Ilisu Dam Campaign writes "HOW UK FOREIGN INVESTMENT CREATES ASYLUM SEEKERS

PUBLIC SEMINAR

Sunday 8 December 2002 1-6pm

Kurdish Community Centre

11 Portland Gardens

London N4

Tube: Manor House (Piccadilly line)

Bus: 29, 141, 341

What has been the impact of Western investment in key communities such as the Kurds, Colombians, Afghans and Tamils? ....... What’s behind the threats to abolish the 1951 Geneva Convention, the only legal protection for people fleeing persecution and oppression? ....... How does the British Government contribute to human rights violations? ........ Why are UK backed infrastructure projects (such as dams and oil and gas pipelines) anything but benign? ........... How do arms sales support repressive regimes? ........ How is the ‘War on Terrorism’ being used to criminalise communities? ..........

Asylum seekers are increasingly demonised as ‘economic migrants’ in search of easy welfare. But the vast majority are fleeing social or economic oppression. The seminar will examine the broader links between enforced migration and globalisation, as well as how the ‘War on Terrorism’ is demonising those forced to migrate.............

Corporate-led trade liberalisation ensures that labour costs are kept punishingly low throughout the developing world, subjecting millions to destitution. Similarly, the IMF's structural adjustment programmes imposed on weaker economies benefits Northern consumers and local elites at the expense of the lives of the poor in the South. Meanwhile, life is being made increasingly intolerable for those forced to migrate by such policies............

Speakers from a number of asylum communities will tell their own stories as to why they have been forced to flee their countries. The seminar will also explore how the UK Government supports human rights abuses through its investments overseas, the arms trade and government support for destructive infrastructure projects. .............

This seminar is part of an ongoing project to build links between refugee communities and environmental and anti-globalisation campaigners and other interested organisations and individuals; to understand each others concerns better and strengthen separate and joint campaigns................

Ilisu Dam Campaign/Refugee Project: Box 210, 266 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DL

Email: ilisu@gn.gn.apc.org

Website: www.ilisu.org.uk

For further information, please contact either:

Rochelle; 07876 771 576, rochelle.harris@ukonline.co.uk

Estella; 020 7586 5892, estella24@tiscali.co.uk"