Refugees must get equal treatment
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People's rights do not differ whether you are a resident,
immigrant or refugee. In fact they are all inter-linked. A
refugee without rights diminishes the rights of everyone else
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The struggles of workers in Ireland and abroad have always been
highlighted in An Phoblacht. Republicans have always linked the
struggle for economic justice to the ongoing struggle for
freedom, justice and peace.
The denial of people's rights in terms of pay and working
conditions, access to adequate healthcare, education services,
housing and most importantly to employment has been consistently
highlighted. The methods used by employers, governments and
international bodies to deny those rights have been exposed week
in week out in our paper's pages.
However, a new front in the struggle of workers and their
families has to be recognised alongside the many others reported
here. It is the denial of immigrants and refugees the right to
work in Ireland, in essence the right to equality of treatment.
Asylum Alliance
Last week while launching a new campaign for the rights of asylum
seekers to work in Ireland while their asylum claims are being
processed Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU)
General Secretary Mike Allen emphasised the importance of work in
contemporary society.
Allen said ``Work is absolutely pivotal to our sense of humanity.
It relates to our need to provide income for ourselves and our
families. It relates to our desire to contribute and participate
in our society. It relates to our need to meet and co-operate
with other human beings''.
The campaign to lobby for the right of asylum seekers in Ireland
to work was launched last week by over 100 groups representing
trade unions, the unemployed, civil rights groups, aid and relief
organisations and refugees under the auspices of the Asylum
Rights Alliance.
The missreporting and sensationalism of the refugee issue in
Irish media is rife. On the one hand it comes from the media
itself and some small reactionary groups. On a more sinister
level it comes from Leinster House politicians and government
ministers.
Generous Welfare Regime
In Ireland and particularly in Dublin a number of untruths about
the impact of refugees and immigrants on the economy and society
have been raised by these groups. We are told that immigrants
will commit more crimes. Immigrants will work in the poorest of
working conditions and drive down wages. Finally immigrants and
refugees are in fact transnational spongers coming to holiday in
Ireland at our expense.
Last week Justice minister John O'Donoghue claimed that many
refugees and immigrants were attracted to Ireland because of the
``generous'' welfare regime here. The 1.5 million people living in
the 26 Counties on subsistence welfare payments must have pinched
themselves.
The real truth is that the refugee issue has become entangled in
a wider problem where refugees arriving in the state are thrust
rapidly into communities where people's own economic situation is
precarious.
Pseudo Competition
Here access to education healthcare housing and employment is
wholly inadequate. Irish people are being denied their right to
work, to proper housing, health and education. What emerges then
is a pseudo competition for resources.
This perceived competition between differing groups for resources
is a sham. There would be a housing crisis with or without
immigrants. There is an unemployment problem with or without
refugees.
What has been overlooked is who is the cause of these problems
and how can we redistribute resources to ensure adequate living
standards for all. There is no refugee problem in Ireland. There
is a though a untrue perception of scarce resources. The real
issue is how we can redistribute the huge wealth that exists in
this state.
Double Standards
There are also huge double standards at play here which never
occur to government ministers when making pronouncements about
the refugee issue. One person could up to very recently buy the
right to be Irish for a small million punt donation. The message
being, this is an exclusive club that only some can join.
At the same time Irish recruitment companies are bringing workers
from Spain, Greece and Portugal into Ireland to work mainly in
the services and tourism sectors. It is acceptable for them to
use these workers in jobs with exploitative wages. No laws have
been broken yet the effect on working conditions and wages in the
Dublin will be disastrous.
The way out of this morass is simple. People's rights do not
differ whether you are a resident, immigrant or refugee. In fact
they are all inter-linked. A refugee without rights diminishes
the rights of everyone else. An exploited immigrant means that
other workers can and will be exploited.
The central tenet of republicanism from 1798 through to today is
a commitment to guarantee and promote freedom. A state that seeks
to deny one group the rights enjoyed by others or a state that
defines itself by its exclusivity is not a republic.
Broken promises to blame for rail strike
Inter city train services in the 26 Counties ground to a halt
last Sunday 12 July. The day of industrial action was organised
by the National Locomotive Drivers Committee (NDLC). Only four
out of an expected 155 drivers turned out for work.
The day of action was taken because of a refusal by Iarnród
Eireann management to meet with the drivers to discuss
productivity issues, wages, working conditions, the train line's
future viability and passenger safety. The drivers presented
management with an agenda on these issues in August 1997.
Since then Iarnród Eireann management have, according to the
drivers, broken five promises to meet them and discuss these
issues. Currently the drivers put in an average week of over 60
hours and can work up to 35 Sundays a year.
Rand wars
It doesn't pay to underestimate the power of financial markets
these days. With the emergence of free deregulated markets and
the ongoing globalisation of the financial sector the power of
international currency and stock markets to influence and decide
important political events is growing.
A pertinent example of this market power was shown last week in
South Africa. The value of the rand, the South African currency,
dropped to a record low after the announcement that ANC Labour
minister Tito Mboweni would be the next governor of the state's
South African Reserve Bank.
So why did the financial markets deliver such a harsh verdict of
the new central bank governor? The simple reason is a dislike of
Mboweni's economic ideology.
His crime against international capitalism was to produce new
labour laws deemed too favourable to trade unions and workers.
His employment laws included affirmative action programmes, job
protection schemes and employment quotas.
A Financial Times editorial proclaimed that the reaction of the
currency markets was hardly surprising considering that Mboweni
was a left wing politician. Better though a competent socialist
who believes in a political ideology than a yes man to the
diktats of financial markets.
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