AROUND THE WORLD
NETHERLANDS
Full rights The communalist warfare waged against the Tamil population on Sri Lanka by a chauvinist Senhalese government has led to an influx of Tamil refugees into a number of European countries, in particular France, Britain, and the Netherlands. The governments have begun showing an anxiety to get rid of the Tamils. The fact that a lot of them are highly political and radicalized people is undoubtedly a factor. In Britain and the Netherlands in partiwilar being sere act to the tender Tamil refugees are threatened mercies of the Sri Lankan government.
In the Netherlands, this question has become an issue, with the small left parties in parliament opposing expulsion, the Labour Party (PudA) divided and even the Christian Democrats showing hesitations. In a speech to the PudA Council on June 15, the chairperson of the party, Max van den Berg, compared the attitude of the government to the. Tamils with the attitude of prewar Dutch governments to German Jewish refugees. In both Britain and the Netherlands, Fourth Internationalists are actively defending the Tamils. The following article is from the June 5 issue of Klassenstrijd, the paper of the Dutch section of the Fourth International.
The West European governments are doing everything possible to restrict the number of Sri Lankan Tamils taking refuge here. Against the background of this attitude on the part of the government, the Wijnaendsts parliamentary commission came to the conclusion in four days that the south of Sri Lanka is safe enough for the refugees.
In the meantime, too many newspapers and human rights organizations to list have said that there is no security for the Tamils, and that they are fleeing because the slaughter in the Sri Lankan civil war is continuing.
Despite the refutation of the argument that there is no real threat to the Tamils, other bad arguments, some of them racist, continue to muddy the waters. You hear that the Tamils are "economic refugees," whatever that may mean.
In the first place, that is not true, and in the second, if it were, so what? The capitalists keep a free hand for exploiting the underdeveloped countries, and they have set up border police in order to be able to maintain control of International Viewpoint 15 July 1985 for Tamil refugees the international working class. These are not our borders.
You also hear the argument that the economic situation does not permit us to accomodate a large number of refugees. That depends on what you consider important. In West Germany over the years, they have let in a lot of East Europeans. The Vietnamese "boat people" are practically invited to come to Europe. Israel is able to bring in a large number of Africans.
Another argument is that the Tamils could be better "accomodated" in a camp in Sri Lanka or India than in Apeldoorn. That costs less and "they remain in their own culture." But putting people in a camp is no solution. That is temporary. The problem is to assure a decent life for the refugees, and everyone knows that is nearly impossible in an under-developed country.
The government has created a special rule for the Tamil refugees denying them the right to social welfare. This slides over an important point. The law guarantees the right to social assistance to all those who need it. The decision of the minister excludes an ethnic group from benefitting from the social assistance law. Thus, the parliament has opened the way for discrimination against all sorts of groups. This is not only an attack on the right of asylum but BRITAIN DDITAINI The campaign for amnesty for miners sacked and imprisoned during the 19841985 strike is now well underway and messages of support and donations from the Labour movement internationally are urgently requested. There are still 671 miners who have not been reinstated and eighty miners are serving their prison sentences.
The left-wing Campaign Group of Labour Party MPs (members of parliament) has decided to introduce an Amnesty bill into the House of Commons under which all those who were fined or imprisoned as a result of their activities during the strike will be given a pardon which will wipe out all their sentences. The bill has no chance of being passed at the moment, but the MPs a breach in the social security system that we have won.
So, what do the "refugee benefits"
Do, Wildl a bleelage werents the government offers amount to? It does not take long to list them: - shelter in a residence center where they can sleep, wash, sit, and cook. - food. - "pocket money" (20 guilders [about US 4 dollars] a week) - insurance against the costs of illness and legal liability. - Payment of special expenses that in the minister's judgement are necessary and cannot be met by other means can be made after the filling out of detailed forms.
What is not permitted by the ruling is visitors to the residence centers. Moreover, instruction in the Dutch language is not considered "a special expense in the opinion of the minister," nor is the cost of telephone calls.
In the view of the minister, the Tamils are an alien element in Dutch society and should remain so, so that they can be expelled. In fact, everything is being done to make it impossible for the Tamils as a group to defend their interests. But this tactic has been only partially successful.
In Apeldoor, an association of Tamil refugees has been founded. Organizations such as the Vereniging Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland, the Tamil Dutch Solidarity Association, and the support committees are playing an important role in building the first contacts with the Dutch people. by Arend de Poel hope it can be the focus for a campaign throughout the Labour Party and the trade unions.
Meanwhile an all-Party committee of MPs has recently come out with an implied criticism of the employers, the National Coal Board, for its intransigent and blanket stand against reinstatement. It recommends that each case should be looked at on its merits.
In most areas the NUM is working jointly with support groups campaigning for amnesty and Women Against Pit Closures (WAPC) groups are making this their main campaign.
Donations can be sent to Miners" Solidarity Fund, Account No 30000009 at the Co-op Bank plc, West Street, Sheffield, Great Britain.
FULL AMNESTY NOW FOR SACKED AND IMPRISONED MINERS
FULL AMNESTY NOW FOR SACKED AND IMPRISONED MINERS
IRELAND,