Racism is not some different point of view… – Article by AKEL MEP Georgios Georgiou

 

21 March 2024

On 21 March, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, we join our voice with all progressive forces around the world who stand on the right side of History, on the side of respect and equality, of human values, of acceptance.

Discrimination, isolation, violence, the exploitation of people in precarious situations constitutes a flagrant violation of human rights. Cyprus and Europe have unfortunately tasted in the past the bitter fruits of the prevalence of these attitudes.

All this at a time when in the heart of Europe the far right is gaining strength, sometimes putting on the guise of ‘independent’ or ‘normal’ political movement and other times revealing its real face by engaging in hate rhetoric against refugees, migrants, the LGBTI community and everything it considers to be different.

The far-right forces are neither “independent”, nor “normal”…

Immigration, whether forced or voluntary, is a timeless phenomenon in the evolution of humanity. People have always left their countries of origin due to various difficult conditions, searching for a better future and prospects for themselves and their families. The recent pandemic, the economic and climate crisis, the existence of political and military instability in many regions across the world have increased migration flows, confronting these people with further impoverishment, with modern forms of slavery and exploitation, with marginalization and exclusion, with social and institutional racism that feed xenophobic tendencies and attitudes.

The scenario of the strengthening of the far right does not seem so far-fetched; on the contrary, it is a nightmare reality.

The far right in some cases in Europe is in government, in others it is co-governing and in others it is advancing in a dangerous way and elaborating secret plans for promoting mass expulsions. The far-right is a danger to the very existence of the EU, to democracy, to the rule of law, to policies relating to the environment, to the intensification of the phenomenon of racism that has been observed in Europe in recent years, to immigration, where a more humane balanced policy must be implemented.

The solution and response to this morbid phenomenon, which fosters hatred and inhumane behaviour and practices, is the implementation of policies that foster concepts of solidarity, justice, equality and the respect for diversity. It is precisely the vicious neoliberal policies and the increasing and chronic lack of democracy of the EU institutions and procedures that are create favourable conditions for the right-wing’s agenda and policies, where populism is promoted, with both the conservative Right and neoliberal social democracy in the stands.

The hypocrisy of the EU has unfortunately also generated the audacity of the horror of the far-right Netanyahu government, which for five months has been slaughtering an entire people, contributing to an ongoing genocide, forcing the Palestinians to live in conditions of misery and starvation, obstructing the mass influx of humanitarian aid and ignoring the appeals issued by the UN and the majority of the international community for an immediate ceasefire.

We have consistently stood and will continue to stand with every suffering people, with honest and sincere positions against genocide, colonisation and the recognition of the occupied nature of territories. We stand against all forms of racism and bigotry. We have consistent policy, which is demonstrated through our actions in the European Parliament, either through our persistent efforts to ensure that an immediate ceasefire in Palestine is accepted in plenary resolutions, or through the proposal submitted by the AKEL MEPs for the European Citizen’s Award, for which the annual Pride Festival was the winner in Cyprus. The Cyprus Pride Festival, which was launched in 2014, was an initiative of the island’s LGBTQ+ community in cooperation between the two communities.

We continue our struggle, tirelessly, for a Europe and a Cyprus that puts equality and the respect for human rights at the heart of its policies, against policies that are legally reprehensible, morally unsustainable and socially dangerous.

On 9 June, with our vote, we stop these inhuman ideological concepts and give an answer to the forces of ‘darkness’.

This time they will not pass!

This time they must not pass!