ROMA IN ITALY (provisional title)
With an Introduction by the Director John Sinha
A New Film About The Living Conditions And Persecution Of The Roma People In Italy
UNDERGROUND LONDONERS
A Film About The Lives & Struggles Of Migrants Working In The London Underground
Tuesday 28th October 7.30pm
THE COWLEY CLUB
12 LONDON ROAD, BRIGHTON
We hope to also have some food available for those of you coming hot foot
from work and play.
Monday, 27 October 2008
Monday, 20 October 2008
The World According to Phil Woolas
Well it was only a matter of time before the right-wing knee-jerk (or should that be right arm elbow-jerk?) kicked in and the mainstream parties made a dash to the right over migration in light of the economic downturn. The last refuge of the scoundrel anyone?
In a Times interview on 18 October long-time Labour Party apparatchik Phil Woolas, who has recently been handed the poisoned chalice of the position of Immigration Minster, broke party ranks and called for a 70M limit on the UK population (though he appeared to back track the next day).
Despite nailing his anti-racist credentials to the mast, he claimed that dealing with immigration was his "lifelong purpose"!? “I've been brought in to be tougher and to change perceptions,” he boasted.
His argument seems to be that in times of increasing unemployement racial discrimination and right-wing aggitation increases, therefore the Labour government should pander to this by limiting immigration and ensuring employers put British people first.
He also hailed the new points based immigration policy for non-EU migration as the ideal tool for this purpose. This policy, rather than looking upon migrants as human beings, sees them as economic units to exploit. If they have the requisite skills then they can come to the UK until they are no longer wanted, then they are out on their ears.
Not satisfied with having plundered the rest of the world through the British Empire and continuing to exploit the Third World for after its demise through the offices of multinational companies, the World bank and massive debt, now we have the modern equivalent of the slave trade - the skills drain. The developing countries have for a long time supplied doctors, nurses and other skill bases that the UK have been unable to satisfy itself. Now it is just being made more explicit.
Needless to say Frank Field, the Labour Party's own Enoch Powell, welcomed the government's change of tack and even managed to out 'sound bite' the chair of Migrationwatch Andrew Green (has anyone ever heard of anyone else being a member or spokesperson for this reactionary organisation?).
Not to be outdone, the Tories made their own bid of the amoral high ground by highlighting the fact that 80 per cent of migrants to Britain since 1997 have come from outside the EU. Dominic Grieve, shadow home secretary, claimed that there had been a " failure to control economic migration from outside the EU" and of course called for a " fundamental change in approach." (See)
See also the excellent analysis of the Woolas coverage on Indymedia.
In a Times interview on 18 October long-time Labour Party apparatchik Phil Woolas, who has recently been handed the poisoned chalice of the position of Immigration Minster, broke party ranks and called for a 70M limit on the UK population (though he appeared to back track the next day).
Despite nailing his anti-racist credentials to the mast, he claimed that dealing with immigration was his "lifelong purpose"!? “I've been brought in to be tougher and to change perceptions,” he boasted.
His argument seems to be that in times of increasing unemployement racial discrimination and right-wing aggitation increases, therefore the Labour government should pander to this by limiting immigration and ensuring employers put British people first.
He also hailed the new points based immigration policy for non-EU migration as the ideal tool for this purpose. This policy, rather than looking upon migrants as human beings, sees them as economic units to exploit. If they have the requisite skills then they can come to the UK until they are no longer wanted, then they are out on their ears.
Not satisfied with having plundered the rest of the world through the British Empire and continuing to exploit the Third World for after its demise through the offices of multinational companies, the World bank and massive debt, now we have the modern equivalent of the slave trade - the skills drain. The developing countries have for a long time supplied doctors, nurses and other skill bases that the UK have been unable to satisfy itself. Now it is just being made more explicit.
Needless to say Frank Field, the Labour Party's own Enoch Powell, welcomed the government's change of tack and even managed to out 'sound bite' the chair of Migrationwatch Andrew Green (has anyone ever heard of anyone else being a member or spokesperson for this reactionary organisation?).
Not to be outdone, the Tories made their own bid of the amoral high ground by highlighting the fact that 80 per cent of migrants to Britain since 1997 have come from outside the EU. Dominic Grieve, shadow home secretary, claimed that there had been a " failure to control economic migration from outside the EU" and of course called for a " fundamental change in approach." (See)
See also the excellent analysis of the Woolas coverage on Indymedia.
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Doublespeak About New EU Migration Centre
Louis Michel, the EU's development commissioner, has opened the new Migration Management Centre in Bamako, the capital of Mali. Mali is the world's fifth poorest country and an estimated 4m of its 12m population are abroad.
The Migration Management Centre is part of a pilot scheme allegedly to try to dissuade Africans from taking the hazardous routes to Europe. Mali was chosen as a venue as it is a hub for tens of thousands of Africans who try to get to Europe every year via boat to Spain's Canary Islands from the west coast of Africa. Last week, for example, Spanish coastguards intercepted a group of 230 Africans, the largest single boat load detained so far.
The aim of the centre in the eyes of the European countries that financed it is to offer seasonal work for temporary legal migrants as part of a network of European migration centres across west Africa.
The Association of Malian Deportees however, which operates as an aid organisation for returned immigrants, claims that the new centre was being established simply to strengthen the EU borders against so-called 'illegal' immigration and to facilitate the more efficient expulsion of immigrants from Europe.
The Migration Management Centre is part of a pilot scheme allegedly to try to dissuade Africans from taking the hazardous routes to Europe. Mali was chosen as a venue as it is a hub for tens of thousands of Africans who try to get to Europe every year via boat to Spain's Canary Islands from the west coast of Africa. Last week, for example, Spanish coastguards intercepted a group of 230 Africans, the largest single boat load detained so far.
The aim of the centre in the eyes of the European countries that financed it is to offer seasonal work for temporary legal migrants as part of a network of European migration centres across west Africa.
The Association of Malian Deportees however, which operates as an aid organisation for returned immigrants, claims that the new centre was being established simply to strengthen the EU borders against so-called 'illegal' immigration and to facilitate the more efficient expulsion of immigrants from Europe.
Sunday, 5 October 2008
3 Days of Anti-Racist Iniatives in Italy
Yesterday (4 October) saw the first of three days of anti-racist actions in Italy against the increasing attacks on the migrant communities in Italy [Link in Italian]. In Rome thousands of people demonstrated against racism near the Coliseum in the wake of a series of violent assaults on immigrants in Italy. Hundreds of Chinese immigrants were among those who took part in the demonstration, two days after a 36-year-old Chinese man was beaten up by a group of teenagers in the Italian capital. Demonstrators also held pictures of six African migrants who were killed by mafia gunmen on September 18 in the southern town of Castel Volturno.
Meanwhile, another 15,000 people demonstrated against racism in Caserta (a southern town near Naples) close to Castel Volturno where the murders took place. The Italian police claim that the deaths were a result of the local Camorra attempting to protect their lucrative drugs trade. Meanwhile, the Italian government responded by sending in 500 troops to the area as part of the 'state of emergency' [see 14 August post below]
At the Rome demo, placards were also held up in memory of Abdul Salam Guibre, a 19-year-old Italian of Burkina Faso origin, who was beaten to death with a metal bar on 14 September in Milan by two bar managers who accused their victim of stealing some biscuits. [Link]
One of the most recent racist attacks was on a 22-year old Ghanaian student who was beaten up by local traffic police in Parma. He was arrested by plain clothes cops who failed to identify themselves but did manage to kick and brutally assault him, leaving him with a black eye. [Link]
Meanwhile, another 15,000 people demonstrated against racism in Caserta (a southern town near Naples) close to Castel Volturno where the murders took place. The Italian police claim that the deaths were a result of the local Camorra attempting to protect their lucrative drugs trade. Meanwhile, the Italian government responded by sending in 500 troops to the area as part of the 'state of emergency' [see 14 August post below]
At the Rome demo, placards were also held up in memory of Abdul Salam Guibre, a 19-year-old Italian of Burkina Faso origin, who was beaten to death with a metal bar on 14 September in Milan by two bar managers who accused their victim of stealing some biscuits. [Link]
One of the most recent racist attacks was on a 22-year old Ghanaian student who was beaten up by local traffic police in Parma. He was arrested by plain clothes cops who failed to identify themselves but did manage to kick and brutally assault him, leaving him with a black eye. [Link]
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Stop Racist Government Attacks on Roma People in Italy
2 Noon Friday 3rd October 2008
Demonstrate at the Italian Tourist Board
1 Princes Street, London W1B 2AY (near Oxford Circus)
Roma people in Italy are facing the worst persecution since the Fascist era and the Italian state is complicit in these attacks. The state’s lies encourage Italians to view Roma as illegal immigrants, as part of a generalized right-wing response to migration into Italy.
Whilst we believe anyone should be able to settle wherever they want, it is important to point out the deliberate lies of the Italian government. Roma are not recent arrivals. Many have settled in Italy for 40 years and are Italian citizens. Those who have recently arrived have done so as part of the wider process of perfectly legal and natural economic migration within the EU. Some wish to travel, others wish to settle. They should have the same legal protection as other EU citizens.
Read the full callout here
Demonstrate at the Italian Tourist Board
1 Princes Street, London W1B 2AY (near Oxford Circus)
Roma people in Italy are facing the worst persecution since the Fascist era and the Italian state is complicit in these attacks. The state’s lies encourage Italians to view Roma as illegal immigrants, as part of a generalized right-wing response to migration into Italy.
Whilst we believe anyone should be able to settle wherever they want, it is important to point out the deliberate lies of the Italian government. Roma are not recent arrivals. Many have settled in Italy for 40 years and are Italian citizens. Those who have recently arrived have done so as part of the wider process of perfectly legal and natural economic migration within the EU. Some wish to travel, others wish to settle. They should have the same legal protection as other EU citizens.
Read the full callout here
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Campsfield Detainees Exploited as Cheap Labour
Detainees at the Campsfield House immigration prison in Oxfordshire are being "exploited for cheap labour" due to staff cuts, the Oxford and District Trades Union Council has revealed. The rejected asylum seekers, who are locked up for lengthy periods pending their deportation, are being paid £5 for six-hour shifts of cleaning and kitchen work.
Campsfield is run by Global Expertise in Outsourcing (GEO), formerly known as Wackenhut, a company notorious for being at the centre of all manner of inmate-abuse scandals in the States. GEO are one of the many US companies that have spread their tentacles around the world running prisons for profit in a number of countries.
As part of their project to screw as much profit out of Campsfield as possible, the company has cut back on both staffing levels and educational, recreational and other provisions at the centre. Over the past year, GEO has sacked education workers, nursing staff have departed, staff turnover has increased, the welfare officer has left and in September, the chaplain was suspended. This is just another attempt to that last drop of blood from the same stone.
For the full story see Corporate Watch's latest news
Campsfield is run by Global Expertise in Outsourcing (GEO), formerly known as Wackenhut, a company notorious for being at the centre of all manner of inmate-abuse scandals in the States. GEO are one of the many US companies that have spread their tentacles around the world running prisons for profit in a number of countries.
As part of their project to screw as much profit out of Campsfield as possible, the company has cut back on both staffing levels and educational, recreational and other provisions at the centre. Over the past year, GEO has sacked education workers, nursing staff have departed, staff turnover has increased, the welfare officer has left and in September, the chaplain was suspended. This is just another attempt to that last drop of blood from the same stone.
For the full story see Corporate Watch's latest news
IOM Introduces New Bribe For Refugees to Return Home
The well known anti-migration front organisation International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has launched a new programme called 'Return and Rebuild', providing extra 'support' for refugees returning to war-torn Afghanistan and Iraq under its so-called Voluntary Return and Reintegration Programme (VARRP). [see Corporate Watch's Latest News]
The IOM originated as a 'tough love' alternative to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and is at the forefront of western government's efforts to stem the tide of their unwanted economic migrants. IOM runs a number of what are effectively concentration camps around the world to hold some of these migrants until they can be returned to their countries of origin. One of these was the notorious detention centre on the Pacific island of Nauru mentioned in the post of Tuesday, 29 July 2008.
The VARRP scheme is open to any asylum seeker with a pending application as well as those whose applications have failed and who have already lost there appeals or who are awaiting a decision. The applicant must agree to sign a waiver stating "“the IOM has no responsibility for me and my dependents once I return [country of origin] and I hereby release IOM from any liability in this respect" and agree not to return to the UK for atleast 5 years. In return they are provided with "targeted payments" to help provide them with equipment for starting up a small business or to start an educational course. As such, IOM are just another deportation agency, except this one has carrots as well as the usual sticks.
The IOM originated as a 'tough love' alternative to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and is at the forefront of western government's efforts to stem the tide of their unwanted economic migrants. IOM runs a number of what are effectively concentration camps around the world to hold some of these migrants until they can be returned to their countries of origin. One of these was the notorious detention centre on the Pacific island of Nauru mentioned in the post of Tuesday, 29 July 2008.
The VARRP scheme is open to any asylum seeker with a pending application as well as those whose applications have failed and who have already lost there appeals or who are awaiting a decision. The applicant must agree to sign a waiver stating "“the IOM has no responsibility for me and my dependents once I return [country of origin] and I hereby release IOM from any liability in this respect" and agree not to return to the UK for atleast 5 years. In return they are provided with "targeted payments" to help provide them with equipment for starting up a small business or to start an educational course. As such, IOM are just another deportation agency, except this one has carrots as well as the usual sticks.
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