Eeg: Immigrants Under Attack

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Immigrant workers in West Germany are first in line -as far as the government and employers are concerned - to pay the price of the economi crisis and recession. There are over four million so-called guest workers' and their families in the federal Republic. Over a quarter of them are Turkish, with large numbers also from Yugoslavia, Greece, Italy and Spain.

They were drawn into the coun try by industry's labour shortage and thirst for profits during the boom. Now that unemployment is biting they all foce attacks.

CUTS Immedtate cuts in famlly allowinces came into force in January. Payments are to be based on the cost of living in their home-coun ry, not in West Germany - where is much higher. These savage measures threaten to break up tons of thousands of working class families.

Regional governments are urgently debating a bill drafted by the Federal government to limit te proportion of immigrants in he work-force in urban areas to 12%. Some districts of West Berlin ave already banned the hiring of urther foreign workers by empMoves are afoot to delay or preve vent free movement of workers between Turkey and the Common Market - due in 1976 according to Turkey's agreement of association with the Common Market states.

Stricter enforcement of the law: against immigrants without work permits is expected. Employers are legally bound to pay for the deportation of immigrants discov ered to be working "illegally". But in the past the authorities have turned a blind eye to many of these workers, allowing the employers to use their "illegal" status as a weapon against teade unionism.

The German ruling class has an experience second to none in using racialism to split workers anti rally the middle class to reaction. Their political moves now include public opinion polls organised by the capitalist press to show that immigrants - and not the capitalist economic crisis - are the cause of unemployment.

BAN In France, too, 800,000 Algeria workers face a state-sponsored compaign to 'repatriate' them.

Since July last year the Gaullist regime has imposed a ban on the entry of further workers from all countries outside the Common Market.

And in Italy - which has over five million workers overseas -the government has called a national conference on migration policy. Their real concern is not the conditions of workers living abroad, but the impact on the balance of payments ofthe fact that emigrants' remittances to their families at home have falles by more than half since 1972.

DIVIDE

All of these moves reflect the world wide crisis, and seek to divide and weaken the ranks of the working class.

The Workers Socialist League rejects this reactionary nationalism and stands squarely behin the right of all workers to live and work in the country of thei choice.

LEAGUE:?

kers Revolutionary Party.

ported the document was expelled. class became clear.