Thursday, 29 May 2025 — Institute of Race Relations
Last week we published a major study by IRR director Liz Fekete, on Paramilitary policing against the people: Colonial continuities and the challenge from below, which outlines Europe’s growing use of dangerous crowd control weaponry against racialised minorities.
Published on the fifth anniversary of the death of George Floyd, the report focuses on the experiences of migrants and refugees, pro-Palestinian demonstrators, Black Lives Matter supporters, and those injured by so-called ‘less lethal weaponry’ during civil unrest. The report was covered in the Guardian by Haroon Siddique, who noted our finding that the UK’s Border Force is now in effect under military command, reflecting the wider increase of hypermilitarisation.
You can find endorsements for the report from Statewatch, Omega Research Foundation, Advocacy Officer European Legal Support Centre, Black Lives Matter UK and Alfie Meadows via our website.
Many stories in this week’s calendar of racism and resistance speak to IRR’s warning that political policing, hypermilitarisation and authoritarian governance are becoming normalised. In Bristol, 170 police officers, including dog handlers and drone operators, are deployed as counter-protesters oppose a UKIP rally calling for ‘mass deportations’. Meanwhile, in Berlin, police continue to go to the courts to restrict Palestine solidarity demonstrations. And after nine European leaders call for a reinterpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights on migration issues to allow more deportations, the Council of Europe secretary-general adds his voice to those demanding independence of the judiciary from political interference.
IRR News team
Paramilitary policing against the people outlines Europe’s increased use of weaponry against racialised minorities and protestors signifying creeping authoritarianism.
Watch IRR director, Liz Fekete, speak here.
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe.
Calendar of Racism & Resistance
In this week’s Calendar, we highlight stories unfolding over the past two weeks on policing and criminalisation, migrant and asylum rights, far-right fascism, and also resistance to state violence in the UK and Europe.
Find these stories and thousands more on our Register of Racism and Resistance database.
Disability and Migration Justice conference
Join us at the Disability and Migration Justice conference in London on Saturday 28 June, an inclusive gathering of people from across the disability and migrant justice movement with the aim of building understanding, collective resistance and solidarity.
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