Dr Malvika Unnithan and Dr Maja Grundler, Northumbria Law School

Following a wave of anti-immigration protests across the UK over the summer, including a UKIP march and the simultaneous launch of the far-right party Advance UK in Newcastle on 27 September, we call on Northumbria University to actively show solidarity with non-white and migrant staff and students who may be affected by these and related future developments.

While the local UCU branch called for participation in a counter-protest against the far-right on 27 September and Northumbria’s BAME Network put out a statement in support of non-white and migrant colleagues and students, the University itself merely posted an update from Northumbria police on its intranet page, which vaguely referred to “protest activity” and “a visible policing presence”.

We are concerned about the lack of engagement and support from the University, particularly in light of the fact that new and returning students arrived on campus just before 27 September and may have been unaware of these developments.

We write this statement as migrant members of staff who are feeling threatened by far-right rhetoric and who are disappointed in the lack of support from our employer.  While we cannot speak for all non-white and migrant staff and students at the University, we want to briefly reflect on how the increased presence of far-right protestors, symbols and rhetoric in the UK generally, and in Newcastle specifically, affects us.

The strong presence of anti-migrant sentiment in politics and the media, the visual reminders through Union Jacks and St George’s Crosses and, most of all, the potentially violent far-right protestors create a climate of fear. We walk through the city more cautiously, fearing to stand out to the wrong people because of how we look, and are more reluctant to speak, for fear of sounding “foreign” at the wrong moment.

This nervousness extends to work. We wonder whether we will get confronted with racist and xenophobic views in the classroom; whether the lack of an institutional response is oversight, ignorance or tacit agreement.

We also wonder how non-white and migrant students feel, whether they will be victimised, whether they know how to stay safe with far-right protestors gathering at the New Bridge Hotel, just across the road from the University, to harass asylum-seekers every Saturday. We are particularly concerned about the safety and wellbeing of any asylum-seeking and refugee students at the University.

With such concerns in mind, we call upon the University to take active steps in supporting non-white and migrant staff and students. We recognise the Safezone App may be a useful tool to get help but a more targeted approach needs to be taken light of recent events.

Making students and staff aware of likely far-right activity in the city centre with guidance on how to stay safe in such situations is a crucial step to ensure that individuals can make informed choices about their movements around the city during such times. Providing designated safe zones on campus that affected staff and students can use as secure and quiet spaces to get support when they feel unsafe on or near campus, particularly during weekends, is an additional step that could be implemented.

During such times, emphasising the University’s policies on EDI, Unacceptable Behaviour and Hate Crime to all staff and students would send a clear message on the University’s stance and the values it upholds.

To our knowledge, so far, there has been little effort to address possible situations where members of staff may face incidents of racism or xenophobia in the classroom. Clear and actionable advice on how to deal with such situations is a necessary step to ensure that non-white and migrant members of staff have a response framework they can rely on to feel better supported in their jobs.

The abovementioned points are a mere starting point that we hope can be built upon through further discussion and input from other concerned members of the University. We urge you to consider all we have shared to better support the student and staff community at Northumbria University and take a stand on this pressing issue.