BY GRAHAM MATTHEWS
& MARGARITA WINDISCH
The US-led war on Afghanistan is killing hundreds and displacing tens of thousands of Afghan civilians. Millions are threatened with starvation, and many of these will attempt to flee from Afghanistan in order to simply survive.
Many more Afghan civilians may be expected to join the steady stream of refugees willing to risk their lives in a treacherous boat ride from Indonesia to Australia, to face long periods of detention and a temporary protection visa valid for three years — at best. At worst, they will drown, be intercepted at sea, sent back or taken to makeshift refugee camps in poor countries such as Papua New Guinea, Fiji or Nauru.
Since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, Australian politicians like defence minister Peter Reith have competed with media personalities like Alan Jones in whipping up a racist hysteria against Afghan refugees.
Reith, along with foreign minister Alexander Downer have suggested that Australia must further tighten its borders against Afghan "illegal immigrants" as these poor unfortunates may be terrorists. Jones has even gone so far as to suggest that some of the Afghan refugees already allowed into Australia may be "sleepers" — terrorists waiting for some "signal" to unleash terror.
Dehumanising and even demonising Afghan (and other Middle Eastern) refugees is a crucial part of the Howard government's efforts to garner public support for the US war. In one of the worst displays of racism to date, PM John Howard and immigration minister Philip Ruddock called refugees who tried to escape from Australian navy gunfire by jumping into the sea with their children, "despicable and disgusting". The campaign against Afghan "boat people" has already led to a substantial increase in racist attacks on Muslim women, on mosques and those who look Arabic.
In recognition of the racist nature of the US-led war against the Afghan people, the Melbourne anti-war coalition ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) adopted the slogan "No racist scapegoating" along with the slogans "No war!", "No Australian involvement", and "Stop attacks on democratic rights". Clearly, the two issues are interrelated as war obviously creates refugees!
It was therefore very surprising when, at the October 22 meeting of ANSWER, leading members of the International Socialist Organisation (ISO) argued that opposition to the government's racist treatment of refugees should not be "conflated" with opposition to the war.
ISO members argued that it would be a mistake for ANSWER to champion the rights of refugees as this would "narrow the appeal" of the anti-war movement. They argued that posters advertising the November 4 anti-war rally should be limited to two demands only: "Stop the war!" and "Bring the troops home!".
In opposing the inclusion of the slogan "Free the refugees" on the poster, ISO and Refugee Action Collective (RAC) leader Judy McVey cited opinion polls in the Melbourne Herald-Sun newspaper which showed that public opposition to Australia sending troops to Afghanistan was greater than opposition to the Howard government's treatment of refugees — treatment which is wholeheartedly supported by the Labor Party.
McVey argued that the relative unpopularity of the refugee rights issue was ample justification for RAC to organise a refugee rights action separate from, but on the same day, as the anti-war rally on November 4. She even went so far as to argue that publicity produced by ANSWER should not mention the refugee rally, as it might "narrow" the refugee rally's appeal!
Excluding defence of the right of Afghan refugees to come to Australia from an anti-war rally one week before the federal election might save the Labor Party some embarrassment, but it will not help advance either the anti-war or refugee rights movements. It will reinforce the notion that refugee rights are contestable, somewhat separate from the "major issues" facing Australians, and hence not worth seriously campaigning for.
Racism and nationalist xenophobia are powerful ideological tools used to win public acceptance in imperialist countries like Australia for the imperialist rulers' wars against the Third World. The only firm ideological basis upon which the movement against imperialist war can be built is by countering racism and nationalism with the idea of international solidarity between ordinary working people. Doing this, however, will be impossible if the anti-war movement deliberately refuses to defend the human rights of the individual victims of imperialist war — including their right to seek refuge in Australia from such a war.
At a time when federal ministers and media personalities are justifying their war on the Afghan people as a campaign of "civilisation against barbarism", the left and the anti-war movement must not shrink from the challenge. If we are to win a majority to oppose the war on people of Afghanistan, we cannot afford to ignore the war going on against Afghan refugees off Australia's shores.
[Graham Matthews and Margarita Windisch are members of the Democratic Socialist Party.]