Blinded by the apparent allure of a tall, thin woman from France, Britain’s press completely ignored the forcible deportation, on Thursday, of 60 Iraqi Kurds, who were transported back to a decidedly uncertain future on a German plane from a UK airport. Each of the 60 “failed asylum seekers,” as they are officially known, was escorted by an armed Home Office guard funded by the UK taxpayer. The guards had previously seized the men from the detention centers at Campsfield and Colnbrook in what looked uncomfortably like a “dawn raid.”

According to the International Federation of Iraq Refugees (IFIR), which immediately issued a press release that, unfortunately, did not include the words “Carla Bruni” in its title, the plane arrived at Arbil airport in Iraqi Kurdistan at 3 am on Friday morning (see:  http://www.csdiraq.com/archives/press%20release%2028%20March%202008.pdf). Confused, tired and unsure of where they were, the men refused to leave the plane. The Home Office guards then called for assistance from guards of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), who were waiting at the airport. 25 of these men boarded the plane, and “pushed and threatened the asylum seekers off the plane onto two waiting coaches.”

The ITIR press release continued, “At the airport the asylum seekers noticed three jeeps observing them, which they thought contained UNHCR personnel [from the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees], but they were not allowed to talk to the people in the jeeps.” They were then transported to Ain Kawa Bridge, in a village near Arbil, where they were abandoned, even though many of them were injured and all of them had lost their luggage, including their all-important mobile phones. An eye-witness reported that the KRG guards “knew nothing about human rights.” “If I had seen it in a film,” he said, “I would not have believed it.”

Compounding the men’s plight, many are not even from Kurdistan, but from cities further south, including Mosul and Kirkuk, even though, as ITIR noted, “people from this area have generally not been removed by the Home Office in the past” (see:  http://www.csdiraq.com/archives/press%20release%2027%20March%202008.pdf). Rizgar Bahem, from Mosul, protested about being abandoned at the bridge, and tried to reason with the guards. “I am not from Kurdistan,” he said. “Why are you leaving me here?” The guards’ leader “responded by hitting him with the muzzle of his gun and pushed him off the coach.”

Even those from Kurdistan are not necessarily safe. As IFIR noted last November ( http://www.csdiraq.com/archives/000234.html), on the second anniversary of the forced deportation of 15 Iraqi Kurds on a military plane from Brize Norton airbase in Oxfordshire, “The Iraqi Kurdish asylum seekers are not criminals. They are civilians and victims of the war in Iraq. Kurdistan is not an independent state and is not part of stable state. Thus the Kurdish people are in limbo and the future of their lives is uncertain.”

Last February, when around 50 others were forcibly deported, Amnesty International issued an even more strongly worded response ( http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=17261). Jan Shaw, the UK’s Refugee Programme Director, explained, “Forcing people back to Iraq, even to the North, will put people’s lives at risk. Amnesty remains opposed to any forcible return of asylum-seekers to Iraq, including to the Kurdish region. In post-conflict situations people should not be returned unless there is stability and a durable peace; neither of those is true in Iraq. Given the colossal scale of fighting and bloodshed in the country, it is hard to describe Iraq’s situation as ‘post-conflict’ at all. Imagine how terrifying it must be for those watching the chaos unfolding in Iraq on the news to then receive a letter from the government stating that they are about to be flown back there.”

Over the last few years, the British government has returned over a hundred ”failed asylum seekers” to Iraqi Kurdistan. Previous deportations have at least been covered in the media, but the silence in this latest case suggests that ”deportation fatigue” has set in.

On the other hand, it may be that everyone’s still blinded by the presence of Carla Bruni, although on this matter, as on so many others, the wife of the French President has expressed no opinion.

For further information on the deportation, email Dashty Jamal, IFIR’s Secretary on:  d.jamal@ntlworld.com

Andy Worthington is the author of ”The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison” ( http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/?page_id=17).

Andy Worthington
e-mail: andy@andyworthington.co.uk
Homepage: http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/

This Shamfull action has been taken in the result of pressure from Pakistani Government, Specially by ISI ( The Modern Gistapo and SAWAK) – some say it is via Interpol and from warrants for the arrests of the leaders of the resistance movement issued in 1999 when Paki General Musharaf visited London.

Britain, which claims that they are the mother of Democracy and Human Rights is NO more Save place for Political Exiled Workers.

Please Raise your Voice against the arrest of KAHIR BIYAAR MARI.

BALUCHISTAN IS BURNING AND EVERY DAY THE SONS OF BALUCHISTAN BEING KILLED,THE HISTORY IS REPEATING HER SELF AGAIN,SINCE LAST WEEK HEAVY ARMORED FORCES ARE ARRIVING AT QUETTA RAILWAY STATION AND IT SEEMS A HUGE MILITARY ACTION IS UNDERWAY IN BALUCHISTAN.

Military Action in Baluchistan is continues but the speciality of this Barbaric Action this time is to target the Baluch Leadership and Pakistani Army is Killing every day the Leader of Baluch People.

Please Raise your Voice against the arrest of KAHIR BIYAAR BALUCH..

…Please Act NOW…

http://www.balochvoice.com/Audio_News/2007/Other/12/07-12-04_BBC_News_Gazain_Marri_Said_that_Hairbyar_Marri_has_Been_Arrested_By_British_Authorities.wma

• French Chary Attempted to Smuggle Hundred of Children From Chad to France.

• French Army base supported Children kidnapper.

• Children were confused and traumatised.

• They want Justice Now.

On the Saturday 17^th November 2007. At 12:00 to 1:00pm

A Peaceful Demonstration Will be held front of

French Embassy 58 Knightsbridge London SW1X 7JT.

Please come support the Rights of African Children

The Chadian Community Centre in the UK.

23 Genesta Road London SE18 3ER. Tel 07960745399

jeddojuhd.com

http://www.fascista rmy.org/

http://www.icssa. org/

http://www.new- pakistan. com/

http://pakistanmartiallaw.blogspot.com/

. . . ACTION ALERT . . . ACTION ALERT . . . ACTION ALERT . . .

Independent Investigation demanded by women in

Yarl’s Wood R emoval Centre

Women in Yarl’s Wood R emoval Centre, whom we are working with on a daily basis, have asked us to circulate their letter (attached) highlighting the appalling conditions and grave injustice they face in detention . T heir demand for an independent investigation to “listen to our grievances and give us justice”, is being raised at the same time as front page newspaper articles expose the widespread destitution of asylum seekers, racist attacks and violence from immigration guards against people during removal and attempts to deport Zimbabwean women weakened by over 40 days of hunger strikes.

In this letter, addressed to the European Court of Human Rights, the United Nations and the media, women protest at:

· Victims of torture and rape being detained.

· Pregnant women being beaten.

· Women being detained for long periods (one of the signatories has been held for over 11 months despite the fact that she cannot be returned to S omalia ).

· Racism – “The people who suffer mostly in the hands of cruel and brutal immigration officers are A fricans and A sians among other continents thus evidence that racism is exercised so much in UK ” .

· The fast track procedure which allows only 24 hours for women to present their claim for asylum. ^[1]

· Appeal hearings and removals being imposed without notification.

· Bail being refused despite women having “families with citizenship”.

· Lack of interpreters – “They are never available when needed, even during asylum interviews”

· Lawyers demanding money despite women having no money to pay and despite them being listed as legal aid solicitors.

Women’s demands confirmed by research

Women’s experiences in detention mirror the findings of Legal Action for Women’s research: ‘A “Bleak House” in Our Times: An investigation into women’s rights violations at Yarl’s Wood Removal Centre’ which found that over 50% of women had no lawyer and 70% of women had been raped. In addition, Black Women’s Rape Action Project and Women Against Rape’s ‘Misjudging Rape: Breaching Gender Guidelines & International Law in Asylum Appeals’ documents how women’s accounts of rape are met by hostility, racism and sexism .

From our daily work we know how often women have bravely tried to speak for themselves at appeal hearings, sometimes when English is not their first language — there are now few lawyers available to represent women and those that do are often incompetent, lazy, negligent or even corrupt.^[2] One witness to a recent appeal hearing described a confused, young woman from N igeria with limited English and shaking with fear, being forced to represent herself — the judge proceeded regardless.

There is also a dearth of other help. Grassroots groups like ours are carrying a disproportionate load in trying to provide support to women in detention, whilst established voluntary organisations, many of which have taken government contracts to implement asylum policy, say little about the injustice they see and know. Despite their substantial funding, there has been no corresponding increase in practical help for women facing removal back to possible torture, rape and even death.

Even though there is a real risk of reprisals, 22 women have signed the letter.

What you can do:

Write pressing for an immediate independent investigation [Don’t think we should give IAC that much prestige]. Please send letters to:

Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith, Secretary of State for the Home Office

Fax: 020 7035 3262

Anne Owers CBE, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, 1^st Floor Ashley House 2 Mouck Street , London SW1P 2BQ Fax: 020 7035 2141

Stephen Shaw, Prisons Ombudsman

Fax 020 7035 2860, mail@ppo.gsi.gov.uk

Yakin Erturk, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women erturk@metu.edu.tr

Commission on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women,

Fax: 001 212 963 3463

Human Rights Complaints, HRC against Torture tb-petitions@ohchr.org

We have requested that the Independent Asylum Commission (IAC) hold a hearing inside Yarl’s Wood. If you would like to support that request please write to Sir John Waite & Ifath Nawaz, Co-chairs, IAC via the website enquiry form or post: 112 Cavell St , London , E1 2JA

Please send copies of any letters to:

Black Women’s R ape Action Project bwrap@dircon.co.uk

Legal Action for Women law@crossroadswomen.net

020 7482 2496 or 07980 659 831

^[1] Ms E from Cameroon recently won the right to stay under A rticle 3 of the Human R ights A ct, overturning a refusal at an appeal hearing inside Yarl’s Wood, under the fast track, heard by immigration judge Wa rren L Grant. Almost uniquely, we were able to find new lawyers to appeal, without which Ms E would have been deported.

^[2] We can provide evidence of this based on official complaints we have made about lawyers.

 “In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
  —  Martin Luther King Jr.

DONATIONS NEEDED TO HELP TRAUMATISED MOTHER FIND HER CHILDREN

Ms Peace Musabi has not seen or heard from her four children for over four years.  S he doesn’t know whether they are alive or dead but like any mother is desperate to find out.  Her oldest son disappeared and she was forced to leave the other three behind when she fled from Burundi to the UK in fear of her life in 2003.  S he needs money to search for them and all the money she managed to scrap together for this purpose has run out.  We are urgently asking for your help.

Background

Ms Musabi was forced to leave Burundi in 2003 after she and her family, who are Hutu, were targeted by T utsi authorities.  Ms Musabi’s husband was kidnapped, and both he and her eldest son disappeared.    S he sent her three other children (two boys now aged 15 and 10, and a girl aged 13) to stay with a family friend because she feared for their safety.  S hortly afterwards, the family home was attacked and her brother was decapitated in front of her.  Ms Musabi was imprisoned for six months and repeatedly raped as well as being tortured in other ways.  S he managed to escape with the help of a friend who paid an agent and fled to the UK .  T ragically and against all her instincts she was forced to leave the children behind because she thought they would be safer if they weren’t associated with her. 

Ms Musabi’s asylum claim is being considered by the Home Office’s Legacy Group after negligent legal representation (acknowledged by the Law S ociety) led to it being refused without a substantive hearing.  Ms Musabi arrived in the UK pregnant as a result of the rape she suffered in prison and is now raising a daughter. 

As soon as she was able, Ms Musabi appealed to the R ed Cross to try and locate her children but she has received no news so far.  In 2005, Ms Musabi was granted a small sum in compensation for poor legal representation in her asylum claim. S he used this money to make renewed efforts to try and find her children by paying people to look for them.  S he learnt that the person who was looking after the three children had also fled the country. S he was both relieved to hear some news but distraught not to know if or how her children are now surviving.  T he compensation money has now run out. Ms Musabi is now appealing for well-wishers to help her raise some money to continue the search.  S he has calculated that she needs £1000 to start the search again. T he money would cover expenses for transport, food and accommodation for the person now in Burundi who is ready to renew his search but cannot do so without some basic financial help.

Request for financial help

Many of us are mothers, fathers and other carers.  None of us can really imagine the horror of being forcibly separated from our children.  Tragically and largely invisibly many women seeking asylum in the UK (including women in the All African Women’s Group[1]) live with this kind of heartbreak every day.  Like Ms Musabi, they were forced to leave their children behind or saw them kidnapped and don’t know where they are or how they are suffering trying to survive without the love and protection of their mother. 

Whilst Ms Musabi had no choice but to leave Burundi, she is haunted by grief and feelings of guilt that she failed as a mother to protect her children. This constant distress means she cannot begin to recover from her ordeal and her mental and physical health suffers constantly as a result.  She is being treated for depression and sleeping problems.

When asked Ms Musabi said:

“My children never leave my mind.  I cannot speak of them without breaking down.  Every night I cry myself to sleep and all my days are clouded with guilt and self blaming.”

Ms Musabi is a key member of the All African Women’s Group, volunteers weekly to support other women and has courageously spoken to the press, at conferences and at other events to publicise the plight of women asylum seekers.  Any help you can give is greatly appreciated.

T o make a donation online please go to see Donate Online www.womenagainstrape.net and send an email confirmation that you are donating to this appeal.    Or send a cheque made out to Women Against R ape (marked for Ms Musabi Appeal) and send to Crossroads Women’s Centre , 230A Kentish T own R oad , London N W5 2AB . 

Burma : The struggle continues

Giles Ji Ungpakorn: Thailand

While the mainstream media concentrate on the pronouncements of foreign governments and the role of the U.N. in stopping the bloodshed perpetrated by the Burmese junta, the real struggle is on the streets and in the cities around Burma . The idea that the Chinese government, responsible for the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or the Thai military junta will somehow restrain the Burmese military is laughable. The West has a long history of supporting military juntas in South-east Asia and never lifted a finger to stop massacres in Indonesia or the Philippines . It is most ironic that in fact, the present demonstrations that we are seeing in Burma , arise from a realisation by Burmese pro-democracy activists that they cannot rely on Western powers or anyone else to bring about a change and they have to act themselves.

Until the military started its latest round of bloody crackdowns, the mainstream media were claiming that the wide spread use of the internet meant that the watching eyes of the world would prevent a massacre, “unlike in 1988″. In fact we could see pictures of the 1988 crackdown and we were all aware of what was going on. The great uprising which started on 8^th August 1988, was initiated by student protests over economic issues. Soon it developed into demands for democracy. On the morning of the 8 ^th a general strike started in the docks and spread to government offices. All sections of society, including priests, marched to demand the end to military rule and despite the bloody brutality of the regime, the movement showed signs of winning. Ne Win, the old military dictator was forced to resign and the junta changed its name and promised elections. However, instead of pushing forward with the struggle, which would have toppled the military completely, the movement was deflated. Aung San Suu Kyi told demonstrators to disperse. The reasoning was that they should trust the army and not push them “too far”. The energies of the democracy movement were channelled into electoral politics. After Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy ( N.L.D.) won 392 seats out of a total 485 in 1990, the junta refused to accept the result. Suu Kyi and N.L.D. politicians were arrested, but the movement had already been weakened. Some student activists joined the armed struggle in the countryside, but they soon became demoralised.

For years after the defeat of the 1988 movement, demoralised activists had hoped that the United States would put pressure on the Burmese junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi and negotiate a road map to democracy. Despite the understandable pessimism of many Burmese exiles, lessons have been learnt by many activists. Earlier this year a loose network of activists decided to start open protests in the form of “prayer marches” at temples. This was followed by the large demonstrations of monks after fuel price rises of 500%. Thousands of ordinary people gained confidence and joined the monks’ protests. Hundreds of politicised young men have become monks in recent years, partly due to the fact that the junta closed down or restricted entry to colleges and universities. The temples were safer places for people to gather and talk, much like the Mosques in Iran during the revolution or the Catholic Church in Communist Poland before the uprising there.

The pro-democracy movement today has more experience than in 1988. Twenty years ago they were prepared to allow Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy to lead the movement. Today there are debates about the way forward. While everyone agrees that Suu Kyi and all political prisoners should be freed immediately, the radicals are wary of leaving the leadership of the movement in the hands of the N.L.D.

Freedom and democracy can only be achieved by also dealing with the ethnic conflict. The non-Burmans, who make up more than half the population, have never been happy with a unified state and many groups have been in a state of constant armed struggle against the central government since independence. It is encouraging to see that the Karen National Union has come out very clearly on the side of the pro-democracy movement and has urged Burmese soldiers to turn their guns on their officers. It is to be hoped that the democracy movement responds to this act of solidarity by taking up a position allowing ethnic groups self-determination. In the past Burmese independence leaders such as Aung San (Sui Kyi’s father) or U Nu were not that enthusiastic about allowing different ethnic groups to have autonomy. The 1947 Panglong conference to discuss the future of Burma was boycotted by the Karen, Karenni, Mon, Arakan and Wa. Sui Kyi herself has been unclear on this issue and is not fully trusted by non-Burmans.

While many of the activists trace their roots back to 8-8-88, thousands of young people on the protests are too young to have taken part back then. This means that a whole new generation of people have become radicalised. There are signs that they are prepared to resist the army with great courage and sacrifices. One woman, interviewed by Reuters, summed up the present situation by saying “it is good but it is dangerous”. Democracy can only be achieved by overthrowing the junta. There is no room for compromise and the junta can never be trusted. We can only hope that the democracy movement inside Burma will strive to topple the regime, like in Manila in 1986, Bangkok in 1992 and Jakarta in 1998. This will involve fighting back and also winning over ordinary soldiers to the side of the people. It will involve strikes by the growing working class, both in the cities of Burma and also among the millions of Burmese migrant workers, especially in the factories on the Thai side of the border, such as in towns like Mae Sot. It may be a long process, but we can all act to show the necessary solidarity.

Giles Ji Ungpakorn Workers Democracy Thailand
Giles Ji Ungpakorn
Faculty of Political Science
Chulalongkorn University
Bangkok 10330 , Thailand
+66-(0)813469481
UK mobile +44(0)7817034432
WDPress Blog http://wdpress. blog.co.uk/

Burma – Memories from Rangoon and Bagan in 2000

Junya Lek Yimprasert

Thai Labour Campaign

For nearly twenty years human rights groups around the world have organised protest after protest in their attempts to pressure world leaders to take action to restore democracy in Burma. But it seems their voice has never been loud enough – especially in the ears of Asian governments. For instance, the Chinese and Japanese governments have major interests in Burma and conduct their business ignoring totally the fact that the Burmese people are oppressed by one of the most ruthless military juntas on the planet.

The raw violence of the Burmese military against their own citizens in 1988 – and continuously ever since then, has pushed millions of Burmese to take refuge in neighbouring countries. In Thailand there are now about 150,000 political asylum seekers and about 2 million Burmese working in the lowest paid jobs, some documented some not, at about 2 USD a day [40% of minimum wage].

These political immigrants are very exposed and vulnerable to all kind of abuse from both the employers and Thai government authorities. Many get arrested and deported back to Burma and must pay money to completely corrupt military authorities all down the line.

For the 20 years that millions of Burmese have been taking refuge in Thailand they have never been granted any rights of citizenship and can receive no social welfare. They have always been obliged to live, as in a trap, in poverty, having to run and hide like animals when their factories and campsites are raided by Thai police.

We have let 50 million Burmese people suffer far too long.

After observing first hand (short article below) conditions of absolute poverty along the Irrawaddy, one of the richest rivers in Asia, in 2003 the Thai Labour Campaign (TLC) established a programme to fight for the rights of Burmese workers in Thailand . This work has been supported by Norwegian Church Aid ( Norway ) and Diakonia ( Sweden ). To facilitate this work TLC has established an office in Mae Sot, a refugee town on the Thai-Burma border.

Memories from Rangoon and Bagan in 2000
Junya Yimprasert, Coordinator, Thai Labour Campaign

“We will go to demonstrate for Democracy in Burma at Government House” my friends told me in Sydney during a 2-month exposure programme in Australia in 1990. The action was organised to mark 2 years since the day of the military crack-down in Burma and to remember the thousands of people who were killed on 8^th August 1988.

Since then I have participated in many protests and actions for democracy in Burma .

Missions to Burma for Altsean-Burma (Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma ) in 2000 and 2001 brought me face-to-face with the awful reality of the living conditions of the Burmese peoples. Going to Rangoon on both trips, I soon began to understand what ‘the absolute poverty of the people in Burma ’ meant in real terms, and also what the expression ‘business has no boundaries’ can mean in practice.

Every hotel was hung with pictures of military officers, and my companion Steve Beeby and myself learnt that the military authorities have made it their custom to demand a free stake in hotel ownerships. On the second trip we stayed at a hotel popular among Asian businessmen – from Singapore , China , Korea and Japan . Thai are most visible as the organisers and managers of hotel and service business.

In Rangoon we were approached by a skinny Burmese boy: “Do you like to take a tour to Bagan?”. After following us for half a day he finally succeeded in convincing us that we could go by taxi to Bagan, 350 kms to the north, and return to Rangoon within two days.

About half-way to Bagan, on a terrible road, we realized that neither our guide or taxi driver knew what they were doing. The promised 6 – 8 hour drive became 14. We went through endless check-points at which our poor guide, muttering that ‘everyone has to pay’, had to keep forking out Kyat.

At one stop he received information that his brother had died. He was very sad, and we sad for him. We suggested we return to Rangoon , but he refused. His need of money was now even greater than when we started the trip.

Travelling back to Rangoon we visited 2 roadside villages. In one, the villagers took us on a tour of their community. They were very poor, each family living in a shack made of bamboo and any materials that could be scavenged. They were short of everything: blankets, medicines, healthy food and future.

A member of one of the families we visited was sick: “We have to look after him as best we can here. We can’t take him to the hospital it is too far away and we don’t have any money”. We were told that it was not just this family, but that more than 100 kilometers from Rangoon there is no village along the whole Irrawaddy that has any means to get their sick to a hospital.

Although many years have now passed since those trips, my memories of the living conditions in Burma remain vivid.

I hope for change in Burma . I hope that all of us, the whole world, will focus the attention that is required to bring peace and democracy to Burma – NOW.

We may not permit the shedding of yet more innocent blood in Burma . In the past 20 years the Burmese have lost far, far too many of their loved ones.

The peoples of Burma have suffered enough.

*******

Junya Lek Yimprasert Thai Labour Campaign

P.O. Box 219, Ladprao Post Office Bangkok 10310 Tel: + 66 1 617 5491 Fax: + 66 2 933 1951 www.thailabour. org

meistra budiasa” <meistrab@yahoo. com> writes from Indonasia

Dear all
During this week many activist pro democracy in Indonesia make solidarity action for people in Burma, on september 28 action by coalition organization like NGO, Womens group, leftist, Student movement, Religious, and Buddhis group in jakarta protest to the embassy Burma and today around 50 people from trade union make protest in front Burma Embassy for demand military regime step down. More picture protest during September 28 and October 1 you can look at http://mediabebas. blogspot. com

Salam Solidaritas

Statement by the Partido ng Manggagawa (Party of Workers) Philippine

September 27, 2007

Filipino workers support the Burmese people

The Filipino working class joins the peoples around the world in condemning the brutal suppression by the military junta of the protest movement in Burma . We add the voice of the workers in the call for democratization in Burma , freedom for political prisoners and an end to the military rule.

We express our solidarity for the people of Burma especially our Burmese brother and sister workers. The working class of Burma suffer as much or even more as other sectors and classes of Burmese society under the heel of the military junta.

The Burmese military dictatorship may be a throwback to the Dark Ages of old but under its iron fisted rule the new paradigm of globalization is being forced down the throats of Burmese workers. Multinational corporations are extracting super profits from the blood and sweat of Burmese workers who are denied the most elementary labor rights by the brutal dictatorship.

The Filipino workers sympathize with the situation of their Burmese brothers and sisters for we suffered the very same exploitation and very same abuse under the Marcos dictatorship. In fact the burgeoning protest movement in Burma against price increases recall to mind the welgang bayans (nationwide public strikes) of the ’80’s and ’90’s
against economic hardship during and after the Marcos dictatoship.

The Burmese military dictatorship hope to nip in the bud the protest movement against the economic crisis and scuttle its maturity into a political movement for democracy in their country. But the tables may yet be turned and instead the bloody repression may still incite the beginnings of a new uprising against military rule.

Despite the forced isolation of Burma under the dictatorship, international solidarity has a significant role to play in sustaining and strengthening the protest movement in Burma against economic hardship and for political freedom. Thus the Partido ng Manggagawa will educate and mobilize the Filipino workers as vanguard fighters or democracy to stand as one body and speak with one voice in support of the Burmese people and workers in their struggle for political freedom and social emancipation. ##

Publication Anouncement

The autobiography of Dada Amir Haider khan, CHAINS TO LOSE , is finally published in two volumes and ready for sale and ciculation.

For those who do not know Dada, whose life and political work spans the entire of 20th century, was a revolutionaty, an international sea farer, a railroad worker in the Unites States, a student at the Lenin University of the People of the East, an union organizer in Bombay and Madras, a prisoner of the British in colonial India and a prisoner of Pakistan’s rulers for being a communist.

An excerpt from the dust cover blurb says: “Much has been written since the classic treatises of Karl Marx about proletarians and their role in the dialectics of change. Some academics have even disputed the very existence of the proliteriat as a class concious social entity, specially outside the parameteres of industrial Europe and North America. But seldom have we come across a work in which a prolatarian of unmistaken identity speaks for himself. CHAINS TO LOSE is that rare an exception. …”

Originally written in his self taught English, Dada’s autobiography is compiled and edited, with an introduction, by Hassan N. Gardezi, a well known South Asian social scientist.

To obtain your copies please contact: Mr. Muhammad Kamran, Office Assistant, Pakistan Studies Centre, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270 E-mail pscuok@yahoo. com

For further information the editor can be reached at: gardezihassan@ hotmail.com