The so called 'boat people'

Let us make no mistake about this, neither of the major parliamentary parties have an interest in a humane settlement to what is termed the 'asylum seeker crisis'. 

The so-called crisis is a crisis that the ruling class has invented. Post World War Two, Australia had no issues taking asylum seekers from places like Greece and Italy. Imagine our land without the great influence the Greek and Italian communities have had on our culture. Post the Vietnam War, we had no trouble whatsoever accepting a huge number of Vietnamese who arrived, shock horror, on what would now be termed boats run by people smugglers. Again, without Vietnamese influence, our society and culture would be a whole lot less rich.

So why, over the last twenty years, have refugees arriving by boat been generated as such a huge issue by the ruling class and their servile media? The issue has been identified by the imperialist ruling class as a key issue with which to both divide the working class and divert patriotic sentiment amongst the people into plain racism. There is a sense among the working class that their interests are placed firmly behind those of an overseas force, but the non-stop blanket coverage stating the 'boat people' are out to ruin our way of life has place a tiny number of disadvantaged people as a human shield in front of the real target, US imperialism.

The classic divide and conquer strategy used seeks to drive a wedge between sections of the working class based on factors such as ethnicity and religion. The current strategy centred around hatred of 'boat people' also seeks to sow divisions between those who are determined to have immigrated 'legitimately' and those who are determined to have arrived 'illegally'. There is no such thing as illegally seeking a better life. The proud Australian tradition begun at Eureka establishes the idea of Australia as a haven of the oppressed, from all parts of the world, of all different colours, speaking many different languages.

Our task as communists is to shatter the illusions spread by the imperialists amongst working class and seek to aid the establishment of working class unity against the real enemy; US imperialism.