Refugees

Refugees

• Victims of torture continue to fall through the cracks of the UK’s asylum process

  

  A political correspondent for the Immigration Advice Service explains how asylum seekers, especially torture victims, are being failed by the hostile environment

• Socialist Register 2020: Beyond Market Dystopia - book review

  

  The wide range of essays in Socialist Register 2020 provide important reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of recent left movements, finds Sean Ledwith

• The crisis within the crisis: refugees and the pandemic

  

  Already vulnerable refugees living in unsanitary and squalid conditions are now bracing for the worst from the global pandemic, writes Eleftheria Kousta

• EU-Turkish border crisis spills over to Serbia

  

  Racist patrols and protests are spreading in Serbia, as the far-right seeks to exploit the migrant crisis for political gain, says Vladimir Unkovski-Korica

• The EU is responsible for refugees on the Greek border

  

  Refugees are being used as pawns in a geopolitical chess game, writes Shabbir Lakha

• On Holocaust Memorial Day

  

  Never again! This requires action now, as well as reflection, argues Reuben Bard-Rosenberg

• The hostile environment and Fortress Europe are responsible for the 39 dead

  

  The shameful Tory and EU policies stopping safe passage for refugees are the cause of the tragic deaths of 39 people in the back of a lorry, argues Mona Kamal

• Trump betrays the Kurds: never trust the imperialists

  

  US and British imperialism will never be an ally for the liberation of people anywhere, writes Shabbir Lakha as Erdogan begins bombing northern Syria

• The refugee crisis: the situation worsens in Greece

  

  Attacks on refugees in Greece are indicative of the situation throughout Fortress Europe, argues Eleftheria Kousta

• Nato and the new imperialism

  

  Written in June 1999, John Rees explains why the war in the Balkans was not about the plight of refugees but part of Nato’s expansion. It wanted to dominate the Balkans and eastern Europe as well as control the oil rich areas of the Caspian Sea

• Theresa - the powerful new song from Cabinet of Millionaires

  

  Unlike the Prime Minister, Cabinet of Millionaires' Theresa is reliably good, with a catchy tune and a powerful message, writes Graham Lockwood

• Saying never again means resisting in the present

  

  Remembering the Holocaust means remembering the horrific slaughter of Jewish people, but also the resistance and solidarity, and resolving to put 'never again' into practice, writes Dana Mills

• There's no refugee crisis in Britain, only a hostile environment and racist scapegoating

  

  The current Tory-manufactured “refugee crisis” is part of the same hostile environment that this government has created for its own citizens, argues Cathy Augustine

• Rage at the Home Office - solidarity with the Stansted 15

  

  The courage of the Stansted 15 in stopping this cruel deportation flight is an inspiration, not a crime, argues Ellen Graubart, reporting on the protest outside the Home Office

• Averting chaos: class, climate change and the movements

  

  Profit and powerful interests are precipitating planetary disaster. Protests such as Saturday's in London must be developed into a mass movement to force political change, argues Feyzi Ismail

• Trump's teargas and racist brutality at the US-Mexico border

  

  As the Migrant Caravan arrived at the US border, they were met with heavy tear gas and rubber bullets in a show of inhumane violence, John Clarke reports

• The importance of mass mobilisation against war

  

  Build the mass movements against war. Kevin Courtney's speech from the Stop the War Coalition national conference

• Failed: what two decades of the refugee crisis could not teach Europe

  

  Europe's failure to deal with the refugee crisis is resulting in more deaths in the Mediterranean and the growth of the far right argues Eleftheria Kousta

• Libya: chaos reigns seven years on

  

  Libyans are still paying the price with their lives for the 2011 Nato intervention. A stark reminder of why we urgently need an antiwar government argues Eleftheria Kousta

• Frankenstein at 200

  

  On the anniversary of Mary Shelley's masterpiece, Jacqueline Mulhallen looks beyond the cliches and finds a fable laced with powerful and timely commentary

• Together against Trump: a mass show of opposition

  

  Looking back at the quarter of a million strong demonstration against Trump, Daniel Jakopovich argues that it was a mass display of people power

• Trump Out, Tories Out, General Election Now! - Counterfire Freesheet July 2018

  

  Trump's visit and his trade delusions, crisis for the Tories, Grenfell, is the EU really a friend to migrants and more - Counterfire freesheet edition 027, July 2018

• Time's up Theresa - Counterfire Freesheet March 2018

  

  Brexit, Corbyn and the Labour right, gender pay gap, commodification of universities and more...

• The Face of Modern Racism

  

  With a refugee crisis of epic proportions, we must be part of the solution, argues Sean Ledwith

• Institutional racism encouraged the murder of Bijan Ebrahimi

  

  The actions of the authorities showed not only gross neglect, discrimination and injustice but in fact exacerbated hostility towards Ebrahimi, writes Naz Massoumi

• Extreme Podiatry: the situation for refugees in Calais and Dunkirk

  

  The Jungle camp may have been demolished a year ago but refugees are still arriving in Calais and Dunkirk and suffering in intolerable conditions reports David Bailey

• Threads: From the Refugee Crisis - review

  

  Threads is the story of the Calais refugees, and the growing crisis that the world ignores to humanity’s peril, writes Ellen Graubart

• Voices from the 'Jungle': Stories from the Calais Refugee Camp - review

  

  The stories of the Calais refugees reveal their struggles and solidarity, as well as their experiences of racism and oppression, finds Tom Griffiths

• Sound system solidarity: Bristol marches against ‘Muslim Ban’

  

  On Saturday Bristolians marched against Trump's 'Muslim Ban' and 'Theresa the Appeaser'. Owen Lloyd-Jones reports on the sound system powered demonstration

• Why we demand free movement of people

  

  We cannot give ground to the racists but must defend free movement of people as one of the most basic of rights

• Fire, turmoil, and abandonment in Calais

  

  French authorities and the British Home Office have washed their hands of remaining refugees in Calais, explains Shabbir Lakha

• Calais: Europe's shame

  

  The closure of the Calais camp is an act of barbarity, but solidarity with refugees remains strong, argues Shabbir Lakha  

• Calais: the British government's abject failure

  

  The government is not just being bureaucratic, it’s deliberately shirking its responsibilities, argues Shabbir Lakha

• Hungary: big defeat for Viktor Orbán

  

  In spite of its desperate campaign, the Hungarian government failed to mobilise enough voters to support its anti-refugee policy, writes Bob Oxley

• Refugees, solidarity and struggle for social change

  

  Protesting is crucial to maintain pressure on Theresa May, both to reverse policy and end the wars that create refugees, reports Jonathan Maunders 

• Message from London to UN summit: Refugees welcome here

  

  As world leaders prepare for the UN summit on refugees and protesters mobilise in London, Shabbir Lakha looks at some of the issues involved

• UK after the rain

  

  Shabbir Lakha looks beyond the media blizzard surrounding last week’s referendum result and identifies anti-racist work as a campaigning imperative

• The EU is no friend to refugees

  

  The EU is has a terrible record on it's treatment of refugees, argues Shabbir Lakha

• A beacon of hope in dark times

  

  Shabbir Lakha reports on the Convoy to Calais, which the French police shamefully turned back at the border

• The Orlando massacre was a homophobic act

  

  We cannot let the massacre in Orlando be used to stoke up homophobia and Islamophobia, argues Lindsey German

• Fortress Europe: Inside the War Against Immigration

  

  Matthew Carr’s Fortress Europe is a powerful indictment of the inhumanity of the EU’s policies towards refugees, argues Tom Griffiths

• All roads lead to Calais

  

  We need working class solidarity in support of the refugees - John Westmoreland reports on building the convoy in Doncaster

• I’m a nurse, not a border guard

  

  Student nurses will be joining the Convoy to Calais on 18 June. Danielle Tiplady from Bursary or Bust explains why

• Why you should be on the Convoy to Calais

  

  Major mass movements in Britain are collecitvely organising a Convoy to Calais. Now is the time for solidarity with refugees 

• Racism killed my father

  

  Today marks the third anniversary of Maz Saleem’s father Mohammed Saleem's brutal murder by neo-Nazi Pavlo Lapshyn

• Libya: they want us to go to war against the refugees

  

  The government wants to fight another war in Libya, and without going to parliament, writes Chris Nineham

• Getting the Convoy to Calais rolling in Doncaster

  

  Things are changing quickly, and activists who want to shape events need to keep up, writes John Westmoreland

• Macedonia at the crossroads

  

  Activist Maz Saleem continues her frontline reporting from the refugee crisis with this insight into the Alexandreia Camp

• The refugee narrative and the myth of the EU-Turkey deal

  

  The language that politicians and the mainstream media use fuels right-wing ideologies, writes Shabbir Lakha

• Greece: the port and the storm

  

  Anti-racist activist Maz Saleem reports from Piraeus Port, Athens, the frontline of the current refugee crisis

• Refugees welcome here demo in photographs

  

  Demonstration in support of refugees on Saturday 19th March captured in photographs by Jim Aindow

• Left anti-EU campaign launched

  

  Shabbir Lakha reports from the first anti-EU meeting organised by the left. This needs to be the start of a concerted campaign

• Unite across borders against racism and Fascism

  

  We must use every opportunity to build a united movement against racism

• Close down the space for the far right

  

  Writer and activist Kevin Ovenden discusses the rise of racism across Europe and the struggle against it

• Lindsey German speaks at Refugees Welcome demonstration

  

  Watch Lindsey German's speech from the ‪#‎RefugeesWelcome‬ demonstration in London in solidarity with those fleeing war

• The return of an old evil

  

  The racist scapegoating of refugees recalls the darkest moments in Europe's history, writes Lindsey German

• No to Fortress Europe: solidarity with refugees and migrants

  

  While the War on Terror has destroyed the Middle East, it has also been the source of racism across Europe

• Sexual assault allegations exacerbate German racism

  

  Sexism and racism have to be challenged without bowing to the far right, who are using sexual assaults to attack refugees, argues Kaveh Yazdani

• Cameron’s outburst shows Colonel Blimp lives on

  

  The Prime Minister's denigrating language about migrants is true to his class, says Alastair Stephens

• Neglect and contempt: how the UK government welcomes refugees

  

  John Grayson looks at the way in which private security companies treat asylum seekers

• At the borders of humanity

  

  Shadia Edwards-Dashti reports on a delegation from England and Scotland to the refugee camp near Calais on Saturday

• Counterfire Freesheet October 2015

  

  Counterfire's new free sheet edition 004, October 2015

• Counterfire Freesheet September 2015

  

  Counterfire's new free sheet edition 003, September 2015

• Refugees welcome here

  

  The idea that securing the borders and making life for asylum seekers harder represents an adequate response to the refugee crisis is not only inhumane, but deeply naïve

• Video: 'Refugees welcome here' demo in London

  

  Video of speeches from the London demonstration in support of refugees - including Jeremy Corbyn

• The EU declares war on migrants

  

  We must end a foreign policy that is causing mayhem and misery across vast swathes of the globe