Amnesty International: The good, the bad and the ugly?

For the past 60 years, Amnesty International has put its finger in the wound of human rights abuses in all shapes and forms around the world. But it's also faced widespread criticism for some of its more opaque actions


60 YEARS OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Amnesty for forgotten prisoners
In 1961, Portugal's dictator imprisoned two students for raising a toast to freedom. Affected by the news, lawyer Peter Benenson wrote an article that made a global impact. He called for supporting people who are persecuted for no other reason than their convictions. It led to the creation of Amnesty International, a global network that campaigns against human rights violations. PHOTOS 1234567


"It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."

Little did Peter Benenson know at the time that an article he wrote in 1961 would come to shape Amnesty International's code, encapsulated in the words above.

On May 28, 1961, the London Observer published an article entitled "The Forgotten Prisoners," penned by the British lawyer. Perusing the morning papers, he had come across an article about two Portuguese students who were jailed after raising their glasses in a toast to freedom in a restaurant. At the time, Portugal was ruled by the dictator Antonio de Oliveira Salazar.

Outraged by their detention, Benenson in his piece called for their release and urged readers to write letters to the Portuguese government. But Benenson didn't stop there. His article also listed other human rights violations around the world. He used the term "prisoners of conscience" to highlight the plight of "any person who is physically restrained (by imprisonment or otherwise) from expressing … any opinion which he honestly holds and does not advocate or condone personal violence."

His campaign, Appeal for Amnesty 1961, was effectively the precursor to what would become Amnesty International.

The organization's initial focus of work — forgotten prisoners — gradually expanded as part of its development "from mandate — to mission." In the 1970s, it focused on the treatment of prisoners in several Latin American dictatorships, launching campaigns against torture and the death penalty.

For its work against torture, Amnesty was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977.

A campaign by Peter Benenson to highlight the plight of forgotten prisoners led to the creation of Amnesty International

New issues emerged in the 1980s, including extrajudicial killings, political killings and forced disappearances. Toward the end of the decade, it turned its attention to the growing number of refugees around the world.

Shift in focus

In the 1990s, Amnesty International honed in on armed conflicts, uncovering atrocities in East Timor, Rwanda, and the former Yugoslavia. As of the 2000s, there was a shift in its focus towards naming and shaming economic and social injustices that stemmed from the growing effects of globalization.

The impact of its work in its first 30 years was very different to that it has and could have today, says Dr. Anja Mihr, program director of the HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA Center on Governance through Human Rights, and a former board member and chairman of Amnesty International Germany.

"Amnesty International, in the early years, developed the mechanisms of raising awareness, calling on governments and the public through letter-writing campaigns. And therefore, during these first 30, 40, maybe even 50 years of its work, it didn't matter so much whether Amnesty International, with its actions, would actually cause a direct response from governments."

Of course, the world has changed dramatically since those times, not least due to globalization and the era of information technology.

"I'm not always sure whether the strength of Amnesty of doing good research, having evidence, is still needed to the same extent today where we have many other entities [such as NGOs and researchers] ... We have other means of finding out what is happening on the ground. We don't need an NGO anymore to tell us what is happening in Myanmar or what is happening in China or elsewhere," says Mihr.

Amnesty International's approach on highlighting human rights abuses will need to adapt to meet future challenges

Not all that glitters is gold

It hasn't all been smooth sailing for Amnesty over the last 60 years. It claims that it doesn't pursue political ideology or "support or oppose any government or system." However, its detractors say that is precisely what it is doing. There have been allegations of one-sided reporting, or a failure to treat threats to security as a mitigating factor.

Part of the problem is that the organization is stuck in the past, says Stephen Hopgood, professor of international relations at SOAS University of London, who specializes in the international politics of humanitarianism and human rights and is author of the book "Keepers of the Flame: Understanding Amnesty International."

"Amnesty is a Cold War-era organization, and the way it was set up and the way in which it functioned, it's a miracle it survived for 60 years in many ways. And it doesn't necessarily represent a failing on Amnesty's part, more a sort of inevitable complexity in a world that's a lot different than the world of the 1960s and the 1970s."

Some of the strongest criticism pertains to its alleged foreign policy bias against either non-Western countries or Western-supported countries. However, Hopgood says that kind of assessment needs to be put into the perspective of the time.

"It was one of the few international organizations campaigning on the principle of freedom of expression. And it tried to do that in the most neutral, fairest way it could by picking prisoners of conscience from the West, from the East and from the developing world ... It was in many respects a very simple time when Amnesty could see who the enemy was, and the enemy was authoritarian governments everywhere."

The policy of neutrality and taking up a position that doesn't take sides has become increasingly difficult to maintain due to today's complex challenges.

"Take the recent war between Hamas and Israel: If you come up with what you think is a neutral position, one response is to say it's terrible when innocent civilians are injured anyway. But those people who are either strongly pro-Israel or strongly pro-Palestinian see this as siding with the enemy, if you're not with us, you're against us effectively. How can the stakes be equal when Israel is so much more powerfully armed and so much more in control?," says Hopgood.

Watch video06:24
Is a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict possible?

A new era of priorities

In essence, there's been a shift from an era when human rights were viewed as neutral in conflict and war situations — or the way certain governments treated their citizens. And to some degree that is no longer applicable in today's world, say experts.

"That world has been overtaken by popular mobilization around a whole range of deeply problematic and complex issues, such as sex work or abortion ... Both sides will often claim human rights as part of their ideological or ethical position," says Hopgood.

Beyond that, a report published in 2019 found that Amnesty International has a "toxic" working environment, with incidences of bullying, public humiliation, and discrimination. Such problems are often inherent in complex and bureaucratic organizations that bring together people with different perspectives and ethics.

In his book, Hopgood describes how personal sacrifices for a good cause can take their toll, especially without a supportive working environment.

"People would spend two months interviewing prisoners in horrendous prison conditions who have been tortured, and then come back. And nobody in the central organization would want to hear that. You have to keep two months worth of torture inside, write it up and put it out. And you have to live with knowing that for every torture victim you do something positive for, there are tens of thousands of others. And if after all of this, you have a drink at the hotel bar next to the prison where there are people being tortured, that takes a terrible toll on people.

"I think Amnesty is a good example of that kind of deeply ethical but deeply problematic culture."

It is yet to be seen how Amnesty will fare over the next 60 years. Amnesty's role will be shaped by the political landscape in which it finds itself.

"How can we have the biggest and strongest impact? Is it still by raising awareness? Is it still by calling on governments predominantly? Are those who are responsible for human rights violations and those who can change the situation on the ground in favor of human rights still the same actors as 20 or 40 years ago? I would say no. I think the scenery has changed. And so Amnesty's methods have to adapt to the current situation," says Mihr

Amnesty International: The good, the bad and the ugly? | World| Breaking news and perspectives from around the globe | DW | 28.05.2021

OPINION
Don’t give up on us: Afghan girls and women in grave danger when US/NATO troops leave

Trudy Rubin@trudyrubin

Rubin is a foreign affairs columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer


Photo has been used for illustrative purposes. 

"Don’t abandon us!” That’s the message I’m getting from brave, educated Afghan women — as the Pentagon advances the date for the final troop withdrawal from Afghanistan to mid-July.

There is a last minute Pentagon scramble to plans for evacuating 18,000 translators who worked with the US military, but it’s still unclear whether this will happen.

But little thought seems to have been given to the fate of thousands of Afghan women who have been educated and taken up jobs in the past two decades since the Taliban was defeated — or to the fate of millions of girl students. Over one third of Afghanistan’s nine million school children are now female, but those numbers are shrinking as the Taliban shuts down girls’ education in rural areas. Meantime, hardline militants attack and bomb girls’ schools.

A conversation with two brilliant Afghan female university students reminds one of how hard so many Afghan girls have struggled for an education. These gains, about which US officials brag, could disappear overnight if the Taliban takes power.

The students are deeply worried, but have ideas about how Americans can still help.

“Don’t give up on us,” urges Yasameen Mohammadi, a graduate of Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., who is starting a master’s degree at University of Pennsylvania.

She was born a refugee after her parents fled Taliban rule in the 1990s. When her family returned to Afghanistan in 2005, her father chose the poor Dasht e Barchi neighbourhood of Kabul, because he wanted to send Mohammadi to the unique Marefat School. The school was founded by another returned refugee, the visionary Aziz Royesh, who sought to give equal educational opportunities to girls.

“My dad would always say ‘I’m ready to sell my eye for your education,’” Mohammadi recalls. “Marefat really gave me motivation, and our teachers were hopeful for the future. I grew up at a time when girls were treated like human beings.”

I visited the Marefat school in 2010 and was deeply moved by the steely determination and optimism of female high school students. (Most are from the Shiite Hazara minority whom the Taliban persecutes as infidels.) Their open confidence was a far cry from my 1999 visit to Kabul under the Taliban when girls’ education was banned and girls snuck into secret schools.

Mohammadi was helped by the New-Jersey based Afghan Girls Financial Assistance Fund (AGFAF) to attend high school and college in America, and now wants to create educational projects for people in war zones. With AGFAF’s help and fundraising, she built the first library for the blind at the Kabul School for the Blind.

“Part of me is very scared and worried about a Taliban takeover,” she says, “but looking at friends and cousins at home and seeing how far they have come … I can’t wrap my head around it, how the Taliban are so savage and closed-minded. People who fought for an education, I don’t know how they can fight back.”

Qamarnisa Ayoub is also struggling to imagine Afghanistan’s future. She hopes to return to Kabul as a doctor. (“My dad wanted me to be Minister of Health,” she recalls.) With AFGAF’s help she attended Wagner College in New York City and is now a student researcher at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

But her high school, the Sayed Ul-Shuhada school, was bombed this month, targeting girls who were leaving classes and killing around 90 students. “The school was badly damaged,” she says, and students are still dying. It’s harder for them to convince parents to let them attend.”

The school will never run out of students, Ayoub says, because so many parents still want to educate their daughters. (When she attended, the girls attended classes in tents and only received their own building three years ago.)

“But many teachers are fearful of returning. Ayoub is working with AGFAF to raise money to help purchase 16-20 security cameras and hire 5-7 private guards, along with rebuilding classrooms.”

Mercifully, the Andeshagah library she built at the school in summer 2017 under AGFAF’s supervision, which was used for adult literacy, computer classes, and a learning centre, was not wrecked.

The contrast between girls’ gains over the past two decades and what may lie ahead is staggering. Her two nieces still bike to school and play soccer, which she wasn’t permitted to do when she was in high school. “There is going to be a dramatic change if the Taliban come back,” she says, “and all these opportunities will go away.”

Pakistan: Taliban donations, recruitment on the rise

As NATO forces begin their withdrawal from Afghanistan, some clerics and Islamist groups sympathetic to the Afghan Taliban are accused of intensifying efforts to solicit support for the militant group.



Clashes erupted earlier in May between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters in the Busharan area in Helmand province, Afghanistan

Concerns have been growing in Pakistan over intensified clashes in Afghanistan, with some politicians and civil society organizations fearing that they could prompt local militants to join the Afghan Taliban.

On Sunday, Afghan forces confronted Taliban fighters near Mihtarlam, a city of around 140,000 people and the capital of Laghman province.

Clashes have escalated in Afghanistan since US and NATO forces began their withdrawal of troops on May 1, with insurgents attempting to capture new territory. Foreign forces are set to pull out by September 11.

Analysts warn that Afghanistan is at risk of surging violence similar to that of the 1990s when the Taliban rose to power and thousands of Pakistanis joined the Afghan Taliban to fight the Northern Alliance.

Recently, videos have emerged on Pakistani social media platforms showing clerics soliciting support for the Afghan Taliban and calling for donations.

The Afghan Taliban is banned in Pakistan, but some clerics or Islamist groups sympathetic to the militant group have been known to recruit on their behalf.
'Openly collecting donations' in Balochistan

A former senator and leader of the nationalist Pukhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party in the western Pakistani province of Balochistan, who did not want to be named, claims the Taliban is already carrying out recruitment to fight the Afghan government.

"Come to Balochistan, and I will show the villages and areas where clerics are openly attending the funerals of those Pakistanis killed in Afghanistan while fighting for the Taliban," he told DW, adding that recruitment will pick up pace once foreign troops have completely departed from the war-torn country.

Watch video04:19
Afghanistan: Taliban's return to power 'likely'

Muhammed Sarfraz Khan, the former director of the Area Study Center of Peshawar University, told DW that clerics from North and South Waziristan to Kurrum and Khyber in Pakistan are "luring" people into joining the Taliban as state authorities turn a blind eye.

They are openly collecting donations, he said, adding that the withdrawal of foreign troops will have a severe impact on the northwestern and western provinces of Pakistan, the regions which are home to tens of thousands of Afghan Taliban supporters, according to the expert.

'Government is watchful'

Political analyst Rahimullah Yusufzai, meanwhile, said Pakistanis are unlikely to join Afghan Taliban forces, at least not in large numbers as they did during the Soviet War in Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989.

"The situation is much different now because the government is watchful. It will not allow people to cross over into Afghanistan and fight for the Taliban," Yusufzai told DW.

"However, in remote areas close to the Afghan border, people might still go to fight and collect donations," he said, adding that some Afghan students studying in Pakistani seminaries might support the Taliban and head to Afghanistan.

"They can see the victory of the Taliban and the situation is in their favor," he said.

Peshawar-based analyst Samina Afridi also believes that support for the Afghan Taliban in Pakistan's so-called tribal belt has dwindled.

"There are pockets of support for the Afghan Taliban in North and South Waziristan, but most of the people in other parts of the KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) want schools, hospitals, roads and infrastructure, not any militancy, be it from the Afghan Taliban or any other group," she told DW.

Afridi said clerics sympathetic to the Afghan Taliban might begin recruitment or collect donations but that such actions would be "vehemently" resisted by anti-war grassroots organizations like the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement.

Pakistanis accused of Taliban support

Islamabad, Pakistani religious organizations and several Pakistani Taliban have also been accused of throwing support behind the Afghan Taliban

Watch video02:31
Afghanistan: Troop departures endanger those left behind

During the 1990s, Pakistan was among the three countries that recognized the Taliban-governed Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

In recent years, critics called Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan "Taliban Khan" for suggesting that the Afghan Taliban should be engaged in talks despite the group's insurgency between 2004 and 2016. Sporadic attacks have also been carried out in recent years.

Prominent Pakistani Taliban member Asmat Ullah Mauvia reportedly joined the Afghan Taliban in the fight against foreign troops and the Ghani government.

More recently, Pakistani Taliban leader Adnan Rasheed was also reported to have joined the Afghan Taliban.

Rasheed was convicted of an attack on former Pakistani president, General Pervez Musharraf, in December 2003 and imprisoned. In 2012, however, the Pakistani Taliban stormed the Bannu Prison, freeing hundreds of militants including Rasheed.

Pakistani religious parties like Jamiat Ulema Islam of Maulana Fazl ur Rehman and the Jamiat Ulema Islam Sami ul Haq Group have also been accused of supporting the Afghan Taliban.

Warnings for India

Muhammad Iqbal Khan Afridi, a parliamentarian from Pakistan's ruling party, said authorities have placed strict measures to prevent cross-border movement of militants, such as setting up fences at the border with Afghanistan.

Afridi dismissed claims of Afghan Taliban recruitment or donation campaigns.

The parliamentarian did, however, warn India against using Afghan soil to create problems for Pakistan, saying New Delhi would face dire consequences for doing so.

Remains of 215 Indigenous children were found at a former residential school in the province of British Columbia this week.

The Kamloops Indian Residential School, founded in 1890, became the largest school in the residential school system with enrollment peaking in the early 1950s at 500 Indigenous children [Library and Archives Canada/Handout via Reuters]

AL JAZEERA 29 May 2021

Indigenous people across Canada are grappling with the discovery of the remains of more than 200 Indigenous children, including some as young as three, at the site of a former residential school in the western province of British Columbia this week.

Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation chief Rosanne Casimir announced (PDF) on Thursday that the remains of 215 children were found on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School, saying “an unthinkable loss that was spoken about but never documented” had been confirmed.

KEEP READING

From reservations to residential schools, Canada’s dark past

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Canada’s dark history of abuse at residential schools

“To our knowledge, these missing children are undocumented deaths,” Casimir said.

“Some were as young as three years old. We sought out a way to confirm that knowing out of deepest respect and love for those lost children and their families, understanding that Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc is the final resting place of these children.”

The discovery of the mass grave has spurred “a collective pain and trauma” for Indigenous communities across Canada, said Danielle Morrison, an Anishinaabe lawyer. “Currently there [are] fires being lit, pipes are being lit, and ceremonies being held to honour all of those lost lives of those precious children,” she told Al Jazeera.

“This news is a stark reminder of the violence inflicted by the residential school system and the wounds carried by communities, families and Survivors into the present,” the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba also said in a statement.

For more than 100 years, Canadian authorities forcibly separated thousands of Indigenous children from their families and made them attend residential schools, which aimed to sever Indigenous family and cultural ties and assimilate the children into white Canadian society.

The schools, which were run by churches from the 1870s until 1996, were rife with physical, mental and sexual abuse, neglect, and other forms of violence, and they created a cycle of intergenerational trauma for Indigenous people across Canada.

Founded in 1890 and run by the Catholic Church, the Kamloops Indian Residential School eventually became the largest school in Canada’s residential school system, counting 500 children at its enrollment peak in the early 1950s.

“The residential schools were opened with the sole purpose of removing the Indian from the child,” Morrison said. “It was to assimilate Indigenous people in Canada and it’s essentially, in the words of one of the superintendents at the time, to get rid of the ‘Indian problem’.”

During an online commemoration on Saturday, Karen Joseph, CEO of the Reconciliation Canada charity, said the discovery in Kamloops marked the first time a “whispered knowing was made real” and its effect is being felt across the country, especially by residential school survivors.

“Although those children that we are referring to right now went to the Kamloops Indian Residential School, we know that all of those children were not from Kamloops. That was the nature of residential schools, it was to take our children as far away from our homelands,” Joseph said.

“The grief is not localised into that community, and it is a huge burden that they are carrying right now.”

‘Cultural genocide’

In 2015, a national truth and reconciliation commission said the Canadian government had committed “cultural genocide” by forcing more than 150,000 Indigenous children to attend residential schools.

“The question of what happened to their loved ones and where they were laid to rest has haunted families and communities,” the commission said in its report, about the children who never returned home. “Throughout the history of Canada’s residential school system, there was no effort to record across the entire system the number of students who died while attending the schools each year.”

More than 4,100 children died due to disease or in an accident at the schools have been identified to date, the commission said, but efforts continue to identify others.

Derek Fox, deputy grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation in Ontario, said on Saturday that the discovery in Kamloops “shows how the legacy of the Residential School system continues to impact the lives of Residential School survivors and the families of those who never returned home”

“Even after all these years there are new tragedies of the Residential School system coming to light,” Fox said in a statement.

The Canadian government formally apologised for the residential school system in 2008, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that the discovery of the children’s bodies “is a painful reminder of that dark and shameful chapter of our country’s history”.

In an open letter to Trudeau on Saturday, Chief R Stacey Laforme of Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation urged him to lower flags across Canada and declare a national day of mourning for the children.

But observers have pointed out that residential school survivors have been forced to sue Ottawa to seek reparations and accountability for what happened to them.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Last year, CBC News reported the government had spent 3.2 million Canadian dollars ($2.6m) fighting a group of survivors of St Anne’s Indian Residential School, an Ontario residential school rife with abuse, in court over a 10-year period

Others have also pointed out that while the residential schools may be closed, Indigenous children continue to be taken away from their families in disproportionate numbers across Canada.

According to census data, more than 52 percent of children in foster care in 2016 were Indigenous, while Indigenous children made up only 7.7 percent of the country’s total population.

“This is not a historical event,” said Joseph during the online event on Saturday. “This continues today – the loss of our children and the loss of our people for no other reason than the colour of our skin.”

Brazilians stage nationwide protests over Bolsonaro's Covid response

Issued on: 29/05/2021 

A protest against Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in Rio de Janeiro, May 29, 2021. © MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP

Text by:NEWS WIRES


Brazilians staged protests against President Jair Bolsonaro's handling ofthe COVID-19 pandemic in at least 16 cities across the countryon Saturday, carrying signs such as "Out with Bolsonaro" and "Impeachment now."

Bolsonaro's popularity has plummeted during the coronavirus crisis, which has killed more than 450,000 Brazilians as the far-right leader played down its severity, dismissed mask wearing and cast doubt on the importance of vaccines.

Organized by leftist political parties, unions and student associations, Saturday's protests in the capital Brasilia and in Rio de Janeiro were peaceful, but in the northeastern city of Recife, police threw tear gas and shot rubber bullets.

Most protesters wore masks and tried to observe social distancing protocols, not always successfully, as they called for faster vaccinations countrywide.

Some protests, like the one in Rio, included images of former leftist president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva wearing the presidential sash.


Earlier in May, Lula met centrist Fernando Henrique Cardoso, also a two-term former president, for lunch in a public show of their common purpose to block Bolsonaro from gaining a second term in next year's presidential election.

Protests were expected in Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo, later in the day.

(REUTER

Jim Acosta: ‘Herd Stupidity’ As Far Right Wages ‘War Against Science’

Mark Joyella
Senior Contributor FORBES
Media
I cover political media--and media politics



CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta arrives at US District Court in Washington, DC, on November 

CNN’s Jim Acosta noted Saturday that the United States USM -0.3% has hit an important milestone: half of the adult population is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19. “Yes, we are beating the virus,” Acosta said on CNN Newsroom. “But on this Memorial Day weekend, the country is far from healthy.”

“Throughout the pandemic, we’ve suffered from a serious case of herd stupidity,” Acosta said, “as the far right waged a war against science—and in some cases, the scientists like Dr. Anthony Fauci.”

Acosta pointed to two Republicans who have mocked efforts to contain the pandemic’s spread, Rep. Matt Gaetz and, Acosta said, his “partner in slime” Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Greene has drawn intense criticism for her remarks comparing mask-wearing to the holocaust. “You know, we can look back at a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany," Greene said. "And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about."

Airing a clip of Greene comparing Democrats to Nazis, Acosta shook his head, saying “it doesn’t make any sense. Shameful.”

==MORE FOR YOU

CNN’s Jim Acosta: ‘This Is Beginning To Look Like A Rebellion’

Mark Joyella is a five-time Emmy Award-winning journalist who worked at television stations in Miami, Orlando, Tampa and New York City. He's also worked in cable news at CNN and Fox. His writing on politics and media has appeared in Adweek, the New York Post, the Orlando Sentinel, and The Dallas Morning News.

THE BREXIT BASE

Anti-immigration protesters bring traffic to a standstill at port of Dover

 Comment

Jordan KingMETRO UKSaturday 29 May 2021 7:37 pm

Some men travelled from other parts of the country to protest against migrants arriving in boats in Dover (Picture: PA)

Anti-migrant protesters brought traffic to a standstill in Dover as they marched down the A20, blocking lorries from the key trade terminal. 

A group of about 50 people, with some travelling from other parts of the country, protested against migrants crossing the English Channel to get into the UK.

The demonstrators used smoke flares and marched along the dual carriageway, forcing lorry drivers to line up and wait for their route to the trade terminal to clear.

Lots of the group, made up mostly of men, shouted ‘English streets’ and carried English flags. 

One protester, reclining on the tarmac in front of police, remarked: ‘If you can’t go abroad, lie in the street in Dover’. 

Kent Police arrested four people – two on suspicion of public order offences and two on suspicion of obstructing a highway. 

At one point, officers were seen pursuing someone through the town and past a busy funfair before he was detained in a shop. 

Most protesters had dispersed by 3.30pm. 

Protesters blocked the dual carriageway as they marched with English flags (Picture: PA)

One man was chased through the town and finally arrested in a shop (Picture: PA)

Kent Police arrested four people at the protest (Picture: PA)

Dover’s Tory MP Natalie Elphicke said: ‘Kent Police have had a challenging year – from the French closing the border to leaving the EU to coronavirus lockdowns and PCSO Julia James’ tragic death. 

‘They deserved a proper bank holiday break this weekend – not being sworn at by loud-mouthed protestors.

‘Time and again we see that the protesters’ day out causes direct damage to someone else’s livelihood, tourism, business and trade. That’s not right or fair.

‘It’s time to stop the small boats crossings but today’s protesters are not welcome in Dover. We don’t want them here. There’s no excuse for their disruption to trade and to our town.’ 

Superintendent Andy Gadd said today’s protests came with ‘minimal disruption to the local community’. 

‘We worked to balance the rights of those taking part in the protest with those living and working in Dover,’ he added. 

Cops were dotted all over Dover as similar protests in the past have seen scenes of violence.

Much like today, last September’s demonstrations brought traffic to a halt and in 2016, people threw bricks and smoke bombs at police. 

Demonstrators blocked the A20 for lorries trying to get to their key trade terminal (Picture: PA)

Some of the men shouted: ‘English streets’ as they marched through Dover (Picture: PA)

Border Force rescued 25 migrants trying to cross the English Channel today (Picture: PA)

Many have been angry over the increasing number of people making the dangerous 21-mile journey across the Channel. 

More than 3,100 people have reached the country’s shores in 2021 – with 25 migrants arriving earlier today. 

Although the UK is home to one of the highest immigrant populations in the world, it hosts very few refugees. 

Because four out of five asylum seekers stay in their regions, 85% of refugees end up in nearby developing countries, according to The UN Refugee Agency. 

Immigration has been at the forefront of the current Government’s agenda, with the Home Secretary promising multiple times to ‘take back control of our borders’.

MY JR HIGH ALMA MATER*
The King Edward elementary parent advisory council has voted unanimously to pursue a new name for the Strathcona-area elementary school.

© Provided by Edmonton Journal The parent advisory council at King Edward School, 8530 101 St., has passed a motion to rename the school.

THIS IS THE FORMER JUNIOR HIGH, ACROSS THE STREET IS THE ORIGINAL SCHOOL BUILT IN 1912

Jesse Enns Power, chairwoman of the council, said in a statement a parent raised concerns at a May meeting regarding the implications of the name and how it reflects a colonial past.

“We believe that the name King Edward reflects a colonial past which is neither relevant to the land the school is on, nor reflective of the diverse heritage of our community,” she said. “We question whether King Edward VII is someone we should look to honour as we teach our children values of inclusion, respect and social justice.”

She said the council has been working with social justice and anti-racist content at council meetings throughout the school year and have been partnering with the Strathcona Community League and a University of Alberta professor to learn more about the history of the area.

“We believe that the process of renaming would present an excellent opportunity for our students and youngest members of our community to learn and reflect on the history of this land and further our actions toward reconciliation,” said Enns Power.

The council brought the idea of renaming the school to their school board trustee, Michael Janz, who held a meeting Thursday evening to discuss the issue further. Many in attendance spoke about the importance of inclusion and having further discussions while others highlighted the continued role the Commonwealth has around the world.

Many of those in attendance said they would support a change to reflect local history.

In an interview, Janz said renaming an Edmonton public school is the sole responsibility of Edmonton Public Schools trustees.

“I’m certainly willing to engage with them and talk with them about that and explore what that process could look like to move ahead,” said Janz. “Until I looked into it, you don’t realize how many things in our community are named after monarchs. I think there are questions from a number of different folks how relevant that is.”

In order for a school to be renamed a trustee would have to put forward a motion to do so. That would be voted on and would need a majority of support to pass. Edmonton Public Schools would then consult with the community to find a new name for the school.

Janz said he has not decided one way or another if he would sponsor a motion but he is open to hearing from the community.

Edmonton Public Schools voted to change the name of Dan Knott school and Oliver School last September based on beliefs held by each namesake while they held public office. Janz said the process of renaming those schools is still ongoing.

DAN KNOTT WAS A SCHOOL TRUSTEE AND THE HEAD OF THE EDMONTON TRADES AND LABOUR COUNCIL AKA EDLC

Meanwhile in Toronto, members of the Queen Victoria Public School have requested a change of name to reflect the community.

* WE ORGANIZED (MY FIRST) STUDENT WALKOUT TO PROTEST THE CANCELLATION OF THE GRADE 9 GRAD