EVERY year, on the anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960, in which 69 people were murdered by security forces of the South African apartheid regime, people around the world observe United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. In recent times, the day has been marked in Scotland by a march and rally called by the campaign group Stand Up to Racism (SUTR).
This year’s event, which will be held in Glasgow on Saturday, March 19, was set to highlight what campaigners describe as the “draconian” provisions in Home Secretary Priti Patel’s controversial Nationality and Borders Bill. However, the growing humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine – which has led to the exodus of more than one million people from the country, and the internal displacement of millions more – will now be to the fore.
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Talat Ahmed, convener of SUTR Scotland, said: “The refugee crisis created by the invasion of Ukraine highlights the importance of extending a welcome to those fleeing war, conflict and oppression. The outpouring of humanitarian concern for those fleeing the war stands in stark contrast to Home Secretary Priti Patel’s draconian Nationality and Borders Bill.”
Referring to reports that Ukrainian police have been holding back non-white migrants at the border, in order to prioritise the movement of white Ukrainians into the nations to the west of the country, Ahmed added: “This is a crisis both for Ukrainian citizens and migrant workers and students who have been living in Ukraine.”
The campaigner added her voice to the widespread outrage at the British Home Secretary’s initial response to the Ukraine crisis, which was to tell refugees to seek employment in the UK via the migrant workers’ scheme.
“Even as the Ukraine crisis was unfolding, Patel (below) was trying to hold the door closed against the refugees”, said Ahmed.
“Public outrage has forced her to soften her position somewhat. But we need to push against her xenophobic legislation and extend a welcome to refugees, whether they come from Ukraine, Syria or anywhere else in the world.”
The March 19 demonstration enjoys support among Scotland’s elected representatives, both at Westminster and Holyrood. Tommy Sheppard MP of the SNP, for example, is a long-standing supporter of SUTR. He recently pledged his support for the event.
Labour MSP Mercedes Villalba said: “This year’s Stand Up to Racism demonstration to mark International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination comes at a crucial time, given the unfolding invasion of Ukraine.
“There is so much more we can do as a nation to prevent conflict from occurring in the first place and to support refugees across the world, including those from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya, as well as Ukraine.
“This demonstration is an opportunity for us to come together to campaign for a society free from racism and to collectively reject this callous Tory government and their treatment of those fleeing conflict.”
The March 19 protest also has widespread backing within the Scottish trade movement. Roz Foyer, general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), told the Sunday National: “I am proud to be supporting this demonstration. The STUC has a long history of challenging racism and discrimination over its 125 years.
“The recent news coming out of Ukraine is appalling, and Scotland and Westminster should be doing everything possible to provide safe refuge for Ukrainians fleeing war, and to offer shelter to refugees from other wars around the world. The STUC will be doing everything possible to lobby the government to make this happen.”
This year’s SUTR International Anti-Racism Day event is the first since the extraordinary migrants’ rights demonstration on Kenmure Street, in Pollokshields on the southside of Glasgow, on May 13, 2021. On that day pictures flashed around the world of hundreds of local residents coming onto the street to prevent the UK Home Office from detaining and deporting two Sikh men of Indian origin.
The southside activists’ gained international recognition for their slogan: “These are our neighbours! No Deportations!” Tabassum Niamat is a prominent activist in Pollokshields. She will be part of a large delegation of southsiders joining the March 19 demonstration.
“I was born in Scotland, I’m very much a second generation migrant”, she says, adding: “In recent years I have seen our UK Government pandering to racists, blaming migrants and refugees for their failures.”
Niamat is outraged that Patel’s Nationality and Borders Bill tells people like her, “that our citizenship is a privilege not a right.” She believes that International Anti-Racism Day is an opportunity to underline a key principle: “Every person, irrespective of their race, nationality or faith, is deserving of our help and refuge.”
The SUTR march in Glasgow will take place on the same day as similar events in London and Cardiff. Marchers are asked to assemble at Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow at 11am on Saturday, March 19.
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