UN report echoes Quaker concerns on UK racism
A review by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination says the UK should curb racist hate speech by politicians and public figures
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) has highlighted a United Nations report saying the UK should curb racist hate speech by politicians and public figures.
The review by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), released at the end of last month, also says that the UK should repeal immigration laws which discriminate against migrants and limits their human rights.
The report echoes concerns that BYM submitted to the committee in July, as evidence on the lack of UK progress on racism. In line with Quaker evidence, CERD called for the suspension of the ‘Prevent Duty’ and for a review of laws which endanger peaceful assembly.
Britain should consider making a formal apology for chattel enslavement, measures to address their lasting consequences, and commit to reparations, CERD said.
As Quakers suggested, CERD also called for UK school curricula to include the history of colonialism, trafficking in enslaved Africans, and chattel enslavement in the British Empire.
The disproportionate use of school exclusions for ethnic minority children, as well as the racist use of stop-and-search by police, should also be properly addressed, the committee found.
At a global level, the Quaker United Nations Office is providing evidence on xenophobia, migration and racism to CERD and the UN Committee on Migrant Workers.
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