East European Resource Centre
East European Resource Centre is a charity (reg. no. 1114607) that provides information, advice and support to people from Central and Eastern Europe from the 2004 and 2007 EU accession countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Our vision is of London being home to Eastern European (EE) migrants where they can make choices about their families, work and homes, and live fulfilled lives as respected members of local communities.
Our mission is giving voice and resources to EE migrants who experience poverty, exploitation and social exclusion in order to help them to make choices about their lives and realize their potential as equal members of communities.
What we do
East European Resource Centre has three main areas of work:
Frontline delivery of information, advice and advocacy for disadvantaged Eastern European migrants in need of help to navigate British systems, develop confidence and skills, and improve integration with the British society
Policy work through research, needs analysis and raising awareness of issues affecting integration of Eastern Europeans into the British society and their living fulfilled lives as valued residents and members of local communities.
Awareness raising though information, outreach and campaigns on rights of Eastern Europeans in London and on challenges they face in interactions with statutory services and private markets, such as rented housing or employment
What is a racist incident?
Reporting to the police
The police are responsible for investigating criminal offences, and ensuring that persons are prosecuted. They investigate a crime, arrest persons, and collect evidence. They pass information up to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), who make the decision to prosecute, or not to prosecute.
The Police now operate a positive arrest policy for racist crimes. This means that where there is sufficient evidence of an offence, with a power of arrest, the suspect(s) will be arrested.
Even if the police are not in a position to take action in response to that report, you will have a record of incidents to show that you felt they were worth reporting. This is especially important in cases where assailants defend themselves by making counter-allegations.
The police will use the following definition to identify a racist incident:
“A racist incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person”.
Since the publication of the Macpherson report the police will consider the term “racist incident” to include both crimes and non crimes and should report, record and investigate with equal commitment.
Racial harassment can encompass many criminal offences, such as common assault, threatening behaviour, actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm, and attempted arson.