Asia Pacific Currents

The British Empire is again celebrating it’s world wide colonial conquests in the form of the Commonwealth Games, currently underway on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Indigenous activists and their supporters are conducting a protest campaign against the Commonwealth Games, under the title of the “Stolenwealth Games”. They are demanding land rights and recognition that Aboriginal sovereignty has never been ceded.

Israeli troops killed at least 15 Palestinians and injured more than 1,400 on Friday 30 March, during demonstrations along Gaza’s border and in cities throughout the Palestinian enclave. The demonstrations were scheduled to take place for six weeks along the border of Gaza, and have been called the “Great Return March”. This area has been subject to an 11 year illegal blockade by Israel and Egypt. The demonstrations were planned to continue until May 15, the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel, al Nakba (Catastrophe) Day.  On today’s program, we speak with visiting Palestinian activist and militant, Huwaida Arraf. Huwaida is in Australia as a guest of the annual international Marxism conference organised by Socialist Alternative and held in Melbourne Australia every Easter.Plus, our regular round up of news from around the region.Asia Pacific Currents is a show of Australia Asia Worker Links

Due to ongoing economic and political crisis around the world, the number of asylum seekers and refugees continues to grow.Successive Australian governments have been at the forefront internationally in devising and implementing increasingly repressive and harsher policies against ayslum seekers and refugees.We talk to Umesh Perinpanayagam, from the Tamil Refugee Council, about the situation for Tamil refugees in Australia and the ongoing political fight for the rights of all asylum seekers and refugees in Australia.Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

The origins of International Women's Day are to be found in the working class struggles of working women in the late 19th century.Over 100 hundreds years later, while there has been much progress, there are still many areas before women achieve equality.We listen to two short speeches by Kim Bullimore and Dita Nur at this year's Melbourne IWD rally on how women's liberation is part of other working class struggles against oppression, repression and inequality.Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

After the victory of the Sri Lankan government over the Tamil Tigers in 2009, many working class Sri Lankans expected that the 'peace dividend' was going to lead to an improvement in their lives.Unfortunately this has not proved the case with corruption, repression and inequality still prevalent in the country. Ethnic and communal issues are also being stoked up by powerful sections of the ruling class and far right groups like the far-right Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force).We talk to Lionel Boapge, a long time labour and human rights activist, on the reasons and dynamics behind the current anti-Muslim pogroms in Sri Lanka.Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

The uprising against the government of Syria, headed by the dictatorship of Bashar Hafez al-Assad, began in 2011 as part of the broader Arab Spring that saw millions of people rise up in North Africa and West Asia against repression, exploitation and corruption.The Syrian government responded by shooting at the civilian demonstrators. This militarised the conflict and soon various regional and imperialist powers got involved in a bid to squash the uprising and gain influence.After 7 years, the government, with massive Russian and Iranian military aid, has regained the upper hand. Currently one of the most brutal battles is happening in East Ghouta, just outside Damascus. We spoke to Monther Alhamdoosh, a Syrian activist with the Australian Syrian Association Victoria on the conflict and the desperate situation for civilians.Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

International Women's Day (IWD) has a history going back to the early 20th century when urbanised and working class workers started to organise and demand their rights.While there has been a lot of progress in the last century, much remains to be done, especially for working class women in poorer countries. We speak to Jiselle Hanna, one of the main organisers of the IWD rally in Melbourne, Australia, about the demands of IWD and the central role of working class women in advocating and campaining for better rights.Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

The first officially recorded protest by Aboriginal people against Australia Day, the day that commemorates the United Kingdom colonisation of the Australian landmass, occurred in 1938 in conjunction with the 150th year celebrations.Aboriginal people have continued to resist and protest against this day as it symbolises colonialisation, invasion and dispossession. They have renamed it 'Invasion Day'.This year, the Invasion Day protests were the biggest in recent years, with the one in Melbourne attracting over 40,000 people. We talk to Celeste Liddle, the Indigenous liaison officer with the National Tertiary Education Union, a social commentator and one of the organiser of the Melbourne rally, on some of the main demands of this demonstration.Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

With the continued globalisation of the economy, companies all around the world are expanding their operations in many different countries.In the last few years, a Filipino based company, International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), has aggressively undertaken to expand in the Australasian region to become a major global company in the maritime industry.ICTSI has a strong anti union stance looking to establish union free, or at least company union, workplaces. We talk to Katie Hepworth, from the International Transport Federation Asia Pacific Campaign Centre, on how ICTSI in Papua New Guinea has sought to stop workers from organising.Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia

Welcome to the first program of APC of 2018.The explosion of working class protests in Iran in late December 2017 caught many people by surprise. The reality thought has been that inequality and poverty have been increasing in Iran for many years.Even though independent unions are not allowed and labour protests are often heavily repressed, Iranian workers have continued to organise and demand better working conditions and a right to organise.We interview Bahman Yusufi, an Iranian labour solidarity activist living in Melbourne, Australia, about how working class people are central to these protests, how the protests are organised and what we can expect for the rest of 2018.Asia Pacific Currents provides updates of labour struggles and campaigns from the Asia Pacific region. It is produced by Australia Asia Worker Links, in the studio of 3CR Radio in Melbourne, Australia