Refugees
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.
Greek Syriza government steps up brutal repression of refugees and asylum seekers
By John Vassilopoulos, 19 May 2018
Syriza and its government coalition partners have become the EU’s jailor, presiding over what are essentially concentration camps.
Stop the terror directed against refugees in Germany!
By Ulrich Rippert, 11 May 2018
The night-time raid last week by hundreds of police on a refugee camp in Ellwangen was a deliberate state provocation aimed at intimidating anyone who dares to oppose the aggressive and often illegal deportation measures of the German state.
Oppose the brutal police crackdown on refugees in Germany
By Christoph Vandreier, 9 May 2018
The brutal police assault on a refugee camp in Ellwangen in the German state of Baden-Württemberg marks a step in the direction of a police state and undermines core democratic rights.
Inhuman conditions in Germany’s largest refugee detention centre
By Elisabeth Zimmermann, 4 May 2018
Germany’s grand coalition of conservative parties and the Social Democratic Party is intent on stepping up the deportation of refugees and extending the country’s system of deportation centres.
In barbaric treatment of Central American refugees
US denies right to asylum
By Eric London, 3 May 2018
The decision to block nearly 200 Central American immigrants from applying for asylum marks a turning point in the attack on democratic rights.
UK: Rudd resigns as home secretary after lying to Parliament over migrant deportation targets
By Thomas Scripps, 1 May 2018
The “hostile environment” at the Home Office was never previously challenged by its belated critics.
French immigration bill attacks right to asylum
By Athiyan Silva, 1 May 2018
The neo-fascist National Front voted for provisions of the bill, marking the first time a French government has passed legislative measures with FN support.
Alleged corruption scandal in Bremen used to restrict right to asylum in Germany
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 26 April 2018
An incident hyped by the right-wing Bild tabloid as a “major corruption scandal” turns out on closer inspection to be nothing of the sort.
Israel imprisons Eritrean asylum seekers who refuse deportation orders
By Jean Shaoul, 9 March 2018
Netanyahu announced that Israel is seeking to expel at least 600 Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers each month, a total of 7,200 a year, and 20,000 by 2020.
Growing opposition to Israeli government’s plans to deport African refugees
By Jean Shaoul, 1 February 2018
Israel has a less than one percent success rate for asylum seekers, far below that of European Union countries.
Macron prepares draconian new French anti-immigrant law
By Athiyan Silva, 19 January 2018
The bill represents a drastic assault on the right to asylum, effectively handing police authorities the power to deport refugees without any serious hearing whatsoever.
German politician proposes “final solution” of the refugee question
By Marianne Arens and Martin Kreickenbaum, 12 January 2018
At a closed-door meeting of the Christian Social Union parliamentary group, Manfred Weber declared that in 2018 a central question would be “a final solution to the refugee issue.”
Australian government spent $4 billion last year repelling or detaining refugees
By Max Newman, 12 January 2018
Budget estimates reveal the massive cost of Australia’s anti-asylum measures.
Berlin Senate authorises brutal deportation of refugee family before Christmas
By Carola Kleinert, 5 January 2018
The Berlin Senate is increasingly pursuing the same racist course as the current conservative-social democratic federal coalition government.
Australia continues punitive treatment of refugees on Manus Island
By Max Newman, 5 January 2018
Despite protests and UN condemnations of Australia, the detainees confront worsening conditions.
US considers splitting immigrant children from parents in immigration jails
By Eric London, 23 December 2017
The proposal comes at the end of a week marked by ruthless attacks against immigrants.
Amnesty International report exposes EU role in mass torture of refugees in Libya
By Alex Lantier, 13 December 2017
The EU is helping build and equip a vast network of prison camps in which refugees are arbitrarily detained, beaten, tortured, sold into slavery and murdered.
Germany: Protests against the deportation of refugees
By our correspondents, 9 December 2017
Refugees from Afghanistan were herded onto a plane and flown from the German airport in Frankfurt-Main to Kabul, despite the efforts of several hundred demonstrators.
Canada: Federal and provincial governments underfund indigenous childcare
By Janet Browning, 4 December 2017
The chronic underfunding of indigenous childcare and the terrible conditions it produces are sharp expressions of a broader assault on public spending and social services.
Rohingya refugees face appalling conditions in Bangladesh
By Wimal Perera, 30 November 2017
Violating the basic rights of refugees, the Bangladesh government is desperate to push them back to Burma.
Artist lists names of fortress Europe’s 33,000 refugee victims
By Dietmar Henning, 18 November 2017
Artist Banu Cennetoğlu has published a list with the names of 33,293 asylum seekers, refugees and migrants who have died since 1993 as a result of Europe’s refugee policies.
Ai Weiwei’s Human Flow is a major work, but what does the defense of immigrants entail?
By Eric London, 15 November 2017
The film is an aesthetic and political milestone and Ai’s imagery is unforgettable because it is real. But in its political orientation, Human Flow lags far behind.
Burma: Pogroms continue against Rohingya Muslims
By John Roberts, 12 October 2017
The real aim of the military, with the full collaboration of Aung San Suu Kyi and her government, is to drive the Rohingya out of Burma.
Germany’s conservative parties shift further to the right
By Peter Schwarz, 11 October 2017
The Christian Democratic Union and its partner, the Christian Social Union, have agreed on a common line of approach for a future government coalition to include the Free Democratic Party and the Greens.
Germany’s Social Democratic president calls for tougher refugee policy and adaptation to AfD
By Christoph Vandreier, 5 October 2017
In his speech on German Unity Day, the president advocated an understanding with the ultra-right AfD, a tougher refugee policy and “German patriotism.”
German Left Party’s Lafontaine launches AfD-style tirade against refugees
By Johannes Stern, 4 October 2017
The Left Party is using the AfD’s electoral success to justify adopting its xenophobic programme.
Millions of European workers in precarious employment
By Verena Nees, 26 September 2017
On the 150th anniversary of Marx’s Capital, a new report reveals how European capitalism has created a huge army of precarious workers, plunging millions into poverty.
Trump administration threatens further clampdown on refugees
By Bill Van Auken, 14 September 2017
In the wake of a Supreme Court ruling upholding Trump’s anti-Muslim “travel ban,” his administration is considering plans to drastically slash refugee admissions to the US.
German SGP election candidate speaks at student protest against deportations
By our reporters, 4 September 2017
Marianne Arens, an election candidate of the Socialist Equality Party (SGP), spoke at a demonstration of students in the town of Offenbach protesting against the deportation of classmates to Afghanistan.
EU holds Paris conference to set up detention camps for migrants in Libya
By Alex Lantier, 29 August 2017
The summit aimed to deny the right of asylum to hundreds of thousands of refugees and block their travel through Africa to Libya and across the Mediterranean to Europe.
Number of refugees fleeing violence in South Sudan reaches a new high of four million
By Eddie Haywood, 19 August 2017
On average 1,800 South Sudanese have arrived in Uganda every day over the past twelve months, desperately fleeing the destruction caused by five years of civil war.
Refugees: EU strikes deadly deal with Libyan coast guard on refugees
By Marianne Arens, 19 August 2017
Returned to Libya, impoverished immigrants face execution, torture, rape, blackmail and abandonment in the middle of the desert.
SPD wages law-and-order campaign in Germany’s federal election
By Peter Schwarz, 17 August 2017
Adopting many slogans of the extreme right, Social Democratic candidate for Chancellor Martin Schulz is calling for more police and a crackdown on immigrants.
Germany resumes deportation of refugees to Greece
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 8 August 2017
For the first time since 2011, Germany will deport refugees to Greece, even though the majority of them confront homelessness and impoverishment.
France launches attack on rights of refugees and immigrant workers
By Athiyan Silva, 2 August 2017
Macron is planning attacks on the democratic rights of immigrants in France, and a network of concentration camps to keep refugees in Africa from arriving in Europe.
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