Teleconference of the ECA: “The Communists of Europe against the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum”

On Sunday 20 October, the European Communist Action held a teleconference on "The Communists of Europe against the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum". The introductory speech was given by the New Communist Party of the Netherlands. On behalf of the KKE, the speech was given by Katerina Geraki, head of the Inter-sectional Committee of the CC of the KKE on the rights of migrants and refugees.

KKE: Opposition and disobedience to the EU’s brutal institutional framework for refugees and migrants

NO TO 'FORTRESS BRITAIN' AND 'FORTRESS EUROPE', says Communist Party of Britain

 NO TO 'FORTRESS BRITAIN' AND 'FORTRESS EUROPE'

'Imperialism’s military interventions and proxy wars are destabilising countries in Asia, Latin America, East and West Africa in an aggressive drive to protect Western economic interests and impose political dominance', Carol Stavris told the Communist Party's political committee on Monday evening (August 14).

She said Niger, whose valuable uranium resources are being exploited by the country's former colonial master to feed France's nuclear power industry, had more than ten million people - almost half Niger's population - living in extreme poverty.

World Refugee Day: Statement by the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU)

Statement by the Secretariat of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU):

On the occasion of World Refugee Day, WFTU calls upon its more than 105 million members in the 133 countries of the 5 continents to continue and strengthen their struggle, in every sector and in every region, for the full and smooth integration of immigrants into the local societies and every aspect of social life, including trade unions.

It is obvious that imperialist aggressiveness for the control and exploitation of markets, natural resources and energy roads, capitalist barbarity, anti-labor and anti-people’s policies, hunger, poverty, modern slave trade are the main causal factors that have directly or indirectly compelled millions of people into forced displacement. The latest data according to the UNHCR, shows that there are 108 million people that were forcibly displaced worldwide.

KKE MEPs: Urgent letter to Ursula von der Leyen for the tragic migrant shipwreck off Pylos

In an urgent letter (here in Greek) addressed to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the Europarliament Group of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) denounces the recent tragic, deadly migrant shipwreck off the coast of South Greece and calls her to position herself on the EU's anti-immigration policy.

More specifically, the MEPs of the KKE point out in their letter:

"Mrs President,

"Their profits or our lives": Statement of the KKE on the deadly migrant shipwreck off Southern Greece

Following the tragic news of the deadly migrant shipwreck off Pylos, Southern Greece, in international waters, which led to 79 confirmed deaths and numerous missing, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued a statement. 

Furthermore, the Party's General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas made an emergency visit to Kalamata, while members of the KKE and its youth wing, KNE, proceeded to protests in Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities. Demonstrations are also scheduled for today throughout the country. 

Britain’s Communists condemn racist Immigration Bill

'People seeking to build a new life in Britain are being targeted by those who want to divide us', Tony Conway told the Communist Party's political committee on Monday evening (March 27).

'The Tory government at Westminster, the far right and the big business media are using every weapon to stigmatise migrants and asylum seekers instead of addressing the real economic and social problems facing working people and their families', he added.

KKE: The images of naked refugees on Greek-Turkish border expose capitalist barbarity

Greek border guards and officers of EU border agency Frontex found 92 unclothed migrants from the banks of the river Evros, on the northeastern border with Turkey on Friday, Greece's Citizen Protection Ministry said on Saturday.

The migrants “had been abandoned completely naked and without any equipment,” the ministry said. 

 

 In a statement about the incident, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued the following statement (here in Greek): 

KKE MEP: The Melilla massacre is an example of EU's criminal policy

The EU Parliament Group of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) strongly condemned the criminal policy of the EU and its governments that resulted in the recent tragic massacre of migrants in Melilla. 

 

During a debate in the Committee on Political Liberties (LIBE), in the presence of EU Commissioner Ylva Johannson, KKE MEP Kostas Papadakis made the following intervention:

Poland's communists blast governmental policy on refugees

“The Polish government's policy towards refugees failed and resulted in the death of at least a dozen people” points out the Communist Party of Poland (KPP) in a statement concerning the ongoing refugee crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border. 

 

“A government that is unable to resolve this crisis in a peaceful way should resign” adds the Communist Party, underlining that the foreign policy of Poland must change.

The KPP stresses out that “it shouldn't be forgotten that Poland, as a NATO member-state, had an instrumental role in the tragic situation affected by war, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan” and adds: “The refugees hope to reach Western European countries through Poland. These people often flee from Islamic fundamentalism, imperialism or the lack of prospects in their home country. Many migrants are Kurds who have become victims of Turkism imperialism in Syria and Iraq. Some have successfully fought against the Islamic State but, now, the U.S. has handed them over to Erdogan's regime which is occupying part of Syria's territory and carries out air strikes in northern Iraq”.

KKE: Statement for the refugee crisis in Belarus-EU borders

The KKE calls the people of Poland and Belarus, as well as the other people of the region, to turn their backs on nationalism and racism, to strengthen the solidarity with the people who are victims of imperialist wars and exploitation, points out a statement of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) concerning the dramatic situation in the Polish-Belarusian border.

More specifically, the statement (here in Greek) issued by the Press Bureau of the CC of the KKE reads:

Belarus-Poland standoff: The lives of refugees are not a tool in imperialist antagonisms

In a statement about the tension in the Belarusian-Polish border the Secretariat of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) underlines that "the lives of refugees are not a tool in imperialist antagonisms" and calls for an end to the imperialist interventions which are the root of refugee-migrant crisis, The statement reads:

"The tension on the Belarusian border with Poland is intensifying every day at the expense of thousands of stranded migrants and refugees who are treated like a tennis-ball in the EU – USA – NATO geopolitical confrontation with Belarus and Russia.

Fire destroys Moria refugee camp in Greece — Statements by KKE and PAME

A large fire has destroyed Greece's largest refugee concentration camp in Moria, Lesbos. About 25 firefighters and 10 engines battled the flames as migrants were evacuated. 

Moria was home to nearly 13,000 refugees and migrants, which is more than four times the number the camp can officially hold. 

In a statement published in 902 portal, the Press Bureau of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) demands the immediate closing of Moria urging the authorities to proceed to the relocation of the refugees-migrants to safe places, under all the necessary measures of health protection, in mainland Greece. 

KKE responds to the fabrications published in "Die Rote Fahne" online newspaper

On June 6, 2020, an article titled "The Migration Issue "divides" the Left" was published online in Greece. The author of the article is a geologist who had studied in Germany and lives in Athens. It refers to an article in the German online newspaper "DIE ROTE FAHNE", which deals with the migration issue in Europe and criticises the ΚΚΕ for ..."deficient analysis". 

The author of the article claims that what we are dealing with is a "not so friendly reaction of the "fraternal" Communist Party of Germany, KPD (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands).

Refugee Crisis: Militant intervention by Greek communists in the developments

The following article provides a thorough outline of the position and initiatives of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) regarding the ongoing refugee situation in the borders between Greece and Turkey and the Greek islands: 

Militant intervention by the communists in the developments concerning the Refugee question

By Nikos Sofianos*

Greece must not become EU's refugee prison, says KKE MEP Kostas Papadakis

Communist Party (KKE) eurodeputy Kostas Papadakis.

The immense responsibilities of the European Union and NATO in the creation and perpetuation of the refugee situation in the Greek-Turkish borders, as well as the need for the abolition of EU's Dublin Regulation and the EU-Turkey migrant deal, were highlighted by Kostas Papadakis, MEP for the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), during his intervention at the EU Parliament’s plenary in Brussels. 

More specifically Papadakis pointed out the following:

Dimitris Koutsoumbas on refugee crisis: "Dublin Regulation, EU-Turkey deal must be abolished"

The General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas gave an interview to “Real News” newspaper where, among other things, he refered to the ongoing refugee situation in the Greek-Turkish borders. Below you can read the excerpts of his answers:

“There is no greatest depravity than using uprooted, tortured people for your own aspirations, like Erdogan does, who blackmails for more support by the EU and NATO for his intervention in Northern Syria as well as in his other plans. For that reason, the needed protection of the borders can neither target the refugees nor acquitting EU and NATO which uproot people and have led to the entrapment of thousands of refugees in the Aegean islands and in Evros, thus playing Erdogan’s game. And certainly it cannot be utilized for the emboldenment of reactionary, racist voices”.

Greek workers' movement stands in solidarity with refugees — Statement by PAME

In face of the latest developments with the refugee situation in the Greek-Turkish borders and the Aegean islands, the vanguard of Greece's class-oriented labour movement, the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME), issued the following statement:

The trapping of thousands of refugees and immigrants in the Aegean islands and the Greek-Turkish border in Evros, in the most dramatic way, highlights the barbarism of imperialist organizations, the EU and NATO and the active involvement of all Greek governments in these organizations.

Statement of the Political Bureau of the KKE on the refugee crisis in Greek-Turkish borders

On March 3, 2020, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued a statement regarding the refugee situation in the Greek-Turkish borders and the measures announced by the government. You can read previous statements by the KKE about the issue here and here. 

The statement is the following:

The latest developments, with the entrapment of thousands of refugees and immigrants on the Aegean islands and at the Greek-Turkish border in Evros, confirm once again that the EU and NATO policy that the Greek governments have followed and are fervently adhering to now is, on the one hand, responsible for the dissolution of countries and the uprooting of peoples and on the other,  for the entrapment of uprooted peoples on islands and at borders. This policy has paved the way for Erdogan to try to impose his own objectives, using the refugee situation as a vehicle.

KKE slams Greek government: "Demonstrate your strength to EU and NATO, not to refugees"

Greek riot police forces behind the fences at Kastanies
border crossing, 29 February 2020 EPA/EFE.

After a meeting on Sunday chaired by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece’s Government Council on National Security (KYSEA) decided to step up the level of deterrence to the maximum point at the Greek-Turkish borders in Evros. 

The conservative ND government also decided to suspend new asylum applications, while the presence of army units and police forces across Kastanies border gates has been strengthened. Additionally, Athens has requested from EU border agency FRONTEX to provide additional aid in the protection of the borders.

Refugee flows are a result of the interventions by US-NATO-EU and Turkey in Syria — KKE

During the last 48 hours, the tension in the Greek-Turkish borders in Evros has been escalated, with thousands of refugees and migrants gathering at Kastanies/Pazarkule border gate. “We will no longer keep the doors closed for refugees who want to go to Europe”, a senior Turkish official said as a response to the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers in Idlib Province, Syria. 

At the same time, the Greek government decided yesterday to suspend border crossing at Kastanies, sending additional riot police forces to the area. In a message, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote: “I want to be clear: no illegal entries into Greece will be tolerated”, announcing the increase of border security.