ckaihatsu
10th March 2016, 19:36
Europe: Open the Borders Now, Unconditionally! -- By Dominique Ferré (from Tribune des Travailleurs / Workers Tribune, France)
[To subscribe / unsubscribe, contact [email protected]]
http://socialistorganizer.org/open-borders/
Concerning the 'Immigrant Crisis' in Europe:
'Open the Borders Now, Unconditionally!'
By Dominique Ferré
http://socialistorganizer.org/wp-content/uploads/03Brussels-web2-articleLarge.jpg
[Note: The following article is reprinted from Issue No. 29 (March 9, 2016) of Tribune des Travailleurs (Workers Tribune), the weekly newspaper of the Democratic Independent Workers Party / POID of France. The translation is by The Organizer newspaper.]
Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, addressing the immigrants, declared: "Do not come to Europe!" -- as if the hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children had thrown themselves willingly onto the road to exile!
Immediately after these words were spoken, the instructions of the president of the European Council were put into action: The Macedonian police fired tear gas canisters at close range as a way of welcoming the refugee families fleeing the wars and IMF plans that have ravaged their countries. This occurred on the Macedonian-Greek border, where these refugees, who had been driven from their homes by the wars in Syria and Afghanistan, had been warehoused. It was here that their shouts of "Open the Borders!" rang out.
"Welcome these Men, Women and Children Fleeing the Barbarism that YOU Have Created!"
Yes: "Open the borders! Welcome these men, women and children fleeing the barbarism that you have created!" Such should be the unanimous demand of the labor movement. It is an elementary democratic demand, consistent with the legacy of the French Revolution, which "declared war on the tyrants" and gave asylum to the victims of oppression. Because who, after all, is responsible for the wave of hundreds of thousands of refugees crossing the Aegean Sea at the peril of their lives, and traveling thousands of miles on foot, robbed of their meager possessions by the mafiosi "smugglers" of all sorts?
"War Is the Main Cause of this Exodus!"
"The war in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan; and the repression and the economic difficulties in the Middle East and Africa continue to force many people to try and reach Europe," wrote the editorialists of the International New York Times on March 1, 2016. "War," explained an activist of the Left Radical of Afghanistan in our previous issue [of Tribune des Travailleurs/Workers Tribune - Tr. Note], which was caused and sustained for decades in our country by the Great Powers, is the main reason for this mass exodus." In such circumstances, the least one would expect from these warmakers -- from those who have destroyed Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria and left them in ruins -- would be to welcome these refugees in a dignified manner, wouldn't it? But, no, it will be objected, "This is not realistic, . . . the flow of refugees will never end!"
For an Immediate End to All Imperialist Interventions!
To this objection, the labor movement should respond clearly and distinctly: "The immigrant crisis" is the result of the barbaric imperialist wars and interventions [see sidebar article]. It's a fact: The five-year tenure of [French President François Hollande] has witnessed a record number of foreign military interventions (Mali, Central African Republic, Iraq, Syria, and the continued occupation of Afghanistan). Putting an end to the hundreds of thousands of men and women fleeing war demands an immediate end to all imperialist interventions! All troops from the U.S., France, Britain and other countries should be withdrawn immediately from all the countries in which they are intervening! All intervention by the proxy forces of the Great Powers -- such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey -- must stop; these forces have provided weapons to the armed groups in Syria, leaving the country mired in bloodshed.
There Is "No Way" to Welcome All of Them"?
But how, we will be asked, would it be possible to accommodate all these people at a time when all the European countries are already experiencing a catastrophic social situation? After all, wasn't it then "Socialist" Prime Minister Michel Rocard who stated, "We cannot accommodate all the misery of the world"? And didn't the Greek government just announce its inability to provide the funding needed to provide shelter for the tens of thousands of immigrants?
But how can the Greek government provide funding for this effort -- or for anything else, for that matter -- when it accepts to implement all the dictates of the European Union and the IMF, thus condemning the Greek people to continue sinking into poverty? "There are no resources for the refugees," or so we are told. But the truth is that under the iron heel of the austerity plans of the European Union and the IMF there are no resources for anyone; there are no resources to address the needs of the workers and people of Greece, Italy, France, Poland, and beyond.
What is needed is to put an end to the "Memorandums", "Responsibility Pacts", and bailout gifts of billions and billions of euros to the capitalists and speculators; only then will there be funding for everyone! This should be the unanimous position of all workers' organizations throughout Europe!
Let Us Not Allow Them to Divide Us!
At the very moment when the Macedonian police were dispersing the refugees, the French police were using bulldozers to raze to the ground the so-called "Jungle" in Calais [1], the largest slum in Europe. (Of course, this will only lead to the creation of new slums.) In Calais, where decades of deindustrialization have thrown the working population into the ranks of the unemployed (18% officially), adventurers are seeking to promote racist campaigns.
"Divide and rule" has been the watchword of the masters ever since the Roman Empire. In the words of our comrades of the Democratic Independent Workers Party (POID) in Calais: "Let us not allow them to divide us! These are the same governments that here are organizing a social war against the Labour Code and that over there are crushing the people under their bombs!"
More than ever, it is time to raise high the banner of working class international solidarity against the capitalist system, which is the root cause of war and exploitation. More than ever, "Workers of the World, Unite!"
- - - - -
Endnote
[1] Calais is a major port in Northern France. It is the entry point to Britain by ferries and through the "Channel Tunnel".
* * * * * * * * *
http://socialistorganizer.org/wp-content/uploads/03Brussels-web-master675.jpg
Barbarism in the Heart of 'Civilized' Europe
Ten thousand children among the refugees are said to have "disappeared" since their arrival in Europe, according to figures provided by Europol at the end of January 2016. "Disappeared"? The term is somewhat hypocritical: They were kidnapped by networks of mafias that have made money hands over fists through trafficking of all sorts, prostitution, and other criminal activities -- all of which flourish under a decaying capitalist system.
When Eurostat "Discovers" that Asylum Seekers Come From Countries at War . . .
A study by the European statistics-gathering agency Eurostat published on March 4 indicates that in 2015, 1.2 million people applied for asylum in member countries of the European Union -- twice as many as in 2014. Where did these asylum seekers come from?
In 2015, 362,800 asylum seekers were from Syria (twice as many as in 2014), 178,200 were from Afghanistan (four times more than in 2014), and 121,500 came from Iraq (seven times more than in 2014). These are the countries which, one after the other, have been subjected to foreign military intervention under the leadership of the United States.
Iraq: First there was the war in 1991, which was followed by 10 years of a murderous UN embargo, then a second war in 2003, followed by more than 10 years of occupation, and then a third military operation in 2015.
Afghanistan: First there was the NATO military intervention 2001 -- and the occupation and war have not stopped ever since.
Syria: It has been ravaged for the past five years by a civil war fueled by the United States through its allies in the region: Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. In March 2015, the U.S. NGO Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) estimated that at least 1.3 million civilians have been killed since the beginning of the "War on Terrorism" launched by George W. Bush in 2001. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, a journalist with The Guardian of London, estimates, for his part, that the number of victims is closer to 4 million people.
Those responsible for the "drama of the immigrants" therefore have names: Bush, Obama, Sarkozy, Hollande, Cameron, Merkel, as well as their governments and the NATO leaders.
[To subscribe / unsubscribe, contact [email protected]]
http://socialistorganizer.org/open-borders/
Concerning the 'Immigrant Crisis' in Europe:
'Open the Borders Now, Unconditionally!'
By Dominique Ferré
http://socialistorganizer.org/wp-content/uploads/03Brussels-web2-articleLarge.jpg
[Note: The following article is reprinted from Issue No. 29 (March 9, 2016) of Tribune des Travailleurs (Workers Tribune), the weekly newspaper of the Democratic Independent Workers Party / POID of France. The translation is by The Organizer newspaper.]
Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, addressing the immigrants, declared: "Do not come to Europe!" -- as if the hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children had thrown themselves willingly onto the road to exile!
Immediately after these words were spoken, the instructions of the president of the European Council were put into action: The Macedonian police fired tear gas canisters at close range as a way of welcoming the refugee families fleeing the wars and IMF plans that have ravaged their countries. This occurred on the Macedonian-Greek border, where these refugees, who had been driven from their homes by the wars in Syria and Afghanistan, had been warehoused. It was here that their shouts of "Open the Borders!" rang out.
"Welcome these Men, Women and Children Fleeing the Barbarism that YOU Have Created!"
Yes: "Open the borders! Welcome these men, women and children fleeing the barbarism that you have created!" Such should be the unanimous demand of the labor movement. It is an elementary democratic demand, consistent with the legacy of the French Revolution, which "declared war on the tyrants" and gave asylum to the victims of oppression. Because who, after all, is responsible for the wave of hundreds of thousands of refugees crossing the Aegean Sea at the peril of their lives, and traveling thousands of miles on foot, robbed of their meager possessions by the mafiosi "smugglers" of all sorts?
"War Is the Main Cause of this Exodus!"
"The war in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan; and the repression and the economic difficulties in the Middle East and Africa continue to force many people to try and reach Europe," wrote the editorialists of the International New York Times on March 1, 2016. "War," explained an activist of the Left Radical of Afghanistan in our previous issue [of Tribune des Travailleurs/Workers Tribune - Tr. Note], which was caused and sustained for decades in our country by the Great Powers, is the main reason for this mass exodus." In such circumstances, the least one would expect from these warmakers -- from those who have destroyed Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria and left them in ruins -- would be to welcome these refugees in a dignified manner, wouldn't it? But, no, it will be objected, "This is not realistic, . . . the flow of refugees will never end!"
For an Immediate End to All Imperialist Interventions!
To this objection, the labor movement should respond clearly and distinctly: "The immigrant crisis" is the result of the barbaric imperialist wars and interventions [see sidebar article]. It's a fact: The five-year tenure of [French President François Hollande] has witnessed a record number of foreign military interventions (Mali, Central African Republic, Iraq, Syria, and the continued occupation of Afghanistan). Putting an end to the hundreds of thousands of men and women fleeing war demands an immediate end to all imperialist interventions! All troops from the U.S., France, Britain and other countries should be withdrawn immediately from all the countries in which they are intervening! All intervention by the proxy forces of the Great Powers -- such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey -- must stop; these forces have provided weapons to the armed groups in Syria, leaving the country mired in bloodshed.
There Is "No Way" to Welcome All of Them"?
But how, we will be asked, would it be possible to accommodate all these people at a time when all the European countries are already experiencing a catastrophic social situation? After all, wasn't it then "Socialist" Prime Minister Michel Rocard who stated, "We cannot accommodate all the misery of the world"? And didn't the Greek government just announce its inability to provide the funding needed to provide shelter for the tens of thousands of immigrants?
But how can the Greek government provide funding for this effort -- or for anything else, for that matter -- when it accepts to implement all the dictates of the European Union and the IMF, thus condemning the Greek people to continue sinking into poverty? "There are no resources for the refugees," or so we are told. But the truth is that under the iron heel of the austerity plans of the European Union and the IMF there are no resources for anyone; there are no resources to address the needs of the workers and people of Greece, Italy, France, Poland, and beyond.
What is needed is to put an end to the "Memorandums", "Responsibility Pacts", and bailout gifts of billions and billions of euros to the capitalists and speculators; only then will there be funding for everyone! This should be the unanimous position of all workers' organizations throughout Europe!
Let Us Not Allow Them to Divide Us!
At the very moment when the Macedonian police were dispersing the refugees, the French police were using bulldozers to raze to the ground the so-called "Jungle" in Calais [1], the largest slum in Europe. (Of course, this will only lead to the creation of new slums.) In Calais, where decades of deindustrialization have thrown the working population into the ranks of the unemployed (18% officially), adventurers are seeking to promote racist campaigns.
"Divide and rule" has been the watchword of the masters ever since the Roman Empire. In the words of our comrades of the Democratic Independent Workers Party (POID) in Calais: "Let us not allow them to divide us! These are the same governments that here are organizing a social war against the Labour Code and that over there are crushing the people under their bombs!"
More than ever, it is time to raise high the banner of working class international solidarity against the capitalist system, which is the root cause of war and exploitation. More than ever, "Workers of the World, Unite!"
- - - - -
Endnote
[1] Calais is a major port in Northern France. It is the entry point to Britain by ferries and through the "Channel Tunnel".
* * * * * * * * *
http://socialistorganizer.org/wp-content/uploads/03Brussels-web-master675.jpg
Barbarism in the Heart of 'Civilized' Europe
Ten thousand children among the refugees are said to have "disappeared" since their arrival in Europe, according to figures provided by Europol at the end of January 2016. "Disappeared"? The term is somewhat hypocritical: They were kidnapped by networks of mafias that have made money hands over fists through trafficking of all sorts, prostitution, and other criminal activities -- all of which flourish under a decaying capitalist system.
When Eurostat "Discovers" that Asylum Seekers Come From Countries at War . . .
A study by the European statistics-gathering agency Eurostat published on March 4 indicates that in 2015, 1.2 million people applied for asylum in member countries of the European Union -- twice as many as in 2014. Where did these asylum seekers come from?
In 2015, 362,800 asylum seekers were from Syria (twice as many as in 2014), 178,200 were from Afghanistan (four times more than in 2014), and 121,500 came from Iraq (seven times more than in 2014). These are the countries which, one after the other, have been subjected to foreign military intervention under the leadership of the United States.
Iraq: First there was the war in 1991, which was followed by 10 years of a murderous UN embargo, then a second war in 2003, followed by more than 10 years of occupation, and then a third military operation in 2015.
Afghanistan: First there was the NATO military intervention 2001 -- and the occupation and war have not stopped ever since.
Syria: It has been ravaged for the past five years by a civil war fueled by the United States through its allies in the region: Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. In March 2015, the U.S. NGO Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) estimated that at least 1.3 million civilians have been killed since the beginning of the "War on Terrorism" launched by George W. Bush in 2001. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, a journalist with The Guardian of London, estimates, for his part, that the number of victims is closer to 4 million people.
Those responsible for the "drama of the immigrants" therefore have names: Bush, Obama, Sarkozy, Hollande, Cameron, Merkel, as well as their governments and the NATO leaders.