The sit-in by the Tamil asylum seekers on board the Jaya Lestari, moored at Merak in western Java, is still going strong despite the start of the monsoon season in South-East Asia. Many of the 240-odd people on the rickety wooden boat may be wavering, especially those with children, but they know that they will inevitably end up in an Indonesian detention centre with little chance of improving their asylum chances, according to the Tamil's spokesperson Sanjeev "Alex" Kuhendrarajah. He cited the fact that the 8 people who had already left the Jaya Lestari and ended up in detention had yet to be seen by the UNHCR. This is also reinforced by the fact that none of those who left the Ocenanic Viking four weeks ago has had their refugee claims fully processed, despite the 'fast-track' deal hammered out between them and the Indonesian and Australian authorities stipulated processing within 4-6 weeks.
On the Australian mainland, amid the news that digital face and fingerprint scanning of asylum seekers living in Sydney and Melbourne is being introduced, comes the news that China is now officially the biggest source of migrants, eclipsing both New Zealand and the UK. In the four months to October 6350 new settlers arrived from mainland China, ten times the numbers of 'boat-people' that ended up on Christmas Island.
The main cause for this change in migration patterns is the large drop in UK migration cause by the Australian government's decision in March to cut 18,500 places from the skilled migration program for 2009-10. This significantly cut immigration from Britain as skilled migrants account for 80% of flights booked from the UK. Chinese migration on the other hand is dominated by family reunions and suffered less.
Monday, 7 December 2009
No Christmas At Yarl's Wood This Year?
The police were called by Serco staff at Yarl's Wood detention centre on Friday to deal with a rather dodgy looking character dressed in red and white carrying a load of gifts for the children imprisoned there. It seems that St. Nick, the patron saint of children and the imprisoned, was not welcome there despite the church group-arranged visit being approved by the Home Office and Yarl's Wood staff.
Saint Nick was met at the gates by a group of unidentified security guards who barred his entry and ordered him to leave the area. They also snaffled the £300 worth of presents and refused to provide a receipt or even give their names or any other form of identification. Then, when Nick returned later that afternoon to make a pre-arranged and approved social visit to two families currently detained there, he was informed at the gates that their visit had been cancelled. He was then handed a letter from Dawn Elaine, the Contracts Manager at Yarl’s Wood, informing him that permission had been revoked because of “concerns about your conduct” when the gifts had been deposited that morning. Maybe he should stick to tradition and just sneak in via the chimney next time?
Saint Nick was met at the gates by a group of unidentified security guards who barred his entry and ordered him to leave the area. They also snaffled the £300 worth of presents and refused to provide a receipt or even give their names or any other form of identification. Then, when Nick returned later that afternoon to make a pre-arranged and approved social visit to two families currently detained there, he was informed at the gates that their visit had been cancelled. He was then handed a letter from Dawn Elaine, the Contracts Manager at Yarl’s Wood, informing him that permission had been revoked because of “concerns about your conduct” when the gifts had been deposited that morning. Maybe he should stick to tradition and just sneak in via the chimney next time?
Calais Today
In Calais repression has escalated to unprecedented levels and the police are on the hunt for migrants day and night.
Arrests have increased dramatically since the end of November, as well as raids on squats and jungles. The new Pashto jungle is being raided over and over, with dozens of people arrested every time including several unaccompanied boys, some as young as 11 or 12. Police brutality is on the increase for beatings – a 13 years old boy has been injured in a leg by being hit with a truncheon. The CRS have been seen again using gas.
All new camps have been destroyed. After arresting everybody who does not manage to run or hide, the police slash the plastic covers with knives and destroy blankets and people's possessions. Two large urban squats are also under constant attack and police patrol the beach and the park arresting people there all the time.
Usually people are released after a few hours, or they have to spend 12 hours or more in the police station. They have to walk one hour to go back, including under age children, sick and injured people and people with papers (who have applied for asylum in France). Increasingly people are detained for longer, lately often taken to deportation centres other than Coquelles. They are routinely threatened they will be deported if they do not apply for asylum in France - to Afghanistan or other countries. Many people have finger prints in other ‘safe’ counties from where they have transited – such as Greece – and they may sent back there according to the Dublin2 agreements.
(note: there is evidence of police torturing migrants in Greece, two have been killed; illegal deportations from Greece to Turkey are a common occurrence –and from Turkey eventually to the countries the people are escaping from, in flagrant violation of the 1951 Convention on Refugees).
The migrants of Calais want to go to England and eventually make a claim for asylum there. They want to live without constant fear of arrest. Shakir said: "the public of Calais are good but the police are a problem". His friend Tariq said: "If I am in England I will celebrate Christmas, but I will probably spend my Christmas in the police station. "…Shakir is under 16. He is alone in Calais, on his journey from Afghanistan.
URGENT ACTION IS NEEDED TO OPPOSE THE REPRESSION AND THE VIOLENCE THE MIGRANTS ARE SUBJECTED TO.
Calais Migrant Solidarity have been present on the ground all the time since the No Borders camp in Calais (end of June).We now have an office space and a space where people can sleep – it can get pretty crowded though! More support is needed, especially since the repression is escalating. With Besson’s threat to make Calais ‘a migrant free zone’ by the end of the year in mind, we are calling for more activists to come and support.
If you want to get involved or just would like more information, please call 0634 810 710 or email calaisolidarity@gmail.com
For more details and updates see:
http://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com
Notes on the situation of the migrants in Calais after the 'humanitarian' and 'dignified' destruction of the migrants' camps:
Migrants: still here. At least 300 people go to food distributions in Calais . An estimate 2000 migrants have spread around the coast to safer places, or down South. The most visible result of the repressive immigration policies implemented by the French government is that life for the migrants has become unimaginably hard.
Smugglers: still here. In fact the price of a journey from Calais to England has pretty much doubled since the destruction of the jungles: the average cost for a 'guarantee' journey to the UK in the back of a truck is now 1500 euros. This is another remarkable result of the new immigration policies, despite the French immigration minister's worthless claims that the destruction of migrants camps was done 'with dignity' and for ‘humanitarian reasons’, and to defeat people’s smugglers. In fact the smugglers are profiting from people's misery and people are pushed further into the 'mafia’s' hands by the desperate conditions they are forced to live in.
Jungles: still here. The Pashto jungle has been razed to the ground, trees included, but people are sleeping in the woods nearby. The new camps have also been destroyed by the CRS (riot police) and people just shelter under bits of tarpaulin. The CRS keep going there and arrest all those who do not manage to escape, any time day or night. After, they slash the plastic covers with knives and destroy the blankets and people's property. It rains a lot. Hazara jungle: similar situation.
Iranian jungle: similar situation.
Kurdish jungle: similar situation.
Sudanese jungle: camp destroyed again and again, most people have gone to the beach (shelters have been destroyed also there) or to squats or they are trying to sleep rough in various places.
Bridges: gone. All the people who were sleeping under bridges, where at least they had some shelter from the rain, have moved elsewhere due to excessive police harassment and repeated destruction of tents and blankets.
Squats: still here. Africa house has been razed to the ground. Ethiopia house still here but under attack by the CRS. Recently evicted, everybody who did not manage to run or hide arrested and all blankets and people's property destroyed. People returned having nowhere else to go. Calais Migrant Solidarity and than Salam gave them new blankets and warm clothes. Later the police returned and arrested people again... and again
Another large squat inhabited by Egyptians, Palestinians and other Arabs plus many Afghans is also under attack.
Arrests have increased dramatically since the end of November, as well as raids on squats and jungles. The new Pashto jungle is being raided over and over, with dozens of people arrested every time including several unaccompanied boys, some as young as 11 or 12. Police brutality is on the increase for beatings – a 13 years old boy has been injured in a leg by being hit with a truncheon. The CRS have been seen again using gas.
All new camps have been destroyed. After arresting everybody who does not manage to run or hide, the police slash the plastic covers with knives and destroy blankets and people's possessions. Two large urban squats are also under constant attack and police patrol the beach and the park arresting people there all the time.
Usually people are released after a few hours, or they have to spend 12 hours or more in the police station. They have to walk one hour to go back, including under age children, sick and injured people and people with papers (who have applied for asylum in France). Increasingly people are detained for longer, lately often taken to deportation centres other than Coquelles. They are routinely threatened they will be deported if they do not apply for asylum in France - to Afghanistan or other countries. Many people have finger prints in other ‘safe’ counties from where they have transited – such as Greece – and they may sent back there according to the Dublin2 agreements.
(note: there is evidence of police torturing migrants in Greece, two have been killed; illegal deportations from Greece to Turkey are a common occurrence –and from Turkey eventually to the countries the people are escaping from, in flagrant violation of the 1951 Convention on Refugees).
The migrants of Calais want to go to England and eventually make a claim for asylum there. They want to live without constant fear of arrest. Shakir said: "the public of Calais are good but the police are a problem". His friend Tariq said: "If I am in England I will celebrate Christmas, but I will probably spend my Christmas in the police station. "…Shakir is under 16. He is alone in Calais, on his journey from Afghanistan.
URGENT ACTION IS NEEDED TO OPPOSE THE REPRESSION AND THE VIOLENCE THE MIGRANTS ARE SUBJECTED TO.
Calais Migrant Solidarity have been present on the ground all the time since the No Borders camp in Calais (end of June).We now have an office space and a space where people can sleep – it can get pretty crowded though! More support is needed, especially since the repression is escalating. With Besson’s threat to make Calais ‘a migrant free zone’ by the end of the year in mind, we are calling for more activists to come and support.
If you want to get involved or just would like more information, please call 0634 810 710 or email calaisolidarity@gmail.com
For more details and updates see:
http://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com
Notes on the situation of the migrants in Calais after the 'humanitarian' and 'dignified' destruction of the migrants' camps:
Migrants: still here. At least 300 people go to food distributions in Calais . An estimate 2000 migrants have spread around the coast to safer places, or down South. The most visible result of the repressive immigration policies implemented by the French government is that life for the migrants has become unimaginably hard.
Smugglers: still here. In fact the price of a journey from Calais to England has pretty much doubled since the destruction of the jungles: the average cost for a 'guarantee' journey to the UK in the back of a truck is now 1500 euros. This is another remarkable result of the new immigration policies, despite the French immigration minister's worthless claims that the destruction of migrants camps was done 'with dignity' and for ‘humanitarian reasons’, and to defeat people’s smugglers. In fact the smugglers are profiting from people's misery and people are pushed further into the 'mafia’s' hands by the desperate conditions they are forced to live in.
Jungles: still here. The Pashto jungle has been razed to the ground, trees included, but people are sleeping in the woods nearby. The new camps have also been destroyed by the CRS (riot police) and people just shelter under bits of tarpaulin. The CRS keep going there and arrest all those who do not manage to escape, any time day or night. After, they slash the plastic covers with knives and destroy the blankets and people's property. It rains a lot. Hazara jungle: similar situation.
Iranian jungle: similar situation.
Kurdish jungle: similar situation.
Sudanese jungle: camp destroyed again and again, most people have gone to the beach (shelters have been destroyed also there) or to squats or they are trying to sleep rough in various places.
Bridges: gone. All the people who were sleeping under bridges, where at least they had some shelter from the rain, have moved elsewhere due to excessive police harassment and repeated destruction of tents and blankets.
Squats: still here. Africa house has been razed to the ground. Ethiopia house still here but under attack by the CRS. Recently evicted, everybody who did not manage to run or hide arrested and all blankets and people's property destroyed. People returned having nowhere else to go. Calais Migrant Solidarity and than Salam gave them new blankets and warm clothes. Later the police returned and arrested people again... and again
Another large squat inhabited by Egyptians, Palestinians and other Arabs plus many Afghans is also under attack.
Conditions At Brook House 'Worse and Worse'
This is a repost of the Corporate Watch article 'Conditions At G4S Immigration Prison 'Worse and Worse'':
Since it opened earlier this year, the UK's newest and biggest immigration prison has barely had a day without trouble. However, Corporate Watch has learnt that things have become "much worse" lately, both for the detainees and for their visitors. Meanwhile, the G4S management is apparently recruiting new security guards as staff shortages have led many detainees to repeatedly miss doctors' and court appointments.
Troubled start
Brook House was opened in March 2009, located about half a mile from Gatwick's other detention centre, Tinsley House, on the south perimeter of the airport. With 426 bed spaces for single male detainees, it was the UK Border Agency's latest step in its plans to expand Britain's detention estate by 60 percent. The purpose-built, category B prison is run on behalf of UKBA by private security giant Group 4 Securicor (G4S), which recently acquired the original contractor Global Solutions Ltd (GSL) (see this Corporate Watch article for more details).
In September 2007, while Brook House was still under construction, the No Borders UK network organised a protest camp near Gatwick in protest against the new immigration prison. Various demonstrations took place during and around the camp, including a mass demonstration on 22nd September, which saw some 500 people marching from the town of Crawley to Tinsley House, near the building site of Brook House. A campaign was subsequently formed by campaigners and local residents to try to stop the construction of the detention centre, but the plans went ahead regardless.
As soon as Brook House was opened, detainees in adjacent Tinsley House went on hunger strike over the new food system, as meals were now cooked in Brook's kitchens, then brought down the road to Tinsley. This meant that breakfast was reduced to two pieces of toast and one egg, which detainees were not happy with. They now also had to order their evening meals 48 hours in advance and the portion sizes became much smaller (see here).
Security measures
A number of visitors have separately told Corporate Watch that security measures at Brook House have increased significantly over the last couple of months. For instance, the windows in the reception area have now been covered; searches on entry are much more thorough than before; and visitors are no longer allowed to take toiletries and other items in with them as they used to be able to. The centre's management claims this has been prompted by alleged drugs smuggling; others said it might have been related to recent fights between inmates.
A new sign at the entrance to the reception area last week threatened visitors: "15 visitors have been banned from visiting; don't be the 16th." The number has now gone up to 28, in what appears to be, as one visitor put it, "a terror campaign against visitors."
Again, the centre's management claims that the repressive measures are due to "inappropriate behaviour" and cases of drugs smuggling. However, visitors have in the past been banned from detention centres for 'making a fuss' or protesting against arbitrary rules imposed by the management or security guards. Visitors from the SOAS Detainee Support Group were banned from visiting Yarl's Wood in July for being 'confrontational' after they complained about waiting for too long. Anti-deportation campaigners who took part in a blockade of Colnbrook detention centre, near Heathrow, in May were also banned from visiting adjacent Harmondsworth. For detainees who do not have any other connection with the outside world, this could have devastating consequences.
'No visits today'
To visit someone in Brook House is "becoming a nightmare," one visitor describes, “You need to make the booking at least five-six days in advance now." The reason for this, given by the centre's management, is that the waiting room is apparently too small and "cannot cope" with the number of visitors. For solicitors and relatives of detainees due for imminent deportation, this could mean they are never able to see their relative or client again. They are in effect denied a last meeting.
"You would have thought that the biggest detention centre in the UK would have a bigger visiting area," adds the visitor, who preferred to remain anonymous. "But there you go, cost-efficiency seems more important than making sure they provide enough space for visitors."
Other visitors, however, argue that the visiting room is rarely full and that this is "just an excuse for the management to limit visits as some sort of punishment." In one case, a man wanting to visit his brother, who had been taken to Brook House the previous day and was due to be deported the following day, was told that "the place was full" and that he "could not visit." Other people visiting that same day testified that the visiting room was not in fact full.
Shop inside
As noted above, Brook House visitors are now not allowed to take any toiletries or tobacco in for detainees as they used to until about a month ago. The management claims this is to prevent suspected smuggling of drugs into the centre and says the decision was taken by the UKBA and had nothing to do with them. However, some detainees said it is aimed at "forcing them to buy" these items from the centre's shop.
"So if you don't have money and don't have visitors who can give you cash," one detainee complained, "you are basically deprived of these essentials." Many visitor groups have rules against giving cash to detainees.
Unlike prison canteens, which are usually subcontracted to other companies, Brook House's shop is run by G4S itself, which claims that profits made through the shop are 'reinvested' in the centre. It is also no secret that, besides making profits, prison canteens are used by prison managements for punishment and disciplinary purposes (see this Corporate Watch article for more details).
Understaffed?
Corporate Watch has learnt that a number of formal complaints have been made by detainees and visitors to the UK Border Agency against Brook House's management. Most of them seem to centre around detainees' missing medical or court appointments due to alleged lack of escorts or transport. Both the management and the Home Office would not comment but, according to insiders, the Brook House management is blaming the Home Office and the Home Office is blaming G4S.
In one case, a detainee with serious medical problems missed two hospital appointments in a row due to "lack of staff," as he was told. Another detainee had his court hearing cancelled twice because there was "no transport available." Of course, there are more than enough escorts and transport available when it comes to deportations - on the first mass deportation flight to Baghdad, Iraq, on 15th October, there were at least 100 escorts and security guards to accompany 43 deportees. Brook House has a couple of its own vans for transporting detainees and G4S is the UKBA's main contractor for detainee escort services.
Interestingly, G4S, employer of around 40,000 people around the world, was earlier this month advertising in local papers for 'detainee custody officers' vacancies at Brook House. Call 0844 891 3333 to discuss the nature of the company's work.... Bear in mind, though, that some G4S security guards at Brook House are apparently working up to 15-hour shifts, from 6am to 9pm.
Since it opened earlier this year, the UK's newest and biggest immigration prison has barely had a day without trouble. However, Corporate Watch has learnt that things have become "much worse" lately, both for the detainees and for their visitors. Meanwhile, the G4S management is apparently recruiting new security guards as staff shortages have led many detainees to repeatedly miss doctors' and court appointments.
Troubled start
Brook House was opened in March 2009, located about half a mile from Gatwick's other detention centre, Tinsley House, on the south perimeter of the airport. With 426 bed spaces for single male detainees, it was the UK Border Agency's latest step in its plans to expand Britain's detention estate by 60 percent. The purpose-built, category B prison is run on behalf of UKBA by private security giant Group 4 Securicor (G4S), which recently acquired the original contractor Global Solutions Ltd (GSL) (see this Corporate Watch article for more details).
In September 2007, while Brook House was still under construction, the No Borders UK network organised a protest camp near Gatwick in protest against the new immigration prison. Various demonstrations took place during and around the camp, including a mass demonstration on 22nd September, which saw some 500 people marching from the town of Crawley to Tinsley House, near the building site of Brook House. A campaign was subsequently formed by campaigners and local residents to try to stop the construction of the detention centre, but the plans went ahead regardless.
As soon as Brook House was opened, detainees in adjacent Tinsley House went on hunger strike over the new food system, as meals were now cooked in Brook's kitchens, then brought down the road to Tinsley. This meant that breakfast was reduced to two pieces of toast and one egg, which detainees were not happy with. They now also had to order their evening meals 48 hours in advance and the portion sizes became much smaller (see here).
Security measures
A number of visitors have separately told Corporate Watch that security measures at Brook House have increased significantly over the last couple of months. For instance, the windows in the reception area have now been covered; searches on entry are much more thorough than before; and visitors are no longer allowed to take toiletries and other items in with them as they used to be able to. The centre's management claims this has been prompted by alleged drugs smuggling; others said it might have been related to recent fights between inmates.
A new sign at the entrance to the reception area last week threatened visitors: "15 visitors have been banned from visiting; don't be the 16th." The number has now gone up to 28, in what appears to be, as one visitor put it, "a terror campaign against visitors."
Again, the centre's management claims that the repressive measures are due to "inappropriate behaviour" and cases of drugs smuggling. However, visitors have in the past been banned from detention centres for 'making a fuss' or protesting against arbitrary rules imposed by the management or security guards. Visitors from the SOAS Detainee Support Group were banned from visiting Yarl's Wood in July for being 'confrontational' after they complained about waiting for too long. Anti-deportation campaigners who took part in a blockade of Colnbrook detention centre, near Heathrow, in May were also banned from visiting adjacent Harmondsworth. For detainees who do not have any other connection with the outside world, this could have devastating consequences.
'No visits today'
To visit someone in Brook House is "becoming a nightmare," one visitor describes, “You need to make the booking at least five-six days in advance now." The reason for this, given by the centre's management, is that the waiting room is apparently too small and "cannot cope" with the number of visitors. For solicitors and relatives of detainees due for imminent deportation, this could mean they are never able to see their relative or client again. They are in effect denied a last meeting.
"You would have thought that the biggest detention centre in the UK would have a bigger visiting area," adds the visitor, who preferred to remain anonymous. "But there you go, cost-efficiency seems more important than making sure they provide enough space for visitors."
Other visitors, however, argue that the visiting room is rarely full and that this is "just an excuse for the management to limit visits as some sort of punishment." In one case, a man wanting to visit his brother, who had been taken to Brook House the previous day and was due to be deported the following day, was told that "the place was full" and that he "could not visit." Other people visiting that same day testified that the visiting room was not in fact full.
Shop inside
As noted above, Brook House visitors are now not allowed to take any toiletries or tobacco in for detainees as they used to until about a month ago. The management claims this is to prevent suspected smuggling of drugs into the centre and says the decision was taken by the UKBA and had nothing to do with them. However, some detainees said it is aimed at "forcing them to buy" these items from the centre's shop.
"So if you don't have money and don't have visitors who can give you cash," one detainee complained, "you are basically deprived of these essentials." Many visitor groups have rules against giving cash to detainees.
Unlike prison canteens, which are usually subcontracted to other companies, Brook House's shop is run by G4S itself, which claims that profits made through the shop are 'reinvested' in the centre. It is also no secret that, besides making profits, prison canteens are used by prison managements for punishment and disciplinary purposes (see this Corporate Watch article for more details).
Understaffed?
Corporate Watch has learnt that a number of formal complaints have been made by detainees and visitors to the UK Border Agency against Brook House's management. Most of them seem to centre around detainees' missing medical or court appointments due to alleged lack of escorts or transport. Both the management and the Home Office would not comment but, according to insiders, the Brook House management is blaming the Home Office and the Home Office is blaming G4S.
In one case, a detainee with serious medical problems missed two hospital appointments in a row due to "lack of staff," as he was told. Another detainee had his court hearing cancelled twice because there was "no transport available." Of course, there are more than enough escorts and transport available when it comes to deportations - on the first mass deportation flight to Baghdad, Iraq, on 15th October, there were at least 100 escorts and security guards to accompany 43 deportees. Brook House has a couple of its own vans for transporting detainees and G4S is the UKBA's main contractor for detainee escort services.
Interestingly, G4S, employer of around 40,000 people around the world, was earlier this month advertising in local papers for 'detainee custody officers' vacancies at Brook House. Call 0844 891 3333 to discuss the nature of the company's work.... Bear in mind, though, that some G4S security guards at Brook House are apparently working up to 15-hour shifts, from 6am to 9pm.
Friday, 4 December 2009
This Septic Isle
A new poll has revealed just how ingrained anti-immigration sentiment is in the UK. In the latest Transatlantic Trends survey on immigration carried out by the German-Marshall Fund in 6 European countries, including the UK, plus USA and Canada, the Brits come out 'top of the racism pops' or, as the Guardian would have it, "more anti-immigrant and xenophobic than the rest of western Europe".
In he survey, 55% of UK citizens felt there were too many immigrants, the highest in the countries polled. 66% also felt that immigration was more of a problem than an opportunity, the highest of all countries (up from 61% in '08). 54% of Brits also agreed with the statement "immigrants take away jobs from native-born workers", and the UK was the only country where a majority thought this. 48% also agreed that immigrants bring down wages, one of only two countries (the other being Spain) where a majority held that view.
When asked to estimate the number of immigrants living in their country, British citizens estimated there to be 27%, while in reality it is 10% i.e. 2.7 times higher than the true picture. In fact all countries overestimated the numbers of migrants but only France, who estimated. 2.9 times and Italy (3.5) had higher percentage errors than the UK.
On the crime front, the UK was towards the bottom of spectrum when it came to adverse perceptions of the effects of immigration, with 36% feeling legal migration increased crime and 59% for illegal migration. In comparison, Italy and Spain were much more concerned about the effects of illegal migration on crime with Germany and the Netherlands most fearful of both.
Despite that fact that 71% said the government had dome a bad job managing migration (against 27% who had said that they had done a good/fair job), the highest in Europe (versus a 71% approval rating in Germany), 53% still wanted that government (or more likely one with more restrictive immigration policies) to retain control of immigration policy. Needless to say, the UK was the only European country polled that did not favour an EU formulated immigration policy (30% for as opposed to an European average of 56%).
This anti-European sentiment was further reinforced by the 47% that said that there are “too many” citizens of other EU countries living in the UK. And not being a Schengen member correlated with the fact that reinforcing border controls was seen to be the most effective means of combating illegal migration (44%, nearly 50% higher than in the USA and 76% higher than in the next highest EU country, the Netherlands).
Other stand-out statistics were:
One of the few bright lights in the survey was that most people support allowing individuals displaced by events linked to global climate change to settle in their countries. However, the country with the lowest level of support (57%) and the highest opposition (38%) is, yes you guessed it, Britain - though the majority still support such migration, so we have something to be grateful for.
So, apart from having such expected truisms 'as those who had suffered increased financial problems in the past year claiming that they were now more worried about immigration' (except in the USA for some reason) and that 'contact with immigrants is the most important predictor of opinions about integration' confirmed, we now also know that the 'Little Englander' stereotype is true. And that the country* that in the past has "welcomed Danes, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians, Franks, Jews, Lombards, Roma, Huguenots, Palatines, Africans, West Indians, Pakistanis, Indians, Chinese, Belgians, Poles and many others", to quote the Spectator, is even more racist than Italy!
* Or "This sceptical isle" as the Economist put it (more like septic isle if you ask us). Their take on some of the graphs is quiet amusing too...
In he survey, 55% of UK citizens felt there were too many immigrants, the highest in the countries polled. 66% also felt that immigration was more of a problem than an opportunity, the highest of all countries (up from 61% in '08). 54% of Brits also agreed with the statement "immigrants take away jobs from native-born workers", and the UK was the only country where a majority thought this. 48% also agreed that immigrants bring down wages, one of only two countries (the other being Spain) where a majority held that view.
When asked to estimate the number of immigrants living in their country, British citizens estimated there to be 27%, while in reality it is 10% i.e. 2.7 times higher than the true picture. In fact all countries overestimated the numbers of migrants but only France, who estimated. 2.9 times and Italy (3.5) had higher percentage errors than the UK.
On the crime front, the UK was towards the bottom of spectrum when it came to adverse perceptions of the effects of immigration, with 36% feeling legal migration increased crime and 59% for illegal migration. In comparison, Italy and Spain were much more concerned about the effects of illegal migration on crime with Germany and the Netherlands most fearful of both.
Despite that fact that 71% said the government had dome a bad job managing migration (against 27% who had said that they had done a good/fair job), the highest in Europe (versus a 71% approval rating in Germany), 53% still wanted that government (or more likely one with more restrictive immigration policies) to retain control of immigration policy. Needless to say, the UK was the only European country polled that did not favour an EU formulated immigration policy (30% for as opposed to an European average of 56%).
This anti-European sentiment was further reinforced by the 47% that said that there are “too many” citizens of other EU countries living in the UK. And not being a Schengen member correlated with the fact that reinforcing border controls was seen to be the most effective means of combating illegal migration (44%, nearly 50% higher than in the USA and 76% higher than in the next highest EU country, the Netherlands).
Other stand-out statistics were:
- 20% in the UK and 15% in Italy thought that immigration was the most important issue facing their country (versus 30% and 34% respectively who thought that the economy was more important);
- the Italians and British were most against giving 'illegal' migrants opportunities to normalise their status;
- apart from Spain and Italy, UK correspondents were most worried about illegal immigration (68%) but the most worried about legal migration (36%);
- along with the Netherlands, the UK was the least in favour of migrants being granted permanent leave to remain;
- the also UK had the lowest support rate (50%) and the highest opposition (47%) for the granting of social benefits to legal migrants, with 28% “strongly opposed” to the policy (Italy's figures were 87/11% pro/anti);
- but Britain had the lowest percentage (47%) of those who thought that “immigration negatively affects national culture” (whatever that is).
One of the few bright lights in the survey was that most people support allowing individuals displaced by events linked to global climate change to settle in their countries. However, the country with the lowest level of support (57%) and the highest opposition (38%) is, yes you guessed it, Britain - though the majority still support such migration, so we have something to be grateful for.
So, apart from having such expected truisms 'as those who had suffered increased financial problems in the past year claiming that they were now more worried about immigration' (except in the USA for some reason) and that 'contact with immigrants is the most important predictor of opinions about integration' confirmed, we now also know that the 'Little Englander' stereotype is true. And that the country* that in the past has "welcomed Danes, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians, Franks, Jews, Lombards, Roma, Huguenots, Palatines, Africans, West Indians, Pakistanis, Indians, Chinese, Belgians, Poles and many others", to quote the Spectator, is even more racist than Italy!
* Or "This sceptical isle" as the Economist put it (more like septic isle if you ask us). Their take on some of the graphs is quiet amusing too...
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Merak / Christmas Island Updates
It looks as if the Indonesian military are set on trying to intimidate the nearly 250 Tamil asylum seekers still in the 8th week of their stand off against the Indonesian authorities on board a rickety wooden vessel in the West Javan port of Merak. Having previously backed down from their threat to forcibly deport the Tamils back to Sri Lanka, the Navy have recently tried to board the vessel and are buzzing it with inflatables full of armed personnel.
Meanwhile there was a solidarity demonstration in Sydney on Sunday organised by the Refugee Acton Coalition, which denounced Prime Minister Rudd’s “Indonesian Solution” as “racist” and called for the closure of the Christmas Island offshore detention centre, which has only just come off of a week long lock-down following a large scale disturbance last month. Also in the Australian media recently has the news that the Australian government have been forced to erect tents on Christmas Island to cope with an anticipated overflow of asylum seekers in the coming months rather than the previously floated idea of transfers to the mainland.
Meanwhile there was a solidarity demonstration in Sydney on Sunday organised by the Refugee Acton Coalition, which denounced Prime Minister Rudd’s “Indonesian Solution” as “racist” and called for the closure of the Christmas Island offshore detention centre, which has only just come off of a week long lock-down following a large scale disturbance last month. Also in the Australian media recently has the news that the Australian government have been forced to erect tents on Christmas Island to cope with an anticipated overflow of asylum seekers in the coming months rather than the previously floated idea of transfers to the mainland.
Monday, 30 November 2009
United Colours Of Christmas
Wishing for a White Christmas has taken on a sinister new meaning in Coccaglio, Lombardy after the mayor Franco Claretti, a member of the anti-immigration Northern League, decided to "start to do some 'cleaning' despite Coccaglio being a country where immigration has never been a problem of security or public order".
The extensive house-to-house checks by immigration officials ostensibly to ensure migrants' papers 'are in order', with residents unable to produce residency papers or found to have overstayed their visas facing deportation, have bee going on since 25 October. They are due to finish on 25 December, hence the name.
The initiative has been hailed by fellow party member Interior Minister Roberto Maroni and Reform Minister Umberto Bossi, the head of the Northern League, claimed that "the municipality was just applying the law, even if there was no need to call the initiative 'White Christmas'. They could have called it 'Christmas Regularity Control'."
Other see it differently with one local politician claiming that the Northern League has shown ''racism worthy of the Ku Klux Klan'' and Saturday saw a 'United Colours Of Christmas' demonstration organised by more than 30 anti-racist and migrant support organisations and political parties against what some have called a pogrom.
So just as Joseph and Mary were supposed to have had to return to Bethlehem to take part in a census in the bleak mid winter, a census of a very different sort is happening in northern Italy and some will suffer an even bleaker mid winter. To quote Claretti, "Christmas isn't the celebration of hospitality but, rather, of Christian tradition and our identity."
The extensive house-to-house checks by immigration officials ostensibly to ensure migrants' papers 'are in order', with residents unable to produce residency papers or found to have overstayed their visas facing deportation, have bee going on since 25 October. They are due to finish on 25 December, hence the name.
The initiative has been hailed by fellow party member Interior Minister Roberto Maroni and Reform Minister Umberto Bossi, the head of the Northern League, claimed that "the municipality was just applying the law, even if there was no need to call the initiative 'White Christmas'. They could have called it 'Christmas Regularity Control'."
Other see it differently with one local politician claiming that the Northern League has shown ''racism worthy of the Ku Klux Klan'' and Saturday saw a 'United Colours Of Christmas' demonstration organised by more than 30 anti-racist and migrant support organisations and political parties against what some have called a pogrom.
So just as Joseph and Mary were supposed to have had to return to Bethlehem to take part in a census in the bleak mid winter, a census of a very different sort is happening in northern Italy and some will suffer an even bleaker mid winter. To quote Claretti, "Christmas isn't the celebration of hospitality but, rather, of Christian tradition and our identity."
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