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Soriek  6mo ago (text post)   988 thread views

Transnational Thursdays 22

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Ireland

TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said that Palestinian refugees will not be granted the same temporary protection as Ukrainians and claimed that Ukraine is in a “different category”. . .

While Varadkar said he thinks the treatment of Palestinian refugees is “very unfair” globally, he said that the group was “different” when it came to providing them with the same protection status as those fleeing Ukraine.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s Today with Claire Byrne, Varadkar said: “I think Ukraine is a different category. It’s a European country, it’s an EU candidate state, and we’ve given us a special recognition by granting temporary protection.

Varadkar said “Palestine is different” and said that he believes that it would be the responsibility of the “arab countries” to welcome the those who have been displaced, similar to how Ireland has with Ukraine’s.

Not granting Palestinians the same streamlined entry as Ukrainians doesn't necessarily mean much as there are still a lot of people coming in via the normal asylum system, but the suggestion that Arab countries should take care of Arabs (and the implication that European countries should take care of Europeans) is something I would have expected to be outside the Overton window. Europe is quite a varied place, but one of the more pro-refugee countries saying this makes me think the countries which have had problems with Arab migrants won't hesitate in doing the same (Ireland's migrants are nearly all EU, Ukraine, or Brazilian so Islam is not really a domestic issue).

Notably a lot of left-wing politicians went back on their past promises (this campaign goes back at least 2 years) to vote to expell the Israeli ambassador, a motion was passed today condemning the violence etc and the Sinn Fein leadership made no effort to include this condition in their suggested amendment of the wording. Sinn Fein has been quietly dropping some of their more radical proposals as they come closer to actually winning an election so this isn't a huge surprise, but getting softer on Israel is something that will annoy a lot of the more left-wing portions of their base.

Leo Varadkar is the son of a Marathi Hindu from Mumbai. That already predisposes him to a certain view of Islam. He has stayed in India for a extended durations and his medical internship was in KEM hospital, one of India's premier govt. medical hospitals. This means he met a lot of poor & conservative Indians. This makes him even more likely to have a realistic view of 3rd world Islam and the baggage that comes with it.

Having someone well informed that close to power must make a difference.

Good point, Varadkar’s Indian heritage doesn’t really get brought up that often so it’s easy to forget.

That's interesting to see Sinn Fein tacking a little more moderate. I know they've been pretty immigration maximalist; what with the protests against asylum seekers is they're any chance they'll adjust there as well? Is the Israel-Palestine division as inflamed in the Republic as it is in Northern Ireland, or is that mostly a reflection of the catholic-protestant divide up there? When I look at the Northern Irish subreddit you would swear they were getting bombed themselves.

Separately, is there any particular reason there's so much Brazilian immigration?

Separately, is there any particular reason there's so much Brazilian immigration?

Seemingly they come here to work in the slaughterhouses/meat packing plants. At least, that's how it started. Ireland is an English-speaking country in the EU so it makes it easier to come here and then move to Europe if you want:

According to the Paulo Azevedo of the Brazilian embassy, there have been three waves of Brazilians moving to Ireland: factory workers during the Celtic Tiger years (late 1990s into the 2000s), students from the 2000s to the present, and then engineers and IT specialists.

It is said Jerry O'Callaghan was working in the meat industry in Goiás, Brazil when the company shut down. He organised for the Brazilians who had lost their jobs to move Ireland in 1999 where they found work at the Duffy Meat Plant in Gort, County Galway. By 2006, they made up a third of the population of Gort, which was dubbed Little Brazil.

Now, the vast majority of our Brazilian population is living in Dublin (like pretty much everyone else, to be honest).

That's interesting to see Sinn Fein tacking a little more moderate. I know they've been pretty immigration maximalist; what with the protests against asylum seekers is they're any chance they'll adjust there as well?

I don't think the protesters will be the influence here, the people protesting asylum seekers and by and large a portion of the old working class base that the party abandoned as it became more popular. Every protest these types have (Covid protests preceded this) is politically toxic and only the small far-right parties make the attempt to win them over. Sinn Fein have gotten such a boost in recent years from appealing to the middle class voters, they want to shed as much of their radical image as possible while still presenting a left alternative to Fine Gael/Fianna Fail.

Is the Israel-Palestine division as inflamed in the Republic as it is in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is far more divided and it's very visible, Loyalists identify with the Israeli siege mentality and fly Israeli flags alongside the Union Jack and Republicans do the same with the Palestinian flag. In Ireland there's no real pro-Israeli voice, the left are strongly in favour of Palestine and the rest support them as much as they can without venturing into territory that would cost them reputation internationally or with the multinational corporations they rely so much on (for example: https://twitter.com/businessposthq/status/1715030115409924395?t=JWmdG5v7C0LGoIECrSDOBg&s=19).

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