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Editorial:
Minority Report
Anna Rankin
Comment:
Racism in Ulster: Up-front and Ugly
Ken Newell
From
the Director: Naming Our Sin
David W Porter
Faith
in Ulster: Facing Up to Diversity
Stephen Skuce
Faith
and Practice
Walter Lewis
Interview
with Rose Ozo: Where the Heart Is
Anna Rankin
Craigavon:
Religious Liberty in the Shadow of Drumcree
Small Steps
Tim Foley
Embracing the Stranger
Richard Kerr
Review:
On Eagle's Wing
Ethel White
Review:
Conflict, Controversy and Co-operation
John W Morrow
Review:
The Subversive Manifesto
John Kyle
Review:
L is for Lifestyle
Claire Martin
Review:
It Will Not Be Taken Away From Her
Cary Gibson
Review:
Prophetic Untimeliness: A Challenge to the Idol of Relevance
Paul Rankin
Review:
Two Little Boys
John Gillespie
Review:
Son
David Smith
MIGRANT WORKERS
JOSE CARLOS LARA, a Baptist pastor, and his wife Marizete from São Paulo in Brazil are missionaries with Latin Partners. In February 2004 the couple and their three daughters came to Northern Ireland to work among the growing Portuguese-speaking community in the Dungannon area.
There are more than 1,000 Portuguese-speaking immigrants in the area – mostly working for companies such as Dungannon Meats and Moy Park. Though often referred to simply as ‘the Portuguese’ this is misleading as the workers not only come from Portugal but also from its various former colonies, including East Timor, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and Brazil.
Jose Carlos and Marizete have an open-door policy with those seeking assistance. They are available to help with practical problems, translating for a visit to the doctor, filling out forms and documents and addressing legal matters or difficulties at work. They run English lessons and organise social events as well as Bible study groups and worship. They also provide counselling and support to workers, many of whom are separated from their families and are a long way from home.
The migrant workers experience many day-to-day difficulties and often have work-related grievances which they can do little to resolve. Three or four big agencies recruit for the companies in the area but, Jose Carlos says, they do not always act fairly. “They provide accommodation but put too many people in the houses so they have no privacy, sometimes two or three people are sharing a bedroom.” There are also reports that, though the companies pay double-time for holidays and Sundays, the agencies do not pass this on to the workers. “We encourage people to apply directly to the companies for a work permit and to bypass the agencies because they are being exploited. Then they will have to find their own accommodation and sort out their own paperwork but they will be more secure.”
Although they have many friends in the town, the family has also been on the receiving end of attacks to their property. Their car was burnt and a week later bricks were thrown at the house in an unsuccessful attempt to smash the windows. “Some think it was sectarian, some think it was racist, or that the people were drunk. We don’t know who did it or why.”
It seems that anti-Catholicism has added to the current of resentment towards the foreign workers. The Lara family come from Brazil where 20% of the population are evangelical Christians, however, “Because I have darker skin,” says Marizete, “people think I am Portuguese and therefore assume I am a Catholic.” For this reason she avoids some parts of town. In this case, being outsiders does not afford them neutrality in the conflict here, even if the sectarian labels they are given don’t quite fit. It seems their car may have been burnt in reaction to Jose Carlos reading a prayer the day before at a family festival event in Dungannon at which there was inter-denominational participation.
“After the attacks people advised us to move. We talked about it but we didn’t want to run away.” After the attack on their car Jose Carlos says, “I started to read the local papers and discovered similar incidents happening every week, but these are often played down by the media. For example, ten men in black masks and bats broke into a house and smashed everything in the living room but the next day the paper announced that this was not a racist attack. I went and talked to a local newspaper editor. He said he wanted to keep it low-key to avoid provoking a reaction. I could see his point. Can you imagine 1,000 immigrants getting angry? Some of them are from Africa, they have come from violent places, some are from East Timor, which has had a civil war.”
“It isn’t easy, there has been some bad behaviour and it gets them all a bad name. People say this town used to be so clean. People say, ‘They drop the litter’ and it’s true, it is them! There are reports of anti-social behaviour, loud parties and drinking, and there is a big problem with alcohol.
“I can understand how local people are feeling. Three years ago there were no foreign people here. Now it must seem like an invasion.”
From a conversation
with Anna Rankin on 28 July 2004.
A full interview with Jose Carlos and Marizete Lara will appear in the
next issue of lion&lamb.
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