What a difference deportation makes

Just a quick note to express my outrage at how activists, including debt activists, have been treated at these meetings. A few of us were on the bus home on Friday night when we caught news not only of our 'silent protest' but also of Singapore's decision to revoke its decision on some of the blacklisted activists. (Yes, the buses in Singapore have TV screens.) But as Trisha says, it's little and late: and it isn't anything at all for those who've already been deported. These include Maria Clara Soares, who is ActionAid's head of policy for the Americas and in charge of its international debt policy team, and also Kiama Kaara of Kenya Debt Relief Network (whose mother, Wahu, a long-term global justice campaigner, will be speaking at events in Manchester, Cardiff and London in late September). Those left on the blacklist include debt campaigners who we work very closely with, and who clearly haven't been responsible for riots in Geneva, Seattle, or anywhere else, whatever the Singapore government may say.