Introduction

Abstract

Racism and racist violence are not unique to Britain and Germany. Hostility to immigrants and asylum-seekers is widespread across the whole of Europe. Incidents of violence against them are not uncommon and racial discrimination is an everyday occurrence in the streets, in factories and in offices. The actions involved in instances of discrimination may not appear in every single case to be very serious, but their cumulative effects are massive. The political impact of racism and anti-immigrant feelings can be seen in the increasingly harsh policies designed to deny the right of refugees to claim political asylum in Europe, and in the desperate measures many refugees take trying to enter Britain and other European countries. The tragic deaths of fifty-eight young Chinese men in June 2000 in the back of a container lorry at the port of Dover show the lengths to which people will go to seek security and a better life.