukrainians to reach Ireland. Meanwhile U.K. (who haven’t even honoured the 5000 afghan resettlement scheme) are doing nothing for people who need to come here. Scrap the
#NationalityandBordersBill
, open the borders.
Just spoke to a British national who travelled overland with his Ukrainian wife over the last two days and has just arrived back in the UK. He says a lot of Brits are refusing to leave Ukraine because they don't have faith the Home Office will allow their spouses to come over.
Chris Kaba’s life mattered. Lives here in NI mattered. Remember a former para testified that a lieutenant told them the night before the Derry civil rights march on Bloody Sunday: "Let's teach these buggers a lesson - we want some kills tomorrow". No state impunity - ever.
This Christmas and New Year, remember the 196 people detained in Larne House immigration detention centre over the past year.
The Iraqi men, the Iraqi woman, the Iranian men and woman, the two men from Eritrea..
(Photo credit: Emmet Thornton)
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More reports of racial profiling on a Belfast to Dublin bus.
An Asian family were singled out and interrogated by Gardai, while a group of white men on the bus were asked: "Local are you lads? and not to bother with ID.
This is what racism looks like.
The
@nwmforum
protest today in Lifford. There are four simple things that the Irish Government alone can do to make this island a shared space for everyone 🧵
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With less than 2 weeks until
@belfastpride
, we want to give a special mention to
@RainbowRefugeNI
who are marching in Pride. Living openly in safety as who you are is something we all take for granted.
Give them a follow on social media & give them a huge cheer on the day.🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
There was a lunchtime protest today calling for the abandonment of the
#HostileEnvironment
@ Erskine House, the home of the NIO in Belfast.
Voices were loud and clear, thanks to EVERYONE who showed up and made noise:
- Lift the ban on working for people seeking asylum!
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➡️ So who are the PSNI and why does this matter to
#BLM
and racial justice?
➡️ 1. PSNI provide a section of PSNI Larne station for NI's immigration detention centre: Poor conditions and inadequate facilities for traumatised people needlessly incarcerated here.
[THREAD}
When cross-border travel picks up, we don't want to see Gardai racial profiling on buses start again.
Gardai removing and taking away only POC passengers for not carrying or producing the same documents as white passengers aren't carrying or producing is racist.
[1/2]
I’m actually going to lose my mind if Michal Hussein doesn’t point out that even if boat crossings are down, asylum claims are steady - so people are using other damn routes.
#r4today
Only 10% of people in 2021 disagreed with the NILTS statement:
"I think it is our duty to provide protection to refugees who are escaping persecution in their home country."
People here don't wan't the racist, inhumane policies of the UK Gov.
#RefugeesWelcome
💚
EDB contacted by passenger travelling on 7:30am
@Aircoach
from Belfast ➡️ Dublin. Bus stopped outside Newry & boarded by Gardaí who removed two passengers. One detained and the other allowed to continue journey. Clear example of racial profiling and immigration checks within CTA.
Join us on Sunday for a cracking line up of performers as we come together in a show of solidarity within and across the LGBTQIA+ and women's movements, and beyond! Fancy something a bit quieter? Head to the MAC.
Belfast is
#NoPlaceForHate
When we went to Dublin on Sat for the
#IrelandForAll
rally, we left behind people in the North who couldn't travel due to an (invisible to some) racist hard border which prevents people, based on immigration status, sharing the island. We need change 👇.
🚨Northern Ireland Life & Times Survey results dropped yesterday and the people of NI were loud & clear when asked if they agree:
'I think it is our duty to provide protection to refugees who are escaping persecution in their home country.'
Only 12% disagreed.
#RefugeesWelcome
We are getting reports of Gardai boarding a second bus at Dublin Airport today bound for the North.
Why are Gardai boarding buses with a Belfast destination & performing immigration checks?
Is this a U.K. Home Office request to effectively move the border to Dublin Airport?
We have confirmed reports of Gardai boarding an Aircoach from Belfast to Dublin around 11.30 am. We have video footage (which can’t be uploaded due to faces of those impacted being shown).
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