Migration / racism

THE OPPRESSED CLASSES RISE UP AGAINST RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION

Date:
 
The murder of George Floyd in the United States by the police has unleashed a wave of popular outrage in that country and throughout the world. Massive demonstrations, direct action against the police and in response to repression have been common these past weeks. This murder, adding to thousands of others, revives the widespread protests of 2014 in the United States, following the many murders of black people, especially youth.

Wave of protests in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter 6th June

Date:

Today in Dublin, there were three solidarity protests with the Black Lives Matter movement in the United (Disunited) States.

Movement of Freedom - An overview of the current situation in Lesvos

Date:

Tensions have been growing amongst the migrant communities in Lesvos since the beginning of January when the new right-wing government (New Democracy) implemented more aggressive migration policies with a view to “decongest” the Aegean islands and to stem the flow of migration. Deputy minister Stelios Petsas announced that “the government, from the first moment, followed a different policy on the refugee-migration issue. With a comprehensive plan based on four axes: guarding the borders, speeding up asylum procedures, increased returns and closed pre-departure centers.” What this translates to is increased spending on border controls, a staggering backlog of asylum claims, fast-track border procedures that fail to protect people (including children) from deportation if they are rejected in the first instance, even if they appeal, along with large scale confinement and detention.

People protest against the Pre-Removal Detention Centre in Moria Camp after an Iranian migrant was found dead, hung in his cell.

People protest against the Pre-Removal Detention Centre in Moria Camp after an Iranian migrant was found dead, hung in his cell.

Cork shows fascism the door in Rally for Peace

Date:

Cork showed the far right the door on January 4th as about 300 anti-fascists turned up at city hall to face down a  far right rally of about that peaked at about 70.  The anti-fascist rally was called by Cork Rebels for Peace, "a broad spectrum of left political & community activists from across the city and county and we’ve called upon a celebration of diversity, inclusiveness and solidarity.  We have come together to show the far right that Cork city will not succumb to intolerance."

Dec 14th Rally for Peace - Dublin says No to Fascism & the politics of hate

Date:

A very successful anti-fascist Rally For Peace took place December 14th as 100s of anti-fascists occupied the planned site at the Dail of a far-right rally. Stewards did a great job of containing far-right provocations throughout the rally.  The 1st group of far right agitators that appeared were visibly bewildered to find the site of their rally occupied. This group included masked members of Generation Identity, the group linked to the New Zealand mass killer & two of whose Irish members were jailed recently. [see video]

MASI conference a celebration of the struggle for a humane asylum system.

Date:

MASI - the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland - held its first ever conference Saturday to mark FIVE years of struggle to end Direct Provision.

Hundreds of people attended the conference in Liberty Hall whose theme was 'Towards a More Humane Asylum Process'. People in the asylum system travelled from across Ireland to discuss the past and present of the asylum and deportation machine and to point the way forward to the end of Direct Provision and a more humane asylum system.

Protesting racism in Rooskey

Date:

Rooskey - when I heard the name, it triggered some flicker of recollection. A memory was stirred. As it turned out, it is not far from where my mother's family come from. I had a cousin who grew up in a nearby Longford village, I had actually cycled through this place. So it vaguely came back to me, and I remembered the bridge spanning the Shannon, as that great river flows onto Lough Ree and down towards Athlone. My mother's people grew up around that Lough. I’ve spent summers listening to the wind whistling through the telephone wires. Today I was on my way to an anti-racist protest.

The Presidential election in Ireland and the racist bump

Date:

Last weekend saw a presidential election in Ireland where the clear victor was a left wing poet (and career politican) called Michael D Higgins who got 56% of the vote.  However a no hope candidate who was, 1 of 3, yes 3 hosts of the TV show Dragons Den running for president managed to boost his vote from close to nothing (2%) to 23% through the simple trick of Trump like racist remarks directed at the Traveller Community, a very small ethnic group who until recently were nomads but were forced to all but bandon that life by the Irish state over the last couple of decades. 

In the aftermath of the result the media reached for the same sort of lazy analysis about 'econoic anxiety' and people 'left behind' that was seen in the US after Trump was elected.  In this video Andrew argues that the exit poll data tells a very difrerent story.

Ending Direct Provision: Migrant Voices speak out about the Asylum process in Ireland at #DABF 2018

Date:

People currently in Direct Provision talk about the dehumanising conditions and the large profits being made out of their suffering by the companies that own the direct provision centres. People don’t understand why we ended up in Direct Provision, we hope to bring our stories out of the shadows of Irish society. [audio]

How my politics is intersectional - audio from panel at 2018 #DABF

Date:

Panel from the 2018 Dublin Anarchist bookfair on the intersection between race politics, class and gender in Ireland with a particular focus on the current housing struggles and the Together for Yes referendum campaign / Repeal movement. [audio]

Syndicate content