Blair orders probe into racial bias

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JULY 5. The Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, is to set up what is claimed to be the most comprehensive inquiry ever into racial discrimination and factors behind economic and educational backwardness among ethnic minorities. This follows increasing racial tension across Britain and the recent riots in several north England towns where there are large numbers of uneducated and unemployed Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.

The inquiry, to be supervised by a senior Minister, is expected to be more wide-ranging than previous reviews of race relations and specifically look into the role of public and private sectors in contributing to a sense of unfairness among ethnic groups. In recent weeks, there have been a number of independent reports highlighting widespread discrimination in public services such as the National Health Service, the police and civil services. Official figures show that unemployment among immigrants is twice as high as that among whites, and within ethnic groups there are wide variations with Indians and Chinese doing better than blacks, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.

There is concern that even as ethnic groups find themselves at the bottom of the heap and suffer racial prejudice they are often seen as being pampered because of the racially coded political rhetoric. This is said to be one of the reasons for the rise of far-right groups such as the National Front and the British National Party in racially mixed areas. In Oldham and Burnley, where tension still persists after the recent racial flare-up, there is a widespread impression that immigrant groups are ``getting everything'', as a number of white residents told BBC's Newsnight. ``We are the lost race'' was a refrain heard again and again among the white community in Burnley where the BNP polled an astonishing 11 per cent of the votes in last month's general election.

Though technically the remit of the inquiry is to look into the reasons for the widening ``wealth gap'' between immigrants and whites, commentators said it was also likely to study the underlying causes of racial tension in the ethnic belt. ``Ministers are particularly concerned to tackle what appears to be an emerging black `underclass' of jobless youngsters who reject the traditional codes of their elders and drift into crime'', The Independent said quoting a Government source as saying that the Prime Minister was determined to improve policies on race relations, particularly those relating to the labour market.

It said a worrying aspect was that the gap in the rate of unemployment between ethnic groups and whites was growing despite a booming economy. Normally, the gap widened only during recession and narrowed during a boom.

While the Commission for Racial Equality welcomed the inquiry, sceptics reacted with a sense of deja vu. ``There have been so many inquiries and the facts are already known'', said Prof. Gautam Sen of the London School of Economics.

He said clearly the Government was responding to the recent events - the riots in Oldham and Burnley and the raft of independent findings - and wanted to be seen to be doing something.

The move itself was ``not to be negatived'', he said but was not sure if it would necessarily lead to any significant improvement on the ground.

A representative of an ethnic group dismissed it as an ``eyewash'' arguing that what was needed was the ``political will, not yet another inquiry.''

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Landgrab sets firmament afire
Next     : Germany seeks foreign skilled labour