Blame the system that creates war and refugees
SP Newsletter No.315
Five refugees died early last month as the Government ignored a distress signal from a boat inside Australia’s maritime search and rescue zone. The tragedy comes amid further fighting between the ALP and the Coalition over which party is harsher on refugees.
The five men set themselves adrift from the boat in inflatable tires three days after the initial distress signal. They were desperately attempting to find any passing vessels that could rescue them, because they had run out of food, fuel and water.
Their 59 other companions were rescued by a Russian merchant ship four days later. The five missing men are presumed to have drowned or been eaten by the many sharks in the area.
While the home affairs minister Brendan O’Connor shed crocodile tears, he essentially blamed the refugees for the loss of life. It took a total of nine days for the refugees to be rescued after the initial distress signal. Despite this O’Connor has refused to initiate an inquiry into why the rescue took so long.
While the Government has been attempting to argue that conditions in Sri Lanka are improving, this is far from the truth. The International Crisis Group released a report on May 17 that shows up to 80,000 civilians are still interned in military run prison camps.
Another report from the Edmund Rice Centre shows that some refugees deported back to Sri Lanka have been immediately taken into custody by the police. Others have been assaulted or charged with ‘terrorism’ offences. This is on top of the Sri Lankan regime’s history of enforced disappearances and executions.
It is clear that those people fleeing Sri Lanka are genuine refugees. The Australian Government’s refusal to process these people, and to send many of them back to Sri Lanka, is putting them at serious risk. Both of these measures are also direct contraventions of international law and the 1951 UN Refugee convention, of which Australia is a signatory.
Meanwhile federal Opposition leader Tony Abbott has announced if elected he will reintroduce the Howard era ‘Pacific Solution’ where refugees are detained and processed in offshore countries. This is also illegal and is a measure designed to circumvent certain processes and deny refugees many of their legal rights.
Abbott’s announcement has caused some community outrage. Even some members of the Liberal Party have said that these measures are too harsh. The reality is though that the ALP’s so called ‘Indonesian Solution’ operates in nearly the exact same way as Abbott’s policy.
The ALP and the Coalition both want to process refugees outside of Australia’s migration zone because it means that refugees can’t apply for protection without the Immigration Minister’s permission. It also means that refugees have no right to appeal their detention or denial of a protection visa to the Australian courts.
Both the ALP and the Coalition are punishing refugees for fleeing war and persecution. On top of this, the current government is contributing to the so-called ‘push factors’. The Australian government still supports the US-led war in Afghanistan and has also been a supporter and financier of the Sri Lankan government and their war on the Tamil people.
Ordinary working class Australians need to oppose the inhumane treatment of refugees who are fleeing war and persecution. Rudd and Abbott are attempting to distract people from the real issues, like budget cuts, by whipping up racism. Rather than blaming the victims we should be blaming the system that creates refugees and attacks all of our living standards.
World Refugee Day
Rally in Brisbane: Sunday June 20 @ 1pm. Meet at Brisbane Square.
Rally in Melbourne: Sunday June 20 @ 12noon. Meet at the State Library.
Rally in Sydney: Saturday June 26 @ 1pm Meet at Sydney Town Hall.
SP Public Meeting in Melbourne – Refugees: Are they a threat to our living standards?
7pm Wednesday June 23 @ Trades Hall, corner of Lygon & Victoria Streets Carlton South. For more information phone 96399111.
Other upcoming SP meetings
The Melbourne Branch of the Socialist Party meets every Wednesday 7pm at Trades Hall on the corner of Lygon & Victoria Streets Carlton South. Upcoming meetings include:
23/6 – Refugees: Are they a threat to our standard of living?
30/6 – Who was Rosa Luxemburg?
7/7 – The NT Intervention 3 years on
14/7 – Colombia: The political situation today
For more information or for details of meetings in other parts of Australia contact our National Office on 03 9639 9111.
News links:
US: For Public Ownership of BP and Big Oil
http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/4347
Kyrgyzstan: Ethnic conflict explodes
http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/4350
Greece: A test bed for ‘austerity’ and resistance
http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/4349
Join the Socialist Party
If you agree with what you have read in our newsletter or on our website you should consider joining SP. The Socialist Party has branches in Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle and Perth as well as members and supporters in all other states.
We are involved in trade union work and student work. We also run community, anti-war and environmental campaigns. But most of all we want to build a party that will fight to get rid of the capitalist system, the system that is at the root of all of these problems. We fight for socialism - a system that will bring an end to wars, poverty and environmental destruction. To join SP contact our National Office on 03 9639 9111 and we will send you a membership application form.
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Socialist Party contact details
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Sydney: Phone Gary on 0297287727.
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Perth: Phone John on 0894020728.
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The Socialist Party is the Australian section of the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI). The CWI is organised in over 40 countries across the world.
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