Written by LIT-CI
Monday September 20 2010 16:48
In the days of their economic boom, imperialist economies needed plentiful cheap labour. This fact, together with the super exploitation of countries known as of the Third World, drove and keeps on driving, millions of workers to leave their countries of origin even at risk of losing their lives in the process.
During the last months we witnessed the economic crisis, the end of which has been officially declared, returned to put a brake on the budding economic growth and threatens with a new recession in the forthcoming months. Immigrants, working women and youth are among the first ones to suffer the consequences of the economic crisis.
Eastern European Gypsies driven out of France
Evictions have already been going on in France even before these last years. Actually, the French government stated that during the latest expulsions, the number of evicted immigrants belonging to this ethnic group was already near to a thousand in this 2010. However, this is but a small part of the evictions that the Sarkozy administration has carried out. So far, allegedly the evictions of Gypsies have been “voluntary withdrawals” and since they are citizens of the European Union, these immigrants they can return to France and that is what the French government wants to prevent from happening. Sarkozy helps himself to the argument of cultural differences, of ways of living, of the Romany population (as the Gypsies are called in France) as an argument to vindicate the need of driving away those who have no constant means of subsistence, of work. And yet, this population is up against still another problem when they want to find a job and settle down. French authorities maintain an extension until 2012 for citizen of Rumania and Bulgaria, countries which joined the European Union in 2007, to obtain the right of free circulation the same as all the other citizen of the EU. Bulgarians and Rumanians must obtain a working contract of at least three months if they wish to remain in France. Furthermore, they pretend to prolong till 2014. Remember that Rumania is one of the poorest countries in Europe where the International Monetary Fund and the European Union demand a 25% reduction of wages of civil servants and massive layoffs.
Together with Sarkozy’s massive layoffs, like the ones that Berlusconi carried out last year, there is the urgent request of reformation for the immigration bill exposed in the address to the police last 30 July in Grenoble, to facilitate the eviction of immigrants. The intention is to add aggressive begging, lack of means for living and being a menace to public order. They want to make these measures applicable to citizens of European Union. It has also been posed that French citizenship would be taken away from those immigrants who obtained it and then attempted against the life of a civil servant, especially police or gendarmes. The far-reaching objective is to attack not only the Gypsies but also and essentially against all the immigrants and their descendants, who had already obtained French nationality and are the sectors most affected by the economic crisis.
European Union marked the difference with the Guidelines of Shame
European Parliament demanded that France should stop the massive evictions that were contrary to the laws of the EU, which permit free transit of European citizens. This is just another piece of hypocrisy of EU since its president, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso had already determined that freedom of transit is not absolute in EU and that saying the contrary would spawn many Le Pens (French ultra-right leader). That means: to prevent the ultra right from taking over, let us do what the ultra right would do.
Sarkozy follows the line of Berlusconi and is a consequence of the toughening of the laws against immigrants stemming out of the European Union for even if the gentlemen of the European Parliament (even if only just a little more than half, for the others voted against exposing France) may be shocked at the expulsion of the Gypsies, the truth is that the so-called guideline of shame was passed in July 2008 by precisely that same Parliament. Remember that this guideline allows the detention of “illegal” immigrants for up to 18 months and demands all the member-countries legislation adequate to the needs of this guideline within two years as well as the eviction of all irregular immigrants within 5 years. What the case of France proves is that in European Union the attacked on immigrants are no longer limited to extra-community people, but begin to affect all the immigrant workers no matter where they come from.
Islamophobia
In November 2009, one of the oldest European democracies, the “neutral” Switzerland held a referendum, which passed a sentence against the constructions of new minarets (towers from which Moslems are summoned to pray). Ultra-right convinced the Swiss, for 22% of the population has no right to vote because they are immigrants, to vote against the religious rights of the immigrants, mainly of the Kosovars and Turks who profess Islamism. This is the religion of 4.5% of Swiss population.
Such an attack on the rights of Moslem population is to be found in several European countries where different laws surface, which use the alibi of “protecting” the rights of Moslem women or for security reasons, to prohibit the nihab and the burka of the clothing that some Moslem women use and even prohibit the use of the veil, which only covers the hair, when at school. In the USA, and Evangelist pastor threatened to burn publicly copies of the Koran (sacred book of the Moslem) during the anniversary of the 11S against the Twin Towers in New York. Finally, others did so.
In Germany, Thilo Sarrazin, a member of the Executive Council of the Bundesbank (German Central Bank) published a book in which he exposed that German society was becoming less intelligent due to the increase in numbers of Moslem children. He finally resigned his post but his racist book is still one of the best-sellers and a few days later German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, rewarded the Danish caricaturist who, in 2005, drew Mahomet with a bomb in his turban as a defender of the freedom of expression. This drawing had triggered off a wave of ire among the Moslem.
Geert Wilders, ultra-right leader in the Dutch Parliament regards Islam as retrograde and wants to prevent Moslems from coming to the country and is about to prohibit the veil and the mosques in his country. Last 11 September he was the star of demonstrations against Islam in the American Tea Party of New York.
The above are just a few examples of the spreading of Islam phobia, that is to say, satanisation of Moslem religion. It started spreading as an outcome of the imperialist invasion commanded by the USA on to Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003. Ever since then, it has been used to justify imperialist aggression and to attack a sector of immigrant workers. That is why Islam-phobia is actually just another form of xenophobia or hatred of foreigners which, from being just a demand of the ultra right sectors has now grown to positions of increasing weight in parliaments and “democratic” institutions. That is why it is part of the offensive against immigrants, in quest of scapegoats and dividing workers to increase the rate of exploitation that ruling classes need to get out of the crisis.
The massacre of immigrants in Mexico stem out of the USA
It is certainly correct to expose the Mexican government for not preventing slaughters like the one that took place in Tamaulipas on 23 August. But we cannot leave it at that. We must see who this butchery took place to begin with, why immigrants are kidnapped or blackmailed by criminal organisations or even by the Mexican police and many women immigrants are also raped by their captors. It has been estimated that in Mexico at least 10 000 immigrants are captured by these bands every year. First of all, t he cause is to be found in the migratory laws in Mexico, some of the toughest in the world. It is there that migration is already codified as an offence. On the other side, the borderline with the USA is militarised and in Arizona, apart from wanting to apply the law that also criminalises the immigrant, they have all these sheriffs like Joe Arpaio who are literally busy hunting down and harassing the Latin population. The leading imperialist country wants to control the flow of immigrants. Now, with the economic crisis, American bourgeoisie wants to get rid of some of the immigrants, close the frontiers and, above all, leave all those who will stay even more helpless so that they would accept worse salaries and exhausting working conditions. Actually, the “illegal” immigrant workers are the cheap labour in the country, mainly as farm hands and with the crisis, their already meagre wages have been reduced even more. In his electoral campaign, Obama promised a migration law which would provide some kind of solution that would allow some of the 12 million paperless could legalise their situation. The crisis came and brought 10% unemployment and laws like that of Arizona, supported by 60% of Americans and the new law (actually it is just a patch and objectively it was meant to seek further control over immigrants) never came.
Obama had to put a brake on the Arizona law for the time being because it jeopardises the possibility of further exploitation of immigrants and penalises the entrepreneurs willing to employ them, but he sent another 1200 National Guards to the frontier to try and stop the most reactionary sectors. This militarization of the frontier started with Bush, and Obama agreed to it and even went further along the same path. In the meantime, Florida and other 19 states announce laws like that of Arizona against immigrant workers.
Criminalising immigration in order to divide workers
Bourgeoisie found these attacks on immigrants useful to divide workers and turn ones against the others. Immigrants become scapegoats for the economic problems of the country. With the world economic crisis, the attacks on the immigrants accrued enormously. If there is unemployment, the immigrants go; if health and education are getting worse, immigrants are to blame: this is the discourse of the ultra-right but one way or another, it has now been taken up by all the bourgeois governments. Berlusconi did it directly by linking delinquency with immigration (“a reduction of the extra-communitarians would mean fewer hands to increase the rank and file of the criminals” ABC 27 January 2009) criminalizing paperlessness as offence. And it is shameless when governments such as the Zapatero administration talk about how important the immigrants are for Spanish economy and yet they put a limit quotas for immigrants’ children to be enrolled at schools, they restrict the use of health service for not regularized immigrants, they pass laws that allow authorities to keep immigrants under arrest for up to 60 days before eviction for the simple fact of being “paperless”, or – with the approval from trade union bureaucracies or even at their request - imposing moratoriums to the regularization of Bulgarian and Rumanian migrants already members of the European Union.
Once again, this new escalade against immigrants has direct relation with the economic crisis and also with something new: workers’ response to this attack by employers and governments is becoming noticeable. It is not that the bourgeoisie shows no interest in the growth of the numbers of unemployed, the industrial reserve army that Marx spoke about, but their excessive growth will give room to bouts of rebellion. So, in France Sarkozy has resorted to Gypsies as his old reliable to try and win over the support from a sector of xenophobic middle class and so divide workers who are responding to the restriction imposed by the governments with demonstrations and strikes. These last evictions are taking place at a time that a general strike has been summoned in France.
A joint response of the working class against the crisis and against racism needed
The good news, however is that the French president’s speeches and actions against immigrants in general and Rumanians and Bulgarians have not been enough to impede the nearly 100 000 French people (77 000, according to the police) to demonstrate on 4th September against the evictions and three days later the long-announced strike against the moving of the retirement age from 60 to 62 years with a larger adherence than the previous one on 24 June and the trade union have already announced it continuity for 24th September. We can also add the protests that took place in front of the embassies of several European countries (Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Serbia and United Kingdom). In Italy, after the racist clashes boosted by Mafioso sectors in Rosarno against African immigrants, demonstrations were held in defense of the immigrants.
We must also highlight the demonstrations of the Latinos in Arizona as well as in other parts of the USA against the famous law against immigrants. Protests against this law – and the other ones that are being prepared in other states are making indignation swell all over Latin America. Formal protests of Central American and Mexican governments against this law do not go beyond an expression of encouragement to Obama to boost his own law of immigrants, while they accept the “cooperation” of the USA to control the flow of immigrants. Trade Unions’ response and that of Latin American working class against discrimination suffered by their class brothers in the centre of world imperialism is necessary.
Next 29 September, a general strike will take place in Spain – a country where unemployment has affected more than 20% of the active population and where immigrant workers, together with young people (where the rate o unemployment reached a rate of 40%) and women are among the most affected by the economic crisis. Zapatero’s labour reform, against whom this strike is aimed is there to make working conditions even more precarious. These measures will affect directly the same sectors but will also hit the entire working class unless they are stopped. That is why it is necessary to achieve the maximum of unity and continuity in the struggle of the entire working class.
Whether native or foreign, the working class is the same! This demand in now more necessary than ever to aim it against the attacks launched against workers and popular sectors that all the governments of the world, but especially those of imperialist countries most affected by the crisis are carrying out. Let the capitalists pay for the crisis.
During the last months we witnessed the economic crisis, the end of which has been officially declared, returned to put a brake on the budding economic growth and threatens with a new recession in the forthcoming months. Immigrants, working women and youth are among the first ones to suffer the consequences of the economic crisis.
Eastern European Gypsies driven out of France
Evictions have already been going on in France even before these last years. Actually, the French government stated that during the latest expulsions, the number of evicted immigrants belonging to this ethnic group was already near to a thousand in this 2010. However, this is but a small part of the evictions that the Sarkozy administration has carried out. So far, allegedly the evictions of Gypsies have been “voluntary withdrawals” and since they are citizens of the European Union, these immigrants they can return to France and that is what the French government wants to prevent from happening. Sarkozy helps himself to the argument of cultural differences, of ways of living, of the Romany population (as the Gypsies are called in France) as an argument to vindicate the need of driving away those who have no constant means of subsistence, of work. And yet, this population is up against still another problem when they want to find a job and settle down. French authorities maintain an extension until 2012 for citizen of Rumania and Bulgaria, countries which joined the European Union in 2007, to obtain the right of free circulation the same as all the other citizen of the EU. Bulgarians and Rumanians must obtain a working contract of at least three months if they wish to remain in France. Furthermore, they pretend to prolong till 2014. Remember that Rumania is one of the poorest countries in Europe where the International Monetary Fund and the European Union demand a 25% reduction of wages of civil servants and massive layoffs.
Together with Sarkozy’s massive layoffs, like the ones that Berlusconi carried out last year, there is the urgent request of reformation for the immigration bill exposed in the address to the police last 30 July in Grenoble, to facilitate the eviction of immigrants. The intention is to add aggressive begging, lack of means for living and being a menace to public order. They want to make these measures applicable to citizens of European Union. It has also been posed that French citizenship would be taken away from those immigrants who obtained it and then attempted against the life of a civil servant, especially police or gendarmes. The far-reaching objective is to attack not only the Gypsies but also and essentially against all the immigrants and their descendants, who had already obtained French nationality and are the sectors most affected by the economic crisis.
European Union marked the difference with the Guidelines of Shame
European Parliament demanded that France should stop the massive evictions that were contrary to the laws of the EU, which permit free transit of European citizens. This is just another piece of hypocrisy of EU since its president, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso had already determined that freedom of transit is not absolute in EU and that saying the contrary would spawn many Le Pens (French ultra-right leader). That means: to prevent the ultra right from taking over, let us do what the ultra right would do.
Sarkozy follows the line of Berlusconi and is a consequence of the toughening of the laws against immigrants stemming out of the European Union for even if the gentlemen of the European Parliament (even if only just a little more than half, for the others voted against exposing France) may be shocked at the expulsion of the Gypsies, the truth is that the so-called guideline of shame was passed in July 2008 by precisely that same Parliament. Remember that this guideline allows the detention of “illegal” immigrants for up to 18 months and demands all the member-countries legislation adequate to the needs of this guideline within two years as well as the eviction of all irregular immigrants within 5 years. What the case of France proves is that in European Union the attacked on immigrants are no longer limited to extra-community people, but begin to affect all the immigrant workers no matter where they come from.
Islamophobia
In November 2009, one of the oldest European democracies, the “neutral” Switzerland held a referendum, which passed a sentence against the constructions of new minarets (towers from which Moslems are summoned to pray). Ultra-right convinced the Swiss, for 22% of the population has no right to vote because they are immigrants, to vote against the religious rights of the immigrants, mainly of the Kosovars and Turks who profess Islamism. This is the religion of 4.5% of Swiss population.
Such an attack on the rights of Moslem population is to be found in several European countries where different laws surface, which use the alibi of “protecting” the rights of Moslem women or for security reasons, to prohibit the nihab and the burka of the clothing that some Moslem women use and even prohibit the use of the veil, which only covers the hair, when at school. In the USA, and Evangelist pastor threatened to burn publicly copies of the Koran (sacred book of the Moslem) during the anniversary of the 11S against the Twin Towers in New York. Finally, others did so.
In Germany, Thilo Sarrazin, a member of the Executive Council of the Bundesbank (German Central Bank) published a book in which he exposed that German society was becoming less intelligent due to the increase in numbers of Moslem children. He finally resigned his post but his racist book is still one of the best-sellers and a few days later German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, rewarded the Danish caricaturist who, in 2005, drew Mahomet with a bomb in his turban as a defender of the freedom of expression. This drawing had triggered off a wave of ire among the Moslem.
Geert Wilders, ultra-right leader in the Dutch Parliament regards Islam as retrograde and wants to prevent Moslems from coming to the country and is about to prohibit the veil and the mosques in his country. Last 11 September he was the star of demonstrations against Islam in the American Tea Party of New York.
The above are just a few examples of the spreading of Islam phobia, that is to say, satanisation of Moslem religion. It started spreading as an outcome of the imperialist invasion commanded by the USA on to Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003. Ever since then, it has been used to justify imperialist aggression and to attack a sector of immigrant workers. That is why Islam-phobia is actually just another form of xenophobia or hatred of foreigners which, from being just a demand of the ultra right sectors has now grown to positions of increasing weight in parliaments and “democratic” institutions. That is why it is part of the offensive against immigrants, in quest of scapegoats and dividing workers to increase the rate of exploitation that ruling classes need to get out of the crisis.
The massacre of immigrants in Mexico stem out of the USA
It is certainly correct to expose the Mexican government for not preventing slaughters like the one that took place in Tamaulipas on 23 August. But we cannot leave it at that. We must see who this butchery took place to begin with, why immigrants are kidnapped or blackmailed by criminal organisations or even by the Mexican police and many women immigrants are also raped by their captors. It has been estimated that in Mexico at least 10 000 immigrants are captured by these bands every year. First of all, t he cause is to be found in the migratory laws in Mexico, some of the toughest in the world. It is there that migration is already codified as an offence. On the other side, the borderline with the USA is militarised and in Arizona, apart from wanting to apply the law that also criminalises the immigrant, they have all these sheriffs like Joe Arpaio who are literally busy hunting down and harassing the Latin population. The leading imperialist country wants to control the flow of immigrants. Now, with the economic crisis, American bourgeoisie wants to get rid of some of the immigrants, close the frontiers and, above all, leave all those who will stay even more helpless so that they would accept worse salaries and exhausting working conditions. Actually, the “illegal” immigrant workers are the cheap labour in the country, mainly as farm hands and with the crisis, their already meagre wages have been reduced even more. In his electoral campaign, Obama promised a migration law which would provide some kind of solution that would allow some of the 12 million paperless could legalise their situation. The crisis came and brought 10% unemployment and laws like that of Arizona, supported by 60% of Americans and the new law (actually it is just a patch and objectively it was meant to seek further control over immigrants) never came.
Obama had to put a brake on the Arizona law for the time being because it jeopardises the possibility of further exploitation of immigrants and penalises the entrepreneurs willing to employ them, but he sent another 1200 National Guards to the frontier to try and stop the most reactionary sectors. This militarization of the frontier started with Bush, and Obama agreed to it and even went further along the same path. In the meantime, Florida and other 19 states announce laws like that of Arizona against immigrant workers.
Criminalising immigration in order to divide workers
Bourgeoisie found these attacks on immigrants useful to divide workers and turn ones against the others. Immigrants become scapegoats for the economic problems of the country. With the world economic crisis, the attacks on the immigrants accrued enormously. If there is unemployment, the immigrants go; if health and education are getting worse, immigrants are to blame: this is the discourse of the ultra-right but one way or another, it has now been taken up by all the bourgeois governments. Berlusconi did it directly by linking delinquency with immigration (“a reduction of the extra-communitarians would mean fewer hands to increase the rank and file of the criminals” ABC 27 January 2009) criminalizing paperlessness as offence. And it is shameless when governments such as the Zapatero administration talk about how important the immigrants are for Spanish economy and yet they put a limit quotas for immigrants’ children to be enrolled at schools, they restrict the use of health service for not regularized immigrants, they pass laws that allow authorities to keep immigrants under arrest for up to 60 days before eviction for the simple fact of being “paperless”, or – with the approval from trade union bureaucracies or even at their request - imposing moratoriums to the regularization of Bulgarian and Rumanian migrants already members of the European Union.
Once again, this new escalade against immigrants has direct relation with the economic crisis and also with something new: workers’ response to this attack by employers and governments is becoming noticeable. It is not that the bourgeoisie shows no interest in the growth of the numbers of unemployed, the industrial reserve army that Marx spoke about, but their excessive growth will give room to bouts of rebellion. So, in France Sarkozy has resorted to Gypsies as his old reliable to try and win over the support from a sector of xenophobic middle class and so divide workers who are responding to the restriction imposed by the governments with demonstrations and strikes. These last evictions are taking place at a time that a general strike has been summoned in France.
A joint response of the working class against the crisis and against racism needed
The good news, however is that the French president’s speeches and actions against immigrants in general and Rumanians and Bulgarians have not been enough to impede the nearly 100 000 French people (77 000, according to the police) to demonstrate on 4th September against the evictions and three days later the long-announced strike against the moving of the retirement age from 60 to 62 years with a larger adherence than the previous one on 24 June and the trade union have already announced it continuity for 24th September. We can also add the protests that took place in front of the embassies of several European countries (Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Serbia and United Kingdom). In Italy, after the racist clashes boosted by Mafioso sectors in Rosarno against African immigrants, demonstrations were held in defense of the immigrants.
We must also highlight the demonstrations of the Latinos in Arizona as well as in other parts of the USA against the famous law against immigrants. Protests against this law – and the other ones that are being prepared in other states are making indignation swell all over Latin America. Formal protests of Central American and Mexican governments against this law do not go beyond an expression of encouragement to Obama to boost his own law of immigrants, while they accept the “cooperation” of the USA to control the flow of immigrants. Trade Unions’ response and that of Latin American working class against discrimination suffered by their class brothers in the centre of world imperialism is necessary.
Next 29 September, a general strike will take place in Spain – a country where unemployment has affected more than 20% of the active population and where immigrant workers, together with young people (where the rate o unemployment reached a rate of 40%) and women are among the most affected by the economic crisis. Zapatero’s labour reform, against whom this strike is aimed is there to make working conditions even more precarious. These measures will affect directly the same sectors but will also hit the entire working class unless they are stopped. That is why it is necessary to achieve the maximum of unity and continuity in the struggle of the entire working class.
Whether native or foreign, the working class is the same! This demand in now more necessary than ever to aim it against the attacks launched against workers and popular sectors that all the governments of the world, but especially those of imperialist countries most affected by the crisis are carrying out. Let the capitalists pay for the crisis.
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