Refugees
Police crack down on undocumented workers occupying Paris Pantheon
By Alex Lantier, 13 July 2019
Late yesterday afternoon, approximately 700 undocumented immigrant workers held a peaceful demonstration and occupied Paris’ historic Panthéon building, demanding an immediate recognition of their right to reside in France.
Refugee death toll rises in Mediterranean Sea graveyard
By Marianne Arens, 11 July 2019
The courageous action of ship captain Carola Rackete has again focused public attention on the plight of refugees seeking to reach Europe via the Mediterranean Sea.
Madrid threatens migrant rescue ship with massive fines
By Alejandro López, 6 July 2019
Spain’s social-democratic government has warned it will impose hundreds of thousands of euros in fines on vessels for rescuing refugees in the Mediterranean.
Bombing of detention center in Libya kills at least 44 refugees
By Bill Van Auken, 4 July 2019
The tragedy is the product of the 2011 US-backed war for regime change which has plunged Libya into nearly a decade of civil war and the EU’s war on refugees.
German captain of refugee rescue ship Sea Watch 3 arrested in Italy
By Marianne Arens, 1 July 2019
A few hours after the arrest, mayor of Naples Luigi di Magistris dedicated a sailing boat parade to the brave captain “and all other men and women being unfairly persecuted.”
More than 300 asylum seekers in Glasgow, Scotland to be evicted
By Steve James, 28 June 2019
Services giant Serco is targeting tenants who have fled war and poverty in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Turkish ruling elite whips up chauvinism against Syrian war refugees
By Barış Demir, 27 June 2019
Before the re-run of the Istanbul elections on Sunday, politicians from every major bourgeois party tried to whip up hostility against Syrian refugees in Turkey.
Italy: Captain in court for saving people in distress at sea
By Marianne Arens, 20 June 2019
Pia Klemp, who has rescued about 5,000 people in distress in a total of six missions, faces up to 20 years imprisonment and heavy fines.
German parliament passes draconian deportation law
By Peter Schwarz, 12 June 2019
The new law against refugees and immigrants is an integral part of an attack on the democratic rights of the entire working class.
International Criminal Court filing on refugee policy charges EU with crimes against humanity
By Casey Gold, 11 June 2019
The request details how European officials consciously implemented policies that led to more than 14,000 refugee deaths in the Mediterranean in the last three years.
Social Democrats return to government in Denmark with xenophobic programme
By Dietmar Gaisenkersting, 8 June 2019
The Social Democrats want to limit immigration from non-Western states and set up reception centres for asylum seekers outside the country.
Australian government forces refugees back to face repression in Sri Lanka
By Max Newman, 5 June 2019
At least 20 more asylum seekers have been detained by the Australian navy and deported to Sri Lanka to face possible torture and imprisonment.
France illegally arming Libyan coastguards to stop refugees from Africa
By Anthony Torres and Alex Lantier, 1 June 2019
The policy has been condemned by multiple human rights organizations because of the prevalence of torture, rape, slavery and murder in the camps.
Venezuelan refugees face desperate conditions in Colombia
By Julian James, 29 May 2019
The greatest influx of refugees has been to Colombia, where an estimated 1.1 million Venezuelans survive on the margins of society.
Germany continues deportations to Afghanistan
By Marianne Arens, 25 May 2019
Just days before the European elections, the charter flight to the war-torn country exposes the deadly practice carried out by both the federal and state governments.
Torture report reveals German authorities’ brutal methods during deportations
By Marianne Arens, 16 May 2019
The Committee for the Prevention of Torture detailed methods that are both brutal and shocking.
Liberal and Labor compete in stoking anti-refugee scare-mongering
By Mike Head: SEP candidate for Oxley, 1 May 2019
The SEP unequivocally defends right of asylum seekers, immigrant workers and their families to live, study and work in Australia, or anywhere in the world, as full citizens.
Syriza government authorises mass evictions of refugees and asylum seekers
By John Vassilopoulos, 30 April 2019
The Syriza government has been at the forefront of cracking down on refugees as part of the European Union’s anti-immigrant agenda.
Greece: Syriza government mobilises riot police against refugees
By John Vassilopoulos, 10 April 2019
In enforcing the European Union’s anti-immigrant policy on the continent’s southern border, Syriza willingly acts as the jailer of all refugees stranded within its country’s borders.
Right-wing Italian authorities threaten migrant rescuer with 20 years in prison
By Allison Smith, 9 April 2019
Miguel Roldán Espinosa, a Spanish firefighter, is under criminal investigation and faces a potentially lengthy prison sentence.
Prioritizing of profit at root of fire that killed seven Syrian refugee children in Nova Scotia
By Frédéric Charlebois, 5 April 2019
The mandatory installation of automated sprinklers would save lives, but capitalist governments are loathe to diminish the profits of the construction industry.
Thousands protest against German government’s brutal deportation policy
By our reporters, 2 April 2019
In Berlin and other German cities, more than 5,000 people protested on Saturday against Interior Minister Horst Seehofer’s attacks on refugees and their supporters .
Special unit of the Maltese army storms refugee ship
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 30 March 2019
The case of the cargo ship El Hiblu 1 graphically demonstrates the inhumanity of the European Union’s merciless migration policy.
Deportations from Germany to Maghreb states rise sharply
By Elisabeth Zimmermann, 2 March 2019
Deportations from Germany to the Maghreb states rose 35 percent in one year, and 14-fold since 2015.
German government to tighten up deportations
By Marianne Arens, 19 February 2019
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) has presented a 60-page bill on the deportation of refugees that bears the imprimatur of the far-right Alternative for Germany from start to finish.
Australian government loses vote on refugee medical evacuation legislation
By Oscar Grenfell, 14 February 2019
The bill entrenches the power of the minister to prevent detained refugees from travelling to Australia and receiving desperately needed medical care.
Another 170 immigrants drown in the Mediterranean
By Marianne Arens, 22 January 2019
With the statement “The ports are and will remain closed!” Italian Interior Minister Salvini summed up the EU’s contempt for human rights in its policies towards refugees.
Pentagon extends troop deployment at Mexican border until September
By Matthew Taylor, 17 January 2019
The Trump administration is increasing its repressive measures against immigrants, including doubling the capacity of an immigrant detention center for youth in Homestead, Florida.
Germany deports more refugees to Afghanistan
By Marianne Arens, 11 January 2019
On Monday night, a further 36 refugees were deported to Kabul, including a number who had lived and worked for years in Germany and had no idea they were at risk.
Scuffles in German city of Amberg exploited to incite right-wing campaign
By Marianne Arens and Peter Schwarz, 5 January 2019
Politicians from Bavaria and Berlin have been lining up to outdo each other with proposals for more restrictive asylum laws.
Amid global crackdown on refugees
One sixth of world’s people want to flee their home countries
By Eric London, 31 December 2018
Some 750 million people, not including children, want to escape war, poverty, conflict and disease caused by capitalism.
Bangladesh to relocate Rohingya refugees on remote island
By Rohantha De Silva, 19 December 2018
Nervous about criticism of its plans, the government is attempting to hide information about the new detention facilities and has placed the island under naval control.
Democrats, media silent on child’s death at US border
By Patrick Martin, 17 December 2018
The Caal family's attorneys dispute the official account, saying Jakelin was in good health on arrival at the border station, only displaying signs of illness after being held there for eight hours.
UK: “Stansted 15” anti-deportation protesters found guilty of terrorism charges
By Margot Miller, 17 December 2018
The defendants, who are preparing to appeal the verdict, potentially face life in prison for preventing the departure of an immigration removal flight.
MSF reveals “mental health suffering” in Australia’s Nauru refugee detention camp
By Max Newman, 17 December 2018
Médecins Sans Frontières said the mental health problems were among the worst it had ever seen anywhere in the world.
Increase in self-harm and suicides in UK immigration detention centres
By Simon Whelan, 8 November 2018
Reports show that from 2000 to April, 2018 there have been 35 deaths, 14 of which were self-inflicted.
Government declares child refugees will not remain in Australia
By Max Newman, 8 November 2018
The government’s promise to evacuate detained children from Nauru is a ploy to placate the public outcry over their barbaric treatment.
Mexican police shoot and kill 26-year-old immigrant as repression intensifies along Mexico-Guatemala border
By Andrea Lobo, 30 October 2018
Despite the US threats and the militarized operations by the Guatemalan and Mexican governments, thousands of Central American migrants continue to leave.
Tamil family fight UK plans to deport their seriously ill father
By Simon Whelan, 27 October 2018
Authorities sought to deport Sangarapillai Balachandran, who had been headhunted by a British company due to a severe shortage of civil engineers with his specific skills.
Defend immigrant workers against Trump’s military crackdown
By Bill Van Auken, 27 October 2018
American workers must come to the defense of immigrants and refugees as the Trump administration threatens to close the border and turn armed troops against working class men, women and children.
Trump to deploy hundreds of troops to the border against Central American migrants
By Andrea Lobo, 26 October 2018
The domestic deployment of the military against immigrants is a warning to the entire working class.
Interview with photographer Tom Kiefer: “This work is part of the historical documentation of our country’s response to migration”
El Sueño Americano: Exhibition of migrants’ items seized and discarded by US border patrol
By Norisa Diaz, 26 October 2018
Kiefer worked as a part-time janitor at a US Customs and Border Patrol facility in Arizona for 12 years, collecting items thrown out by officials.
Oppose Trump’s attacks on immigrants! Defend the migrant caravan!
By Niles Niemuth, 25 October 2018
Workers in the US must unite with workers in Mexico and Central America to ensure the safe passage into the country of the several thousand workers making their way towards the US-Mexico border.
Italian Interior Minister Salvini orders removal of migrants from Riace
By Marianne Arens, 19 October 2018
The right-wing coalition government has ordered the removal of all migrants from the “village of hospitality” in southern Calabria.
Trial of “Stansted 15” anti-deportation protesters begins in UK
By Margot Miller, 10 October 2018
The activists locked themselves around a government-chartered Boeing 767 on the night of March 28, 2017, to prevent take-off.
Brutal conditions at Greek refugee camps condemned
By John Vassilopoulos, 9 October 2018
The appalling conditions in Greece refugee camps are a direct consequence of the filthy deal cut between the European Union, Turkey and the Syriza government in 2016.
German government organises mass deportations of refugees to Kabul
By Marianne Arens, 9 October 2018
The louder the protests of working people, the more deliberate and mercilessly the German government pursues its right-wing policies.
German Left Party mayor orders deportation of refugees
By Markus Salzmann, 29 September 2018
The Left Party mayor of Frankfurt on the Oder, René Wilke, has initiated a deportation order against seven refugees from Syria, Pakistan and the Palestinian territories.
France refuses to let Aquarius dock as EU seeks to block refugees
By Alex Lantier, 27 September 2018
Passengers aboard the vessel were Libyans fleeing kidnapping and violence that emerged from the disintegration of Libya after the 2011 NATO war.
Refugees fleeing crisis in Venezuela confront poverty in Peru
By our reporters, 24 September 2018
It is estimated that since 2014 nearly 2.5 million Venezuelans have fled their country to escape a collapsing economy.
Trump administration announces record low cap on refugees allowed into the US
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 20 September 2018
The Trump administration has announced that the number of refugees allowed into the US in the coming year will be capped at 30,000—a record low for the 43-year old refugee resettlement program.
Duisburg, Germany: Social democratic mayor agitates against refugees and migrants from Eastern Europe
By Elisabeth Zimmermann, 14 September 2018
Mayor Sören Link was able to broadcast his racist demagogy on one of Germany’s leading TV channels, claiming citizens from other EU countries were flocking to Germany to cash in on social benefits.
British media blacks out self-immolation of woman at Barnet council office
By Tom Pearce, 8 September 2018
The Conservative-run Barnet council has long been known for its cost-cutting and privatisation of services.
Australian government rushes to deport Vietnamese refugees
By Max Newman, 3 September 2018
After a manhunt in a Queensland rainforest, 17 Vietnamese men were rounded up for deportation “at the first available opportunity.”
Italy’s far-right interior minister charged with kidnapping
By Marianne Arens, 30 August 2018
The state attorney in Agrigento is investigating Italy’s interior minister and chairman of the Lega (League), Matteo Salvini, on charges of deprivation of liberty, illegal detention and abuse of office.
Whistleblowers expose Australian government crimes at Nauru refugee camp
By Oscar Grenfell, 29 August 2018
Medical professionals have warned that children suffering severe mental illness are at risk of dying at the Australian-operated detention centre.
Neo-Nazi mob rampages through East German city of Chemnitz
By Johannes Stern, 28 August 2018
Recent events suggest that the far-right demonstrations were closely coordinated with, or even instigated by, the security authorities.
US continues to terrorize immigrants: Over 500 children still not reunited with parents
By Trévon Austin, 22 August 2018
The parents of 366 children who were separated have already been deported back to their home countries without their children, including six minors under the age of 5.
German federal and regional governments extend refugee camp system nationwide
By Marianne Arens, 21 August 2018
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann claims that the camps are “not detention facilities,” and that “no one is imprisoned,” but that is a lie.
Scotland: Protests force Serco to halt asylum seeker evictions
By Steve James, 14 August 2018
Serco wrote to Glasgow City Council of its intention to evict “former Asylum Seekers who do not wish to engage in voluntary return, and who the Home Office have determined have no legal right to remain in the UK.”
Thousands demonstrate in Germany against far-right attacks on refugee rescue ships
By our reporters, 7 August 2018
Thousands of people demonstrated once again last weekend against the European governments’ inhumane refugee policies.
Italy assists in illegal mass repatriation of refugees to Libya
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 6 August 2018
An Italian merchant ship in cooperation with the Italian government illegally transported 108 refugees rescued at sea back to Libya.
Hundreds of asylum seekers face imminent eviction in Glasgow
By Stephen Alexander, 4 August 2018
Serco has already issued six “lock change notices,” giving asylum seekers just seven days to vacate its property.
German government launches camp system for refugees
By Christoph Vandreier, 2 August 2018
With the inhumane camp system, the coalition government of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats is implementing the refugee policy of the far-right Alternative for Germany.
Protest in Munich against attacks on refugees, poverty and war
By our reporters, 1 August 2018
Despite pouring rain, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Munich against right-wing agitation, increasing military spending, poverty and war.
European Union reduces maritime rescue operations in the Mediterranean
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 26 July 2018
The halting of official rescue operations, like the sabotage of those conducted by private organisations, will lead to a massive rise in fatalities.
UK continues to separate immigrant children from their families
By Margot Miller, 21 July 2018
In the UK, asylum seekers are incarcerated without due process at the whim of the Home Office, with no idea when they might be released.
Millions of refugees face harsh conditions across South Asia
By Rohantha De Silva, 13 July 2018
The plight of millions of refugees in South Asia is a damning indictment of the imperialist powers and the regional ruling elites.
German interior minister’s “Master Plan” for refugees: Internment camps and mass deportations
By Johannes Stern, 12 July 2018
With its “Migration Master Plan,” the grand coalition government has adopted the refugee policy of the far-right Alternative for Germany.
Germany: Tens of thousands demonstrate against inhumane anti-refugee policies
By Gustav Kemper, 10 July 2018
The protests Saturday were organised within the space of a few days almost exclusively via social media.
Refugees ensnared in European dragnet
By Johannes Stern and Andre Damon, 9 July 2018
Germany’s establishment parties have agreed to set up mass refugee internment camps inside the country, based on the criminal and racist immigration policies of the neo-fascists.
Hundreds more immigrant children detained than previously reported
By Eric London, 7 July 2018
The parents of 19 children under the age of 5 have already been deported. Many will never see their children again.
Trauma continues for immigrant children in US detention
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 7 July 2018
The horrors faced by immigrant children in detention centers continue unabated, traumatizing the most vulnerable amongst an already victimized section of society.
German Social Democratic Party backs brutal offensive against refugees
By Marianne Arens, 7 July 2018
The SPD has lined up behind the refugee policy of Interior Minister Horst Seehofer: sealing off the country’s borders, accelerating deportations and establishing closed detention camps.
Germany: Largest ever mass deportation of refugees to Afghanistan
By Marianne Arens, 6 July 2018
In the early hours of July 4, 69 refugees were deported in the largest ever mass deportation to Afghanistan.
Social Democrats back conservative parties’ plan for concentration camps in Germany
By Johannes Stern, 4 July 2018
Leading SPD politicians have welcomed the reactionary agreement by conservative parties for concentration camps for refugees.
More than 200 people drown in the Mediterranean at the weekend
By Marianne Arens, 4 July 2018
Since the beginning of this year, the number of people drowning while attempting to enter Europe has risen to over a thousand.
German government settles dispute at refugees’ expense
By Peter Schwarz, 3 July 2018
The "transit centres," "debarkation platforms" and "control centres" for refugees are creating a technical and legal infrastructure to lock up oppositionists and undesirable minorities in the future.
Left Party supports anti-refugee policies of German government
By Johannes Stern, 3 July 2018
At the EU summit last week, measures against refugees were discussed that recall the darkest period of German and European history.
European defence ministers sign on to European Intervention Initiative
By Peter Schwarz, 3 July 2018
The initiative aims to enable European powers to intervene militarily and wage wars with a “coalition of the willing.”
European Union intensifies campaign of terror against refugees
By Johannes Stern, 2 July 2018
The EU summit at the end of last week marked a dangerous turning point in post-World War II European history.
Opposition mounts to Trump administration’s persecution of immigrants
By E.P. Milligan and Patrick Martin, 30 June 2018
The Trump “solution” to the cruelty of family separation is the provocation of family imprisonment, jailing teenagers, younger children, even babies along with their parents.
European Union adopts far-right refugee policy
By Johannes Stern, 30 June 2018
Hundreds of people fleeing poverty and war have drowned in the Mediterranean over the past week as a result of the EU’s reactionary crackdown on refugees.
EU backs anti-immigrant deal after Italy threatens to torpedo Brussels summit
By Alex Lantier, 29 June 2018
The EU has largely adopted the anti-refugee positions of far-right regimes in Italy, Austria and several Eastern European countries.
Ahead of Brussels summit, EU steps up attacks on refugees
By Alex Lantier, 28 June 2018
As the European Union opens a two-day summit in Brussels today, it is launching a fascistic assault on refugees ultimately aimed at the entire working class.
Eritrean teenagers commit suicide in UK while awaiting permission to stay
By Thomas Scripps, 28 June 2018
The suicides of three Eritrean teenage refugees in the UK in just six months tragically demonstrates the human cost of Europe’s “border security.”
Thousands of refugees forced onto death march into Sahara desert
By Bill Van Auken, 26 June 2018
The reported atrocities carried out by the Algerian government are part of a global assault on immigrants by the major capitalist powers in Europe and America.
Italy strands rescue ship Lifeline as EU refugee summit collapses
By Alex Lantier, 25 June 2018
This is only one of the horrors taking place in Mediterranean waters between Italy and Libya, as the EU moves to block refugee flows.
Italy’s interior minister announces plan to register Roma and Sinti
By Marianne Arens, 23 June 2018
Salvini’s project of a Roma card index recalls one of the darkest periods in European history, drawing its inspiration directly from the vicious measures of Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime.
Right-wing smears against refugee aid workers in the Mediterranean
By Marianne Arens, 22 June 2018
The closure of Italian ports to civilian rescue ships goes hand in hand with the lies and slanders made against NGO rescue ships.
The working class and the global war on immigrants
By Bill Van Auken, 21 June 2018
The brutality and lawlessness of the Trump administration in ripping children from their parents at the US border is part of a global war by capitalist governments against refugees.
Thousands protest against Italian government’s closure of ports for refugee ships
By Marianne Arens, 19 June 2018
The unspeakable tragedy playing out in the Mediterranean will only be made worse by the new restrictions on rescue ships.
The far right determine Europe’s refugee policy
By Peter Schwarz, 15 June 2018
Following the entry of extreme right-wing parties into the Austrian and Italian governments, the European Union and all other European governments are adopting their ruthless refugee policy.
Italian government turns away ship with 629 refugees aboard
By Marianne Arens, 12 June 2018
A decree by the new right-wing Italian government has prevented a ship with more than 600 refugees from landing in Italy. It is the result of the entire EU refugee policy.
Dozens drown in Mediterranean as Europe cracks down on immigrants
By Eric London, 4 June 2018
At least 55 people died at sea over the weekend—the direct product of the anti-immigrant policies implemented by the governments of Europe.
Libyan militias shoot 15 dead after mass escape from migrant torture camp
By Marianne Arens, 4 June 2018
The business of kidnapping and ransom payments is booming in Libya, with dozens of camps in which refugees from across Africa and the Middle East are confined, tortured, sold or murdered.
French riot police launch mass expulsions of refugees from Paris
By Athiyan Silva, 4 June 2018
On Wednesday, hundreds of French riot police assaulted one of the biggest refugee camps in France, at the Saint Denis Canal in the 19th district of Paris.
UK: Grenfell victims’ relatives unable to commemorate loved-ones due to government anti-immigration policies
By Simon Whelan, 4 June 2018
Government policies bringing about heartache for Grenfell relatives are having the very impact the government desired—making it more difficult for them to testify at the public inquiry.
Rohingya refugees face catastrophe in Bangladesh
By Rohantha De Silva, 31 May 2018
Despite hypocritical statements of concern by the major world powers, Rohingya are at risk from landslides, floods and epidemics this monsoon season.
Persecution of refugees mounts after passage of French asylum law
By Athiyan Silva, 21 May 2018
WSWS reporters visited camps in Paris where 3,000 refugees, mostly youth born after the 1991 Iraq war, live in inhuman conditions.
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