Zur Wahl in San Marino

Am 9. November wählt die älteste heute noch bestehende Republik der Welt (deren Parteiensystem demjenigen von Italien zum Verwechseln ähnelt aber auf dem zweiten Blick einige lokale Spezifika offenbart) ihr Parlament … von hier aus eine kleine Wahlempfehlung: Ohne jede Illusionen eine kritische Stimme für die Sinistra Unita, die vereinigte „Linke mit Kopf und Herz“ … ;-):

Zur Lage von Flüchtlingen und MigrantInnen aus Birma in Thailand

Nach der Niederschlagung der Protestbewegung des letzten Herbstes in Birma durch die regierende Militär- und Bürokratenkaste ist es in den hiesigen Medien um die Situation in Birma ruhig geworden – Grund genug, auf zwei kürzlich auf der Homepage des Internationalen Gewerkschaftsbundes (IGB) veröffentlichte Interviews zur Situation von birmanischen Flüchtlingen und MigrantInnen im Nachbarstaat Thailand hinzuweisen, hieraus Auszüge:

Htat Khoung von der Gewerkschaft Arakan Workers’ Union (AWU) zur Situation in der thailändischen Textil- und Holzindustrie:

„We left our country because we couldn’t find work. We arrived here illegally and the owner of the factory is aware of this, so he takes the opportunity of breaking our labour rights. He knows the economic condition of our country is not good and he knows that he can pay us the lowest wages possible because we are illegal. Actually they don’t consider us to be human beings. They order us to do whatever they want. Sometimes when we are working, they sexually harass the women workers. Sometimes they beat us. And when the owner sees that a worker is not working, he shouts and uses very bad language.

…

In one factory in Chanburi (an industrial area of Mae Sot), the owner shot dead a worker who wouldn’t listen to him. In other factories workers are handcuffed, arrested and jailed by police after being falsely accused of theft. Some owners hire street fighters to beat workers. Last year, two sisters at the Ban Thiyai knitting factory went to the owner and resigned. The next day they went back to the factory to take their belongings. The owner followed them down the road in his car and tried to run them over. The sisters ran into a field to escape. The owner got out of his car and chased them and then started to beat them. He was trying to kill them. But another worker saw what was going on and shouted out. The sisters escaped. Otherwise they would have been killed.“

Aus einem Interview mit drei auf thailändischen Schiffen in indonesischen Gewässern arbeitenden birmanischen Fischern:

„When the police and immigration come looking for us, we run and hide in the forest. We Burmese are always afraid of the police. Even when we’re sleeping, we have to be alert. All the Burmese boatmen on the island, not just us, are suffering the same way. There are many of us here now. We’ve come to this island because of our difficulties. Everyone wants to be reunited with their families, but it’s not as if we can walk back home even if we wanted to. It’s like this: we left our country in the hope of making more money. Then when we arrived in another country, we realized our situation was worse than back home. We got just enough from work to feed ourselves. Sometimes we starved. But perhaps one day our dreams will come true?“