Marikana, Bangladesh, Bahrain & Brazil – 2018. One of many joys of London is its multi-cultural nature with so many individuals from totally different international locations and nationalities working right here and lots of for numerous causes selecting to make a brand new life within the metropolis, and the 4 protests I photographed on Monday thirteenth August 2018 mirrored that variety.
London has lengthy been a cosmopolitan place, and has an extended historical past of welcoming folks fleeing from persecution and oppression, actually from the times of the Huguenots and within the late nineteenth century the Jews fleeing pogroms in Jap Europe. London has additionally memorials to numerous the liberators of South America who got refuge right here, in addition to European revolutionaries similar to Karl Marx and Giuseppe Mazzini.
Within the twentieth century issues started to alter, starting with the Aliens Act 1905 which was aimed toward denying entry to ‘undesirable’ Jewish and Jap European immigrants. However topics of the British Empire nonetheless had free motion, although restrictions had been tightened up towards these from South Asia after the First World Warfare.
After the Second World Warfare we would have liked immigrant employees to run public providers but in addition started to arrange tight boundaries towards immigration from the Commonwealth. Within the present century now we have clearly racist anti-immigrant insurance policies and now even plans to forcibly deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
There at the moment are many alternative nationwide communities residing in London, usually gathered primarily specifically areas of the town. And from these are many teams nonetheless extremely involved about occasions of their international locations together with some who’ve come right here as political refugees. Usually their considerations are shared with others on the left within the UK who come to protest with them.
Justice For Marikana – sixth Anniversary – Metropolis of London
South Africa was as soon as a key a part of the British Empire, and its mines specifically contributed significantly to the wealth of London and lots of mining corporations are nonetheless primarily based within the metropolis. The earliest demonstrations I attended had been towards British corporations and the UK authorities who supported Apartheid and these and the boycott continued for a few years.
34 Hanging miners had been shot useless by South African police at Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine in 2012, and three days earlier than the sixth anniversary of the bloodbath the Marikana Solidarity Collective organised a tour of the Metropolis of London protesting outdoors the premises of buyers, insurers and main shareholders making the most of the violence towards folks and nature in Marikana.
Lonmin plc was based in London in 1909 as The London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Firm Restricted and have become an enormous firm. In addition to mines the corporate diversified its pursuits and for 12 years from 1981-93 was the proprietor of the Observer newspaper. Even Prime Minister Edward Heath described the corporate, then infamous as Lonrho, in 1973 as “an disagreeable and unacceptable face of capitalism” for its busting of sanctions towards Rhodesia.
The protesters carried banners and enormous portraits of a number of the murdered miners. They met up at St Paul’s Cathedral after which left to march to the places of work of a number of buyers, insurers and shareholders making the most of the violence at Marikana, calling for these accountable to be dropped at justice and for reparations to be made to their dependents and to these survivors who had been injured and arrested. The tour ended outdoors the London places of work of BASF who’re the main prospects for the platinum mined at Marikana.
Justice For Marikana – sixth Anniversary
Launch Bangladeshi opposition chief Khaleda Zia -Downing St
The Bangladeshi Nationalist Celebration UK protested reverse Downing St for the discharge of their celebration chief, Begum Khaleda Zia, jailed in February for 5 years for embezzlement of worldwide funds donated to Zia Orphanage Belief.
Khaleda Zia was the First Woman of Bangladesh through the presidency of her husband Ziaur Rahman who based the Bangladesh Nationalist Celebration (BNP) within the late Nineteen Seventies, was Bangladesh’s first feminine head of presidency from 1991-6 after the BNP received the nation’s first democratic election in 20 years, and served as prime minister later in 2001-6.
The BNP declare the cost towards her was politically motivated. Her son has additionally been sentenced to 10 years in jail however stays in London. Some Bangladeshi associates say there’s little to selected between Zia and her rival, Sheikh Hasina Wazed, chief of the Awami League and Prime Minister of Bangladesh since January 2009. They are saying each are corrupt and neither represents the pursuits of the folks of their nation.
Launch Bangladeshi opposition chief
Assault on Bahrain Embassy starvation striker – Bahrain Embassy, Belgrave Sq
Inminds Islamic human rights organisation protested outdoors the Bahrain embassy after an assault within the early hours of the earlier morning on starvation striker Ali Mushaima who was on starvation strike there for the reason that begin of August to save lots of the lifetime of his father Hassan Mushaima, one of many leaders of the 2011 mass motion that peacefully referred to as for human rights and democratic reforms in Bahrain.
Inminds had protested in assist of the Ali Mushima three days earlier, calling for the discharge of his father and all the opposite 5000 Bahraini prisoners of conscience languishing within the Al-Khalifa regimes jails and for and finish of the dictatorship’s crimes towards the Bahraini folks.
Police had didn’t correctly examine the early morning assault when a bucket of an unknown liquid was thrown over the starvation striker on the pavement under from the Ambassador’s balcony, however got here to harass the protesters, attempting to stop them protesting in entrance of the balcony.
The protesters refused to maneuver after which carried out a reasonably unrehearsed quick play during which Theresa Might offered arms to the Bahraini dictator which he used to shoot protesters, who had been then chained up. Not like in actual life the Worldwide Prison Court docket got here to their rescue, launched them and condemned the Bahraini regime for his or her crimes towards humanity.
Assault on Bahrain Embassy starvation striker
Free Lula – Brazilians for Democracy & Justice – Brazilian Embassy, Cockspur St, St. James’s
Brazilians protested outdoors the Brazilian embassy calling for the discharge of Lula – Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – the previous commerce union chief who was President of Brazil from 2003-11 as a way to allow him to face for election once more in October 2018.
The best-wing Brazilian authorities had introduced extremely doubtful costs towards each then President Dilma Rousseff and Lula to question Dilma in 2016 for what was not an impeachable offence and to ship Lula to jail in an try to stop the Employee’s Celebration (TP) profitable within the forthcoming elections.
Sadly he was not in a position to stand in 2018, and the far-right Bolsonaro grew to become President. However Lula was launched pending attraction in November 2019 and in March 2021 the Brazil Supreme Court docket dominated the choose in his trial was biased and the next month restored his political rights and all his convictions had been nullified. He’s now the entrance runner for the 2022 presidential elections.
Tags: Al-Khalifa regime, Ali Mushaima, Bahrain, Bahrain Embassy, Bangladesh, BNP, BNP chief, Brazil, Brazilians, Communities, cosmopolitan, Democracy & Justice, variety, Free Lula, Hassan Mushaima, starvation striker, immigration, insurers, buyers, Khaleda Zia, London, Lonmin, Lonrho, march, marikana, Marikana massacare, migration, multicultural, peter Marshall, police, police harassment, police taking pictures, protest, shareholders, South Africa, strking miners, TP
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