Seeking Asylum – Fleeing Imperialism No to Deportations! Defend Asylum Seekers! Racism and Imperialism Racism in Britain today is directly and inextricably linked to the imperialist carnage and exploitation being perpetrated by British troops and companies around the world. There is no clearer expression of this racism than through Britain’s immigration laws. Britain is a wealthy country. It is spending £26 million a week on the war in Iraq. British companies dominate and impoverish numerous underdeveloped countries making super profits from plundering African oil and minerals, Asian textiles and the brutal exploitation of the masses of workers all over the world. Britain – a history of migration The history of Britain is a continual process of people moving into and out of this country. Britain is a place – not a race. Over the centuries Anglo Saxons conquered the land, the Roman army marched in, and Vikings, Normans, Irish, African, Jewish, Italian, Indian, Chinese and other peoples have added their cultures and inheritance to the Britain of today. At the same time, since the 17th century 17 million people have left Britain to settle elsewhere in the world. Wanted – labour power Peoples and communities have always travelled and settled: from countryside to town or within empires to escape from poverty and flee persecution. At times new labourers are needed to add to the workforce, often in low-paid, unskilled jobs, like the Caribbean and South Asian immigrants of the 1950s and 1960s. Such workers have long provided the backbone of the NHS, for example, where 50% of nurses are now from abroad. Today the British capitalist class has increased the available workforce once again by extending the European Union and hiring cheap labour from Poland and other east European countries. Over 300,000 migrants from Eastern Europe have entered Britain to work at the minimum wage, often in temporary jobs with no holiday or sick pay. Not wanted – victims of persecution At the same time as this extension of the European work force into Britain, the British state is tightening controls on immigration from other countries. Since 1971 a series of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Acts have been brought in with the purpose of refusing entry to and deporting asylum seekers, and more laws are constantly in the pipeline. Since Labour came to power in 1997 it has gone further than any government before, introducing systems that disperse, impoverish and criminalise migrants. The refugees under imperialist attack come from places like Iraq and Afghanistan where the British army is at war or the Democratic Republic of the Congo where British multinationals are violently robbing the country of its gold, coltan, oil and other natural resources. Racism – divide and rule The full fury of racist lies is directed against the victims of British imperialism who seek asylum in this country. A web of laws to limit entry to Britain is criminalising refugees from war, poverty and devastation inflicted by the oppression of British capitalism and militarism. Asylum seekers are not allowed to work. Employers who take on workers without permits are fined; teachers and health workers are being encouraged to spy and report on pupils and patients.  Dawn raids, detentions and deportations are tearing families apart. And the full brutality of the British state is unleashed in a torrent of racist abuse against those who suffer the cost of imperialist domination, starvation, unemployment, war crimes and brutal exploitation. Join the fight back Asylum seekers in Britain are organising in defence of their right to remain here and the seeds of a self-defence movement have been sown. Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! supports this fightback. In Newcastle our supporters in Tyneside Community Action for Refugees have helped launch a Pledge of Resistance. In Manchester and London we organise regular demonstrations outside the Immigration Reporting Centres, where asylum seekers have to report monthly, weekly or more frequently, and from where they can suddenly be arrested and taken to detention. Join us! Organise the fightback - Notes from NWASDG talk 18 August 2007 Britain’s most vulnerable and marginalised community are asylum seekers and refugees. Since coming to power in 1997, Labour has introduced five major pieces of legislation on asylum and immigration, creating new ‘offences’ that apply exclusively to immigrants and asylum seekers. Restricted legal advice, poor decisions, a fictional appeals system and the withholding of medical treatment, accommodation and state support have meant that asylum is practically illusory in Britain. Since August 2005 people recognised as refugees are only given permission to stay in Britain for five years, making it much harder to rebuild lives and put down new roots. The UK is home to less than 3% of the world’s refugees. In 2005, asylum seekers represented just 0.025% of the total migrants to Britain. Asylum seekers are not allowed to work unless they have waited over 12 months for an initial decision on their case. They are forced to rely on state support, which is at 30% below income support. Asylum seekers do not come to Britain to claim benefits. In fact, most know very little about the asylum or benefits systems before they arrive. Asylum seekers do not jump the queue for council housing, they cannot choose where they live. Always housed in ‘hard to let’ properties, which other people do not want to live in. i.e. run-down areas. The government deliberately sends them to deprived areas where there is hostility to foreigners. Asylum seekers do not get special perks such as mobile phones and help to buy TVs and cars. They are also denied access to many of the benefits others rely upon, such as disability living allowance. Most are living in poverty and experience poor health and hunger, destitution and homelessness Far from swamping Britain, most refugees go to poor countries Conflict in Sudan has forced up to seven million people from their homes, yet only 675 Sudanese people applied for asylum in Britain in 2006. From Darfur in Sudan, some 200,000 refugees have gone to Chad. Yet in March 2007, between 60 and 80 Darfuri refugees were imprisoned in gaols or 'detention centres' across Britain in an attempt to deport them. Refugees from DRCongo went to Zambia, Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda, Congo (Brazzaville) and other neighbouring countries. Refugees from Iraq went to Syria (1 million) and Iran (1 million) Refugees from Afghanistan: there are 1.5 million of them in Iran, and more than 2 million in Pakistan. Asylum applications in Britain in 2006, were only 23,520. Most (14,600) were from Africa and the Middle East. Most (80%) were refused asylum. Britain is the fifth richest country in the world. Yet 400 people are deported every week; about 1,200 a month. Every year about 28,000 people are locked up in prisons for immigrants called ‘detention centres’. However…Resistance is building in these detention centres: In September 2003, Yarl's Wood was burnt down bythe detainees who were callously left locked in to the burning building all night long. Harmondsworth had to close down in 2004, when a riot erupted following the suicide of detainee Sergey Baranyuck from Ukraine. In June 2005, Zimbabwean refugees locked up in Campsfield, Harmondsworth and Yarl’s Wood IRCs went on hunger strike. Two of them for over 40 days. One later died. 30 Ugandan women went on hunger strike in Yarl's Wood in July 2005. In 2006 things intensified There was mass hunger strike in Harmondsworth in Janury 2006, following the suicide of Beretek Yohannes from Eritrea. in Campsfield in March 2006 detainees damaged the centre. seven officers had to be hospitalised. hundreds of detainees in Campsfield, Haslar, Colnbrook went on hunger strike in April 2006 in November 2006, a major uprising caused the almost total closure of Harmondsworth IRC. Over 70 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees went on hunger strike at seven detention prisons in July 2007 And on 31 July 2007, over 160 detainees in Campsfield immigration prison in Oxfordshire held a yard demonstration in protest at the appalling conditions inside the detention centre. This was followed by a hunger strike, and on 4 August a revolt broke out, leading to 26 prisoners escaping. 12 were recaptured almost immediately, and three were recaptured by Wednesday 8 August. The rest of the braves, 11 of them, are still on the run. We need to organised regular protests and fightback. We should campaign against all deportations, all immigrations controls, and in defence of all immigrants and all victims of racism. We should work together, because together we are stronger. A Statement on our anti - racism work Seeking Asylum – Fleeing Imperialism No to Deportations! Defend Asylum Seekers! Britain is a wealthy country. It is spending £26 million a week on the war in Iraq. British companies dominate and impoverish numerous underdeveloped countries making super profits from plundering African oil, Asian textiles and the brutal exploitation of the masses of workers all over the world. People have always travelled to escape poverty and flee persecution. At times capitalism welcomes this, because it needs new labourers, often in low-paid, unskilled jobs, like the Caribbean and South Asian immigrants of the 195os and 1960s or the 300,000+ migrants from Eastern Europe who have entered Britain in the recent period.  But while welcoming in cheap labour, the British state is simultaneously tightening controls on immigration from other countries and is deporting asylum seekers from countries suffering from imperialist attack like refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan where the British army is at war or DRCongo where British multi-nationals are violently robbing the country of its natural resources. Asylum seekers in Britain are organising in defence of their right to remain here and the seeds of a self-defence movement have been sown. Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! supports this fightback. In Newcastle our supporters in Tyneside Community Action for Refugees have helped launch a Pledge of Resistance.  In Manchester and London we organise regular demonstrations outside the Immigration Reporting Centres, where asylum seekers have to report monthly, weekly or more frequently, and from where they can suddenly be arrested and taken to detention. The Truth about Asylum Seekers This text can also be found in the North West Asylum Seekers Defence Group (NWASDAG), 'wiki' site, here. The racist Labour government and their rich friends in the media do all they can to convince the British working class that asylum seekers are their enemy. To understand why, it is important to know the reality… FACT Asylum seekers are not ‘swamping’ the UK. British people are led to believe that Britain takes in a high percentage of the world’s refugees when in reality the actual figure is less than 2%. FACT Asylum seekers come from countries oppressed and plundered by Britain. In its relentless drive for profit, British imperialism has waged wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere as well as backing military dictatorships in countries such as Pakistan and Nigeria. As a result of the actions of British multinationals and imperialist war, people have been forced to flee their countries and claim asylum in Britain. These people are then criminalised, labelled as terrorists and scroungers and most are forced to return to the war zones from which they had escaped. For example, many people have been deported to Iraq and Nigeria despite the brutality of these British-backed regimes. FACT Asylum seekers in this country are forced to live in poverty. Asylum seekers are only entitled to claim £35 per week which is over 30% below the poverty line. There are no other benefits available and the majority are not allowed to work. This is despite the fact that education and healthcare services are crying out for staff. This work ban forces asylum seekers into below minimum wage cash-in-hand jobs which offer no rights or decent working conditions. FACT The Labour government is responsible for the shortage of housing, not asylum seekers. Privatisation is the main cause of the housing problem. Over a third of council housing has been privatised and made unaffordable. In 2000-01, 53,000 council houses were sold and only 18,000 were built. Immigrant communities are forced into the worst housing and are under the constant threat of eviction. If every asylum seeker left the country there would still be a housing crisis. FACT Asylum seekers are not the cause of the NHS crisis - capitalism is. The British public are led to believe that asylum seekers are a drain on NHS resources. Many are actually refused local healthcare and are made to visit hospital if they are in need of medical attention. The crisis of the NHS is largely down to a lack of funds. In 2003 only 6.6% of Britain’s wealth was spent on healthcare; this is even below the small EU average of 7.9%. Racist Labour attacks and divides Since 1997, Labour has created different types of prisons for immigrants (‘reception’ and ‘removal’ centres); it's attempts to create 'accommodation' centres only failed after sustained reactionary, local resistance from people who didn't want asylum seekers 'in our backyard'. Labour have also passed five major laws applying exclusively to immigrants, and invented a range of schemes to isolate and starve asylum seekers. The Refugee Council reported in April 2004, about 14,000 destitute asylum seekers as a direct result of Labour’s immigration policy. By January 2006, the Red Cross reported 33,600 destitute including pregnant women. Now Labour has not only abolished ‘indefinite leave to remain’ but also began removing newborn babies from their mothers into care as a result of Section 9 of its Immigration and Asylum Act 2004. They only stopped enforcing this atrocious law after massive opposition and protests, but it remains on the statute books... Labour and all the other capitalist parties use the media to inflame racism and xenophobia, and consolidate institutional racism throughout society. Examples are the lack of action over the Yarl’s Wood (Daily Mirror, 8 Dec 2003) and BBC (Asylum Undercover and Secret Policeman) ‘revelations’. The abuse, torture and mistreatment of asylum seekers cannot be separated from Britain’s position as an imperialist country - a parasite that lives off the oppressed peoples of the world - right now it is fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan to defend that position, while deporting Iraqi refugees! Its' multinationals exploit the people and the resources of the oppressed world to make the British rich richer. In countries like Nigeria and Colombia British-backed paramilitaries maintain the rule of the wealthy and stomp on the rights of the poor. DEFEND ALL ASYLUM SEEKERS! NO TO ALL IMMIGRATION CONTROLS! ORGANISE THE FIGHTBACK!