Southall Black Sisters, along with a number of other third sector organisations have handed in on Tuesday (20 August 2024) a list of demands calling on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to tackle the root causes of the far-right riots earlier this month following three young girls murdered in Southport.
The list of demands was signed by 65 organisations in the violence against women and girls, anti-racist and migrants’ rights sectors and was handed in by Selma Taha, executive director of Southall Black Sisters along with the directors from Women for Refugee Women, Latin American Women’s Rights Service, Safety4Sisters and Imkaan.
Led by Southall Black Sisters, the demands list was signed by 28 specialist organisations which offer support and campaign for the rights of Black, minoritised and migrant communities. It was also signed in solidarity by 37 generalist third sector organisations.
The organisations call on the government to take action on 12 demands which includes urgent protective measures and support for communities and organisations in danger.
According to the organisers, it is “hoped that the list of demands will lead to the government recognising the disproportionate harm such discriminatory policies have had on Black, minoritised and migrant communities over the decades culminating in the resurgence of xenophobic, racist, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim attacks reminiscent of the National Front’s attacks on African, Caribbean and Asian communities in the 1970s and 1980s.”
Selma Taha, executive director, Southall Black Sisters, said: “Black, minoritised and migrant communities, who are among the most marginalised in society, are under threat. Since the attack in Southport, the far-right has instrumentalised violence against women and girls to spur hateful and divisive anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and racist sentiments that have sowed fear in these communities.”
Ms Taha added: “It is shocking yet unsurprising to see such vitriolic violence in 2024 for it is the result of decades of discrimination and deprivation institutionalised in government policy. We are now demanding urgent change from the government, including a commitment to undoing the disproportionate harm caused to Black, minoritised and migrant communities through the perpetuation of austerity era measures and policies such as the hostile environment.”
 handed in a list of demands calling on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to tackle the root causes of the far-right riots earlier this month following three young girls murdered in Southport. ){kind=link}