National Day of Action Against Racism

national | racism & migration related issues | event notice Tuesday May 24, 2005 12:32 by Residents Against Racism residentsagainstracism at eircom dot net 12a Brunswick place, Dublin 2 087 7974622 or 087 6662060

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION
AGAINST RACISM

Let us stay! Let us work!
JUSTICE FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS
Saturday 18 June, 12.30 pm
GPO, O’Connell Street, Dublin
Organised by RESIDENTS AGAINST RACISM

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST RACISM

Michael McDowell’s deportation machine has got worse than ever in recent months. He has sent his snatch squads into schools, attempting to drag children away from their classmates and teachers. He has separated mothers from their children. He has torn people away from communities they are now a part of, ignoring calls for compassion from their friends and neighbours.
Asylum seekers in Ireland are forced to live on only €19.10 a week. They are banned from working or studying. People who are ready, willing and able to work are condemned by the government to compulsory unemployment and poverty.
His ideological obsession with deporting people makes Michael McDowell unfit to be in charge of the asylum system. The system should be taken out of the hands of politicians altogether, and run by a body—such as the Human Rights Commission—committed to fair play for asylum seekers.
Exploitation of immigrant workers is widespread in Ireland, based largely on the current work permit system. The permit is given to the employer, not the worker, which ties you to a single company with no right to change jobs. If the boss doesn’t renew your permit, you have no legal right to stay in Ireland.
Recently, popular protest forced McDowell to do a U-turn, and reverse the deportation of Kunle Elukanlo, a school student from Dublin. In the run-up to World Refugee Day, 18 June is a chance to show that not everyone is prepared to stand by and allow state racism to continue.
• Stop the deportations
• Give asylum seekers the right to work
• Take the asylum system out of the politicians’ hands
• Take the work permits away from the employer


Residents Against Racism was set up in 1998 to fight against state racism, and to oppose all manifestations of racism. We have successfully campaigned in support of refugees facing deportation and other forms of harassment from the state. Our supporters include Joe Costello TD, Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD, Joe Higgins TD, Ciarán Cuffe TD, Finian McGrath TD, Michael O’Reilly of the ATGWU, and many other individuals and groups. We are not connected to any political party, and do not receive any state funding.