BY JUDY McVEY
Thousands of people around Australia marched on World Refugee Day in June. Even war on Iraq could not stop the development of this movement. In fact, more people have shown sympathy for refugees because of the war and the government's lies about the reasons for the invasion.
Weakening the authority of immigration minister Philip Ruddock and the Liberals on refugees is an important part of the ongoing movement because so much of their public strategy is based on deception and hypocrisy.
There could not be a clearer example of this than Ruddock's "visas for party donations" scam, exposed by Labor's immigration spokesperson Julia Gillard. Ruddock's department granted citizenship to corrupt Filipino businessman Dante Tan, and received a $10,000 donation to Ruddock's Liberal Party branch.
Ruddock whinged about Gillard's "malevolence". "It is a deliberate attempt to diminish me", he said. We can only hope. Every time Howard is exposed as a liar, as he is over the latest ethanol issue with Howard helping rich business friends, people remember the lies he and Ruddock told about refugees.
There is so much more Labor could do if it wasn't tied to the same racist policies on detention.
The pressure mounting on Ruddock over the expiry of Temporary Protection Visas and what to do about Iraqi and Afghan TPV-holders has only come about because of the grassroots activity.
Ruddock is determined to send back thousands of Iranians, Iraqis, Afghans and Sri Lankans. Again this policy is based on a giant lie: that Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are now "safe".
Activists are mobilising in the National Anti-Deportation Alliance (NADA) to prevent the forced and wrongful deportation of refugees from detention centres and our communities. A successful national day of action in May saw protests against the immigration department in every capital city and many smaller locations.
The campaign will target airports hoping to win support from airport workers. The unions are central to stopping the deportations and ACTU president Sharan Burrow has said she will support the campaign.
But the key task remains of changing government policy. And that means supporting the struggle inside the labour movement to break Labor's bipartisan support for the current detention regime.
The ALP will only respond if we can build a huge movement on the streets. Activists should already be thinking about a major lobby of the ALP National Conference in Sydney in January 2004. And between now and then we need protests, as many and as militant as possible.
The movement can't afford to ignore the reasons behind the racist refugee policy. Divide-and-rule tactics have paid off for Howard.
At a time when the government should be on the back foot over the budget and the war, Howard remains one of the most popular prime ministers ever.
The Liberals' racist policies are even more sinister when their effects are viewed on the world stage. Howard and Ruddock have led the way on using asylum seekers as scapegoats for capitalist globalisation and made it so much easier for US imperialism to lead a permanent war justified by anti-Muslim racism.
The racism that accompanied the invasion of Iraq reflects a re-shaping and deepening of racism internationally, including within Australia, to bolster imperialism behind the banner of "Western civilisation".
The refugee-rights movement in Australia should make common cause with anti-racist and anti-capitalist activists around the world.
There is an important opportunity to link in with the anti-capitalist and anti-war movements in September, when huge protests are scheduled to coincide with the World Trade Organisation meeting in Cancun, Mexico.
There will be solidarity protests in Melbourne on September 12, and Sydney and Brisbane.
[Judy McVey is a refugees' rights activist, member of the International Socialist Organisation and also a member of the Socialist Alliance.]
From Green Left Weekly, August 27, 2003.
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