The United Nations Special Rapporteur on racism visit to the UK

23rd May 2018

The Special Rapporteur (SR) on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Ms. E. Tendayi Achiume, on Friday, 11 May 2018, concluded her official visit to the UK and issued her end of mission statement. During the visit the Special Rapporteur met with the UK government and Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales representatives. Ms Achiume also met with civil society in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast.

Dalit Solidarity Network UK made a submission to the SR prior to her visit to raise the issue of caste-based discrimination and attended meetings in London to further discuss the issues of lack of protection against caste-based discrimination in the UK. The SR took a note of it and included a paragraph in her end of visit statement:

‘In my consultations, it emerged clearly that most stakeholders largely view the formal UK legal framework governing equality and hate crimes positively. There are some exceptional concerns however, including: the decision by the UK Government not to bring into effect the provisions in the Equality Act 2010 regarding socio-economic inequalities and intersectional discrimination; and concerns regarding the legal status of caste-based discrimination.’

The Special Rapporteur will present her full report on the country visit to the United Nations Human Rights Council in June 2019. Ms Achiume will continue to accept submissions on the situation in the UK until November 2018.

In the meantime, we continue to wait to hear back from the government on the outcome of the Caste in Great Britain and equality law: a public consultation.