UK 'failing to tackle racism'

The report criticises British immigration policies

British anti-racist groups have accused the police and government of failing to combat institutionalised racism.

In a report to the UN racism monitoring committee, non-governmental organisations say the police are failing to take complaints of racial harassment seriously a year after the public inquiry into the Stephen Lawrence murder.

The Government is accused of creating a social underclass

Contributions from other British human rights and ethnic minority groups say the government's immigration policies are creating racial tension and a socially excluded underclass.

The report has been submitted ahead of the government's appearance before the UN committee in Geneva on Monday on issues of racism in the UK.

'No go zones'

The report claims that the police in London are still unwilling to take racial harassment complaints seriously despite a rise in the number of attacks.

The report says some inner city areas have been turned into "no go areas" for ethnic minorities, who are increasingly vulnerable to abuse by Far Right extremist organisations.

Police come under fire for racism a year after the Stephen Lawrence inquiry

Last week, a study by Staffordshire University called on the police force to reconsider its racism awareness training and ethnic recruitment targets.

The study of 100 Black and Asian officers revealed minorities felt "overpowered" by the dominant white culture of the police service.

The groups reporting to the UN point to the government's restrictive policies on immigration and asylum seekers as a source of racial tension.

United approach

They say sending asylum seekers to crime-ridden council estates outside London undermines good race relations and creates a socially excluded underclass.

The report's authors say the only way to efficiently combat racism is for the government to abandon its "piecemeal approach" in favour of a national strategy co-ordinated across all ministerial departments.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination committee meets every three years and last reported on the UK as Labour came to power.