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Why they're fleeing

BY RACHEL EVANS & SARAH STEPHEN In a letter to the Australian people on Auguts 30, the Afghan asylum seekers on the MS Tampa said of their plight, "You know well about the long-time war and its tragic human consequences ... the genocide and

It's not a queue, it's a lottery

BY SARAH STEPHEN One of immigration minister Philip Ruddock's central arguments against accepting "queue jumpers" (read, onshore arrivals) from Afghanistan is because they know that they have a better chance of being granted asylum in Australia

Asylum seeking in Australia

Blood drenched dreams danglingfrom the spikes of the razor wire —so close to freedom.Wild fearful eyes stareinto our collective consciousnessand sear our indifference.Batoned discipline enforcedby Wackenhut guards — Capitalism's storm troopers.

Workers must unite against racism

BY JOHN PASSANT Disgracefully, shamefully and immorally, the Australian government is refusing entry to 438 mainly Afghan asylum seekers. All this is part of the campaign to re-elect Prime Minister John Howard. And the federal opposition Australian

Women refugees face great hurdles

BY RACHEL EVANS MELBOURNE — Women refugees in Australia face many hurdles, says Iudita Trifa, a community and industry organiser at Northcote Women's Working Health Centre. The introduction of temporary protection visas in 1999 has reduced

NICARAGUA: New alliance boosts Sandinistas

The Sandinista Renewal Movement (MRS), which split from the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) six years ago, voted on August 28 to back FSLN candidate and ex-president Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua's presidential elections this November. The

Busting bras for Burma

BY SEAN HEALY SYDNEY — Holding signs saying "Support breasts not dictators", 100 supporters of labour rights gathered in front of the Grace Brothers department store in the Pitt Street Mall on August 28 to protest underwear manufacturer Triumph's

CHINA: 'Red capitalist' speech divides party

BY EVA CHENG The July 1 speech of Communist Party (CP) chief Jiang Zemin that the party should throw its door open to capitalists has provoked outrage among its ranks — prompting Jiang to close down at least four journals which printed critical

PALESTINE: Israel assassinates political leader

BY AHMAD NIMER RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israel's war against the Palestinian Intifada continues to escalate. On August 27, Israeli death squads assassinated a senior Palestinian political leader in his office in a residential neighbourhood. At

PALESTINE: 'We're like birds in a cage'

BY CHRIS SMITH BEIT UMMAR, West Bank — As soon as the Israeli army jeep disappears around the bend, a dusty minivan emerges from the grape fields outside this farming town in southern West Bank. Revving the engine as he accelerates into the turn,

An attempt to 'save' the family

Wifework: What Marriage Really Means for WomenBy Susan MaushartText Publishing, Melbourne, 2001269 pages, $24.95 REVIEW BY ANGELA LUVERA Prime Minister John Howard's assertion that the family is the best welfare unit reflects his government's

Loose cannons

Environmentally sustainable death "Neither do you want to pollute your own environment, nor do you want to put your own policemen and soldiers at risk." — Professor Thomas Klaptoke of the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany,