Australia Asia Worker Links

In a terrifying discovery on May Day, the international workers day, a Bangladeshi migrant worker was found alive in a mass grave that contained the bodies of at least another 30 workers. This mass grave was situated in the southern Thailand jungle area of the Sadao district, Songkhla province, which is at the border with Malaysia. The surviving worker was buried with all the others and left to die. This mass murder is a graphic and shocking example of the realities of the capitalist system that forces workers to undertake dangerous journeys in order to find some work and survive. 

The exploitation of migrant workers in the Gulf countries in West Asia has been well documented with workers enduring long days for terrible wages. The toll in terms of deaths and injuries is hidden as much as possible until a major disaster reveals the truth. This week, a convention centre under construction in the city of Buraydah, Saudi Arabia, collapsed trapping over 50 workers and killing at least 11 of them. The majority of these workers were from Pakistan. Unfortunately these deaths are not an isolated case and reflect the savage exploitation that migrant workers face in these countries.

This year was the 129th anniversary of May Day, the international workers day. Amid continuing attacks on workers ability to organise and confront the ongoing global economic crisis, millions of workers took to the streets all around the world. In the Asia Pacific region, rallies were held in Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, to mention a few. Unfortunately workers in Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia, Seoul - South Korea and Istanbul - Turkey were faced with police repression with many workers injured and arrested. 

Human rights activist and Director of ‘The Second Floor’, a progressive social space, Sabeen Mahmud became the latest victim of assassination by unknown assailants in Pakistan. Sabeen was well known for speaking out on the continued disappearances of people in the south west province of Balochistan. Her assassination sparked protests by a range of human and labour rights groups who called for an investigation of her murder and against Pakistan’s increasing climate of intimidation and repression.

As reported previously, Iranian teachers have been at the forefront of industrial disputes this year as they battle against low wages and insecure work. In the middle of April, there was another mass mobilisation with tens of thousands of teachers going out on strike in around 70 cities in Iran. The response of the government was to step up the repression with the arrest of Ali-Reza Hashemi, the General Secretary of the Iranian Teachers’ Organisation. Ali-Reza now joins a number of other high profile labour activists jailed by the Iranian government.

The 17th of April was Palestinian Prisoners Day. This day marks the first liberation of a Palestinian political prisoner from an Israeli jail. There are currently around 6,500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails, many held without charge, including many children. The arrests of Palestinians is a daily reality in occupied Palestine. Nevertheless, Palestinians continue to protest against the incarceration of so many of them and against the daily intimidations. New strategies and groups are forming in an attempt to break out of the present political isolation.

The Australian government’s repressive measures against asylum seekers continue to increase with news that earlier this month, an Australian Navy ship intercepted and kidnapped a group of Vietnamese asylum seekers. The refugees were then held inside the navy ship until they were let out in the Vietnamese port city of Vung Tau. At the same time, the Australian Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, was in Iran to try and get that government, a well-known abuser of human and labour rights, to accept Iranian asylum seekers in Australia. These acts are a continuation of a global war against poor workers fleeing from wars, exploitation and injustice.

Mumia Abu Jamal is one of the most famous political prisoners in jail in the USA. Mumia has been in jail, most of it in ‘Death Row’, for over 30 years. He is known as the voice of the voiceless. Mumia has just turned 59 and needs urgent medical care. Prison authorities are denying him adequate care. Mumia is in danger of dying and only international pressure will be able to force prison authorities to allow Mumia to receive proper medical care.

This week the Aboriginal and progressive communities in Australia lost one of their leaders when Ray Jackson died on the 23rd of April. Ray was a Wiradjuri warrior and a member of the Stolen Generations after he was taken from his mother by the Australian government when his father was killed fighting in the Second World War. Ray was a founding member and a long time president of the Indigenous Social Justice Association that fought against police harassment and Aboriginal deaths in custody. Ray was also a trade unionist, a former member of the Freedom Socialist Party for over ten years, and a tireless and dedicated fighter for justice for all marginalised and oppressed peoples.

The 53 year old human rights and labour activist Somyot Pruksakasemsuk will this week mark 4 years in jail.  Somyot was convicted under Thailand’s draconian Lese Majeste law. Last year Somyot wrote a letter detailing his continuing determination to fight. His case has been taken up by a range of unions around the world, including peak Australian ones. The international campaign for his release will continue and his support groups have asked for his case to be highlighted in May Day marches around the world. Somyot’s wife, Joop, has been at the forefront of the fight for his release even as the repression inside Thailand continues to escalate.