Immigrants and refugees
White House appeals ruling against anti-Muslim travel ban
By Tom Carter, 6 February 2017
Trump took to Twitter to denounce the “so-called judge” who struck down the ban, while Trump’s lawyers argued that the president has “unreviewable authority” over immigration and foreign policy.
Canada’s hypocritical response to Trump’s anti-Muslim order
By Roger Jordan, 6 February 2017
While tweeting “support” for refugees, Prime Minster Trudeau has refused to criticize Trump’s discriminatory travel ban or increase Canada’s tiny refugee intake.
EU summit approves sealing off the Mediterranean from refugees
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 6 February 2017
As European governments hypocritically denounce Trump’s anti-immigrant measures, the EU is planning to build up the Libyan coastguard and establish internment camps in North Africa to keep out refugees.
Australian prime minister defends Trump’s anti-immigrant bans
By Mike Head, 31 January 2017
In the face of global outrage over Trump’s measures, Turnbull undertook to strengthen relations with the new US administration.
UK Prime Minister May under attack over meeting with Trump
By Robert Stevens and Chris Marsden, 30 January 2017
With protests taking place in the US and throughout the world, May was forced into an abrupt U-turn after initially refusing to comment on Trump’s edict banning Muslims from entering the US.
Germany carries out second expulsion of Afghan refugees
By Anna Rombach, 30 January 2017
Twenty-six Afghan refugees were deported last Monday from Rhein-Main airport to Kabul in a joint operation by federal and state governments.
Human Rights Watch again condemns Australia’s inhuman treatment of refugees
By Max Newman, 28 January 2017
The HRW report points to the rapidly escalating erosion of basic legal and democratic rights in Australia which continues despite previous such reports.
Racist anti-immigrant riots in Poland
By Clara Weiss, 16 January 2017
Racist clashes broke out in the northeastern Polish town of Ełk at the New Year, following the murder of a 21-year-old Polish man.
More restrictive laws target refugees after Berlin attack
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 14 January 2017
Less than three weeks after the terrorist attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, the German justice minister and interior minister have agreed on a number of more restrictive laws targeting refugees and migrants.
Demonstration in Germany against deportations to Afghanistan
By Marianne Arens, 12 January 2017
All of the established parties, including the Left Party, support the inhumane German government policy of deporting refugees to war zones.
New Year’s Eve in Cologne, Germany: Racist agitation and state repression
By Dietmar Henning, 5 January 2017
The huge police deployment in Cologne on New Year’s Eve was accompanied by calls for the strengthening of the state apparatus.
Germany in 2016: Mass deportations and brutality toward refugees
By Stefan Steele, 5 January 2017
The ruthlessness and cruelty of German authorities against refugees is assuming alarming proportions. Last year alone, 25,000 were deported.
“New Year’s Eve in Cologne”: The scapegoating of Muslims and refugees deepens
By Lena Sokoll, 3 January 2017
In Cologne as well as in other cities in Germany, police have now been supplied with sub-machine guns to conduct armed patrolling of cities.
Australia’s “border protection” regime claims another victim
By Max Newman, 3 January 2017
Faysal Ishak Ahmed, a 27-year-old asylum seeker from Sudan, died after suffering a seizure and collapsing in an Australian-controlled detention centre.
More than 5,000 refugees drowned in the Mediterranean in 2016
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 31 December 2016
The dramatic rise was a direct result of the European Union’s brutal deterrence policy—in particular the reinforcement of the EU’s external borders.
Berlin’s “red-red-green” state government sets up refugee ghettos made from shipping containers
By Franci Vier, 30 December 2016
The move makes clear that the coalition will continue the right-wing refugee policies of its Social Democrat-Christian Democrat predecessor.
Massive protests in Germany against deportations to Afghanistan
By Marianne Arens and Martin Kreickenbaum, 16 December 2016
Protesters at the Frankfurt airport carried stop signs and chanted slogans such as “Deportation is torture, deportation is murder. A right to stay for all, immediately!”
Germany to begin mass deportations to Afghanistan
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 9 December 2016
Later this month the German government will begin the mass deportations of asylum seekers back to Afghanistan.
German chancellor demands stricter asylum laws and ban on burqa
By Ulrich Rippert, 8 December 2016
At the CDU party congress in Essen, Chancellor Merkel delivered a right-wing speech full of xenophobic attacks and calls for the strengthening of the police and military.
Inquest evidence shows Australian government was responsible for asylum seeker’s death
By Max Newman, 8 December 2016
The medical evidence makes clear that Hamid Kehazaei died as a direct consequence of the refugee detention regime imposed by successive Australian governments.
German government plans mass deportation of refugees
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 7 December 2016
The German government is significantly expanding its deportation efforts and intends to construct what in practice will be a mass deportation apparatus.
Incoming Berlin senate plans more deportations
By Carola Kleinert, 26 November 2016
The Left Party, the Greens and Social Democrats want to organize mass deportations more efficiently through their preferred method of “voluntary” repatriation.
Incoming Berlin senate plans more deportations under a new guise
By Carola Kleinert, 25 November 2016
The Left Party, the Greens and Social Democrats want to organize mass deportations more efficiently through their preferred method of “voluntary” repatriation.
Greek fascists attack refugee camp
By John Vassilopoulos, 24 November 2016
Riot police intervened to stop Thursday’s attacks on the camp only after they had gone on for five hours.
German city builds four-metre-high wall in front of refugee shelter
By Anna Rombach, 22 November 2016
Criticism of the wall has been directed not only against the Munich politicians responsible, but also the reactionary policies of the grand coalition government in Berlin.
Australia: Desperate refugee sets fire to himself in a bank
By Peter Byrne, 22 November 2016
Nur Islam, a young Rohingya man who fled Burma, was on a temporary bridging visa, which blocked basic social and political rights, including to work.
Over 300 refugees drown in Mediterranean
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 19 November 2016
Turning refugees away from Europe’s coasts and leaving them to drown in the Mediterranean is a crime that exposes the EU’s true brutality.
Australian government unveils brutal refugee deal with the US
By Max Newman, 14 November 2016
On both sides of the Pacific, the world’s most vulnerable people will be denied the basic right to seek protection, while many will face permanent separation from their families.
After Calais camp closure
French neo-fascists step up calls for attacks on refugees
By Francis Dubois, 11 November 2016
Those calling for the persecution of refugees enjoy the more or less open support of the French political establishment.
Refugees face catastrophic conditions in Italy and Greece
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 7 November 2016
Amnesty International has accused the Italian security forces of using torture and ill-treatment to force refugees to be fingerprinted.
Capsized boats in Mediterranean leave 240 refugees dead
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 5 November 2016
At least 4,220 refugees have already died in the Mediterranean this year trying to reach Europe.
Push for harsher anti-immigrant measures in New Zealand
By John Braddock, 31 October 2016
The most significant voices in growing anti-immigrant agitation are the Unite union, which includes members of two pseudo-left groups, and the trade union-funded Daily Blog.
Report documents Canadian government’s abuse of immigrant and refugee children
By Janet Browning and Roger Jordan, 29 October 2016
Under the ostensibly “refugee friendly” Trudeau government, the Canada Border Services Agency is continuing to incarcerate children in prison-like conditions in violation of international law.
Refugee deaths surge in the Mediterranean
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 27 October 2016
According to UN data, 3,740 refugees drowned at sea in the first ten months of 2016, more than the total for all of last year.
French police launch demolition of “Jungle” refugee camp in Calais
By Kumaran Ira and Alex Lantier, 25 October 2016
The Socialist Party government’s hailing of the police assault on the camp as a “humanitarian” operation designed to protect refugees is an odious political lie.
British press witch-hunt refugee children from Calais
By Robert Stevens, 20 October 2016
A xenophobic campaign by British politicians and media is being waged against children arriving in the UK from the Calais migrant camp.
UN committee condemns Australia’s Nauru refugee camp
By Max Newman, 19 October 2016
The Committee on the Rights of the Child described the treatment of children in the Australian-controlled detention centre as “inhumane and degrading.”
Berlin police shoot Iraqi refugee
By Verena Nees, 30 September 2016
The young father of three was shot dead after reacting to the alleged sexual assault of his six-year-old daughter by another man.
Vienna refugee conference reaffirms Europe’s closed-border policy
By Martin Kreikenbaum, 29 September 2016
The conference has underscored the inhumane and reactionary content of German Chancellor's Merkel’s refugee policy.
Lesbos fire highlights tragic situation of refugees in Greece
By John Vassilopoulos, 27 September 2016
Around 60 percent of the camp was destroyed, including sleeping tents and clothing supplies.
Australian government claims refugee policy “best in the world”
By Max Newman, 26 September 2016
At the UN summit, Prime Minister Turnbull urged countries to adopt Australia’s “border protection” regime.
UK steps up repression of migrant workers
By Alice Summers, 20 September 2016
Migrant workers live in constant fear of raids by immigration officers, both at work and at home.
UK reneges on its promise to take in Syrian refugees
By Jean Shaoul, 17 September 2016
One year after former Prime Minister David Cameron promised to settle 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020, only 2,800 have arrived in Britain.
Few Syrian refugees yet to arrive in Australia
By Max Newman, 10 September 2016
Less than 2,000 Syrian and Iraqi asylum seekers have been allowed entry since the government’s promise to protect 12,000 people nearly a year ago.
German states try to offload refugees on each other
By Elisabeth Zimmermann, 6 September 2016
North Rhine-Westphalia is demanding that thousands of refugees return to wherever in Germany they first applied for asylum.
German Luftwaffe begin NATO patrols over the Baltic
By Johannes Stern, 5 September 2016
NATO’s growing operations in Eastern Europe heighten the danger of direct conflict with a nuclear-armed Russia.
Refugee numbers decline as deaths rise in the Mediterranean
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 2 September 2016
More than 3,167 refugees have lost their lives during the crossing to Europe in the first eight months of this year.
Appalling conditions in Greek refugee camps
By Katerina Selin, 23 August 2016
The mainstream media has gone silent on refugees in Greece, but the suffering of these people, fleeing war and poverty, continues without interruption.
German deportations rise sharply in the first half of 2016
By Marianne Arens, 12 August 2016
While the German government is involved in the escalation of war abroad, it is simultaneously determined to deal brutally with those refugees that arrive in Germany.
Canada: Refugees mount hunger strike to protest indefinite detention
By Laurent Lafrance, 10 August 2016
The conditions facing the hunger strikers make a mockery of the Trudeau Liberals’ claims to be heading a “refugee-friendly,” “progressive” government.
A year in the plight of Berlin’s refugees
By Verena Nees, 8 August 2016
The Berlin Senate wants the distressing images of refugees on city’s streets to be forgotten ahead of the state election.
Refugees confront inhumane conditions at mass accommodation centres in Berlin
By Carola Kleinert, 6 August 2016
The thousands of people who have fled from war and poverty to Germany continue to face unbearable conditions and are still being housed in mass accommodation centres.
Amnesty report denounces Australia’s “cruel” refugee regime on Nauru
By Mike Head, 5 August 2016
The Australian government has set a brutal model for countries around the world to punish and bar entry to millions of desperate refugees.
Chasing Asylum: Exposing Australia’s brutal refugee-detention regime
By Richard Phillips, 29 July 2016
The feature-length documentary is a harrowing account of the systematic cruelty and de-humanisation of asylum-seekers in Australia’s offshore detention centres.
Documentary director Eva Orner discusses Chasing Asylum
By Richard Phillips, 29 July 2016
The filmmaker explained to the WSWS why she decided to lift the veil of secrecy on Australia’s offshore refugee detention centres.
Deportations triple in Berlin
By Carola Kleinert, 21 July 2016
According to official figures, 1,068 people were deported from Berlin between January and the end of June 2016.
Unicef report reveals 250 million children are victims of war
By Elisabeth Zimmermann, 15 July 2016
The shocking consequences for millions of children growing up in war zones can last decades.
Hungarian government cracks down on refugees
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 12 July 2016
The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban is carrying out mass deportations of refugees to Serbia and Croatia without due process.
European Union working with African despots to deter refugees
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 11 July 2016
At their latest meeting in the Slovakian capital Bratislava, EU interior ministers agreed on speedier deportation of refugees and closer cooperation with African dictatorships.
Germany: The Left Party’s fraudulent refugee policy
By Andy Niklaus and Verena Nees, 24 June 2016
Wherever the Left Party is in power it implements the inhumane refugee policies of the German government.
Berlin plans mass deportations and more police
By Carola Kleinert, 23 June 2016
The plan is aimed at controlling refugees by threatening them with cuts in support.
UN agency reports 65 million people are refugees worldwide
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 22 June 2016
The number of people around the globe displaced by war, armed conflict and persecution set a new record at the end of 2015.
European Court of Justice upholds UK ban on migrant benefits
By Robert Stevens, 16 June 2016
The judgment states the British government can withhold family welfare benefits to EU migrants who are not working if they do not have the “right to reside” in the UK.
European Union seeks agreements with African dictators to deter refugees
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 16 June 2016
In exchange for financial assistance, despotic regimes in Africa are to seal off escape routes and detain and deport refugees.
Hundreds more refugees die in the Mediterranean
By Martin Kreikenbaum, 6 June 2016
Within eight days, many more than 1,200 refugees have drowned during their voyage to Europe.
More than 2,500 refugees drowned in Mediterranean so far this year
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 2 June 2016
The number of refugee deaths over the first five months of this year, up 35 percent from 2015, has hit a new record.
German Green Party leader confronts Jörg Baberowski with his war propaganda
By Christoph Vandreier and Peter Schwarz, 1 June 2016
The national chair of the Green Party confronted Professor Baberowski on the “Maybrit Illner” talk show with his demand to employ the methods of a war of extermination to fight terrorists.
Who is responsible for the massacre in the Mediterranean?
By Bill Van Auken, 31 May 2016
With estimates of up to 900 refugees drowning, the past week has been the deadliest so far this year.
Right-wing German academic Jörg Baberowski demands more repression against refugees
By Christoph Vandreier, 31 May 2016
At the Phil.Cologne congress, the Humboldt University professor declared that “men in Germany” were helpless against refugees because they had forgotten how to fight.
Over 700 refugees drown in Mediterranean shipwrecks
By Laura Tiernan, 30 May 2016
In the deadliest week for refugees so far this year, over 700 people died trying to reach Europe from North Africa in three separate disasters.
After clearing the camp in Idomeni, Greece: Syriza government continues its attacks on refugees
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 30 May 2016
Catastrophic conditions prevail in the state-run camps for refugees in Idomeni, near the Macedonia border.
Anti-migrant rhetoric dominates debate on UK membership in the EU
By Robert Stevens, 28 May 2016
The Leave campaign is focusing on whipping up hysteria over immigration.
Over a hundred feared dead as refugee boats sink in Mediterranean
By Bill Van Auken, 27 May 2016
The latest tragedies underscore the criminal character of the efforts to seal Europe’s borders to refugees.
Major police operation against Roma in Berlin
By Andy Niklaus and Karola Kleinert, 27 May 2016
A hundred-strong force of the Berlin police conducted a brutal raid on Roma families protesting against their threatened deportation.
German chancellor boosts anti-refugee deal in visit to Turkey
By Peter Schwarz, 26 May 2016
Angela Merkel traveled to Turkey last week in an attempt to shore up the deal stuck between Turkey and the EU to block refugees from entering Europe.
Greek Syriza government orders clearing of Idomeni refugee camp
By Katerina Selin, 25 May 2016
Special forces and police have forcibly removed all refugees, who have struggled to survive there for months, from the camp.
Sri Lankan refugees imprisoned after removal from Australia
By Max Newman, 14 May 2016
Asylum seekers have been forcibly deported to face imprisonment in Sri Lanka.
Two refugees set themselves alight in Australia’s Nauru detention centre
By Max Newman, 4 May 2016
The Australian government has labelled the protests as acts of “self-harm” to divert from any examination of why refugees have been driven to such desperate actions.
German labour minister cuts social assistance to EU immigrants
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 3 May 2016
New legislation seeks to deny social assistance and Hartz IV benefits to European immigrants who enter Germany to look for work.
British government refuses asylum for refugee children
By Jean Shaoul, 3 May 2016
The government’s refusal to accept even a few hundred children follows its attempts to prevent unaccompanied minors trapped in France from being re-united with their families.
Eighty-four migrants missing in new sinking off Libyan coast
By Alex Lantier, 2 May 2016
It is feared that dozens of innocent men, women, and children have again drowned in the Mediterranean, victims of the EU’s sinister and vindictive refugee policy.
Austria abolishes right to asylum
By Markus Salzmann, 2 May 2016
The Austrian government has responded to the success of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) in the first round of the presidential election by embracing its far-right politics.
Germany: Left Party state government organizes brutal deportations in Thuringia
By Marianne Arens, 30 April 2016
Since the end of last year, the Left Party-led state government has organised regular mass deportations.
PNG court declares Australian refugee detention camp illegal
By Mike Head, 28 April 2016
Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court ruling exposes the unlawful character of the Australian policy of incarcerating asylum seekers on remote islands.
UN refugee agency confirms mass drownings in Mediterranean
By Martin Kreikenbaum, 23 April 2016
The fatalities are looked upon as collateral damage by Europe’s ruling elite, which aims to deter refugees by sealing the EU’s borders and subjecting asylum seekers to violence, mass incarceration and deportation.
German government backs draconian refugee “integration” law
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 22 April 2016
The planned legislation does nothing to help refugees, but is instead an attack on basic democratic rights.
Refugee deaths in the Mediterranean: An imperialist crime
By Peter Schwarz, 20 April 2016
Thousands of deaths by drowning are accepted, if not welcomed, as collateral damage required by the campaign to keep desperate refugees out of Europe.
Hundreds feared dead as another refugee boat sinks in Mediterranean
By Peter Schwarz, 19 April 2016
According to reports, hundreds more refugees drowned in the Mediterranean Sea on the first anniversary of the worst refugee boat disaster to date.
Hollande sheds crocodile tears over refugees in Lebanon visit
By Kumaran Ira, 19 April 2016
French President François Hollande began his four-day trip to the Middle East, visiting Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, to boost economic and military ties amidst escalating war.
Macedonian police use tear gas and rubber bullets against refugees
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 11 April 2016
Greece and the Balkan states stepped up police violence and repression in the wake of the EU’s deal to deport refugees en masse to Turkey.
Austria rejects all refugees
By Markus Salzmann, 7 April 2016
The Austrian government has announced it will turn away refugees at the border after conducting summary hearings.
Greece’s Syriza: Full partner in historic crime against refugees
By Bill Van Auken, 5 April 2016
The police-state measures and summary deportations employed by the Syriza government against refugees are of a piece with its relentless attacks on the Greek working class.
Syriza and European Union begin mass deportations from Greece
By Johannes Stern, 5 April 2016
The brutal actions against refugees and the militarisation of Europe are directly linked to the intensification of the attacks on the working class in Greece and throughout the continent.
Syriza government carries out mass deportation of refugees from Greece to Turkey
By Robert Stevens, 4 April 2016
Thousands of people are being deported as part of the deal to seal off the “Balkan route” to refugees fleeing the war zones of the Middle East.
Opposition in Greece to European Union refugee policy
By Katerina Selin, 2 April 2016
Two thousand refugees and aid workers demonstrated in Athens against the recent agreement between the EU and Turkey
Podemos helps strengthen “Fortress Europe” against migrants in Spain
By Carlos Hernández and Paul Mitchell, 2 April 2016
Since the Syrian refugee crisis erupted, the Popular Party government has stepped up its attempts to seal the country off from asylum seekers.
After the Brussels attack, Podemos defends “war on terror”
By Alejandro López, 31 March 2016
Podemos General Secretary Pablo Iglesias is falling in line with false arguments that intelligence agencies failed to “connect the dots” to prevent the Brussels attacks.
Costa Rica closes its borders to Cuban migrants
By Andrea Lobo, 31 March 2016
The tensions between Central American governments have exposed the fragility of three decades of supposed economic, political and social integration.
Greece’s Syriza government detains refugees
By Katerina Selin, 26 March 2016
The Syriza-led government is doing everything in its power to implement the EU-Turkey refugee deal.
Hundreds of refugees in Australia face return to offshore camps
By Max Newman, 23 March 2016
Asylum seekers who have been receiving medical treatment in Australia are threatened with being sent back to Nauru or Manus Island.
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