CARJ welcomes UN Rapporteur's report on racism in UK

At the end of her eleven day mission to the UK, Professor Tendayi Achiume, the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism has released an End of Mission Statement containing her 'preliminary observations' regarding racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in the UK. CARJ welcomes this interim Statement.

Prof Achiume makes a largely positive assessment of the UK legal framework and of the recent Race Disparity Audit. She goes on however to raise concerns regarding a number of fundamental issues, including:

• how race and ethnicity continue to determine the wellbeing and life chances of people in the UK
• how austerity measures have been disproportionately detrimental to racial and ethnic minorities,
• the racial impact of immigration, counter-terrorism and criminal justice law and policy,
• an increase in hate speech and hate crime and an acceptance of racial and religious intolerance since Brexit.

The Statement is rich with detail, including less high profile issues like the plight of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities and the presence of caste discrimination in the UK.

Prof Achiume will continue to accept submissions until November 2018 and will submit her final report to the June 2019 session of the UNHRC.

CARJ earlier made a Submission to the UN Rapporteur and participated in one of the roundtable events organised to allow NGOs to contribute to her investigation. The CARJ Submission is available on request from:CARJ, 9 Henry Rd, London N4 2LH. Tel: 020 8802 8080 email: info@carj.org.uk

Read Professor Achiume's End of Mission Statement here: www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23073&LangID=E .