The law was rushed through parliament in June amid hysterical media reports that a boatload of "illegal" immigrants from China was heading for New Zealand. Immigration Minister Tuariki Delamere said at the time that the urgent legislation was worthwhile because if the "boat people" had come to New Zealand under the old legislation and claimed refugee status, "it could have taken years to get rid of them." Although the boat never arrived, the legislation was implemented, along with other measures to tighten "security" in the lead-up to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum held in Auckland September 10–13.

Regular demonstrations, the largest numbering 70 people, have been held outside the prison by supporters of the hunger strikers. Forty people also picketed outside the office of the Immigration Service in downtown Auckland November 12.

Two of the asylum seekers, both Sikhs from India, have now been deported. Of the 16 remaining, 12 are Sikh, three are from Pakistan, and one is from Iran. A woman from Ghana, not on hunger strike, is also being detained under the same law.

A South Auckland Sikh leader, Manpreet Singh, told the New Zealand Herald that the Sikh men all came from the Punjab, where Sikhs are campaigning to establish their own homeland. Several had escaped from torture in Indian police cells.

Manpreet Singh, who has himself been jailed and tortured by Indian authorities, has avoided deportation from New Zealand for eight years after attaining refugee status, but has been denied permanent residency by the government because of unsubstantiated claims by the Security Intelligence Service that he is linked to "terrorism."

In another attack on immigrant rights, the government announced November 9 that starting in July next year anyone wanting to enter New Zealand for more than two years will have to pass an HIV-AIDS test. Aggressively dismissing criticism of the move, Immigration Minister Delamere told the October 20 New Zealand Herald, "If that's a breach of our Bill of Rights we might as well can Immigration and let every bugger in here. Immigration is about discrimination."

Terry Coggan, the Communist League candidate for Auckland Central in parliamentary elections November 27, issued a press statement November 11. Coggan, who has attended several of the protest pickets, called for the immediate release of the 16 asylum seekers on hunger strike.

"Seeking asylum is not a crime — it is a right that should be available to all who seek it, free of all restrictions," he said. "The detention of these refugees dates back to before the APEC conference in September. It is part of a number of measures targeting the democratic rights of all working people that were introduced under cover of that event, from increased powers for immigration authorities and the police, to harassment of political activists and restrictions on the right to political protest."

"I also oppose the mandatory AIDS testing of all immigrants, including those seeking asylum, announced this week," Coggan continued. "Such a measure has nothing to do with improving public health, as a number of health specialists have explained. It has everything to do with discriminating against immigrant workers and blaming them for the social ills produced by capitalism, thereby dividing and weakening working people as a whole."

At the time of writing, the hunger strikers had been without food for 17 days. According to the group Justice for Asylum Seekers, the men have reported increasing weakness and dizziness, with one coughing up blood and three others reporting blood in their urine.

Felicity Coggan is a member of the National Distribution Union.  
 
 
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