Introduction
The SEEDS group is an all-volunteer organization composed of 490 members representing 38 nationalities and 26 languages. SEEDS is an independent group working in mutual solidarity to promote and realize the human rights, equality and full integration in our society of asylum seekers, refugees and migrant workers.
Over the past few years the issue of representing and dealing with the concerns of migrant workers has grown enormously as an agenda item for this society. SEEDS seek to promote racial, ethnic and cultural diversity in the North West of Ireland thus maintaining a commitment to promote equality and integration. Concerns about increasing racial attacks, verbal abuse, the isolation of migrant workers, working conditions, poverty, exclusion, language problems, visa issues, housing, education, health and social cohesion drew attention to the plight of migrants to Ireland in general, but to the North West in particular.
Membership is 50/50 native Northern Ireland/non-national. SEEDS is continually reaching out to and welcoming the input and collaboration of concerned community members and members of the immigrant communities. It was created very informally, as a group of concerned Derry residents joining together to help address the various needs of new immigrants arriving to the area. This informal support group provided assistance with those areas which immigrants themselves identified as being the most problematic, such as: NHS registration, employment and housing issues. In 2006, SEEDS launched the ‘Hands Off My Friend’ campaign to address the alarming rate of violent race-hate crime taking place in the Derry area.
Identifying The Need For This Initiative
The ‘Hands Off My Friend’ campaign grew out of SEEDS’ support activities among the migrant community, by specifically targeting those areas of concern identified by migrants themselves. Initially, SEEDS responded to individual isolated reports of hate violence from victims uncertain where to turn. SEEDS became aware of the alarming rate of such violent attacks, and the need to adopt a more proactive strategy of awareness-raising to address this trend, as well as the culture of xenophobia, violence and impunity that supports it. The experience that such crimes often go unreported and unpunished strengthened the conviction that bold steps were necessary to address this very real community need. As policing is an issue in some communities there was concerns that some of the migrant population did not wish to formally report incidents of hate crime to the PSNI. As some of the migrant population is undocumented they did want to draw attention to themselves by raising awareness of attacks.
What Happened Next?
A broad peer/community awareness-raising campaign was initiated through the circulation of posters, badges, buttons and T-shirts to draw attention to the problem. The ‘Hands Off My Friend’ slogan was adopted to show that concerned citizens would stick up for the rights of their non-national neighbours and would not allow racist attacks to be carried out with impunity. SEEDS considered it central to this project that an ethic of civic responsibility be promoted whereby perpetrators of attacks should be put on notice that violence would not be tolerated by the community at large. Media events and speaking engagements in schools and other venues have also been organized to examine xenophobic attitudes and the roots of race violence, and to challenge the culture of impunity in which race violence is occurring in Northern Ireland. SEEDS held several public events called ‘Multicultural Days’ where music, food, dance and people getting together as the main focus. Over 1,800 local and non nationals attended these events which proved very successful. More events are planned.
What Were The Key Challenges Faced?
Key to these efforts has been the identification and targeting of groups and individuals within the community for whom racist, xenophobic and violent attitudes might remain especially prevalent. In the Derry/Londonderry area this has led SEEDS to give special attention to members of the Unionist community. Sometimes this is achieved through public events such as workshops in schools. But sometimes this can demand more delicate communication with individual community leaders or even the perpetrators themselves. Engaging these target audiences to explore the sources of race violence and to rethink their own racist attitudes - as well as in driving home the firm message that violence is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the broader community – are the key challenges which the Hands Off My Friend campaign faces.
What Resources Have Been Found Most Beneficial?
The surprising popularity of the ‘Hands Off My Friend’ badges and T-shirts has been huge as far as awareness-raising. The public has really embraced and spread the message by wearing these items. They allowed the public to ‘own’ the message and helped demonstrate the broad support behind the idea that racist violence is unacceptable. Over 2,000 t-shirts and 5,000 badges were circulated free. This is on-going. The campaign was formally launched by Councillor Helen Quigley the Mayor of Derry in July 2006 when over 500 balloons with messages were released calling for an end to Hate crimes everywhere.
How Was The Project Funded?
Small funding of £5,000 has been secured through the Community Relations Council, as well as £300 through the Derry City Council and £500 through the City Centre Initiative. SEEDS members often provide out-of-pocket support.
Was This Initiative Carried Out In Partnership With Any Other Organizations?
SEEDS has no formal partnerships with other organisations, but maintains an informal network of members across various communities and within the community sector. SEEDS and INCORE are currently trying to establish an Ethnic Forum for the North West and have held several successful meetings bringing groups and individuals together. The creation of SEEDS One World Centre, a city centre based multicultural building, will help raise the profile of diversity in the North West. At the same time, the very public profile of the ‘Hands Off My Friend’ campaign has attracted interest from other communities facing similar issues. Consequently, SEEDS has begun to share its experiences and successes, particularly those related to the ‘Hands Off My Friend’ campaign, with other communities and groups throughout Northern Ireland and beyond. The campaign is also being used to highlight bullying at school and work, domestic violence, sectarianism and other forms of hate crime.
The Impact Of This Project
The impact of the ‘Hands Off My Friend’ campaign has exceeded all expectations – by far. Media coverage was high, and the public response was enthusiastic and supportive. The public embraced the badges and T-shirts that were distributed, as well as the overall message of community responsibility. Also, most importantly, during the course of the ‘Hands Off My Friend’ campaign the number of racially-motivated violent incidents within Derry/Londonderry appears to have decreased (direct correlation untested).
Lessons Learned
The ‘Hands Off My Friend’ campaign has demonstrated that challenging perceptions takes time. It is important that communities take responsibility for standing up to the scourge of race violence. If anything, SEEDS should have developed earlier a proactive awareness-raising strategy such as the ‘Hands Off’ campaign to combat racist violence, rather than merely responding to assist the victims of individual attacks. While members of minority communities are specifically in need of a more determined community response to this problem, it must be remembered that Northern Ireland society as a whole benefits from the promotion of a culture in which violence is not tolerated. SEEDS has advance plans to establish a mediators project where proactive intervention work can be developed in areas of insecurity. This project will be developed in conjunction with NICEM, INCORE and the Peace and Reconciliation Group.
Foremost in the minds of the concerned community members who came together to form SEEDS was the experience of Irish immigrants in other countries over the years. This experience should inform the reception of new arrivals to Northern Ireland and act as a source of empathy for the challenges they face. Also, groups and individuals working with minority groups should remember to listen to these groups and allow them to articulate which problems they need the most help in addressing. |
