Refugees & migrants

The number of refugees in France’s Calais Jungle camp has topped 7000 for the first time, despite eviction attempts by the French authorities, solidarity groups said on July 21. Morning Star Online reported that a census carried out by Help Refugees and L’Auberge des Migrants showed there were now 7307 people living in terrible conditions there.

In the past few weeks #BlackLivesMatter rallies have been organised around Australia and internationally in solidarity with the Black victims of US police violence and to raise awareness of the racism experienced by Australians of African descent and First Nations communities.

Declaring "We have abolished the case for austerity", left-wing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn officially launched his campaign for re-election in London on July 21. He used the occasion to make a strong putting a case for a clearly anti-austerity Labour Party to oppose the Tories and a rise in racism.

Activists blockaded a Wilson Security car park at Melbourne Convention Centre on July 20, with one activist hanging from a giant tripod for several hours. Police arrested three people, who were released shortly after and will be charged with offences relating to road safety.

The children of Santhiyogu Anton, who was abducted, tortured by Sri Lankan security forces. Photo from Tamilnet. Santhiyogu Anton, a 38 year old Tamil man, was abducted and tortured by Sri Lankan military intelligence on June 29. After previous experiences of harassment by military intelligence, Anton had sought the assistance of the Catholic Church. He was allowed to stay at a church near the city of Mannar.

In a moment of devastating irony, former immigration minister Philip Ruddock, the man responsible for “children overboard” and the architect behind what became the anti-terror laws, has been nominated as Australia's UN Special Envoy for Human Rights. On July 12, Ruddock was given a platform at the Wheeler Centre — which claims he has “been a vocal advocate on several human rights issues” — to talk “human rights, the death penalty, and the changing Australian political landscape”.

The victory of the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union (“Brexit”) in the June 23 referendum was the result of — and is intensifying — a huge right-wing anti-immigration campaign.

American singer Alicia Keyes has produced a short feature that reimagines the current refugee crisis as if it were taking place in California. The refugee crisis in the wake of conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa has triggered many militant xenophobic responses.

The media-backed attempted coup by right-wing Labour Party MPs against Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has failed, amid large demonstrations and public meetings across Britain defending the left-wing leader.

A poll of more than 1400 people commissioned by The Australia Institute and published the week before the election found that 63% oppose the bipartisan policy that refugees who arrive in Australia by boat are sent to off-shore detention centres and will never be settled in Australia.

Refugee rights activist Stephen Langford was at Waverley Court on June 29 facing charges for writing "Omid" on the electorate office of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Omid Masoumali was a young asylum seeker detained in Nauru who died after he set himself on fire. After an initial hearing, the case was adjourned to July 27. Langford made this speech outside the court. * * *

Since Britain voted by a narrow margin on June 23 to leave the European Union, England has been hit by a significant rise in incidents of racist and xenophobic harassment and violence in the country. John O'Connell, from anti-racism group Far Right Watch, told Al Jazeera on June 29 that his group had documented more than 90 incidents in the past three days, ranging from “verbal abuse up to physical violence”.