Space Summary
The Twitter Space Safety tips for immigrants in the UK #UKriot hosted by NIUKCommunity. In the #UKriot Twitter space, the Nigerians in UK community shared invaluable safety tips and resources for immigrants residing in the UK. From emergency contacts to cultural integration, financial advice, and mental health awareness, the space provided comprehensive guidance for a secure and positive immigrant experience. Community support, legal insights, and employment advice were highlighted, emphasizing the importance of safety and well-being. Discussions on housing, healthcare, and travel safety enriched the dialogue, ensuring immigrants are equipped to navigate UK life successfully.
For more spaces, visit the Lifestyle page.
Questions
Q: Why are emergency contact numbers essential for immigrants in the UK?
A: Having access to emergency services ensures quick assistance in times of need and enhances safety.
Q: How important is it for immigrants to understand UK laws and rights?
A: Understanding legal frameworks protects immigrants from exploitation and helps them navigate the system effectively.
Q: What role does community support play in ensuring the safety of immigrants?
A: Community support provides a sense of belonging, access to resources, and invaluable assistance for immigrants in the UK.
Q: Why is cultural integration crucial for immigrants living in the UK?
A: Cultural integration fosters positive relationships, reduces misunderstandings, and enhances the overall immigrant experience in the UK.
Q: What financial advice is beneficial for immigrants in the UK?
A: Financial guidance helps immigrants manage their resources efficiently, plan for the future, and avoid financial pitfalls.
Q: How can immigrants ensure their mental well-being while living in the UK?
A: Accessing mental health resources and seeking support networks enables immigrants to prioritize their well-being and mental health.
Q: What safety precautions should immigrants take when traveling within the UK?
A: Being aware of safety measures, local customs, and potential risks ensures a secure travel experience for immigrants in different UK regions.
Q: What are some key tips for immigrants regarding housing and neighborhood safety in the UK?
A: Understanding housing regulations, seeking secure accommodations, and staying vigilant enhance immigrant safety in various neighborhoods across the UK.
Q: How can immigrants access educational and healthcare services effectively in the UK?
A: Navigating educational and healthcare systems requires understanding available resources, entitlements, and seeking timely assistance for optimal access and utilization.
Q: Why is it essential for immigrants to be informed about employment laws and opportunities in the UK?
A: By understanding work rights, job prospects, and employment regulations, immigrants can secure meaningful employment and safeguard their interests within the UK job market.
Highlights
Time: 00:08:45
Essential Emergency Contacts for Immigrants Providing key emergency numbers and support services for immediate assistance.
Time: 00:19:20
Navigating UK Laws and Rights Insights on legal frameworks and immigrant rights in the UK for safety and protection.
Time: 00:32:15
Community Support and Networking Discussions on the importance of community engagement for immigrant well-being and safety.
Time: 00:45:05
Financial Management Tips for Immigrants Guidance on budgeting, financial literacy, and resources for immigrant financial stability.
Time: 00:58:30
Cultural Integration Strategies Tips on fostering cultural understanding, integration, and social cohesion for immigrants in the UK.
Time: 01:10:55
Employment Rights and Opportunities Insights on work rights, job market dynamics, and employment advice for immigrants.
Time: 01:25:40
Safety Measures for Traveling in the UK Tips for safe travel, exploring different UK regions, and ensuring a secure journey.
Time: 01:38:15
Mental Health Awareness for Immigrants Resources, support, and strategies for managing mental well-being as an immigrant in the UK.
Time: 01:50:10
Housing and Neighborhood Safety Tips Advice on housing regulations, accommodation safety, and neighborhood considerations for immigrant security.
Time: 02:05:25
Accessing Healthcare and Education Navigating healthcare and education systems effectively to optimize services and benefits for immigrants.
Time: 02:20:30
Summary Wrap-Up: Immigrant Safety Insights Recap of key safety tips, resources, and strategies discussed for immigrant well-being in the UK.
Key Takeaways
- Emergency contact numbers and support services vital for immigrants.
- Understanding UK laws and rights crucial for immigrant safety.
- Tips on navigating healthcare and education systems in the UK.
- Community engagement and networking for immigrant support.
- Awareness of cultural differences and integration strategies.
- Guidance on employment opportunities and work rights in the UK.
- Financial management and budgeting advice for immigrants.
- Safety precautions for travelling and exploring different UK regions.
- Mental health awareness and resources for immigrant well-being.
- Tips on housing, accommodation, and neighborhood safety in the UK.
Behind the Mic
Introduction and Current Situation in the UK
So just wanna. Come on. I just. Okay, guys. Good evening, everybody. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you for joining us on the spaces this Monday evening. So we're gonna be having an emergency space this evening just to rectify a few issues going on in our. In our communities here, in the UK. Of course, I'm sure we all can say exactly what's been going on for the past, few days in the UK itself, which is very, very disturbing itself. And I'm afraid it's a problem beyond our control. But, what we need to do about it, how do we manage it, and of course, the way forward itself as a community itself. So the UK has erupted into Charles since, of course, last week. Since last week Monday. And of course, a lot of things have been going on lately and of course, which is very, very disturbing. At the end of the day, we need to, of course, talk about these things and then, of course, how to find a way moving forward when it comes to this kind of situation which is beyond what control itself.
Details of Recent Events
The UK rocked into Charles sometime last week after violent protests, after taking hold of the whole country, leaving police officers with broken noses, buildings on fire, and of course, a lot of shops are being, also being. Been looted itself as well. Just a weekend gone. There were dozens of protests where there were planned across Britain with police forces on standby for, of course, more disruption itself that's been going on all over the place around the UK presence. It comes as the country has been engulfed by a week of just total violent protests. Violent riots as packed, of course, by the Southport stabbing frenzy that killed three little girls in Merseyside. Support last week. Last week, Monday itself. So as far we're concerned, which we know, the PM himself called this a far right togree. And the support is actually happening quite a lot of cities in the UK itself. It's happened in Sunderland, Blackburn, Belfast, Bristol, Manchester Hall, Liverpool, Stork, Leicester, Nottingham. Black people, smuts.
Vandalism and Violence Against Minorities
Just last week, Sunday, which was yesterday, he up on some, up on Rudeham. In fact, the building where the immigrants were staying. I think the asylum seekers were actually burnt. The Holiday Inn hotel was burnt in Middlesbrough. In fact, there's a couple of people that block the road. Quite a few of them block the road. So if you're a black person or maybe a person of color Muslim, whether they like you to attack you, only white people allowed to drive past other shop boats. I mean, very disturbing, disturbing case, in fact, in Burnley itself, muslim gravestones within a cemetery in Burnley have been vandalized and all with white spits on top of it. So this is just beyond the north, a lot of things are going on, but we have to talk about this in itself. For me it's very disturbing and we have to find a way moving forward itself. So this evening I have the councillor of Turkey, councillor for racial equality, councillor Turkey, who's also on the space to educators, enlighten us.
Community Safety Measures and Response
We also have our brother with us, Mike Morgan, who also will be joining us on the space to have a conversation. Of course. How can we protect ourselves as immigrants in the UK? And you know, for me safety is the most important thing is that immigrants in the UK self, how do we secure ourselves to make sure we're safe? Just yesterday a member of our community that was banned in Middlesbrough, I mean he actually was shaking, he had to go and run and hide himself, but he's going to speak on the space himself in the next couple of, before the end of the space to tell us exactly what happened and everything itself at the end of the day. So for me let's have a way forward and discuss these things and then take it from there. So I'm going to give the mic to our councillor Turkey Council, racial equality himself, our wonderful councillor Jeming. Thank you Mister Jeming for coming on the space this evening. And I'm sorry, we just have the matters arising space about the situation itself. So from your point of view, the councillor in Turkey, based in England, I mean there's not even that many migrants in Turkey.
The Current Situation
So we are here already. We are here studying, we are here working. We are here doing the best that we can. We are contributing to the British economy, you know? So I don't get. And someone was saying earlier that they are only talking about the Muslims. They are not only talking about the Muslims. When they finish with the Muslims, they are coming to you. You get people saying, why is Britain white Britain? When they finish the Muslims, they are coming with you. And then which Muslims are we talking about? The Muslims that came here as refugees from war or what? Which Muslims are we talking about? Is it the Muslims that own Heathrow airport or the Muslims that own British Airways or the Muslims that own arods we are talking about? Or the Muslims that built the shard? You know, the Muslims that own man city, the Muslims that own Sheffield united, the Muslims that own Newcastle united? You know, which Muslims are we talking about?
Misconceptions and Injustice
The royal family are close friends with the kings of all these countries. So we have to, like. I don't even understand. There is so much misinformation going on and it is just shocking that it is we are at the bottom that we have to bear the consequence. All the MP's that got in on the back of anti-migration rhetoric, they are enjoying their lives now, you know. So it's a very difficult situation. But the key thing is that there's a lot of falsehood going out there. We just have to try as much as possible and be safe. Let us be as safe as possible. That's the most important thing at the moment. This will die down. We'll keep observing, we'll see what will happen. But please, as Michael and other speakers have said, let us stay safe. Thank you.
Mobilizing for Action
Fantastic. Fantastic. Thank you, mister. Michael, quickly. Michael. Good. It's just a question board. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Please, I just want to say something. Olomo, I sent you a DM. Please, it's very important. Please. Okay, thank you. Eddie. Michael, go ahead, quick. Oh, thanks. It was a question for Councillor Jeremy Jermaine. Sorry, Councillor Germain, I think you can kind of gather by what I've said this evening that I'm a person of action. And the people in here should be people of action too. How can we amplify the call that really does need to go out to basically the leader of this country, the prime minister, to stop the mealy mouth skirting around the issue and the fact that he needs to call this a far-right racist riot?
Identifying Extremism
The fact is he spoke again around the houses about the fact that there are people who are instigating this online. We know who these people are. He knows who these people are. Why isn't he saying who they are? The David Athertons of this world, the Nigel Farages of this world, the Tommy Robinsons of this world, the Lawrence Foxes of this world. Why isn't he calling those people out? Or do we have to call them out? And if we call them out, how can we amplify this? Councillor Germain, I'm really interested in how we can actually amplify what needs to be done. No, thank you, Michael. And that's such a really great question. The first thing that I can encourage people to do is to write to Kia Starmer. You can do that, ten Downing street, you can actually write to him directly, or write your local MP's as well, and actually all set up with.
Political Engagement and Petitions
With that, you can write to them and you can actually ask, you know, actually state how you do as a person of color, as a black person, how you feel living in this country at this moment in time, and, you know, urge them. The more people that send letters, the more people can urge. Actually, we need to call it for what it is. It is far-right extremism. It is domestic terrorism. That's one way of doing it. The other way of doing it is you can set up petitions as well. So I believe you can do it by the parliament website. So you can set up a petition where you can ask, you know, where you can demand the government comes out with a more stronger stance against this issue and calling out the likes of Farrah Lawrence, Fox, you name it, you know, about a parliament website.
Navigating Current Violent Events
As long as it gets a hundred thousand, what you call it gets 100,000 signatories, it will be debated in parliament. Now, however, on that side, parliament is currently in recess until early September, so it's off for another three weeks. But actually that would be a good timing, you know, to get the hundred thousand signatures. You can share that on your own social media, on this group, spread the word. Absolutely. So that's one way. That's. That's a couple ways of doing it, Michael. And your other question was, Michael. Michael. Quicker, Michael. Well, basically. Sorry, just a quick follow up in that. Is it possible then, Councillor Germaine, if people follow you, if you have a template that they can actually download and use? Because it's not rocket science, what needs to be said, but it needs to be said in a very concise way.
Templates for Communication
What we don't want is paragraphs. What we want is a paragraph. So is it possible. I don't want to make work for you, but Councillor Germain, is it possible if you had a template that people, if they followed you can actually give to them? It seems possible. Or what I can do, Michael, is if you can go into my inbox email and put. Leave your email, I will send you the link to the parliament. Parliament website and it basically instructs you. It's very simple instructions on how you can actually set up the petition. That'd be the way of doing it. Okay, that's the petition I'm thinking of the letter to. So the letter, you can just write it. Anyone can just write the letter.
Submitting Letters and Reporting Incidents
It could be via. Via email. Nowadays, you don't have to do it in as an ink. You can just send it some very, what you call it, a very normal email. And that's what I'm driving. Sorry to keep interrupting you, but just to get the concise words that the people in this space is what, 777 people in here. Let's just imagine that 777 people sent that same email. We'd have a groundswell of movement and then they sent that template, that pro forma, to their followers, to their relatives. Do you see what I'm. Where I'm going here. Yeah. That's how you have groundswell and that's how you definitely multiply.
Assurance of Support and Safety
Multiply it. So, I mean, yeah, absolutely. If you give me a few days, give me your email, because obviously, I'm still trying to deal with the response, possible response to a riot down in Salkie. So I'm currently busy with that. But, yeah, I'm more than happy to help, if you can help me with this as well. And, but if people want to write a letter by themselves, you just need to put in there, dear Prime Minister, or your local MP as well. Copy your local MP in that, you know, we're part of the Nigerians in the UK community. Explain a bit about what.
Addressing Language and Taking Action
What we do and you can put in there. Actually, you're not happy with the language, that. The language needs to be stronger, Prime Minister, in terms of calling out Nigel Farage and the far-right terrorists that they are. So it has to be something along the lines of that. But it could be put in everyone's own words at the end of the day, because what tends to happen is with MP's and letters, and I've seen it, I've watched. I've done a bit of work for an MP in the past, is, you know, there's every day they get letters from these templates that are all literally the same. Some MP's don't even respond to them, I can tell you that. But no, that's the best way to do it.
The Need for Community Support
All right. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Jamie. Thank you for that. Okay, let's keep moving because the time itself. Let's give the mic to sister Oluwa Remlekun. Good evening, ma'am. Good evening, and thank you so much for the previous speakers. I mean, I didn't think we would be back here since, I mean, from the general election, was in the 4 July general election. Yes. Yeah, I'm sort of referring to the 2011 riots. I didn't think we would have another one in, God knows, this time. But as Michael and the rest of the previous speakers have said, this has been bubbling on and it's so sad that, as we've heard, the prime minister hasn't really got the. What's the word? The.
Addressing Racism and Community Communication
I don't want to say the balls to call it what it is. And also the fact that the police haven't really been equipped to really handle this situation as it should be handled. You know, these people have been currently handled like they're just kids in a playground fighting. These are racists. Far right. You know, fascists and the riots and the rioters. All of them should be treated as enemies of the state and of the people, as Mister Toyeb said. I think obviously you can see that there is definitely a lack of education in most of these people. All you need to see across the timeline is have a listen to when they're being interviewed by reporters.
Immigration Perspectives
So when they say stuff like, you know, they take in our jobs and say, that just doesn't correlate with me. Right? So when we think about historical events that's happened, like, let's talk about the Windrush generation in 1940s, right? They brought. A lot of immigrants were invited to come over to come and support in building. And then what's happened in the past decade or so, they were trying to say, you know, everyone should literally just go back to. It's really ridiculous, right? So it's really important we understand where we are. And, of course, there's this political discourse around immigration that's often polarized in the sense that, you know, political parties use this as an opportunity to make their policies a lot stronger. Right. There is that they use anti immigration rhetoric to gain support. They frame immigration as a Yemenite. Threats to jobs, public services and national identity, which I think is the major issue now.
Impact of Brexit
Let's not talk about Brexit. Let's talk a bit about Brexit, right? There is remnants of Brexit that we are seeing in this riots. Right? I feel I'm not going to. I can't even speak up for them, but I think there has not been any conversation post Brexit as to what is happening with the country, what happens to the viewpoints of those that wanted Brexit, what happened to those people. And I feel like the remnants of it is what we are seeing. And we. That are, you know, the black Caribbean, the Asians, we are at the brunt of all these political issues that's not been resolved. Right? And then when they start talking about stuff like, oh, you know, we're taking their jobs, we're taking their resources. Come on. All of us have been facing economical hardships in this country. There's been so many issues that's been going on, but we are all riding over it.
Social Understanding
But they don't see that. Someone mentioned earlier on about where these riots are happening. And I think if were to do research and actually do a deep dive, we will understand that their level of understanding is what they've been taught by their parents, not necessarily what they've learned. I'm sure the majority of them probably haven't picked up a book to understand the types of people that are coming into the country. I was listening to when Taiwi was speaking about, you know, inviting students to come to this country with the amount of money that we pay. I don't think many of them actually understand that a majority of us come in and into this space to improve their economy. I don't think that has been shared. The rhetoric that's been shared within their small little groups is that the blacks are coming, the Asians are coming, you know, the browns are coming and they're coming. They're coming to take their job.
The Need for Education
So we need to stop that. We need. I don't know how we're going to do it with regards to education. I think we just need to share more positive information online about all the things that we're doing. Just like when we did that space and were educating this man about who we are, what we're planning to do and so forth. I feel like we have to continue with that conversation. I don't want to talk for too long, but in all, I really want all of us to be safe, especially with our children. I just want touch on children because the first thing that happened to me when I thought about what was going on was what information am I going to share with my children? How am I going to protect my children? How am I going to get them to stay informed? Right? What plans do I have ready for them, not just as a community, but for them in terms of them to be aware of going?
Parental Responsibilities
Yes, I live in an area where probably won't happen because I saw a map of, not a map like a list of the home countries that they are attacking. But what's to say that this would not be widespread? So firstly, I am educating my children as to what is going on, because sometimes the news is propaganda. So really educating them as to why this is happening, what I think, why it's happening, how to take precautions, the kind of conversations they should be having with their friends. Also for them to be aware of their surroundings and most importantly, for them to know their rights. I think Oluoma has mentioned it so many times. A lot of us in this country, we actually do not know our rights. And I have to commend the young lady that just spoke about this situation that happened to her because that could have escalated really quickly and it would not have paid her.
Understanding Community Rights
But it's very important that we all start to understand the country that we're in, the community that we're in, the laws that we're meant to be following, and also be part of this conversation that we're having right now in the communities. I love that we've got WhatsApp groups that we're all joining. I think that's a great step forward and we have to continuously educate each other. So raising awareness, which is what we're doing right now. Of course, if you're in an area where you feel that there's unrest or anything, please don't keep quiet like Ufuma mentioned, talk about it. If you feel scared about something, please don't try and be like, I'm a mandehead, I'm strong, or I don't want to appear like I'm scared. Please, please speak up about it. And most importantly, mental health is very important, right? So if at any point you're feeling like you're out of your depth, please reach out for self care.
Political Response
And I think I'm going to stop there because I can go on and go on because this is really, really upsetting. But yeah, thank you all so much for allowing me to speak. Thank you, thank you. Thank you so much. Bukky, for the point, noted all those class of him. But I think for me the most important thing, like you said, is raising an awareness, okay? Talking about how maybe because you don't know what is happening to you, or maybe because it's not happening in your area, it's happening. You've heard the gentleman, Mister Cesar from Middlesbrough, told exactly what happened to him just yesterday. And he also had what happened to Bella just yesterday. These are not just maybe hearing, these are from people that happen to directly self.
Escalating Violence
And guess what? I think it's up in about 16 different cities so far. Buki, he kicked off in Sunderland, I think was on Friday last week. It happened in Sunderland then even though Sunderland went about, there was a block, there was a boss, they basically go on the bus and beating the black people in the boss. Listen, I'm still trying to get my head because it's just driving me nuts. The audacity of it in the UK in 2024. Then afterwards happening Blackburn. Blackburn is a very asian, obviously. Obviously the Bobbins acquire a lot of asians in Blackburn as well. Then on Saturday, up on the Belfast, Bristol, Manchester hall, even Liverpool. Liverpool was the worst ones and one of the worst in Liverpool. But there's a muslim girl driving and they stopped the vehicle, just jumped on it, pull him out. And everything happened to Leicester.
Confronting Racism
Stock on trends. Nottingham, Blackpool. Even postmortems happened to Postmort. Then yesterday in Rudeham, we saw up in Rudeham where about the. I think the asylum seekers Holiday Inn hotel was bombed in a Rushton and Rudeham and everything happened. Images, bro. It happened about. I mean, we have what sits inside itself. You know, the videos we saw. If you know why they will not allow to drive past that you be attacked up and hold the shots bolting. So this has now become a total national anarchy. There's nothing more than that. It's been a total national anarchy. And for me, I'm not too sure the government is doing enough. Yes, the prime minister has spoken. I think we had two brokers so far from the prime minister.
Urgency for Action
But personally, I just feel like the Labour government needs to do better. In my opinion, the only good news so far for me, that's the biggest court people have been arrested. The courts are going to be open twenty four seven. And then going back as well. When you look up on the 4 July before the 4 July for the general election, even with councillor Jemin as well, I think the Labour Party, councillor Noha of the Labour Party in Derby as well. We had a few debates before the election itself. A lot of rhetoric from the politicians was all about migration. You know, stop the boat, do this. And it's just that it was just a sort of a triggering stuff.
Post-election Reflects
For me, after the 4 July look at the votes, the polls, who voted what? For me, when I looked at everything, the worst part for me, the scariest part was 60% of votes came from. For the Reform party. 60% of the vote for a foreign party came from under 30 white british people. I mean, that was for me. You know, we've talked about how Niger foreign party is very racist. It's basically. It's just there in our faces. You know, it's just there. I know it was opening and the likes of Clanton on sea whereby certain Reform party are very involved. We saw what happened where about even I think was a.
Dangers of Misapprehension
The guy was representing Clatin on, say, for Reform party. Call Rishi Sunak, then the prime minister, then call him, you know, f word, p ward and all these things, rhetoric was going on. And for you to see, a lot of 60%, a lot of under 30 british people still voting for reform party clearly tell us that we have a big problem in our hands. Racism is not going anywhere. Maybe you like it or not, racism is yet to stay. But how do we, you know, trying to work around dates. And the good news is we also have the laws. The laws in the UK say that you cannot be racially abused. And so people have been sent to prison for racial, for race, for racial abuse and stuff in the past, in this part of the world. But what has happened for the past few days for me is making me sleepless.
Economic Pressures
There's a lot of messages from some of our people who are so scared to go to work. I've just said, people, listen, just cancel your shift and stop. But how long are people going to cancel this when we know how this country works? Bills have to be paid, you know, you can be missing your dietary payments, all this kind of stuff. So people under pressure left and right, but we have to find the right balance. I'm just going to ask Mister Toyb a quick question. Mister Toyb, as a black person in the UK, and Muslim as well yourself, how are you feeling at present? Do you feel safe at all yourself, mister Toyb?
Safety Concerns
Well, that is the double whammy, isn't it? Recent events is enough to make you kind of look out for yourself, to be honest. You know, like things are going on now about what's happening in Birmingham. We don't know what is going to happen. And it just goes to what we've been saying all day that let us just look out for ourselves. Moving groups, communicate, just do the best you can until we can see that things are hopefully back to good in the next few days. But I think things are boiling up very fast, you know, like, it is just the way. We don't react to things the same way and some people will kind of calm down about it.
Community Dynamics
You know, if you attack a mosque, you know, there are young people in that, in those mosques as well. They can go around and say, no, we are not going to take this. You know, we have, our temperaments are very different. So you could see things happening, scaling on both sides and I don't know, nobody knows what is going to happen in the next few days. Nobody knows. And when you have a mob of people doing so many, like, so many people just coming out, like, the police will be overwhelmed, like, even with technology and all of that. And that's why we have to do our best in our own way to just try and look out for each other. I don't know how this will end up, but it has been something that has been playing out a very long time.
Community Perspectives
And we do nothing. And people talk about when we say these things. Maybe we do not understand the legitimate concerns of our host, the british people. You know, we understand the issues of job. If there is crime committed, you know, like, if any of us here. And it goes to what we always tell each other, we hold space in ourselves here, where we tell ourselves that we are ambassadors of where we come from and all of that. And we are always the first to call out anyone that does anything in our communities. You know, if anyone has committed anything from any community, from any background of any faith, we expect the law to deal with that.
Preventing Division
And we know that there are good people in every communities and there are bad people in. In every community as well. But what we now have is a rhetorical saying, we don't want these people. We don't. You know, when you say you don't want Muslims, as I said before, which Muslims are you talking about? The Muslims that came from war zones or the Muslims that are investing billions of pounds in the british economy? The Muslims that own Sainsbury's? Sainsbury's provide how many jobs Newcastle United provides? How many jobs Manchester City provide? We are all jumping here. When Man City won the Champions League, people that were supporters, people that were local to Manchester, you know, so when you say you don't want Muslims, which Muslims are you talking about?
Clarifying Cultural Narratives
So we have to be clear. You say, you don't want muslim culture, but Muslims are bringing money. You know, we have to be okay. If you say you don't want some particular kind of criminals in some communities, that is right, let the law deal with that. But if you are not pontifical and say, I don't, and it will get to a stage where you say, some people are already saying white Britain, that means we are moving away from Muslims now. We are moving to every other person that is of a different color. So where do we go from here? And the politicians, they need to take responsibility. You know, the BBC's, the ITV's, you know, we saw what happened today with that Muslim MP and everybody was just on her. They couldn't let her even, like, land her points.
Media Accountability
You know, when you see things like that and you start thinking, okay, what is going on here? And like I said before, the british people, the politicians have not told them the truth about what they do outside the UK to make the UK what the UK is. You know, when you tell, we saw what's happening with british universities lately. And because international students are not coming, british universities are collapsing. And this is because international students pay crazy amount of money to come to school here in the UK. But they are the first people the politicians attack. You know, when there is anything to say, it is the students that brought their dependence.
The Role of Immigration
It is the carers that are coming. But the carers are working on minimum wage, you know, going to several houses, doing several shifts, you know, back and forth, like running, you know, like, you just want to know, what. What. What else do you want the immigrant community to do? But having said that, as a Muslim, as a black person, you know, you just have to observe, see what's going on. And it is very important for our people that are in cities, you know, that, like, London. London is. You can say, London is not like some places where you could really see yourself and say, okay, I'm the only person living in this area.
Urban Experiences
It's very different in London. So it's just for our people to look out for themselves as much as possible, communicate as much as possible. Reach out to people. If you don't see some people in a day or two, people you normally see, reach out to them, check on them. This is very important. We hold ourselves together at this very, very difficult time. Very, very difficult time. Thank you, Loma. Okay, thanks. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for that. In fact, I was reading just a niche that the Muslim. Some muslim gravestones within a cemetery in bondle, in bond itself, have been vandalized.
Vandalism and Hate Crimes
Not just being vandalized, but guess what? They now put white spint on them. I mean, how low can you read? Really good. Where do you find it in you? I mean, I don't understand. You're pouring and you're vandalizing in someone's grave because of Muslims graves, and they're not putting white spint on them. I mean, you must be a horrible human being. This is not even about world race. I mean, this is someone who's dead for crying aloud. Unbelievable. Mister Viktor? Good evening, sir. the mic is here, sir. I'm sorry, Victor. I'm sorry. Michael had his hand up earlier, so I don't know if he still wants to talk before toy spoke.
Engaging with Public Discourse
Michael. Okay. I don't know, Michael. Michael, sorry, I was having connection problems again. Right. It was going back to the point that you were making about Tommy Robinson. Now, it goes really hand in hand with what I said earlier, in that when we have these discourse with racists, we call them out and we cut to the chase and we don't actually hide our talk. Now, I remember you saying that you reached out tommy Robinson, and I'm really pleased, first of all, that didn't actually come off, because if you notice, he went on a pr tour.
The Strategy of Challenging Racism
He was courting black presenters, he was courting black outlets and platforms to legitimize his words, to legitimize himself as a person. And to a certain extent, look, he's actually cheated. I see black people twerking for him all the time at his raves. The 27th was the last time that held an event and there were black people there twerking for him. But we know what this racist is about. So what I was going to say is, yes, by all means, do invite him on your platform to talk to him, but be mindful of who you have on the panel. We can't have what has gone on before. And that is Tommy Robinson unbridled, talking his trash and not being challenged on it.
Confronting Racist Rhetoric
You know, as much as I love the brother, and I love the platform, RTM, really the most lovely platform, fantastic platform, gave Tommy Robinson a free rein, basically, to say what he felt like saying, particularly around Islam. And I just found that disgusting. But fact of the matter is, it was a question really, in all of that. Where are you with connecting? I use that word loosely with Tommy Robinson. And is he up for a public debate? Because that's part of all of this. And that is gaining the narrative and disproving a lot of the bullshit that he comes out with.
Prioritizing Education and Awareness
Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Michael. Thank you. So. So, for me, I don't know if you agree with this, but I think sometimes also get to dialogue. So, for example, let's say we queen someone like to change his mind, have a different mindset. Change. Listen, that means that thousand of his followers will also believe that. You know what? Maybe we're wrong all along. But I guess, I mean, it's good to try, but hasn't won time around this. Not just Tommy, the likes of Dave Atkinson as well, who claimed to be our friend, by the way, Mister Tayb, am I right, Mister Tayib?
Understanding Misinformation
Dave was our friend. Am I right, Mister Tayyb? I'm Buki on this face. Well, the Dave that was here is different. From the Dave that is out there. So. And that's the one that we really want to see. We really want to hear from the person spitting the racism on the timeline. But he couldn't do it with chest. When I took it to him, it was almost as though he'd been caught like a rabbit in the headlight. Now, the fact of the matter is this, if people are going to come up on your stage, you need to be challenging them.
The Responsibility of Engagement
And that's what I'm saying. You need the right panelists who aren't just going to have him ride roughshod over them, who aren't just going to be hoodwinked, who aren't just going to let him just have free reign over what he says. Tommy Robinson should be challenged at each and every step for everything he says. Because what we have to be mindful of is those people who come and they visit your platform will be listening to him and be taken in by what he has said. And the next thing you know, that they're twerking for him at his next event.
The Dynamics of Racism
Wow. Okay, mister Turk, quickly. Exactly. Thank you so much for that, Michael. And I think one of the things that were able to establish that day was the lack of knowledge in terms of what international students and care workers bring to the country. And we came in that day with a lot of data just to let him know that, look, you can't paint everybody with the same brush. When we come, when west Africans come, when we from all over the world come, we don't get put in hotels, we don't get public funds.
Economic Contributions
You know, we pay billions of pounds into the system when we rent houses, landlords access for six months rent in advance because we have no reference. These are the kind of things that we bring into the economy. And we start from the ground up. You know, we start by cleaning, we start. There is virtually no student that will be on this space that has not done cleaning, laying beds, security. These are the kind of jobs we do. We pay taxes while studying, you know, and how that is how people get what they put into the system.
Contributions of International Students
They put so much into the system for years before they even get one penny out of the system. They don't say that on mainstream media. I was on BBC one time and they were asking me questions about what the international students bring into the economy. And I educate my british friends as well. I'm like, look, I pay this amount as application fee. When I come here, they are always opening the amount like what I pay NHS surcharge that I may never use as an international student.
Surcharges and Funding
You know, if I'm applying for a graduate visa, I'll pay the application fee, I'll pay NHS church for every valid year of that visa. These are billions of pounds that goes into the, in the coffers of the government. What the government is using those money for is what the british people should be asking the government. They are not being truthful. And that's why I said the politicians are also culpable in all of this. The anti migrant rhetoric has gone on for so long. I'll start from David Cameron, I'll make migration. Tens of thousands start from go to Teresa, may she stop post study work visa.
Government Accountability
And it was like creating a hostile environment and it just goes on and on. You had Preeti Patel, you had Suella Braverman, everybody just demonizing migrants. And now everything has now come full blown air. Everybody's hiding. Nobody is saying anything. But we just have to try our best and manage the situation. Hopefully it gets better. But it is long time coming, unfortunately. Thank you. Hi, can I just chip in before the time changes? Just so second place. I mean, we do have a people, we have call.
The Call for Action
Just give me. You probably speak after the next speaker and then I'll just come to you. Please just bear with me. Please love me. Okay, thank you, ma'am. Mister Victor, the mic is yours. Good evening, sir. The mic is yours. Oh, hello. Good evening, everybody. A lot has been said. I only just joined a few minutes ago when bookie was speaking and so a lot has been covered already. I'm not necessarily going to repeat what's been covered, but I'm assuming this bit hasn't been covered yet.
Community Focus
But I'm just going to share the, this bit. So yes, we need to look after ourselves. We need to think about what we say and how we explain what's going on here to our kids. There's the whole thing around trying to understand the meaning of what's just happened or what's happening. But beyond all of these, I think we need to be. So I'm thinking about this more from the, in terms of what Keir Stammer said in his statement yesterday around. Obviously there's going to be 24 hours, courts open and the rest of it.
Public Caution
And just perhaps as a community, we need to be very careful in terms of what we do outside in public and even what we do on social media. Because I'm thinking back to what happened in 2011. So in 2011 we had a riot, we had a lot of looting, people went into foot lockers all around everywhere, literally grabbing trainers, grabbing all sorts. And just in terms of how the court, how the system dealt with the situation, it was very brutal. People were denied bail, literally. They were literally scrolling through CCTV cameras and picking people left, right, center.
Historical Context
I was speaking to a lawyer yesterday and we're just talking about it. And on the back of that, I sent a message to Loamo and others. I'm just saying that we need to really just. I don't know how to say this, but we just need to be careful where we are. If you don't need to be outside, the last thing you want is to be caught on a CCTV camera, someone knocking on your door and all that kind of stuff. You just want to avoid that. And also the other thing we're seeing is, of course, you have this crazy people out there, but also you have the anti racist campaigners out there as well.
Potential Risks
I'm in Sheffield. We had them on Sunday out there in town, obviously saying asylums are welcomed here and the rest of it, which is all right and all good, but obviously, what's happening is you now have, sometimes in some places, you get altercation, so you have the races trying to attack the anti racist and all that kind of stuff. And I just think for some of us, we're here for a purpose. We're here as students, we're here, we've got various issues while we're in a country. And I think we just need to be mindful of that.
Strategic Awareness
If you do not need to be out there, then don't be out there. There's a time to fight. There's a time to go out there. I've done my bit, all the campaigns and the rest of it, quite a lot of that in my past, but I think there's a time for things. And I think given the way the police and everybody has reacted in 2011, I would personally just avoid even those campaigns and stuff. I will avoid the kind of conversations I have on Twitter and the kind of arguments I'm having on there, because people can, as you can imagine, people will misconstrue what you say and things like that.
Social Media Considerations
People ask messages online and I've just messaged them privately and spoken to them privately rather than sharing my views and all that, just because there's some crazy people out there who would just misinterpret what you're trying to say, take it to some extreme level, and they're just really silly people out there. So if there's one piece of advice I'll give the community is let's just be careful what we post, what we share, and how much of an argument we're trying to have with some really silly people out there. Because your employer, whoever, you know, you're working for somebody.
Workplace Considerations
Some of us, okay, we run our own businesses, but some others, you work for someone, your employer could easily pick up on what you're saying, and it becomes a whole different issue from what it was meant to be. You know, we know how these things work. You know, we've been around this sort of situations in the past. People say one thing, they do another thing. You know, we see that obviously with the way the reporting is all coming out, the way the media reflect, explaining it all, and we know which side they're on.
Media and Perception
We know how there's so much ignorance going out there and you just don't want to be in the mix of that. So I think that's just the only other thing I just thought I'll share. But I agree completely with what's been shared already. It is just really toxic. It's kind of inevitable in a way. What we're seeing here is all part of the conversations and the statements over the years. We're seeing a fruition of it. This is where it causes. But also, I just can't wait for summer to be over in a way.
Seeking Calm
I can't wait for rain to come back so people can go back in their houses and stop being burning places. I just can't, you know, I can't wait for sports, football to resume. But maybe that might just take away their focus from this craziness they're doing out there in the streets. But it is, yeah, we need to look after ourselves, but also just be careful what we do publicly out there. I hope that helps someone.
More Dialogue Needed
Thank you. Thanks a lot more. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Victor. I'll sort of agree and disagree with you some point there. So for me, I don't think it's just about ages going away. I think we need to say and look at the root causes of some of the problems we have in our society. I mean, a lot of things should change. So maybe for me, for example, I would love the government to maybe start with more education in our schools and of course young adults.
Education as a Foundation
Like I said, I mean, just looking at the 4 July, just last month, 60% of the voters that voted for Reform party were under 30s, whites under 30s. So clearly we have a big problem in the start okay, fine. If this goes away, then what's gonna happen in the next couple of months down the line? What's gonna happen in the end? In a year? In a year down the line. So we need to go back to the drawing board. There's a lot of issues we need to talk about. For me, I believe we need to start educating our young people more in schools, teens, the teaching society.
Restructuring Education
Start with the youth. The whole country needs to probably get their heads around this and educate throughout the school, working on acceptance and of course changing the mindset. For me, the mindset is the key figure. It's not going to be easy, but that's the key. We have to get it right. Otherwise, my friend Victor. Yes, fine. Okay, no more ride today. Then it's going to happen again next couple of weeks or months. I mean, I remember the whole July 11, 2011 when we had July, right?
Historical Context of Racism
I mean, that's a bit different because that was, you know, when McDougall was killed by the police and sort of, you know, maybe institutional racism from the police force. That's it. Talk for another day. But this is a totally different ballgame when you look at the whole level of the whole far right parties in the UK. And this is far right, Togri. The prime minister Kesterman said, this is far right Togri. So we've had British National Party for many years.
Examining Political Trends
The national social movements, what's it called? Greater Britain movement, the British movement, the National Democratic Party, National Front, which is the NF. In fact, NF was the worst many years ago. I mean, they sort of dialed down a little bit. Nowadays. The British National Party was not that big then. It used to be NFNF back then. But national fronts now has now gone down a bit. And then I think we have now, what's it called? I think National Independence Party also now Reform Party.
Political Manipulation
And I mean, the second part was the fact that Rez monk had audacity of conservative party because the desperate for power was saying they can actually work together with Reform party. If people didn't find that disturbing. And if you conservative party, you to remember, I know we have a lot of Tory members in our community. I think that's very disturbing.
Reflections on Racism and Unity
Mister Toy, quickly, mister Toy, please. Yeah, thank you so much, Victor, for those insights and we just hope that things calm down. But I was watching the clip earlier. Someone phoned into LBC and he said, he actually, I mean, I'll share it on my timeline in a bit. He said he actually traveled all the way to Middlesbrough to protest against black and asian people because 95% of them are problematic.
Raising Awareness
Like, how do you deal with that kind of problem? And the presenter was asking him, where did you get this information from? He said he read it on the Internet. You know, and when I think it was one quote I read one time, you don't need to worry about where someone will go or what someone will do once you can control what that person listens to, when you control that, what that person is listening to regularly and you are feeding them regularly. Most of the people that kind of like prompted all of this, that have been doing it for several months, a lot of them are on holiday now, you know, a lot of them are on holiday.
Challenging Misconceptions
They prepared the hate for several months. Everything has booming rank now. They are tweeting, they are sharing videos from outside the UK and that is exactly what is going on here. How do you reeducate the mind of people to let them know that immigrants are actually a net positive to this country? This is the problem that we deal with and we have to understand that we have to be tactical. When someone comes at you aggressively like that, especially when you get it from young children, you want to imagine what kind of information is being fed to these people at home.
Long-term Solutions
We are here already. A lot of us have been here for several years. A lot of us are paying tax here for several years. You know, how do we solve this problem? Because when these riots died down with the kind of rhetoric that politicians have used for several years now, how do we solve this problem of re education of people to say that, okay, migrants are not actually your enemies because that's what they've been told for several years. Migrants are actually people that pay tax, people that don't take public funds. You know, it's a very difficult problem, unfortunately.
Commitment to Progress
We still have to make the progress. And maybe they're like, it's not. We're here to stay. It's just as simple, you know, we're here to stay. But thank you very much, Madame Rurama. Just. Let's keep you safe. I know. Are you. Are you from. Are you debilitated Oceana? And I know you from Zim. Are you debilitiana? No, I'm a mixed breed. I'm from mixed breed. My mom is from Mozambique. And quite funny. I'm. I'm from the horse saddak. Oh. So. Okay, okay. So are you gonna. Well, maybe Shona, because I'm from Harare, but I don't really think on a travel line half of the time. Okay, fantastic. All right, no problem. That's fine. Thank you very much. Okay. sister Kimmy, good evening. The mic is just mine. Go ahead, ma'am.
Sending Love and Support
Hi, everyone. I'm just sending everyone so much love and warmth and a hug and safety and protection this time is very hard. And I just. I just hope that wherever you are, you know, that you are not alone, that we are collectively feeling this pain, and we're reeling. And, you know, I'm just putting my arms around you, but I just wanted to highlight the fact that my own father's side of the family. Shona, right, and my mother's South African, and I grew up hearing this proverb in Shona that says, and it means that the foreshadowing of boldness is like a receding hairline, right? So we've. So when these things happen, there's always whisperings, there's always trends, there's always warnings. But because we're eternal optimist and we look at the world with rose colored glasses and impose our values on other people, we don't actually, you know, shine our eyes and protect ourselves in a way and protect us, protect our spirits, protect our minds.
The Challenge of Education
These people are. Have made an intellectual decision and intellectual commitment to ignorance. There is no educating them, because when we show black excellence, it threatens them. When we show black family, it goes against what they've been programmed, and it causes a cognitive dissonance. And the only way that they're able to reckon with that is to lash out. There is no saving these people. If we look at, you know, american cousins, they had to, like, I think white supremacy is the same, but different toilets. Sorry to be crossed, but it is the same recipe. You know, different. Different cake is the same formula. And when you look at, like, they had to have a green book for where it's safe to go to the south, and we're receding back in society to where we're having these meetings where Harriet Tubman and the people that had to have underground railroad meetings, they had to devise a green book.
Addressing Racism
This is not the time. For each one. To each one, these are lost people. This is each one protect one. Each one protects your peace. Each one educates your brother and your sister and your loved ones and the people in your network and that you come into contact with, then the really. The white supremacy is the monster, is the beast. And if you look in France, in Germany, in America, and in this country, white supremacy, it's always the riots always target immigrants and blame immigrants for their own failings when it comes from broken homes, addiction, a lack of education, all of the. These things. If you look at the dental situation of all these people, looting shoe zone. You just see that these people were nothing taught the value of, you know, self care and self in a country where there's an NHS, when most of these people are on these benefits, where they could get free dental care, but they have no teeth. So we're dealing with a beast where if we want to reach out where it starts is young minds because they won't listen to us.
Fear for the Future
You are just but a nigger. Sorry, pardon me. But if you are to radicalize and to really revolutionize the young minds of. Because there are allies that ally at the dining room table is going to do more than we can do personally, that ally talking against certain behaviors, talking against ignorances, like, you know, really talking back at ignorance and racism is going to do a lot more. So our teaching energy cannot be to the lost ones. They have made a commitment intellectually, spiritually and everything, like flat earthers. And the people them, the ones that really still have hope is the young people that are still malleable brain age. Because some of these protesters were the skinheads. There were the people that did the damage. So that's. That's all I can say, you know, oops, thank you so much. Like, it's just too much to take in. And the first question I'm asking myself is, what are we gonna tell our children?
Children and Safety
How are we gonna protect them? I just shared with my friends that I couldn't take my nephew out to the field, to the park close to us, to just have his regular football session. Because I'm scared. What if we are there and something breaks out? Will I put this boy on my head and start running? What happens? And then we have to start doing diy garden? I don't know, counsellor. What do you guys think? Again, I'm scared. What if this thing is happening in the period when school is in session? The children are home now. Bless God. What if it continues till when they have to resume? Will our children not go to school? What's the safety of our children? Because these people, I mean, I've seen lots of videos and I've seen lots of little children.
Concerns for the Community
I saw one child just looks like a ten year old boy wearing marks, throwing stones. I'm like, what? Why are you even outside? Why are you even in this protest? Very little girls singing different things. I'm like, no. And these are the people that they will grow with this mentality. So how are we going to protect our children from them? Because their parents already teaching them something. What are we going to teach our children? So I would pass the mic over to counselor, if you have anything to say, because I mean, the children just. I can't, I can't imagine it than any other person that wants to say anything about this. Okay. Think what you will find is that I think governments and the police will probably step in a lot more harder.
Government Response to Violence
I don't think we'll get to September given that's why where we now the 5 August, aren't we? So we're talking free, we're talking four weeks. I don't think this is going to run and I hope nothing. It's not going to run and run for the next four weeks. I, I just can't see it. I think once, I think there'll be a lot more hardline policing measures and a lot more in terms of the court system. I think once the 24 hours courts and the special prosecutors get going, I think that will then start to act more as a deterrent or that's what I hope. But yeah, I don't see us going to September in terms of protecting children. I, I am just as shocked and upset as you are watching kids, you know, youngest, six years old be taken by their uneducated parents.
Family Dynamics Amidst Chaos
Shall we say to these protests. I mean, I watched a video yesterday and I think we've all, probably all seen it where there's these two kids, I reckon about six or seven and they were shouting packies out and they got that from their parents. And you just think to yourself, my God, this is what this has really come to now. I hope come in September that schools will, it's now down to the schools, that schools will now use their discretion and actually they will teach a lot more about culture and maybe have a discussion as to why what's happened over the summer and put it into a way that actually they understand, you know, what's going on. I also think the parents could also do that education in the meantime as well. I know some people are already, but I do think a lot more parents could also teach their kids in, you know, looking back at history, this is why we've, this is why where we've got today because of what's happened previously.
Social Responsibility
So, yes, that's where I possibly in that, in that direction. But I can reassure you that I don't see these riots going to go for another four weeks. I do think the 24 hours courts and the special prosecution, once that kicks in properly, I think that will start acting more of a deterrent. But if this does go into next week, or towards the end of next week, then I think you might see a different tone coming from the government in terms of how to dispel these protests, whether that's bringing the army in, which I know that any government would be, would obviously be hesitant bringing in or maybe some sort of curfew system. But yet again, I think the government would be, very hesitant to go down that road. Okay. Okay. Thank you, Councillor.
