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feature
 Tuesday February 17, 2004 19:37 by Indymedia Ireland Editorial Group - Indymedia Ireland
 Residents Against Racism Protests Mass-Deportations at Dáil Éireann
Rosanna Flynn of Residents Against Racism remarked "We are having great difficulty in getting any information about who these people were. We know that some of them had children, whether there were Irish born children we do not know. We just don't know." According to Joe Costello, TD (Labour) three of the families may not have been served with deportation orders previously. "That would be a breach of the procedures, they would have had 15 days to respond on humanitarian grounds." Costello added, "It's going to be very hard to deal with that now because they are outside the Country and are now banned from returning to Ireland" Commenting further at the Friday the 13th Residents Against Racism protest in front of Dáil Éireann, Costello said "The way [Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell (Progressive Democrat)] acted is unacceptable, it's just unacceptable. This is effectively a mass deportation. Gardai came along - stood over people while they packed their bags and then took them away - a clandestine dawn raid on people's homes and lives." Ciaran Cuffe, TD (Green) put the morning raids in a broader European context. Many of the deportees were from Romania, an accession country due to join the European Union in 2007. "Today, you saw pictures of Silvio Berlusconi embraced by Bertie Ahern, that's a fair reflection of the kind of agenda that has been pursured by the Irish Presidency." Rather than welcoming future EU citizens, "It looks as though McDowell is more interested in running a charter airline to get people out of Ireland than in putting human rights on to the agenda." Cuffe also tabled questions in the Dail this week requesting information about the deported children in an effort to establish whether or not they were Irish-born. Finian McGrath, TD (Independent) notes the irony that Ireland needs migrant workers more than ever just as it is deporting them: "People have always moved away from areas where there was less economic growth to areas where there is more wealth and more resources ... there are many hospitals tonight in Dublin that would not be able to operate without the support of immigrant workers." "Its sad." said Costello, "Its almost like going back to the time of Jim Larkin. So many of these workers have no right to join a trade union, virtually no rights at all ... Ireland is a country that brought in 50,000 migrants to work last year - we want to get cheap labor but we want it under such restrictive conditions that they effectively have no rights. They are bonded servants of the employers." Also at the protest to express her support for the deported was Mary Kelly, known for putting an axe into a US Navy plane parked at Shannon a year ago. Kelly linked the issues of war and civil liberties: "It is sad but understandable why so few non-EU nationals came to this protest. It is fear. The Irish State currently has Eoin Rice in Limerick Prison for speaking his mind. There is fear in the anti-war community, too. The Irish State's racist policies and support for war have affected the civil liberties of us all." In the weeks ahead, Rosanna Flynn of Residents Against Racism expects more mass-deportations and hopes to see renewed street activism to bring attention to this issue. "They now say that this will be the first of many such operations. We have to make our voices heard and really take to the streets and get more people out. I dont think Irish people want this to happen. This is like having a secret police force in Ireland - shades of the KGB." More News & Links: • Michael McDowell 'Monstered' in UCD - Indymedia Account • Protesters jostle McDowell at University College Dublin - Irish Examiner • Hypocritical McDowell unfit to guide immigration policies - Politics.ie • Irish Refugee Council • The National Network of Refugee, Asylum & Immigrant Support Groups • KnowRacism.ie • No Border Network • Another Europe Is Possible • No To Fortress Europe • 'No Borders, No Nations' - street theatre against Fortress Europe: Thursday March 4th
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Comments (11 of 11)
Jump To Comment: 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1British fears of an influx of immigrants from eastern European countries joining the EU in May were rubbished in Brussels yesterday as a new survey found that total migration into existing member states after the EU's biggest ever enlargement is likely to be about 1% over the next five years.
''Census figures just released show Scotland's population will fall below 5 million by 2009. So while most countries are worried about unchecked growth, the Scots have extinction on their minds. If current trends continue, by the year 3573 there'll be two people left in Scotland...''
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0219/p09s02-coop.html
Its very sad to see such a few constructive comments about this very important issue.
This is an issue that has to be discussed -and all stupid political ideology should be left out.
Fair play to redjade to make this feature.
Keep up the good work. In solidarity
Labour and the Greens are both in favour of restricting immigration so there presence at this protest is laughable. Nice Treaty supporter Paul Dillon also spoke, he forgot to mention that Nice brought in more anti immigrant rules.
Your case isn't helped by the obvious fact that swapping you for an immigrant would perceptibly increase the average IQ of the country. I'm sure the average immigrant child who'd spent as many years in school as you would be better at spelling and punctuation.
Iman is gorgeous frankly we need many more immigrants like her she's from somalia though not bangladesh.
What's wrong with Hottentots as long as we observe the Coke boycott and don't let them get any Coke bottles we'll all be OK.
Also VS Naipaul was(is?) from Trinidada and he's a miserable old bollix, who franky we don't need and nor does any society.
1) There is no reason to fear a drop in population. as:
a) full emplyment is a good thing
b) Pensions for the elderly can be paid for regardless.
2) Kofi Annan has appealed for mass third world immigration to "fortress europe", I'm wondering why he doesnt chastise non-white countries like japan who have much stricter immigration controls then western countries. Of course his own racist views against whites compels him to encourage the population of his own peoples to migrate to europe. Of course european culture is so decadent and evil that it must be swept aside to make way for a vibrant new wave of peoples
3) In 20 years time 50% of the under 18 population in holland will be muslims. This MATTERS. The quality of immigrants matter too. A well educated man from trinidad DOES make a better immigrant then a Hottentot or a Iman from banglidesh.
BERLIN (Reuters) - British director Ken Loach (news) said on Friday he hoped his new film "Ae Fond Kiss" shed light on how religious pressures can hamper the assimilation of immigrants.
The film, which got a rousing reception at its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, is about the Muslim son of devout Pakistani immigrants in Scotland who falls in love with an Irish Catholic teacher
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Ae Fond Kiss
http://www.britfilms.com/britishfilms/catalogue/browse/?id=D9CC705918f3b21113yKr3D7F2BE
A film with a similar theme is Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things - rent it if you can!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301199/
"This is like having a secret police force in Ireland - shades of the KGB."
How silly! We have always had a secret police. Never heard of the 'Special Branch'? or indeed the Garda Heavy Gang?
They havn't gone away, you know.
'' Here in Europe, your birth rates and death rates have dropped dramatically. Your populations are getting smaller and growing older. Without immigration, the population of the soon-to-be 25 Member States of the EU – 452 million in 2000 – would drop to under 400 million people by 2050. Some states – such as Italy, Austria, Germany and Greece – would see their populations drop by around a quarter. That would mean that one in three Italians would be over the age of 65 –nearly double the proportion today.
Were this to happen, jobs would go unfilled and services undelivered. Your economies would shrink and your societies could stagnate. Many other countries – from Japan to the Russian Federation to South Korea – face the same problem.
There is no simple solution to this problem. But immigration is an inevitable and important part of the solution.
I would therefore encourage European States to open up greater avenues for legal migration – for skilled and unskilled workers, for family reunification and economic improvement, for temporary and permanent immigrants. ''