Anti-racism

HDP rally ahead of the June 7 election. The following statement was issued by the foreign affairs commission of the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) on September 10.

It is the single image that has crystallised the horror of the refugee crisis in Europe: On September 2, a photographer took a picture of the lifeless body of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, a Kurdish refugee from Syria, lying face-down on a Turkish beach. The toddler was one of at least 12 refugees — including his five-year-old brother Galip, and their mother Rihan — who drowned during a desperate bid to reach the Greek island of Kos, joining more than 2500 refugees who have perished in the Mediterranean this year.

Fans of Glasgow's Celtic FC. All 80 clubs competing in Europe's two most prestigious football competitions — the UEFA Champions League and Europa League — will donate €1 from tickets sold for their opening game towards refugees.

Sometimes the fate of a child is written 100 years before they are born. Some will view this as a reductionist approach or fatalistic, but here we are not talking of a divine fate, we are talking of historical forces, politics, power, hegemony, economic exploitation and colonialism.

Supporters of the Labour party's new leader Jeremy Corbyn celebrated across Britain on September 12, as the socialist and outspoken activist vowed to put the country on a new course.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced on September 9 a novel approach to stemming the flow of refugees from Syria: bombing the country. He also announced plans to accept a further 12,000 Syrian refugees on top of his government's miserly quota, but was quick to dispel any hopes that Australia might be abandoning its status as the Western world's leading abuser of refugees. Abbott told ABC Radio National on September 10 that Syrian refugees being held in the Australian-run concentration camps in Nauru and Manus Island would not be released.

The federal government re­listed the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as a terrorist organisation on August 11. This means it is illegal for Australian citizens to belong to it, actively support it or raise funds for it. The PKK was first placed on Australia’s list of terrorist groups in December 2005 by John Howard’s government after Turkey’s then Prime Minister — now president — Recip Tayyip Erdogan visited Australia. It was re­listed by Howard in 2007, by Labor under Kevin Rudd in 2009 and by Julia Gillard in 2012.

Labor and the Coalition will vote for new laws this week that will strip dual nationals of their citizenship at the discretion of the immigration minister. Both major parties agree that the laws should also apply retrospectively to those sentenced to at least ten years’ jail. A bipartisan committee released a report on the proposed laws on September 4 and recommended that some of its measures be watered down.

ADELAIDE Join us at Nuclear Politics in the Pub on Wednesday September 16 at 6.30pm. While submissions are closed for the Royal Commission into the Nuclear Fuel Chain, the discussion is just getting started! Speakers and a special screening of short film Homelands with Bobby Brown. Hosted by SA Nuclear Free Coalition. Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, 59 Fort Rd Hindmarsh. Ph 0432 388 665 BRISBANE

Vienna, September 1. “Tony Abbott's bizarre proclamation that Australia is leading the world on a per capita basis in welcoming refugees is a lie,” says Sue Bolton, Socialist Alliance Councillor.

"Boat turn backs, mandatory detention, offshore processing and indefinite limbo do not save lives." This was the comment made by Refugee Rights Action Network activist Michelle Bui before the 1000-strong #LightTheDark vigil for refugees in Perth on September 7. "You have to understand," she said that "no one puts their child on a boat unless the water is safer than the land."

PM Tony Abbott's desire to sign Australia up to the “coalition of the killing”, currently dropping bombs over northern Syria, is a gamble that current levels of fear and Islamophobia will indemnify his government.