27개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
The German magazine Der Spiegel published following story 6.18..
An African Dream
"I'll Make it to Europe, or Die Trying"
Africans looking to leave the continent for Europe face a long journey across the Atlantic in rickety boats. Many don't make it. But that doesn't deter the thousands looking for a better life.
Henry Mafarna was still a child when he lost his home -- barely 14 years old. Militias swept through Liberia in 1990 and the West African country was torn apart by civil war. In the ensuing chaos, Mafarna, who is now 29, lost track of his parents. Today, he has no idea whether they are still alive.
Ever since then, Mafarna has been a refugee -- sometimes staying in refugee camps, sometimes finding shelter with relatives in neighboring countries. But he hasn't stayed anywhere for long. Confused and restless, he has moved frequently. But one goal has remained constant -- he has repeatedly tried to find a way to leave Africa.
For the last six months, Mafarna has been in Nouadhibou, at the northern tip of Mauritania for what he hopes will be the last leg of his trip. Last month, he was planning on squeezing into the hull of a small boat under cover of darkness. The boat, he was hoping, would take him to the Canary Islands -- some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) into the Atlantic Ocean -- where he planned to start a new life. "I've got just two options," he said. "I'll either make it to Europe or die trying."
No future in Africa
He's got no future in Africa, he says. "There's no education system, no work -- just violence." Yet all his efforts to leave the continent have so far failed. He tried applying for an Australian visa; later he tried his luck with the Canadian visa program. But he was rejected every time. "There are just too many people who want to get out of here," he says with resignation. "I don't know anyone who wants to stay."
Henry is just one of thousands of African refugees waiting to travel from Mauritania on the west coast of Africa to Europe. His story is like that of many others living in the refugee slums of Nouadhibou -- a life of war and poverty, without any future to look forward to. In the end all that remains is despair -- a despair that makes people willing to risk everything. Even the last thing they own: their lives.
Africa's west coast has become the new gateway to Europe.
Henry has worked hard to earn his ticket to the future. Every day he joins other men from Senegal, Mali and Guinea in front of the entrance to the harbor. They stand around waiting for the next small job: It could be a job on a construction site or one helping a fisherman unload his boat. No one earns more than $3 a day -- usually less. Henry generally most of a day's wages just to pay for his shabby room. The rest he saves for his risky trip to Europe. The $600 he's managed to ferret away so far, he reckons, should be enough.
Men like Henry are willing to run any risk at all. A man from Senegal lives not far from his little wooden shed. He's already tried to reach the Canary Islands once, but the Moroccan harbor patrol stopped him a short distance from the island of Lanzarote. A few hours later, the haggard man was back in Nouadhibou. He's working again, saving money for his next attempt.
"It was hell out there"
Many others die chasing their European dream across the rough waters of the Atlantic. Those who don't, experience a nightmarish journey they're unlikely ever to forget. "People started to vomit shortly before we left the coast," the Senegalese man remembers. Many of the travellers have never been on a boat before; the waves terrify them. "Less than an hour had gone by when the first people started screaming." People often needed to be punched before they quieted down, he said.
No one is allowed to stand up or lie down during the trip. Some 80 people are forced to sit closely side-by-side for three or four days, their knees and legs are soon covered in bruises. Their joints begin to ache. Salty seawater mixes with urine and feces, causing a painful burning sensation in open wounds. A terrible stench develops. "It was hell out there. All I did was pray it would be over soon," says the Senegalese man.
Even worse, the refugees never know exactly where they're going. Hours of darkness and cold are followed by days of hot, baking sunlight.
When the Moroccan police finally discovered the boat the Senegalese man was travelling on, most of his companions had been reduced to a state of mindless torpor. A number of them had to be taken to hospital, where they're still suffering from dehydration and panic attacks. The Senegalese man says he was glad the trip was over; he didn't care that he didn't make it to Europe.
Many refugees die of dehydration during the trip. Others drown in shipwrecks or are thrown overboard by other refugees. The Spanish and the Moroccan police find their corpses almost every day. Mohammed Wal, the chief of the nautical police, collects their photographs in his records. They're a chronicle of horror: deformed and bloated corpses, partly eaten by fish. The pictures are sorted by date. He adds new ones every day.
Good news by text messaging
The chief of police likes to present his pictures to foreign journalists. He would prefer showing them to the refugees living in Nouadhibou's slum neighborhoods. "Many people still aren't aware of the risk involved in crossing the ocean," he says. "They think of it as a day trip." He says he's powerless to prevent further boats leaving the port, meaning his gruesome documentation is sure to continue growing.
Henry Mafarna knows the horrible stories and he's seen the pictures on the Internet. But he's still able to exude forced optimism. "I have no choice but to try," he says. "I promised my son I would."
Macpena, Mafarna's son, is 14 months old and lives in Guinea with his mother. Mafarna has decided he's going to take a picture of the curly-haired boy with him on the trip -- nothing else. If he doesn't survive the trip to Europe, Macpena's mother will never mention Henry. That's the deal he made when he left.
But Henry doesn't want to think about death. "Many people make it," he says. Some boats do indeed arrive. As soon as they reach the other shore, they send SMS text messages to those still waiting to make the trip. The news travels like wildfire in the slum where Henry lives.
"Even if I have to live on the streets in Europe, even if people there look down on me, it can't be any worse than here," Henry says. When night begins to fall, he proposes a bet. He asks me to give him my e-mail address. "I'll write to you from Spain," he says grinning, "and then you have to come and visit."
So far, he hasn't written.
Please check out a more personally report by manic about the latest developments there..
Although I was requesting MTU for a short/summary report about the rally/demo last Sun., till now I got nothing...
But yesterday morning I found on 'Migrant Workers'(Internet) Broadcasting' following article about it(in Korean):
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위원장 석방과 노조 탄압 분쇄를 위한 이주노조 투쟁대회 |
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"우리는 결코 흔들리지 않을 것"
이주노조는 독자적인 이주노동자들의 노동조합을 세운 이후에 힘겨운 길을 걸어왔다. 그 중에서도 이주노조 위원장의 연행과 더불어 이주노동자들에게 처해진 극심한 단속은 누구나 인정하고 있는 것처럼 이주노동자들의 노동권과 생존권을 위협하는 행위였다. 샤킬 이주노조 직무대행은 “이주노동자들에 대한 단속이 더욱 심해졌다”며 “여성 남성 가리지 않고 수갑까지 채워가면서 알몸수색을 하고 있다. 일하다 다쳐도 치료받지 못하고 비인권적 단속에 시달리는 이주노동자들의 권리는 반드시 이 땅에서 보장받아야 한다” 면서 이주노조를 인정할 때까지 투쟁하겠다는 결의를 보여주었다.
Please read the full article here: http://migrantsinkorea.net/webbs/view.php?board=mignews&id=206
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노동자, 농민, 학생, 민중의 단결의 승리다
(..I hope as soon, as possible...!)
Yesterday, 12.4, the annual Peoples Demonstration took the streets in Seoul.
The demonstration, organized by Peoples Solidarity, the National Peasents League, KCTU and many other organizations started with several rallies in Seoul’s University district Daehak-no. The main topics of the demo: (of course) the police brutality during the peasents' protest against the bill of increasing the quota of rice import (it was already reported about it here..), the current "General Strike" by KCTU for better rights and conditions of irregular workers, the wish of withdrawal of the S.K. troops out of Iraq...
After the rallies a mass demonstration, Minjung-ui Sori wrote 15,000 people participated, took the streets in downtown Seoul, leading to the Sejong-no/Jong-no crossroads, THE main traffic lines in the city.
Of course here at first, as usual, everything was blocked by police buses and large units of the infamous riot cops.
But after a while the demonstrators just took a detour around City Hall Plaza and finally, despite thousands of riot cops and water canon tanks, they were able to take the Sejong-no avenue to finish the demonstration there.
Source of the pics: Minjung-ui Sori
A little the entire thing is remembering me at the anti-USFK demonstrations in the end of 2002, where tens of thousands of unarmed people were running over, sometimes, 20,000 riot cops.
If there would be an realistic aim what for the people were on the streets yesterday, and maybe 90,000 demonstrators more, a revolution, just by the power of the people would be possible. You just have to see the documentaries... the cops, complete confused..., no plan, not at all... But unfortunately yesterday, perhaps, no-one wanted to make revolution...(^^) So, after all, situations like that are just good opportunities for training for the future...(^^) Here you can read an article in Korean and see three video docus about the event:
http://www.vop.co.kr/new/2005120433661.html
And here you can see some more impressive pictures from y'day:
http://blog.jinbo.net/torirun/?pid=163
On Saturday, 3.12, afternoon in Seoul’s Insa-dong, a small rally was held to mark the "Day of Global Protest on Climate Change". But while, for example in London at the same day 10,000 people blamed Blair as a "Killer of our planet" and in Montreal, Canada – here right now the International Climate Conference take place – about 40,000 people demonstrated against the "climate killers", in Seoul, one of the dirtiest cities, just maximum 150 joined the protest.
Source: Daham-kke
A Korean article you can read here:
http://www.vop.co.kr/new/2005120333647.html
At the same day in the evening in Myeong-dong, actually also in downtown Seoul, a small demonstratin ("unlawful"?? - There is no law for us!!!) took place to protest against the police brutality during the farmers demonstration on 11.15.
Source: Minjung-ui Sori
About 150 people, so Minjung-ui Sori, joined the demo. The Korean article (there is also a video) you can read here:
http://www.vop.co.kr/new/2005120333654.html
Ha, and the semi-official news agency Yonhap wrote yesterday (7 pm) about the peoples demo this:
5,000 workers, farmers stage street protests in Seoul
About 5,000 workers and farmers rallied in downtown Seoul on Sunday, demanding greater protection of part-time employees and the local farm market.
There were no immediate reports of violence in the protest, organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Union, a major umbrella labor group, but traffic was seriously jammed in and around Gwanghwamun, a major intersection of the capital.
2005 Summer Struggle Tour
Because last year I was joining 2004 Summer Struggle Tour as the representavive of ETU-MB (on the second day I was nearly arrested...) I want to publish this here. More about the last year's tour you can read here:
Following the first part of 2005 Summer Struggle Tour
(source: www.nodong.com )
2005노동자 여름 현장활동 투쟁 발대식 과 한나라당사앞 집중투쟁!!
오늘 오정 11시에 여의도에 자리잡고 있는 노사정 위원회 앞에서 투쟁사업장에 계신 동지들과 전해투동지들 그리고 학생동지들과 철거민동지들이 힘차게 2005노동자 여름 현장활동 투쟁(이하:여름투쟁) 발대식을 전개했습니다.
닭장차에 둘러싸인 가운데 서 진행이 되었지만 참석한 동지들은 각자의 현장의 목소리들을 직접 폭로해내고 이후 투쟁을 결의를 힘있게 모아내기도 했습니다.
"사회적 합의주의 분쇄와 비정규직철폐 그리고 노동자 민중 생존권쟁취의 기조를 가지고 진행될 이번 여름 투쟁은 각단위 동지들의 일정상 좀 늦은감이 없지 않지만 그동안의 시기별 투쟁에서 볼수 없었던 현장투쟁 실천단에 여러단위에서 대거 합류해 참가하고 있는 동지들은 공세적인 싸움판까지도 준비하고 있습니다.
여름 투쟁 공동대표 동지의 대회사를 시작으로 본격적인 4박5일 투쟁에 돌입한 여름투쟁단은 노사정위에서의 발대식에서 코오롱 정투위 동지들과 이주동지들의 강한결의가담긴 발언, 사보, 발전 동지들의 발언을 들으며 여름투쟁에 임하는 결의 를 다시금 높이기도 하였습니다. 그리고 무엇보다도 실천단들의 결의와 실천단장의 공세적인 실천투쟁결의는 이후 노사정담합분쇄와 노사관계 로드맵 분쇄, 그리고 비정규직 철폐가 담긴 조형물에대한 화형식을 노사정위 앞에 깔린 폭력경찰들의 협박에도 굴하지 않고 당당하게 전개하기도 하였습니다.
발대식을 마친 투쟁단을 첫일정을 수행하기위해 다시 보수반동세력이 총집결되어있는 한나라당 사 앞에서 기만적인 한나라당의 폭압성과 한나라당 소속 기초단체장들의 악행을 폭로해내는 투쟁을 전개했습니다.
한나라당을 지키려는 깡패경찰들 이 새까맣게 동원되기도 했고 이들과의 마찰이 있기도 했지만 한나라당 집회는 경찰들의 집회방해에도 아랑곳 않고 참가한 동지들 모두가 질서정연하고 조직적인 대오를 유지하며 무사히 집회를 사수했습니다.
마지막으로 여름투쟁단은 근대화를 명분으로 수많은 노동자민중들에게 살인적인 탄압을 자행했던 아버지 박정희의 피를 그대로 이어받아 민중들을 기만하고 탄압으로 일관 하고 있는 유신잔재 박근혜 한나라당 대표에게 항의서한을 전달하려 했으나 마늘을 들고 농민들을 기만하러 (한나라당사 앞엔 박근혜가 마늘을 들고있고 그밑으로 민생과 경제를 책임진다는 문구가 기만적이게 적혀있습니다)간것인지 자리에 없다고 하여 항의서한을 그 자리에서 태우고 언제든지 이 자리는 철거민들과 생존권을 박탈당하는 노동자민중들이 접수할 것을 결의하며 집회투쟁을 마쳤습니다.
이후 실천단 들은 120일차 천막농성을 전개 하고 있는 현대기림 오피스텔로 향했고 실천단 을 제외한 동지들은 각자의 현장으로 돌아갔습니다.
현재 짜여진 일정을 별 무리 없이 진행하고 있는 여름투쟁 실천단 들은 현대기림 오피스텔 동지들과 간담회 및 철농을 함께 진행하고 있고 오늘 하루의 평가를 마지막으로 첫일정을 사수했습니다.
* 위의 사진은 오늘 노사정위앞 발대식장면과 한나라당 사앞 투쟁 상황이며 이후 상황 총화는 실천단 에서 올리는 것을 참고해주시기 바랍니다.
*오늘 수고해주신 노래공장 동지께도 연대의 인사를 드리는 바입니다
내일은 오전8시엔 목동 전화국 앞에서 통신비정규직노조의 출근투쟁에 합류하고 9시에는 노동자대회가 열리는 울산으로 이동하여 힘있는 투쟁을 전개할 것입니다. 각단위동지들은 여름 투쟁 실천단의 순회투쟁을 공유하여 주시기바랍니다=투쟁=
사회적 합의주의 분새!!
비정규직 철페!!
노동자민중생존권쟁취!!
를 위한
The MTU representative's speech
The other parts of the report of the entire tour you can read here:
(here in Mokdong in front of Seoul Immigration Office)
(pictures)
(more pics)
Please see also here:
http://pw87.jinbo.net/main/main.html
While the majority of the Koreans today is celebrating their consumer intoxication
(현충일), we, my colleague and me, have to work – editing the stuff we recorded y’day.
Yesterday was “Migrants’ Arirang” (MA), a culture festival, organized by the …Ministry of Culture and Tourism – yeah, the S. Korean government (next year, the Ministry of “Justice”, the deportation department, a.k.a. immigration office should be the organizer of the event)! The same m…f… who are hunting and deporting daily migrant workers! So the whole event was a totally lied event!
But a much greater shame: all the migrant communities were playing the government’s game, no one - inclusive us, the MTU - was effective protesting against it. Even we were talking about it the day before, at the time even we’d no one leaflet, no pickets, nothing, except our signature lists. And the event was a real great opportunity to stage a public-effectively protest against the government’s inhuman policy, and the daily massive acts of exploitation by the S. Korean capitalists/business people.
Instead for example the Nepalese community, usually very strong minded against this injustice system, celebrated a wedding ceremony, Stop Crackdown Band just played songs about the “love to Korea” and that they “one day want to go home” (exactly the same, what our enemies want to hear!), the next entertainer, a Korean, sung also about “good bye”, one of our supporting groups (www.stopcrackdown.net) was kicked out by the organizers of MA… After all it was a day of massive defeat for the case of migrant workers!!
Yesterday, June 3, at 2 pm, before our weekly meeting of MWTV, the demonstration of struggling printing workers, organized in the National Union of Media Workers, took place near Jungmu-ro Station. Today they are since 39 days a rotating in sit-in struggle.
Their struggle tent you can find here:
About the struggle history and the presently fight you can read in Korean here.
But the real struggle highlight was in the evening: “illegal” migrant workers (NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL!), organized in an “illegal” trade union (MTU), made an “illegal” protest in the Dongdaemun area. At 7 pm for one hour and twenty minutes six migrant workers, supported and protected by ten activists of DLP (민노당 – perhaps because of this fact the protest was not really illegal. 감사합니다, 同志!!), shouted slogans and distributed leaflets near the Dongdaemun Station to make the public attentive about the current situation of migrant workers in S. Korea in general and especially about the situation of MTU (perhaps the government will not legalize the union, Anwar Hossain, the president of MTU is still in prison and is facing deportation…). And the action was really successful, because we got a lot of attention from the citizens, not least because of Daham-kke’s “mobile propaganda machine” excessive effectiveness!
(Here, in the foreground, you can see her in action nearly exactly one year ago)
Anyway, after the rally in front of a subway entrance we marched, while shouting slogans and distributing more leaflets, through the area. Finally we made another rally and finished our powerful protest successfully. Later we decided that this kind of action must be regularly repeated.
Here just some impression from the protest, taken by Jeon Min-seong 
투쟁하는 철거민이
철거에서 해방된다!
The opening movie – The Yes Man – documented the activities of some guys in the USA (www.gatt.org) who are traveling around the world and tell interested people, such as students, journalists, politicians and industry “leaders” what for the WTO really stands – just the reality. But because these activists are acting like real staff of the WTO, only few people in the audience are realizing that this is not WTO propaganda, just it is very clever anti-WTO propaganda. The documentary will be shown again on Wednesday, 1 pm, in the Art Cinema (낙원 상가, 4층). On Saturday we’d MWTV meeting to prepare the third broadcasting (the 2nd was in the same night on RTV) – one part will be about Anwar Hossein, the arrested president of Migrant Workers’ Trade Union (MTU). After the meeting actually I wanted to go to Joongang University, but, because a visit in a friends house was so long, I was not able to go there. Yesterday MTU staged a protest in Myeong-dong on the territory of the cathedral to protest against the arrest of Anwar.
(pic by "arbeiter"/독일어:노동자)
About 250 activists joined. Beside many Koreans, mainly students, but also some KCTU activists, between 60 and 70 migrants from Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia and the Philippines participated. Even the weather was terrible – nearly the whole time it was raining – the atmosphere there was just powerful. Here you can read an article in Korean.
(사진:"arbeiter")
Before y’day, Saturday, May 14, in Daehakno’s 마로니에공원 WRI did a information afternoon against military service – a kind of event against militarism. But unfortunately only few people joined the event (maybe the majority of the activists went on this day to Gwangju…).
While the event was going on, around 40 people reminded the killed sex workers (prostitutes, I really don’t know what’s pc about that here…) 49 days ago in Seoul Seongbuk-gu (하월곡동). They (the sex workers) were locked in the house by “their” pimps, a fire broke out, they were not able to escape and many of them were killed. So a traditional ceremony was held for the victims of the (in reality) crime was held. Here you can read an article about the ceremony.
In the same time a anti-USA/nationalist(!!!) exhibition took place in the same area. In the early afternoon near Gwanghwamun about 300 kids demonstrated against the rules of hair-cutting in S. Korean schools. “Funny” - even daily 200.000 people are visiting the activist’s web site - only few (Korea Times wrote about just 70 protestors) joined the protest. But at least 1.200 riot cops were there in readiness to crackdown the protest (here you can read a Korean article about it). And of course beside all this I was trying to spread out the information about Anwar’s arrest here and “all over the world” (like
The anti-militarist event...
...
...
...also in solidarity with migrant workers...
...
The ceremony...
...for the killed sex workers...
...
...
...
...
...
The final point of...
...the anti-militarist event
Meanwhile at the...
...same time...
...and the same place...
...an anti-USA...
...exhibition took place
no comment (nationalist...
...
...
...
...b...sh... (미안해요)
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