Workers Solidarity Movement

BORD FAILTE, the Irish tourist board, sells an image of Ireland as being a very friendly place to visit, a place where you are guaranteed a huge "Cead Mile Failte" (a hundred thousand welcomes). Tell that to the group of nine Polish tourists whose friendly welcome in mid-June consisted of spending a night in Mountjoy prison before being dispatched back to Poland unceremoniously because "they didn't have enough money". Or to the Japanese academic who wanted to come to Ireland for the Bloomsday celebrations, also in mid-June, but was refused permission to land in the State.

BELMONDO WANTETE, an electrical engineer from the Congo, has lived in Ireland with his wife and young children for the last four years, and is a legal resident. He had to flee from his own country because of political persecution. Ireland was supposed to be a safe refuge.Last year, on May 1st, gardaí raided his home at 3am. They had a warrant ...but with someone else's name on it. They shouted threats and racist abuse, and pushed a gun through his letter box. Then they broke in and beat Mr Wantete. His children were dragged from their beds

THE GOVERNMENT'S PRO-DEPORTATION policy has been severely dented. Members of the Anti-Racism Campaign, in the immediate pre-Christmas period, halted at least four potential deportations.

Since the April 25th day of action against racism and deportations, the Anti-Racism Campaign has been campaigning to win for asylum seekers the legal right to work. At present, refugees seeking asylum are prohibited from working or taking up full-time education.

This July on a talk show on FM104 in Dublin, one refugee joked; "I had one yellow card, I have just been given another and we all know what this means in football" . Few of the hand picked audience of taxi drivers, private security guards and the likes were laughing, very few "got" the joke. The card referred to is the ID card now issued to all asylum-seekers. These are now automatically renewed through the post (you may remember last February refugees were made to queue in the rain outside the Department of Justice - presumably the government didn't want to repeat such a spectacle which could have damaged "our" summer tourist industry).

The fight against racism has many fronts. Trade Unionists form a very important section of the fighting force - especially those in the public sector who are in daily contact with refugees and asylum-seekers.

Activists in the Irish National Teachers Organisation have taken a number of important initiatives in recent months.

Saturday April 25th saw over 1,000 people marching through Dublin, 400 in Cork and 150 in Limerick to protest against racism and deportations. There were also activities in Galway and Roscrea, and cross-border trains were leafleted in Belfast. This was combined with demonstrations at about 10 Irish embassies and consulates throughout Europe and the USA.

In December Minister for Justice, John O'Donoghue, announced a "fast-track" procedure for dealing with the backlog in applications for asylum in Ireland. This announcement came hot on the heels of a Supreme Court judgement which ruled that a Russian woman, Olga Anisimova, should be deported to Britain, because she had passed through that country on her way here.

Over the past few months, members of the Anti-Racism Campaign (ARC) have been involved in a number of public activities aimed at highlighting and promoting the anti-racist message.

Over the past year, there has been a series of physical attacks on Travellers in different parts of the country. Travellers were attacked in Glenamaddy in New Ross, Wicklow and Bantry.

In Bantry, a group of hired vigilantes wearing balaclavas broke into the caravan of an elderly Traveller couple. They hit the woman in the face with a pick axe handle, breaking her nose and giving her dozens of stitches.