6yo sickle cell patient 'sent home to die', 4yos sent home over racism in school & other stories from Black, Asian and Arab communities you shouldn't have missed this week- curated by Melissa Sigodo

The cultish obsession with migration has hijacked the nation's sanity in Britain

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I wanted to write a long introduction about how this week has been but I think this tweet summarises how racism has been normalised in the UK.

I created this platform because there is an extreme shortage of context and coverage in the mainstream media when it comes to issues of racism and the experience of ethnic minorities. We have consistently heard the one-sided debate on the so-called ‘invasion’ of migrants, which is at the top of every news agenda on a daily basis. But sadly, we rarely hear about the consequences of this rhetoric which result in racist attacks on asylum centres, mosques as well as Black and Asian people. We hear about the crimes of immigrants, but we don’t hear about the contributions. The voices of ethnic minorities are not amplified and are often erased or disregarded.

Since founding The Source, I’ve dedicated all my platforms to ensuring that Black, Asian and Arab people are heard in this country and that the public gets the full story and not just the clickbait soundbites. With misinformation spreading and the far right being heavily platformed, The Source’s weekly recap along with its own independent journalism aims to bring balance to a media landscape where racist agendas ensure that these stories are underreported.

If you would like to support this work, you can do so by sharing this newsletter and getting people to subscribe so more people can stay informed. You can also upgrade to a paid subscription which helps this newsletter in getting the resources it needs to grow, fund its independent reporting and reach more people.

Thank you to those of you who have upgraded your subscription already. I know that you understand the need for this. For those of you who haven’t, I want you to know that with your support, we can do so much more to shed light in these dark times.

So without further ado, here’s what you shouldn’t have missed this week.

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Top story

An 81-year-old pensioner with cancer has been blocked from returning home from Ghana to the UK where she can continue her chemotherapy treatment and be closely monitored for the last four months. The Home Office says it needs to complete checks following an ‘irregularity’ with her date of birth. Watch the report by Ayshah Tull at Channel 4 News.

Shortly after the report, the pensioner was granted an emergency travel document to return to the UK. Read Ayshah Tull’s post here.

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Health

A six-year-old girl with sickle cell was ‘sent home to die’ three hours after she was discharged with a misdiagnosis despite her mum flagging her daughter’s condition repeatedly. Read the full story at Slater and Gordon Lawyers.

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A breast cancer survivor has launched a plant-based braiding hair extension company to provide a safer alternative to synthetic hair which can contain harmful chemicals. Jacqueline Shaw says that after losing her hair during her cancer treatment, she founded The Canerow Company as she “didn’t want to put anything toxic or problematic in her hair” once it grew back. Read the full story by Sinai Fleary at The Voice Online.

Education

Children as young as four years old are being sent home from school over racist behaviour as shocking data shows that more than 15,000 pupils have been suspended or expelled. Tina Chummun, a UKCP psychotherapist and trauma specialist said that kids’ views were ‘shaped by the media, their homes and communities’. Read the full story by Megan Howe at The Standard.

Politics

Campaign groups tackling violence against women have warned that the British Media is ‘weaponising’ violence against women to fuel the anti-migrant agenda. In a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, more than 100 women’s rights groups said that the media and politicians were undermining real safety concerns. Read the full story by Josh Mortimer at Byline Times.

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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has been slammed for his “ugly” rhetoric after revealing party plans for mass deportation and leaving the European convention on human rights should he come into power. Prime Minister Keir Starmer spokesperson refused to condemn the politicians references to migrants as an ‘invasion’ and a ‘scourge’. Read the full story by Haroon Siddique, Aletha Adu, Jessica Elgot and Kiran Stacey at The Guardian.

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Mosques around the UK are being forced to tighten security following ‘anti-immigration protests’ as they say worshippers are coming in worried and scared that they will be targeted. Read the full story by Zahra Onsori and Saman Javed at Hyphen Online.

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Kemi Badenoch has said she’s been surprised at the amount of racism she has faced since being elected leader of the Conservative party. Speaking to the Sunday Times she said that on social media, “there’s a lot of ethno-nationalism creeping up, lots of stuff about my race and my ethnicity”. Read the full story by Kiran Stacey at The Guardian.

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Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has attended a meeting with US President Donald Trump to discuss plans for Gaza’s future, according to reports which say he has “briefed” Trump on “ideas” regarding how to “rebuild the territory”. Read the full story by Gregor Young at The National.