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Socialist Party National Organiser Anthony Main is currently in Indonesia. On Friday he visited the 254 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees currently moored at the port in Merak. Below he reports on the discussions that took place during his visit and on the conditions faced on board the ship.

Socialist Party National Organiser and refugee activist Anthony Main recently visited the 254 Tamil refugees stranded on board the boat in Merak, Indonesia.
Anthony was invited to the boat by the refugees who have been frustrated that the media have been denied access to them for more than a week. He was accompanied by representatives from [...]

The United Socialist Party (USP), the Sri Lankan section of the Committee for a Workers’ International, held its eleventh national congress from 31 October to 1 November 2009 in Colombo.
By Siritunga Jayasuriya, United Socialist Party, Sri Lanka

Appeal from the Tamil refugees in Merak
The Socialist Party views with great alarm the developments of the last few days in relation to the Tamil-speaking refugees fighting for their rights while virtually imprisoned on their boat in the Indonesian port of Merak.

Socialist Party statement
In recent weeks we have seen an increase in the number of Sri Lankan Tamils seeking asylum in Australia. Most of these people have been travelling by boat via Indonesia and Malaysia. This has put the refugee issue back on the main stage for the first time since the 2004 Federal election.

The following is a joint statement made by a range of left groups from Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia. The Socialist Party will also be publishing our own material on this issue in the near future.

In recent weeks, a new wave of attacks, carried out by Taliban fighters, and a new ground offensive by the Pakistani government in the Waziristan region on the Afghan border, has deepened Pakistan’s devastating crisis.

Refugees call on Rudd to act
Kumar is one of the 255 Tamil refugees currently on the boat docked at Merak, Indonesia. Socialist Party officials spoke with him this morning and he communicated to us the following appeal.

Journalist held for two hours at border and banned from country
Laurence Coates, a Sweden-based journalist and socialist activist, was turned back at the Chinese border in Shenzhen and refused entry as a “potential threat to national security”.
From chinaworker.info

New government will push workers and young people to build struggle against capitalism
The edifice of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) rule has finally come tumbling down with the dramatic defeat it suffered in last week’s Lower House Elections.
By Carl Simmons, Kokusai Rentai (International Solidarity), CWI in Japan