Refugees and the Rich-World Fortress

The Australian government's appalling treatment of asylum-seekers has shocked people around the world. Refugees desperate to escape oppression and misery in their homelands have not found shelter and comfort here but instead have been subjected to soul-destroying incarceration and loss of all hope. They have been made the scapegoats in a racist campaign to boost the Coalition's stocks and enable it to retain power.

But the Howard government’s miserable record is part of a global pattern. Worldwide, tens of millions of people are fleeing war, persecution, hunger and environmental disaster. Yet the imperialist countries are building ever-higher walls to protect their rich-world fortresses and keep out the victims of their policies in the Third World.

This pamphlet provides activists and those concerned with securing human rights for refugees with the global context and basic facts and arguments on this burning issue.