BY MARK BROWN
The city of Glasgow has been shocked by the racist murder of Kurdish asylum seeker Firsat Yildiz in the Sighthill area on August 4.
A refugee from the vicious repression of the Turkish state, 22-year-old Firsat was walking home with a friend when he was attacked by two knife-wielding racists. He died soon after.
As soon as the news of Firsat's death reached them on August 5, 350 asylum seekers — led by anti-racist campaigner Aamer Anwar and Mohammad Naveen Asif, chair of the Glasgow Refugees Action Group — marched to Glasgow City Chambers chanting, "We want justice!"
The following day refugees were joined by hundreds of trade unionists, anti-racists and socialists at a rally of more than 1,000 people in George Square.
The rally was held against a backdrop of banners. There were two banners from the public sector workers' UNISON union, as well as banners from the print workers' GPMU, the firefighters' FBU and the transport workers' TGWU. They were joined by the banners of the Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees, the Anti-Nazi League and the Scottish Socialist Party.
Bill Speirs, general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, attacked the racist asylum policies of the New Labour government which have contributed to the attacks against refugees. In particular he singled out voucher payments and the forcible dispersal of asylum seekers as policies which must be dropped.
There was massive support at the rally for the call for a national Scottish demonstration for justice for asylum seekers and against racism and fascism.
The Scottish Socialist Party is giving its backing to the trade union and anti-racist movements in order to build the biggest demonstration possible on the streets of Glasgow.
Norrie Gower has lived in Sighthill for over 10 years and is chair of the Fountainwell Tenants Association.
"The murder is terrible and most of the local people feel for the victim and are sickened by what has happened.
"The majority of the [housing] scheme is not racist and get on fine with the asylum seekers. Sighthill has never been good — but it's been multi-cultural for years.
"When Kosovan families came two years ago people were sympathetic — and that was because those refugees got a sympathetic press and the politicians were favourable.
"But there are racists here and there are people who resent more new asylum seekers because of ignorance and the lies spread about them over the last year or so.
"Poverty here is desperate and the area has suffered neglect from the council and the politicians for decades.
"Even before the serious assault on two Palestinian refugees in April we were telling the council and the government that there should be a locally-based, 24-hour help unit based on the estate — with social services staff and translators for the refugees.
"We also demanded that the council produce leaflets to every house explaining who the asylum seekers were and why they'd been forced to come here.
"We said at the time if the council didn't inform and educate tenants and invest more resources into the area then we could expect problems. Despite our repeated demands nothing of the like has been done."
After the events of the weekend, asylum seekers in Glasgow have faced intense provocation from the racist media and a tiny minority of local residents. Mohammad Asif, a refugee spokesperson who lives in Sighthill, refuses to blame local people.
"The people of Sighthill are not racist. I do not want that said. There is so much poverty here. People think the asylum seekers get more than them and they get angry.
"They do not know why we are here, that we do not want to be here. If you put so many of us in one place, with no attempt to explain to the people about us, then things will happen."
Speaking at the George Square vigil, Asif made it clear that Glasgow City Council had to accept their share of the blame for the killing.
"We told the council many, many times that someone would be killed but nothing was done.
"We don't want to have all these police in Sighthill. We want to live in a peaceful community and we want to be able to contribute to this society.
"The council is making money from the misery of asylum-seekers but it is not putting any of that money back to help us. We are demanding answers."
Asif joined a noisy picket outside the Daily Record office on August 9, adding his voice to the protests against the tabloid's coverage.
He told the Scottish Socialist Voice: "Local people are told that asylum seekers are bogus, they're over here for your jobs ... If — and I say if — Firsat Yildiz was 'bogus', it does not justify him being killed. The Daily Record's coverage was rubbish, garbage."
Asif met with Record editor Peter Cox, only to receive a mouthful of abuse. He told waiting journalists: "He used foul language in front of two men. He should not be up there. He belongs out with the sheep and goats."
[Abridged from the Scottish Socialist Voice <http://www.scottishsocialistvoice.net>. Mark Brown is the secretary of Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees.]