Red Light Politics
Welcome to my short form Tumblr blog. My name is Flavia Tamara Dzodan, I am a business developer, writer, public speaker, ideas instigator, content creator, media facilitator and trend watcher living in Amsterdam.
This Tumblr is about the spaces and intersections between politics, culture, race and gender matters with some humor and pop culture thrown in the mix.
My long reads blog is Red Light Politics.
I also blog at Tiger Beatdown.
If you would like to know more about me, visit this page .
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Noted Elsewhere
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“There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”— Audre Lorde in Sister Outsider.
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I’d be very upset if I worked at Fage USA and had to drive every (Monday) morning to:
1 Opportunity Drive.I suppose that neighbourhood has...
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“Prison relieves us of the responsibility of seriously engaging with the problems of our society, especially those produced by racism and,...”
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When the Lesser Of Two Evils Isn't Enough
by Mia McKenzie
Yesterday, I wrote a post called Michelle Obama...
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Try not to forget why they came to the United States of America, and though the specific circumstances may differ, you’ll find that hundreds of...
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Taken with Instagram
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Haarlem, Netherlands (by Epicantus)
Tag Results
14 posts tagged European Union
Just a reminder: the European Union, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today, produced this ad about the threat posed by PoC.
European Union Awarded Nobel Peace Prize
EU Awarded 2012 Nobel Peace Prize, Norway’s NRK Reports
If there is any grain of truth, I should remind everyone that this is the same governing body responsible for the deaths of more than 18,000 undocumented immigrants since the mid 90s. This is the same governing body supporting NATO interventions, supporting subsidies that effectively lead to starvation conditions in many countries in the Global South and imposing legislation on third party countries to make them corporate compliant for European interests.
The European Union has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for effectively being a perverse machinery of repression and economic misery for any country that does not comply with EU demands.
Has the Empire has been awarded for their policies of exclusion and death? I have no words left.
My latest about reports of undocumented migration into the EU. From the piece:
For added emotional effect and in case anyone was under the impression that these are human beings moving across borders, the Wall Street Journal quotes Austrian Home Affairs Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner who described the Greek-Turkish border “as open as a barn door”. You know, a barn where untamed animals might escape from and the not so subtle implication that anyone leaving outside EU borders is some kind of beast; I suppose any association to Orwell’s Animal Farm was unintended for Minister Mikl-Leitner.
European Union extends “rule of law mission” in Kosovo
Right after Kosovo declared independence in 2008, the European Union sent EULEX, a permanent “rule of law mission” to the country. From EULEX’ mission statement:
The European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) is the largest civilian mission ever launched under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The central aim is to assist and support the Kosovo authorities in the rule of law area, specifically in the police, judiciary and customs areas. The mission is not in Kosovo to govern or rule. It is a technical mission which will monitor, mentor and advise whilst retaining a number of limited executive powers. EULEX works under the general framework of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and has a unified chain of command to Brussels.
This is an extra territorial mission (as in, Kosovo is not part of the European Union) and yet, the mission employs 3,200 people to act as a de facto controller in legal, police related and border control matters. The border control (euphemistically referred to as “customs” in EULEX mission statement) is of particular interest for the EU considering the ongoing effort to prevent undocumented migrants from reaching its borders.
Yesterday, Kosovo Parliament and the Council of Europe unanimously approved extending EULEX mandate for two more years. Turkish Weekly reports:
The agreement also includes the provisions for the international judges and prosecutors, permission for EULEX staff to hold weapons and guaranteeing the immunity of staff.
Dren Doli, researcher for the Kosovo Group for Legal and Political Studies had something to say about how effective EULEX is for Kosovo:
Doli said that although EULEX has been mostly “ineffective and powerless” in establishing the rule-of-law agenda, especially in the northern Kosovo, and “very passive” in terms of fighting corruption and crime all over Kosovo, it can still play a role to ensure that the delivery of justice by Kosovo courts, prosecution and police is supported by an external, professional and standards-driven mission.
Also, from EULEX mission statement:
It will further develop and strengthen an independent and multi-ethnic justice system and a multi-ethnic police and customs service, ensuring that these institutions are free from political interference
“free from political interference”. I suppose that doesn’t include the EU meddling with the country’s affairs…
July 20th European Union Undocumented Death Calendar
(Check here for background information about this commemoration of people who died as a result of Fortress Europe’s policies against undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers).
Fortress Europe recorded deaths for July 20th:
- 20/07/95 1 N.N. (man) from Morocco, found dehydrated in Castres (France) in a Spanish vehicle coming from Tanger
- 20/07/98 8 N.N. bodies from North Africa (nationalities unknown) drowned near South of Italy being forced overboard when spotted by coast guards
- 20/07/05 2 N.N. bodies, unknown nationalities, drowned after small boat capsized in attempt to reach Kos island in the Aegean Sea (Greece)
- 20/07/08 1 N.N. (3 years old, girl) from Nigeria, died of starvation, body thrown overboard during the way to Italy
Total 12 deaths on July 20th since 1995. Source.
July 17th European Union Undocumented Death Calendar
(Check here for background information about this commemoration of people who died as a result of Fortress Europe’s policies against undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers).
Fortress Europe recorded deaths for July 17th:
- 17/07/95 1 Abdullah A. (man) from Afghanistan, found strangled in refugee centre Trausnitzstr. in München (Germany), reportedly suicide
- 17/07/00 1 Mahalil Silva from Sri Lanka died, kept on Lanarca airport (Cyprus) for 11 days while being denied proper medical care
- 17/07/07 12 N.N. bodies Africa (exact countries of birth unknown) drowned, 1 found, 11 missing trying to embark on Italian fishing boat near Libya
- 17/07/07 1 N.N. (man) from Sub-Saharan Africa (exact country of birth unknown) body found in a boat sailing for 10 days from Mauritania to Tenerife (Spain)
Total: 15 deaths on July 17th since 1995. Source.
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Switzerland’s government needs to do much more to tackle rising racism and xenophobia, a Commissioner from the European Council on Human Rights said in a letter to the Swiss foreign ministry.
The ECHR Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg sent his strongly worded letter earlier this month to Swiss foreign minister Didier Burkhalter.
“Manifestations of racism and xenophobia appear to be on the rise in Switzerland. Disturbing political campaigns with aggressive, insulting slogans against foreigners are tendencies of great concern,” the letter read.
”The Local - Swiss racism on the rise: human rights chief
Also from the article:
The letter also raised concerns about the recent move to restrict migrants’ abilities to include family members in their applications, making family reunification even harder than it previously has been.
Vatican told to pay taxes as Italy tackles budget crisis
via The Independent:
After several years of scandal in which the Catholic Church has faced allegations of financial impropriety, paedophile priests and rumours of plots to kill the Pope, the Vatican is now facing a new €600m-a-year tax bill as Rome seeks to head off European Commission censure over controversial property tax breaks enjoyed by the Church.
As the EC heads closer to officially condemning the fiscal perks enjoyed by the Catholic Church and introduced by the Berlusconi administration, Prime Minister Mario Monti has written to the Competition Commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, saying that the Vatican will resume property tax, or Ici, payments.
Mr Almunia said in 2010 that the exemption amounted to state aid that might breach EU competition law.
Now, if every government told them to stop meddling in the usual restrictive and oppressive politics that made them infamous in most of Latin America, we might be on the path to some change.
And then I went down the rabbit hole of the European Union’s policies on the treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers. This is not the first time it happens. Last year I wrote quite extensively about the corporate profits behind the detention of undocumented immigrants. This time, however, I was interested in the policies and enforcement that lead to the abuses. People die. We forget. More often than not, we are not even aware of these deaths. Each of these immigrants, a person, a human being killed by State policies and the arm that executes them. I desperately wanted to understand why.
I don’t usually tell people to “go and read” something I wrote because really, people who are interested will click and those who are not will pass on. However, I believe this matters and it rarely gets a mention in European press. Especially not in the context of the magnitude of the human rights violations involved.
Immigrants referred to as a “burden” in EU financed report
The German Marshal Fund is a think tank financed by both local governments of the EU and the European Union as a whole (and a bunch of corporate and private donations). This week they released their annual report about “Transatlatic Trends on immigration” across the US and the EU (link to PDF). The report polls public opinion about the perception of immigrants and immigration. In a relatively short 30 page report, the words “burden” and “burden sharing” are used no less than 26 times to refer to immigrants, specifically those from countries that are currently experiencing the Arab Spring.
Additionally, the report repeatedly seeks to highlight the need to “share the burden” of these immigrants. Which leads me to obvious observation: these people are not being referred to as “human beings” but as a taxing load that States should endure in solidarity with each other. And of course, my immediate realization that this stance has been supported with public funds, of the kind that these “burdens” also contribute to.
My latest for Global Comment about the EU, democracy and the rule of financial corporations:
There is hunger in Europe. For the first time since World War II, this hunger and extreme poverty are not limited to pockets of exclusion in Eastern nations but running across the continent. Greece, Italy, Spain are in international media almost daily with depictions of hardships, soaring unemployment and deprivation. The European summer saw the birth of “the indignant ones”, a wave of protests sweeping these nations and to an extent, replicated across France. These “indignant ones” clashed violently with police at the peak of the Greek anti austerity protests, expressing a collective discontent that went, for the most part, ignored. Now, two months after these clashes, the European Union is still not responding with the haste that would be expected to aid its own citizens. A European Union that was once portrayed as “strength in unity” is now more fragmented and disunited than ever since its creation.
Europe’s food safety in hands of lobbies
Originally published in German by SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, reprinted in English by Presseurop:
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was set up to protect consumers. That’s their job. And yet staff at the agency, who ought to be deciding independently on what new products are permitted to come to market, are working closely with the food industry itself.
As documents from the authority reveal, the Chairman of the Panel on Nutrition, Albert Flynn, also works for the U.S. company Kraft. Up until March 2011, EFSA management board member Jiri Ruprich worked for Danone in the Czech Republic, while since 2000 panel member Carlo Agostoni has received conference speaking fees from companies such as Nestle, Danone, Heinz, Hipp, Humana and Mead Johnson.[…]
That this is far from acting independently is revealed by the example of Albert Flynn, from Ireland, who heads the EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies. Under his chairmanship, a particularly delicate decision related to the approval of a product from Kraft Foods Europe, “Biscuits for Breakfast”, was published on 21 July 2011. That the nutritionist is at the same time a member of a Kraft Foods advisory board evidently failed to ruffle the board.
More at the link, with details of other scandals and corruption.
This week, I came across a number of news items reporting human rights violations of Roma women in the European Union. So, here’s an overview of the pervasive oppression these women face on their grounds of their ethnicity and their gender.
This is my dog’s passport. I was putting away my travel documents and since I keep her passport and mine in the same drawer, I just took it out and then it hit me: my dog has more rights and more travel privileges than any non European Union immigrant (myself included, of course).
All it took for her to obtain this travel document was to go to the vet, get a couple of shots (the usual, anti rabies and something against parasites, I think) and then she was granted free transit across the whole continent. No special provisions need to be made if she has to travel to, say, Belgium or France or any such country. Moreover, she doesn’t even need to be in my company to travel freely, even though I am appointed in her travel documents as her “guardian”. I could send her out with a friend or family member and she would still be entitled to free transit across borders.
Me, on the other hand, as someone classified as a “non Western foreigner”, if I want to acquire a Dutch passport, need to prove my “worth”. Which is to say, I need to prove that I am “integrated” into this society (through tests and interviews) and if the State finds me wanting, I would be denied the right to have a similar document issued to my name. Asylum seekers are not even given the consideration these days. Their applications are systematically rejected and they are quickly sent back to their countries of origin without further explanation. Undocumented immigrants are just invisible. Unable to travel across borders because a routine check would have them deported practically on the spot, they usually cannot leave the confines of the city in which they reside. Some of them cannot even go in the proximity of airports (not even to wave goodbye to family or friends) because being requested proof of identity (which happens often in European airports, whether you are about to travel or not, as security checks) would mean their status as undocumented would have them immediately sent to a deportation center.
And yet my dog is fully recognized as a “free traveler” across European borders.
