AROUND
THE WORLD Anti-racist/ anti-fascist news SWEDEN AN attempt by Swedish fascists to celebrate the anniversary of the death of King Charles XII on November 30, 1992, in Stockholm and Lund was met with counter-demonstrations by anti-fascists. Some 3,000 anti-racists blocked the way to the 200 Nazis in Lund.
However in Stockholm, the counter-demonstration was banned as the mass media and the big political parties whipped up a campaign accusing anti-racists of provoking violence. Nevertheless, 2,000 succeeded in holding an anti-fascist rally. A time bomb was found in Kings' Garden where the rally took place.
The bookshop of the Socialist Party (SP - Swedish section of the Fourth International) was the object of an organized fascist attack; an appeal for funds has been launched. - Dick Forslund * SPANISH STATE FOLLOWING the racist murders of Hassan Al-Yahahaki, a Moroccan, and Lucrezia Perez from the Dominican Republic, protests took place throughout Spain. In the capital Madrid, 3,000 people demontrated in the neighbourhood where the murder took place while on November 21 some 15,000 marched through the city.
The following day a demonstration of 5,000 protested against the new antiforeigner law, while in Barcelona, on
November 29, some 60,000 took to the streets. — Pagina Abierta *
GERMANY
GERMANY is witnessing continuing racist and neo-Nazi violence and massive anti-racist and anti-fascist protests — including a "human chain" by formed
300,000 people in the Bavarian capital of Munich on December 7, 1992.
However, at the same time as expressing its displeasure over the racist outrages, the German government is pressing ahead with its campaign to restrict the right to asylum currently enshrined in the German constitution.
On December 6 a "compromise" agreement between the government and the opposition Social Democratic Party on the issue was announced. This tightens up the definition of who is entitled to refugee status. For example, refugees from civil wars will be entitled to only a limited stay in Germany and will not be considered for refugee status thereafter, while Poland, the Czech Lands and Slovakia are defined as "safe" countries from which refugees cannot be accepted and to which refugees can be returned if they passed through them before arriving in Germany.
It will be made easier to summarily throw asylum seekers out of Germany, if their claim is judged invalid. The 400,000 "old cases" of asylum applications will be treated under the new law.
Amnesty International has stated that, whatever Social Democrat leaders may claim, the amendment dismantles the constitutional right to asylum. A representative of the UN High Commission for Refugees has also expressed "scepticism" over the agreements.
While the SPD leadership has not yet formally accepted the agreement there seems no doubt that it will do so. Given the present instability in Europe these new measures will mean mass expulsions and a witch-hunt against immigrants, creating an even more fertile atmosphere in which the fascist groups can flourish.
International protests are urgently necessary. — Manuel Keliner *