Those in the camps are the "lucky ones" who have managed to reach Australian shores. Canberra enforces a naval blockade, backed up by air force patrols, against ships carrying refugees. Hundreds of people have been transported to camps in Pacific island countries exploited by Australian imperialism. From there, too, they have won support through protests.

Capitalist politicians, from ultrarightist Pauline Hanson to conservative government ministers, have waged a long campaign to vilify the "boat people" and other asylum-seekers. Recently, the campaign has included the slander that they are "potential terrorists." This demagogy, along with the refugees' resistance, has helped to fuel the sharpening polarization around the issue.

Thanks to the protests and the spotlight they have shone on the camps, people around the world have received a glimpse of the brutal, racist, and anti–working-class character of Australian imperialism. Like the other imperialist ruling classes, the Australian rulers plunder the resources of the semicolonial world, including its natural wealth and the labor power of its workers and farmers. Imperialist exploitation and debt bondage has foisted increasingly impossible conditions of unemployment, landlessness, and military aggression upon people of the Third World. Millions are left with little choice but to travel to the imperialist centers in search of work. In doing so, they bring their experiences of struggle into the working class in the destination countries.

Demands raised during the protests for the immediate release of the refugees and the closure of all of Canberra's detention centers, both inside and outside Australia, deserve the full support of all working people. The immigration laws are designed to divide our ranks and leave layers of workers vulnerable to greater exploitation. They must be opposed. The immigration policy to defend the interests of working people in Australia is not complicated: Open the borders!

The struggle waged by the refugees is a crucial one for the labor movement in Australia. Backing their struggle will strengthen working-class unity against the bosses and their government, who are deepening their drive against the rights of workers and farmers at home and abroad.
 
 
Related article:
Australian government brutalizes immigrants  
 
 
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