Demands from a Pandemic Ireland Coalition

The virus doesn’t discriminate; our institutions and structures do!

Demands from a Pandemic Ireland

We are an affected-led coalition consisting predominantly of grassroot groups and organisers who have joined together during this pandemic to reiterate the urgency of our message and highlight the intersectional failures of the system. We are glad to see mutual aid and community solidarity being practiced but more alarmingly we are seeing how the injustices we have rallied against are worsening and have even more devastating consequences for those impacted. This is especially true for folks who are migrants, asylum seekers, people of colour, Minceiri, disabled, queer, transgender, non-binary, sex-workers, homeless, working class, immunocompromised – the pandemic has further exposed the current social inequilities and how it makes those communities more susceptible to COVID 19.

Things will not return to “business as usual” after the pandemic and it shouldn’t. Although capitalism tries to push the narrative that we are an individualistic society, this crisis showed that we cannot survive as such. We must defend and sustain communities to thrive apart from and in defiance of capitalism. It is more important than ever to stand with and listen to the voices of the most affected, to understand the interconnectedness of our struggles; and the reality that to end one form of oppression we must end all other forms of oppression. We urge you to spread our demands, RESIST and ORGANIZE AGAINST THE STATE!

Our demands are as follows:

Unconditional movement of all people & open borders

1. People should be free to move regardless of their ability to work or their contribution to the state or the ruling interests. Individual worth should not be measured based on race, class, ability, gender, sexuality and all other forms of oppression. We reject the conditions under capitalism where certain bodies and certain skills are valued when convenient for the profit of the ruling class.The movement of people should not be controlled by interests of the oppressors who wish to maintain their privilege at the devastation of others. Open borders, stop racist paranoia.
2. Many migrant workers working so-called low skilled jobs became essential during the pandemic. First, this shows the arbitrary nature of labelling workers as essential when it fits the purposes of the ruling class. Second, the use of “heroes and troops” terminology eulogises the inevitability of their death (for the state), when in fact these PoC are dying at a disproportionate rate because of state inadequacy regarding PPE and racism in healthcare. The privatisation of health has rendered the public system vulnerable and underprepared, and workers from marginalised communities are paying the ultimate price. Finally, this perpetuates the myth that certain migrants are deserving (to stay and have a livelihood), while others who are not “professionals” do not deserve to stay. We reject this discourse peddled by the racist state and it’s institutions: they do not get to dictate who is worthy of survival and who is not.

End Direct Provision and stop all deportations

1. We condemn the dehumanising incarceration of asylum seekers and refugees in unliveable Direct Provision centres and emergency accommodation. What started 20 years ago as a temporary, emergency measure has turned into an unmanageable, profitable, inhumane and racist institution. This abuse has only become more blatant under the current circumstances. We demand the end of this horrendous system and the stop of all deportations at once.
2. Self isolation is impossible in DP centres and emergency accommodations where residents are in overcrowded spaces. Most single people share rooms with strangers in hotel rooms with no social distancing measures. The centre in Kerry that was set up quietly at the onset of the restrictions brought people from at least 3 emergency accommodation venues with no regard for their physical or mental well-being; strangers sharing rooms with no idea where their roommate has been in the past 14 days. The Skellig Hotel/DP centre houses around 100 people in 56 rooms. As of now, there are 4 cases of confirmed COVID. Locals have attacked residents and barred them from entering shops. Residents need to have a space to self isolate that is safe and free from harm. Asylum seekers have often fled from traumatic situations, and this brutal confinement is further trauma that they should not be subjected to.

Healthcare and reproductive justice for all

1. Reproductive justice refers to the processes of becoming a parent and bearing a child or deciding to not have a child, which are all impacted by race, class, gender, disability etc. Access to reproductive healthcare should be consistent on the island of Ireland. Contraception and abortions are both essential healthcare services and should be available to all without barriers. We demand the end to conscientious objection from healthcare providers, abolish any waiting period, and access to quality healthcare and reproductive education.
2. The pandemic has also revealed that childcare is an essential service and should not be available only to those who can afford it. Childcare is often a gendered and racialised job as well as it is most often low-paid and demeaned as unskilled feminine labour. We acknowledge the incredible (unpaid) work of carers without which people would not be able to work, organise, and thrive. Again, migrants and ethnic minorities (including undocumented) are disproportionately working in caring and healthcare jobs. The frontline (health)care has relied disproportionately on marginalised populations before, during and after this pandemic.
3. In Ireland, migrants account for 40% of maternal deaths. We are disportionately impacted by institutional racism in healthcare. This is not an isolated issue for migrants and ethnic minorities: working class, disabled folks, trans and queer folks are dying or denied health care and support due to institutional or individual biases. Healthcare is not a luxury, it is essential for survival and should not be a source of profit. Especially in the context of a pandemic, we should have access to quality supports without compromising the health of marginalised workers. We demand free COVID testing, along with free healthcare treatment and care for all!

Safe homes for all & stop privatisation of land

1. We demand safe quality housing for all, especially during the pandemic where self-isolation and social distancing can be practiced by all. Safe quality housing exists already, as evident by the surge of properties now available for rent since the restrictions – mainly Airbnb properties that are now advertised as “luxury short term lets”. The housing crisis is manufactured by the greed of property owners buying up houses and charging extortionate prices for bedsits. There are hundreds of empty units unoccupied due to the unaffordable prices that could be used right now for a more dignified self-isolation experience for homeless folks or those in DP.
2. We demand the end of all utility cut-offs (electricity, internet, gas, water, etc) as they are basic needs for the home. In the long run, all unoccupied properties should be repurposed for social housing.
3. The privatisation of public land needs to end, land and homes belong to those who live there, not to the faceless landlords and corporations. We have witnessed state actors collude with landlords (many TDs are landlords as well) through the selling of public land to private corporations as exemplified by the O’Devany Gardens which is not an isolated incident.

Abolish the carceral state and stop criminalising marginalised communities

1. Don’t call the police on your neighbours. There are so many other ways to deal with situations and confrontations without the involvement of the state. Police were created to protect white supremacy, landlords and the state. It might be one phone call for you to the police, but it could mean a deportation notice or a parole violation for someone else. Especially with increased police powers during restriction, look out for one another – particularly those targeted by the pigs. Remember: we social distance for one another, not because the police or state are telling us to!
2. The carceral system doesn’t deal with the root issues of so called illegal actions or “crime”. We envision a society where community organising and initiatives tackle the socio-economic issues that lead to the disproportionate incarceration of the working class, queer, sex workers, migrants etc.
3. We demand that all prisoners be released, free them all now! Don’t collude with the police state by calling the police on your neighbours. Prisons are used as a means of control, namely to control those who do not abide by the rules and laws written by the white supremacist, capitalist state. Hence, all prisoners are inherently political prisoners. Migrants, PoC – especially Black and Brown folks, Minceiri, sex workers, queer and trans bodies, are disproportionately policed and die at the hands of cops who do not protect us. The existence of prisons is unacceptable now and after the pandemic.

Food for thought:

How can you use this opportunity to alter the unequal power relations that have made some groups more susceptible and others insulated from the pandemic? What are tangible actions and goals? How can you challenge Sinophobia (anti-Chinese sentiment) and anti-Blackness now and beyond the pandemic? How can we eradicate the prison industrial complex?

What now?

Solidarity not charity: form networks of mutual aid efforts that don’t already exist in your area. We all relate to this pandemic in different ways due to our varying privileges. Evidently, the current capitalist social order does not work, it is neither sustainable nor inevitable. We need to create our own set of social relations and not rely on the state, let’s do it on our own terms!!