Source >> Labour Campaign for Free Movement
In Kalamata, the 102-104 surviving refugees from the shipwreck are housed in a warehouse awaiting to be moved to one of Greece’s refugee camps.
Contrary to BBC reports, there are a great mixture of refugees, many speaking Arabic.
I have been talking to many local people and some political activists. All in support of the refugees. All asking the same question: “how if the location of the boat was known and that it was in distress, could this happen?”
The former Prime Minister Tsipras was here this morning. The details of his response are still awaited.
There is a mixture of anger at the EU and UK leaving Greece in the lurch of taking the bulk of the growing flow of desperate refugees. But also a degree of apology for Greece’s response: “what can Greece do when the rest of Europe do nothing?”
After the recent election which the left (Syriza) lost, there is a low morale. But the anger with what happened over the past two days is huge.
There is a certain degree of cynicism about the incoming government’s response. About whether an enquiry will reveal what the Greek border police’s responsibility is.
The faith is not with politicians, but more with relief and sea rescue agencies. Several times I heard “we need human solidarity”, “solidarity between people”. They are right, but we can’t let politicians off the hook. We need a political campaign across Europe for free movement.
And that can’t be a campaign for passing the buck but of doing immediate relief and political action, as much as we can, everywhere. No refugee turned back or left to die. No leaving of Greece or any country to carry the weight. This horror must be stopped.
See also: this account from the Alarmphone initiative, which attempted to raise the alarm after passengers on the boat contacted them before the capsizing. Alarmphone explain how the Greek coastguard’s violent policies push people on the move in the Mediterranean to take more dangerous routes as they attempt to escape the brutality.
Art (54) Book Review (127) Books (114) Capitalism (68) China (81) Climate Emergency (99) Conservative Government (90) Conservative Party (45) COVID-19 (45) EcoSocialism (58) Elections (83) Europe (46) Fascism (61) Film (49) Film Review (68) France (72) Gaza (62) Imperialism (100) Israel (129) Italy (46) Keir Starmer (56) Labour Party (114) Long Read (42) Marxism (50) Marxist Theory (48) Palestine (178) pandemic (78) Protest (154) Russia (341) Solidarity (146) Statement (49) Trade Unionism (142) Ukraine (349) United States of America (134) War (368)
The Anti*Capitalist Resistance Editorial Board may not always agree with all of the content we repost but feel it is important to give left voices a platform and develop a space for comradely debate and disagreement.
Latest Articles
- THE POUM: Republic, Revolution and Counterrevolution
By Andy Durgan “The POUM: Republic, Revolution, and Counterrevolution” provides an updated and original introduction to the history of the party. It examines the POUM’s origins, its relations with the workers’ and peasants’ movements of the time, its political ideas, and its role in the revolution that erupted in July 1936. This is a story… Read more: THE POUM: Republic, Revolution and Counterrevolution - IN STALIN’S SHADOW
Leon Trotsky and the Legacy of the Moscow Trials. by Douglas Greene. “In Stalin’s Shadow” examines how Trotsky has been portrayed as a villainous figure in conspiracy theories ranging from Russian antisemitic television series to neo-Stalinist historical narratives. Greene analyzes the Moscow Trials of the 1930s and unmasks modern defenders of Stalin like Domenico Losurdo… Read more: IN STALIN’S SHADOW - Voices against Putin’s war
Protesters’ defiant speeches in Russian courts. Foreword by John McDonnell MP and edited by Simon Pirani. This book comprises ten speeches in court by people who opposed Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, and were arrested, tried and handed long jail sentences for doing so. There are also letters and interviews in which they made… Read more: Voices against Putin’s war - Great John Maclean Has Come Home to the Clyde
Ian Gault reviews this new biography of the Scottish socialist pioneer, John Maclean - Israel – Boycott, Divest and Sanctions campaign in Hackney
Hackney Palestine Solidarity campaigns for council divestment and an end to twinning with Haifa