UNDOCUMENTED YOUTH
GENDERED INJUSTICES We look at systemic gendered abuse of justice in the case of Reina Maraz and a recent report on UK policing
RENT CRISIS
Young, Paperless and Power write about their experiences and demands as undocument young people living in Ireland
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> POLITICS PAGE 4
FOCUS
Dublin Tenants Association speak to Comhlamh about why they are organising in the midst of Ireland’s housing crisis
> HOUSING PAGE 7
ACTION FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE. December 2016 | Published By Comhlámh | ISSUE 100
www.comhlamh.org
Demonstration against CETA and TTIP earlier this year in Brussels| Photo Credits: Wikimedia
SIAN COWMAN Democracy Center Bolvia
A winter of discontent JILL MC ARDLE Comhlámh Member It’s been an eventful autumn for CETA, a comprehensive trade deal between the EU and Canada. The deal, has been signed by the European Council and has made its way to the European Parliament, to be voted on in just a couple of months. If it is passed, CETA will proceed to the final stage of ratification where it will be put before all national (and some regional) parliaments of the EU. Campaigners fought hard to prevent CETA’s signing, and their work bolstered opposition in some states that nearly derailed the Council’s plans. The toughest resistance came from the parliament of Wallonia, a
Francophone region of Belgium, who refused to give the go ahead for Belgium to sign until their concerns were heard. Their resistance almost caused the EU-Canada summit to be called off, and it only went ahead after several days (and nights) of intensive negotiations, ending with Wallonia announcing they had won important safeguards. Unfortunately, campaigners across the EU agree that the concessions won will not be enough to protect public services, preserve our most important social, environmental and labour standards or protect the right to regulate of states. This is because they did not succeed in actually re-opening the text of CETA itself. Instead, the EU and Canada issued a smorgasbord of additional
declarations, which, they claimed, “clarified” the text in ways that should allay concerns. But campaigners have consistently argued that the problems of CETA are the provisions and clauses contained in text. So long as these remain, mollifying add-ons will make little difference.
This narrative is disingenuous, unhelpful and misses the point entirely. If the EU is facing an existential crisis, if its capacity to act in the best interest of its citizens is in question, the answer is fairer policies, greater transparency and more respect for democracy. The EU has failed on all these counts with CETA, a deal that shores up rights for corporations while undermining those of governments and citizens.
“They need our support in this, and our solidarity. There is no middle ground in the debate.”
Still, a huge amount of thanks is owed to this small region that withstood formidable pressure to fight for a better deal. Instead though, we have seen Wallonia portrayed as a radical, rogue region holding the EU hostage. This smear is part of a broader narrative that aims to vilify CETA’s opponents for fighting with the EU at a time when the West seems to be under existential threat.
The Wallonian case makes the EU’s democratic failure clear. Paul Magnette’s parliament is so far one of the only parliaments in the EU to continued on page 2
The combined effects of climate change and the Pacific climate cycle El Niño have caused devastation across Latin America. Colombia has had its worst drought in nearly two decades. Peru declared a state of emergency because of El Niño at the end of 2015. Tens of thousands of people had to be evacuated in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay because of flooding last December. These harsh climatic events are felt especially by indigenous peoples, women, and people who farm the land. Bolvia is suffering its worst drought in 25 years. A recent report by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) says: “Temperatures in the region have risen by 0.5C (0.9F) in the period 1976 to 2006, and the people of La Paz and El Alto can observe evidence of climate change in the form of the shrinking snowline in the mountains above them.” Recently the goverment introduced water rationing for the first time which has brought mass protest out on to the streets. Cochabamba department is the worst affected In the mid-range Andes with many valles – valleys – climatically suitable for growing many types of vegetables and fruit, it is one of the bread baskets of the country. Many farmers have lost high proportions, or all, of their crops. People, rural and urban alike, are frantically drilling wells. The new wells are sparking conflict as other nearby wells begin to dry up due to the heavy demand. It’s a problem that requires long-term solutions. At the moment the country is struggling with such a devastating lack of water that short term solutions are taking precedence – and this scenario is repeating across the continent.
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FOCUS ACTION FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE
FOCUS
ACTION FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE
Solidarity demo for Riena Maraz | Photo credit: www.marcha.org
EST. 1978
Focus Magazine is Ireland’s leading magazine on global development issues. Since 1978, Focus has been making links between the situation in Ireland and in the South. Challenging assumptions, and promoting understanding and action on development issues among a broad public. It aims to provide alternative views to those expressed in mainstream media. Focus is produced by a members’ editorial group. Thanks to Jill McArdle, Sian Cowman, Aine Rickard, Nchedo Obi-Igweilo, Sive Bresnihan and Ciaran O Donnell for this issue. To receive copies to distribute please contact info@comhlamh.org Comhlamh is a signatory to the Dochas Code On Images and Messages. Feedback welcome to info@comhlamh.org
CETA CON’T take the time to scrutinize CETA commissioning experts, holding hearings and openly debating the content of the deal. EU leaders promised proper democratic scrutiny of CETA back in September when they told the reluctant German Social Democrats that the European Parliament would have plenty of time to examine and debate CETA before a vote. That promise rings hollow now that the timeline has been set. Committees like the environment and employment committees, whose opinions on CETA are vital, have but a few weeks to analyse the deal and issue opinions. Furthermore, despite serious legal uncertainty around CETA’s investor courts, the European Parliament voted against a motion to ask the European Court of Justice for an opinion on the legality of these courts, meaning the parliament will now vote on CETA long before these legal questions have been answered. EU leaders have consistently refused to consider even re-opening this toxic deal, and now they hope to rush it through the Parliament. More worryingly, should the Parliament vote in favour of CETA, parts of the deal will enter into force immediately, before national parliaments have their say, through a mechanism called “provisional application”. Activists are determined to hold them to account every step of the way. This November over 450 civil society organisations in the EU and Canada signed a statement urging leaders to reject CETA. For your part, it is time to let your local and European representatives know that this is not the kind of EU you want.
ACTION
Criminal Injustices Gendered abuse is part of justice systems across the globe.
found and Maraz was jailed as responsible. She spent nearly a year in jail before she understood the charges against her. When Maraz faced trial in October Reina Maraz was the last person in the 2014, she had a Quechua-speaking courtroom to understand that she had just interpreter at her side. Accessing this basic been sentenced to life imprisonment for right for Maraz took over two years of legal allegedly murdering her husband. formalities by the Argentine human rights Maraz is from an indigenous advocacy organisation The Provincial community in Bolivia and she was raised Commission for Memory. speaking Quechua, not Spanish. On the Dr. Mariana Katz, a lawyer at the day in 2014 that she was sentenced by Commission, was an observer at Maraz’s the Argentine justice system, Maraz’s trial. In a recent interview with Focus, Katz interpreter was translating the said, “For the Commission, the legal judges’ words so that she basis [of Maraz’s conviction] “This is a could understand. is invalid, because from question Maraz’s story is the very first moment [of that many activists her arrest] they should emblematic of the ways in have been which both the dominant have provided her with an trying to work culture and the judicial interpreter.” through for system in Argentina On 11 November some time ” abuse women, especially 2014, the three judges indigenous women. unanimously declared Maraz suffered intimate Maraz guilty of doubly partner violence during her entire aggravated homicide. For this alleged marriage. After migrating to Argentina crime, they condemned Maraz to a life from Bolivia, her husband Limber Santos spent in prison.“They gave Reina the same ‘gave’ her to a friend to whom he owed a sentence they give to perpetrators of the debt. This man, Tito Vilca, raped Maraz in genocide,” Katz said. The judges’ verdict front of her two children. speaks to the attitude that migrants or The aftermath of Maraz’s rape included a indigenous peoples must speak the host vicious beating at her husband’s hands and country’s or the colonizer’s language; if sparked violent conflict between Vilca and they don’t, it’s their own fault. Santos. This conflict became murderous The Argentine state not only ignored on 14 November 2010, the day that Limber the violence Maraz has lived through, they Santos died. used it as a weapon to condemn her. Maraz explained in court that on the Maraz’s defence lodged an appeal, morning of her husband’s death, Maraz and stressing that her trial was unfair which her children were locked in the bedroom. It was upheld. She will see a reduction in was Vilca who unlocked the room, and that her sentence to the minimum charge for said Santos had left. Then he raped Maraz homicide in Argentina, or absolution. To again. free her now would be the bare minimum A few days later, Santos’ body was of justice.
SIAN COWMAN Democracy Center Bolivia
MARK MALONE Comhlámh Staff Whilst the preceding article rightly highlights the abuse of Reina Maraz, it’s probably fair to say that in the global north many think that systemic abuses within criminal justice systems and police forces are problems that need addressing somewhere else. Yet a report released on 8th December in the UK by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary shatters that view particularly in relation to gendered abuse. Entitled “PEEL: Police Legitimacy 2016 A National Overview” the report “assesses the legitmacy” of 43 police forces in England and Wales And shockingly it has outlined that abuse of authority for sexual gain was now the “most serious” form of corruption facing police in both countries. This incredible finding reveals that 306 police officers, 20 police community support officers and eight police staff were involved in 436 reported allegations of exploitation for sexual gain. Another deeply worrying aspect of the report found that 40% of the allegations involved victims of domestice abuse. The reports lead author HM inspector Mike Cunningham said the numbers in the report may not reflect the reality of the situation and it may be much worse. “Make no mistake about it, the sexual exploitation of vulnerable women is corruption. It is using authority for personal gain, which is a definition of corruption.” If you have been affected by issues here contact Womens Aid Helpline 1800 341 9000
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POWERFUL YOUTH MOVEMENT
“The Sky is the Limit”- Members of Young, Powerful and Paperless painting a message of hope in Dame Lane, Dublin earlier this year| Credit: Migrant Right Centre Ireland.
YPP: From desires to demands! The struggle and hopes for recognition of Ireland’s young undocumented, as they get organised ARIANA & AISHA Young, Paperless and Powerful (YPP) “We are the Young, Paperless and Powerful group, YPP for short. We are a group of young undocumented activists who came together for the first time last May to make change and take action for our rights. The oldest member in our group is 22 years old and the youngest is 15 years old.
Our third major project we did in the campaign was a spoken word event, where we each wrote a spoken word piece and performed it in front of many people from different organisations. The event was launched by the Irish Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon.
In our YPP “young paperless and powerful” group we use creativity to spread our message. We use many different ways to tell people our stories, for example visual arts, spoken word and film. So far we have made a short film – Young, Paperless and Powerful, painted a mural and planned and held a spoken word event. And we have done many interviews with the media – the Irish Times, RTE Drivetime and Lovin Dublin.
There’s many issues affecting undocumented young people in Ireland. The main ones are fear and stress. Every day while you’re sitting in your living room watching TV with your family, there is a constant worry that there’s going to be a knock on your door from the Gardaí and you would be expected to pack your bags and leave.
We have a goal. We want regularisation. If we get our papers we won’t have to go through what we are going through right now. We would be able to travel, get a good education and have a future. Our parents brought us here for a better life. We go to school here, we have friends here and family are here. Ireland is our home now.
Access to Education is another major problem. You sit through your Leaving Cert. The only worry you should have is whether you get your first choice or not. But for an undocumented person we sit through the Leaving Cert hoping that there’s going to be a change and we can somehow get our papers. Otherwise school seems like a waste. Being undocumented creates so many barriers for us.
We know regularisation is hard to achieve and it takes time but that’s why we keep reminding people through our creativity, especially politicians, that we still do exist. Our first step in the campaign is to show people that we do exist was painting a mural in Dame Lane, Dublin 2, quoting “sky is the limit not papers”. Our second project in the campaign was making a film. We told people our stories, how life is in Ireland, what are our problems and how they can be solved. It was launched in July 2016 in Wood Quay with the Mayor of Dublin Criona O’Dalaigh, the Minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin and lots of our allies like the National Youth Council of Ireland, GLEN and Youth Work Ireland.
An excerpt from a piece written and performed by Melvin from Young, Paperless and Powerful at launch. “BUT LIFE IS LIKE A TWILIGHT THAT’S WHAT I LIKE CAUSE WHENEVER YOU THINK IT ENDS IT BEGINS
“We spent most of our lives here. All we need now is a piece of paper that will allow us to legally call our home, home!”
We’re unable to travel. We don’t get to go to college. We’re unable to go back to our country in case someone is getting married or if someone passed away. We lose our loved ones without even getting a chance to say goodbye. Yet all we want is to be recognised as local Irish citizens. We want to belong. We spent most of our lives here. All we need now is a piece of paper that will allow us to legally call our home, home!” If you want to get in touch or involved with YPP you can contact them at kate@mrci.ie or at 01 889 7570.
MY SOUL ON A PAPER THATS WHAT I WRITE THIS IS MY LIFE AND I AM THANKFUL FOR THIS PEN AND THIS CHIN THAT I’VE GOT, SOLID AS A ROCK CAUSE I KEEP GETIING KNOCKED DOWN AGAIN N AGAIN
BUT I’M BACK ON MY FEET WITH MY FINGER TO THE DEVIL AND I’M HEAD IN TO A LEVEL WHERE I’M DESTINED TO WIN I’M BLESSED, IT’S A MESSAGE THAT WAS SENT BY THE MAIN MAN THROUGH THE BREATH OF THE WIND STEPPED AWAY FROM ALL MY REGULAR FRIENDS WHICH BROUGHT ME BACK TO MYSELF IN DEFENSE HAD TO REALLY LEARN HOW TO DEAL WITH EMOTIONS WITHOUT TAKING DRUGS TO EXPRESS IT AGAIN WRETCHED I FELT LIKE A PESIMIST PISSED OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF A DESERT DEAD IN THE SAND SO LET’S TAKE A WALK IN A PLACE WHERE I GREW UP IN DUBLINS NORTH INNER CITY STREETS BRIDGE WATER HALL SUMMER HILL PARADE IN THE NYP COME TAKE A LITTLE PEEK”
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GLOBAL
FOCUS ACTION FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE
Rethinking Development LENY OLIVERA ROJAS & ALDO ORELLANA LÓPEZ Democracy Center in Bolivia
Swathes of South American virgin forest have been cleared to plant GMO soya crops for the global meat market. There are many more examples.
For many of us in Latin America the phrase “economic development” is associated with – among other things – poverty, the exploitation of natural resources, environmental disasters, social discrimination, economic dependence and the criminalisation of protest.
Latin America is one of the world’s biggest regions for mining exploration and is second in the world for oil reserves. We believe it’s no coincidence that governments that have tried to resist the extraction of natural resources for the benefit of foreign interests There are examples where access to land and basic services have found themselves on the receiving end of military guaranteed by these arrangements are able to provide a bulwark intervention, and been replaced by governments against the dynamics of commercialisation and more willing to allow access to cheap materials privatisation, which often lead to dispossession and “The concept of and labour. generate inequalities.
Latin America is the most unequal region in the world, with 10% of the population possessing 71% of the wealth. Environmental disasters and climate change are on the rise and, as a consequence, so is the rate of migration within and across borders. And here in Bolivia our previously protected national parks are being opened up to oil and gas drilling, potentially endangering communities, indigenous rights and precious biodiversity. In theory, economic development – created as a goal in the social imagination and promoted by our governments and privileged sectors – will bring benefits in terms of economic investment and technological advances. Agricultural, hydrocarbon, monoculture, mining and hydroelectric projects are presented as initiatives that will generate regional income, local employment and technological innovation. In reality, many economies of the region remain dependent on the export of raw materials (increasingly to China), ultimately to satisfy consumer appetites in developed countries. And we see devastating impacts from such projects, such as the collapse of the levees at the Samarco dam in Brazil last year, which released a 62 cubic metre river of toxic slurry through populated areas.
Naomi Klein has written about the way that the coup which toppled Salvador Allende was quickly followed by a massive dose of ‘shock doctrine’ as state-owned industries were privatised, government spending cut and trade barriers torn down.
But one discourse challenging the concept of economic development in Latin America is the idea of Vivir Bien, translated (awkwardly) as “living well”. These ideas owe much to the perspectives and practices of indigenous peoples. Many such communities in Bolivia have retained community ownership of their territory as well as collective management of their resources.
“living well” is not synonymous with the models of economic growth and consumerism that economic development brings about”
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s pliable regimes went along with the structural adjustment policies of the Washington Consensus, designed to liberalise trade and investment. Communities in the path of extractive projects have become more determined to resist, exposing them to greater repression and criminalisation. Mining conflicts are rife across Peru, while Latin America also tops the list for the number of killings of environmental activists, with most of the murders related to megaprojects for the exploitation of raw materials. Such was the case with indigenous leader Berta Cáceres, who was shot dead after organising resistance to the proposed Agua Zarca dam.
The concept of “living well” is not synonymous with the models of economic growth and consumerism that economic development brings about; it is becoming ever clearer that these are not true indicators of wellbeing. Economic development in its current model has not only brought more negative consequences than benefits to Latin America, it has also put the planet at risk – with the impacts of accelerating climate change particularly evident in the region, especially in Bolivia. The time has come to seek alternative ways of organising our lives that don’t reproduce colonial relations of power, inequality, submission and exploitation, and don’t assume the abuse of the marginalised and the destruction of our ecosystems as part of the natural order of things. Leny Olivera Rojas and Aldo Orellana Lopez are researchers at the Democracy Center in Bolivia and colleagues of our regular contributor Sian Cowman. This article was translated from Spanish by Maddy Ryle and originally appeared on the Guardian.
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GENDER
Supports & Services Helping people navigate overseas volunteering
As the Irish Association of Volunteers and Development Workers, our vision is of volunteers and development workers working in solidarity for a just, equitable and sustainable world.
We work to promote responsible, responsive international volunteering. Check out the Supports and Services section of our website www.comhlamh.org
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FOCUS ACTION FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE
GLOBAL STRUGGLES
A Thorny March to Nation Building The Republic of South Sudan faces many challenges as the world’s newest country.
Independence day 00/06/2011 (left) installing well at Jamam camp, South Sudan (right)| Images cf.paanluelwel and Oxfam NCHEDO OBI-IGWEILO Comhlámh Member The Republic of South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9th July 2011 following an agreed referendum in January that year. This brought to an end over 50 years of conflict during which over 2 million people lost their lives and many millions were displaced. South Sudan is a country of about 11 million people, with about 22% living in cities with remaining living in rural areas mainly in subsistence farming or animal rearing. It has one of the world’s largest wetlands from the waters of the River Nile, making it one of the most fertile countries in the world. Apart from being endowed with many mineral resources, the country is home to some of Africa’s finest cultural and linguistic heritages. Notwithstanding this, the youngest nation on earth remains one of the poorest countries in the world economically. The country has the second lowest literacy rate in the world, with a literacy rate of only 27% in the general population which falls to 16% amongst women. It thus relies heavily on an external labour force coming mainly from COMESA countries for its policy and service delivery, infrastructural development and production industry. Since gaining independence, South Sudan’s effort to build a sustainable peace and stable country has been hampered by internal and external threats. In 2012 it went to war with Sudan over a border town of Heglig. Its northern border with Sudan has not been well demarcated, and who owns an oil rich border area of Abyei remains a bone of contention between South Sudan and Sudan. The country also descended into civil war in December 2013 until a “compromise Peace Agreement” was signed in August 2015, though this did not end the conflict until July 2016. The internal conflict has had huge humanitarian costs. By May 2016 over 350,000 had died, and 2.2 million people are internally and externally displaced. And about 4.6 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity, with a poverty level worsening from 44.7% in 2011 to 57% in 2015.
In addition to the conflicts, there are huge economic and fiscal difficulties. In 2012 the government experienced a 15 month oil production shutdown as a result of a dispute with Sudan over oil transit fees. South Sudan depends on Sudan’s Port Sudan for oil export and refinery. The internal conflict also saw oil production down from a predicted 222,000 barrels to 160,000 barrels per day. The government is experiencing budgetary problems as a result of an unexpected fall in its oil revenues. The country is oil-dependent, with oil accounting for over 60% of the gross domestic product (GDP), and over 95% of the government earnings in past fiscal years. And against a 2013 projection, oil production has fallen by 40% since 2014, due to the global oil price fall from 110USD in July 2014 to 35USD per barrel in January 2016. The government predicts the net oil revenue for 2015/2016 fiscal year to be only 17% and estimates GDP growth for 2016 at 0.7% and 8.8% for 2017. Also due to a shortage of US dollars, the South Sudanese Pound (SSP) lost 190% of its value against the dollar (from 6.4 to 18.5) in 8 months.
on COMESA. To date COMESA countries remain the biggest investors and source of labour in South Sudan. COMESA citizens invest and work in various sectors such as aviation, health and commerce industries, mining and construction firms. South Sudan is a fast growing export and investments destination for 18 COMESA member countries. To take advantage of this, countries bordering it are developing better transportation and communication networks to link them with the country. The LAPSSET is a joint development project by South Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya which includes construction of roads, railway lines, an oil pipeline, petroleum refinery, and airports in Lamu and Isiolo. LAPSSET will increase regional economic integration and transportation networks among these countries.
South Sudan stands to benefit most from LAPSSET given that the project, when “South Sudan’s effort completed, will eliminate South Sudan’s to build a sustainable reliance on Sudan’s Port Sudan for oil export peace and stable country and refinery. It will also attract foreign has been hampered by investors to South Sudan’s agriculture, internal and external mining, transportation, communication threats.” and hospitality industries given its abundant natural resources and arable land.
The currency depreciation is not expected to end soon given the current oil price. The situation has led to an unexpected cut in government revenues and a huge reduction in government infrastructure development works. The country is benefiting, nevertheless, from the growing regional and economic cooperation within Africa. It is a member of the African Union, WTO, COMESA (Common Market of East and Southern Africa), and is in negotiation for membership of the East Africa Community (EAC), the InterGovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Africa Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA). As a landlocked country that imports most of its basic commodities and materials for its industries it depends largely
The challenges confronting South Sudan are, however, many. These include demilitarization of the veterans of the war of independence, and the creation of unified and disciplined security forces, diversifying its economy, reducing poverty, and increasing literacy rate especially among women and girls, increasing investment in urban and rural infrastructures such as roads, electrification, schools and hospitals; and maintaining macroeconomic stability, and creating a stable environment for foreign investors. Additionally, the country needs improvement in its financial management and tax collection systems. The status of Abyei remains a key issue between Sudan and South Sudan; a potential time bomb for both countries.
FOCUS ON TENANTS
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Action Against Uncertainty The Dublin Tenants Association (DTA) spoke to us about organising around tenants rights
LUCY PARSONS Comhlámh Member
loans and development contracts were often lubricated by corruption as many tribunals have shown.
Rents in Ireland have jumped 10 per cent in 2016 and 45 per cent in the last five years. These figures are much higher in the capital itself. The Dublin Tenants Association (DTA) is a group of tenants who came together in 2015 as a result of the growing crisis in Ireland’s private rented sector.
Parallel to this was an ideological shift which has embraced the ‘free market’ as the solution to social problems. This has seen the state and local authorities reject historical patterns of providing and upkeeping a decent stock of social housing. Under neoliberalism populations are increasing seen as customers with individual needs to be managed, rather than a democratic public that itself should have the power to shape positively its own communities. Communities people want to live in or indeed continue to live in.
Spirally rents, fueled by vulture capital speculation in both residential and commercial sectors of the city means increasingly tenants find themselves living in poverty, insecurity and with a persistent threat of homelessness. Focus spoke with DTA campaigner Mick O Broin about the current situation. Mick says DTA “ first got together when lots of our friends started getting evicted, mainly in the Dublin 7 area. We thought there must be something we can do about it, but to be honest we had no idea at the time just how dysfunctional policy for the rental sector is.”
“Without tenants coming together to work collectively for change it is obvious nothing is going to change”
So how did we get to have such dysfunctional policies on housing in Ireland? The relationship between banks, developers and the main political parties has long been held by the public as a nexus of decision making that is impenetrable to the views and voices of the general public. Whilst not unique in the world, Ireland’s specific context from the late 1960’s saw the development of a relatively small elite exercising power over local and regional development. These practices including land banking, rezoning, providing of
Neoliberalism itself is a crude ideology primarily based on an amoral arithmetic and a fundementally flawed understanding of human social motivations.
This ideology of course is not separate and distinct from the needs and desire of it supporters. The proposed Housing Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2016 is a neoliberal bill that many housing campaigners argue focus on supply of housing to the exclusion of all other measures. Unsurprisingly its has found great support from lending banks and developers, though Mick suggests there are some positives for tentants Changing state and local authorities to improve conditions for tenants is DTA’s main focus. “Without tenants coming together to work collectively for change it is obvious nothing is going to change. It has become clear to us over the past few years that
politicians are completely out of touch with the reality of life as a renter and can’t get their heads around the fact that we’re not all students and ‘young people’. Meanwhile the developers and landlords have been pilling pressure on the government not to introduce any protection for tenants. We have no money or resources so as tenants the only thing we have is each other and our ability to empower ourselves through collective action.” DTA have spent a significant amount of time and energy on research and education, building up collective knowledge to empower the association and as well as the wider public. This work has shown that in Dublin people are spending up to 80% of income just to have a roof over their heads. DTA have a clear idea why they carry out self organized research and knowledge production. “We’ve found research really important. First of all it means we know our rights so we can help each other when it comes to specific issues like rent increases or what ever. Second it means we are able to put forward credible, feasible policies based on evidence. And this is the point. People and grassroots organisations like DTA are not just making concrete policies proposal that can help relieve the pressures on people renting accommodation. They provide organising spaces to conteract and reject the logic of atomised, individualised indivduals through the practice of solidarity based actions
Attendees of the European Housing Crisis and Resistance in held in Dublin, Nov 2016 which saw housing rights groups share their struggles | Photo Credit: Mark Malone
SOLIDARITY
Migration | Photo Credit : Anja58 CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 via Flickr
8 LOCAL & GLOBAL DIRECT PROVISION
The tragic death of a young woman in the Kinsale Road Accommodation Centre on August 23rd has led to renewed calls this aautumn for an end to the system of direct provision and deportation.
AINE RICKARD Comhlámh Member Heroic journeys have long captured the public’s imagination in Europe - Christopher Columbus and Edmund Hillary are household names because of their risky expeditions into the unknown. Not all heroic journeys are held in such esteem. In recent years, the well-publicised movement of many thousands of people from warafflicted countries in the Middle East and Africa have been met with mixed societal opinion. This is especially so in Europe, a destination deemed safe and secure for many refugees. Over the last five years, the European media and governmental discussions have most often highlighted the risks of accepting these seeking asylum, whilst dismissing the hardships and courage involved. Not all Europeans feel this way. Watching these journeys unfold, many citizens have expressed frustration at the lack of support being offered by governments. In retaliation, some have decided to undertake journeys of their own in support, leading to several citizen-led initiatives springing up across Europe. One such example is SeaWatch, an NGO founded in Berlin in 2015 by four German families. Pooling their resources, they raised close to €35,000 to buy an old Go-46 fishing vessel. According to their founders, is all started from there: ‘The ship was refitted with a crew of volunteers, working day and night to make the vessel suitable for Search and Rescue (SAR) operations’. Once ready, the MS Seawatch took to the waters of the Mediterranean in May 2015. Their goal was simple: to carry out Search-and-Rescue for boats carrying migrants in distress. SeaWatch’s chairman Harald Höppner speaks about some of their successes: ‘We were able to rescue over 5,000 souls in 2015 alone’. Since then, many volunteers have become involved, with SeaWatch raising enough funds this summer to run a second rescue boat from 2016 onwards.
FIND OUT MORE Another such initiative is Kindness of Strangers, established in London by a small group of travel-loving friends. Their founding idea was simple, ‘harnessing the power of inspiring stories about difficult journeys to build empathy with people from elsewhere’. Most recently, on 15th September, they held an evening of inspiring talks by adventure travellers and by Syrian refugee, Hassan Akkad. One of the speakers, adventurer and MBE awardee Sarah Outen, drew parallels between her own terrifying failed attempt to row across the Atlantic, and the life-threatening boat-trips that migrants make every year towards Europe. She reflected on how lucky she was, ‘I had a whole support team back at home to help’. In contrast, on the same night, 28-year old Akkad discussed his own lon g and difficult jour“the well-publicised ney from troumovement of many bled Damascus thousands of people to his evenfrom war-afflicted tual arrival countries in the Middle in London. East and Africa have After boardbeen met with mixed ing a sma l l societal opinion.” boat i n Ju ly 2 015 to c ro s s the Med, sixty minutes later he found himself swimming towards Greece after the boat sank, bringing with him his only rucksack and mostloved possessions from home. Over 400 heard him speak on the night, with over £9,000 raised for Oxfam’s Refuge Appeal on top of another £6,000 already collected by Kindness of Strangers. Simple objectives and community effort by ordinary citizens have brought about these small actions of positive social change. While governments flounder, perhaps there are other small ways to respect and perhaps ease the pain of these difficult journeys.
In an open letter to Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald on August 31st, MASI (Movement for Asylum Seekers in Ireland) underscored the serious and negative impact that the system has on mental health, as well as the disproportionate levels of depression and other forms of mental illness experienced by asylum seekers. ‘’The Department of Justice cannot act as though this tragedy was unforeseen.’’
STANDING ROCK VICTORY In early December 2016, the activists and campaigners at Standing Rock declared a victory as the US army corps withdrew permission for the Dakota Access pipeline under the Missouri river. The pipeline not only threatened the drinking water of 10s of thousand of native americans. The protest themselves drew together the largest mobilsation of native North Americans ever, in what was an expression of cultural, ecological and political rights.
ANTI WAR ACTIVISTS CASE The cases against antiwar activists have hit a bit of a bump. Orginally Colm Roddy and Dave Donnellan were charged with trespass at Shannon Airport, an action which highlighted the continued use of the airport by US military. New charges against Colm was rejected as Judge Durcan told him he was free to go, and advised him to “just keep walking” out of the court. Dave Donnellan will still be appearing at Ennis District Court on 11 January 2017 More at Shannonwatch.org