2 August 2000
Jack Tan

I must have watched The Sound of Music dozens of times since I was a kid. Most recently I watched it at the Prince Charles in London where we got to 'boo' the Nazis and sing along with Maria in great hilarity. Over the past two decades of watching this film, I had always thought that the edelweiss-singing Austrians were the Anti-Nazi good guys. Now I learn that my Hollywood impression of Austria is wrong. According to the papers, the Austrians in the 30s cheered and waved the Nazis into Vienna. They even gathered in great crowds to admire and listen to the right-wing rhetoric of Hitler. And it seems that the Austrians today are again being wooed by another politician with much the same inclination for right-wing rhetoric.

Jorn Haider's Freedom Party is in coalition government with the Conservative Party and holds 6 of the 10 main ministerial posts. His party came into power from immense popularity for its anti-immigration stand (usually meaning non-white immigration). Some even claim that re-elections now would return him with an even more seats. However, since his party came into power on 4 Feb 2000, Israel and the USA have recalled their ambassadors, the other 14 EU countries have broken all but minimal diplomatic ties, and ordinary Europeans and businesses have begun boycotting all things Austrian. The reason for these extreme reactions is the belief that Haider is a fascist and a danger to the values of the Europe. In the past, Haider has expressed admiration for some of Hitler's policies and even praised members of the SS. Having a right-wing Nationalist party pursuing right-wing policies in Europe is anathema to many.

It is easy for us in the UK to criticize another country's government for being right-wing especially when there is a controversial personality like Haider involved. But setting aside the hype and Nazi scare stories the surround him, we find that his policies ring in ominous echo to the ones that are already in force in this 'green and pleasant land'.

On 31 Jan 2000, the British government proposed that 'borderline case' visitors from India would have to hand over a 5,000 bond before they would be allowed entry into the UK. The government claims that this would deter illegal immigrants. It would also stop thousands of poorer genuine Indian visitors from attending important family events here, such as weddings. There is also the question: Why India? Why not the borderline cases of US, Canadian, or Australian nationals?

The answer simply is that there exists an implied assumption that non-white people are unsuitable immigrants. The proof is clear if we look at the effect of British immigration law since the 60s. Immigration of non-white British subjects slowed to a halt while white immigration from the same countries was permitted. The racist 'common sense' rhetoric that was used then to whip up support for these immigration laws, sounds very similar to the views of the Freedom Party in Austria.

Not enough jobs. No more space. We're too generous as it is. They're not real asylum-seekers. They are economic migrants. These are reasons that were levelled at black and Asian people in the 60s, 70s, and 80s and against the first Chinese immigrants to these shores in the early 1900s. These sentiments are rooted in racial prejudice and are very persuasive. Their danger lies in their ability to sound like good 'common sense' at first instance. That these populist sentiments are being whipped up again in a foreign country against an unknown people should not stop us from taking a stand and speaking out against them. Nor should it blind us from the racist policies that exist now in Britain or the threat from populist British nationalism.

I for one applaud the strong stand that Portugal, Belgium and other countries have taken against the Haider-Schussel coalition in Austria. A government that represents racism, nationalism and fascism is undemocratic and un-European. The elected Freedom Party may be legal, but it cannot be legitimate.