The Disappeared

The Disappeared

It was a network of mothers in Chile who gave a name to the not-to-be-named They did it by standing in silence dressed in black, in a public place, holding photographs of their lost children. Through their ties of blood they reclaimed the naming process from those who thought they controlled it.

More efficient states have practised what they hoped was total abolition. There have been strategies to exterminate whole peoples identifiable by ethnic group or creed. The aim of such strategies has been to ensure that no-one is left to bear witness, or even to put pressure on those few who survive to "lose" or deny their collective memory. So "official" histories come to be written and re-written.

Archaeology and geology take us beyond witness, to evidence. Nevertheless, interpretation is open to change. There is growing awareness of the impact of human activity in changing ecosystems and the disappearance of plants and animals.

When the rich countries of the north possessed the geographic space of the colonies, they were also provided with a mental space to occupy. The establishment was educated to govern from childhood, even from afar. Transportation awaited the poor, or those whose right to land proved inconvenient to the powerful. It is no longer possible to transport people in this sense, since the earth is spoken for, but I believe that the mindset which places those inconvenient to society "somewhere else" lives on within the establishment. The "disappeared" live amongst us. Where do they hide? And why are they not revealed on their own terms?

They cower in the run-down council estates of the north and in the poorer parts of London. They do not know their rights. They do not trust the system to which they should appeal. They are poor and are prevented from training for work or carrying out work they used to do.

They are asylum seekers.

It is convenient to Barbara Roche (the minister) that they, in effect, disappear. This way the state does not have to take their plight seriously, and spend money on them.

Their situation is a disgrace. The Green Party Europe-wide seeks to reveal their plight, improve their lot and welcome them fully into society.

But it isn't only asylum seekers. There are many people in Britain whose needs as children and as young people were far from being met. They didn't seem to fit in at school. Maybe they sat at the back of the class, withdrawn into a world of their own. They were timid, or were disruptive and couldn't sit still. Later they perhaps got into truancy, into drugs, into crime, ended up in young offender institutions, prison or the mental health system. They are often illiterate. They may be dyslexic, have a slight degree of autism, have suffered abuse and been bullied. They needed much smaller classes, specially qualified staff, imaginative teaching with more input from the arts and the guarantee of steady work in a supportive, non-competitive environment when they left school. Because their school obtained capitation fees if they were on its books, their infrequent attendance and appearances in court were ignored. They joined the disappeared.

Apart from any humane consideration, wilful ignorance costs the country dear. Britain has a higher proportion of its population in prison than any other EU country except Portugal. The current prison population of England and Wales is about 65,000. There are 11,000 prisoners under 18. The average cost of a prison place is £22649 a year. Many prisoners are mentally ill, a high percentage are illiterate.

This situation too is a disgrace. The Green Party has a commitment to child-centred, empowering education in small groups and a belief in education as a lifelong enterprise firmly based in the community and responsible to society. We are prepared to fundamentally change our system of taxation and benefits to finance it.

We believe fewer people should be sent to jail. The aim of the prison system has to be restitution to being a full member of society. Community service could be much more widely used. But community service means spending time and energy and taking the individual into account. Society is encouraged by political right and left to believe that "putting people away" is the best and safest solution.

At regular intervals the Green Party disappears. This happens in the run-up to a general election. We are not named in our own country, although we may be named "elsewhere". We become alien, "other". Our colour is taboo in charts and diagrams. The public is told to think in terms of "the main parties" or "the big three". How can there possibly be four or more if a sacred trinity has been decreed? Of course we carry on regardless, but we need to be sure that we do not internalise this oppression.

It has been brought to my attention that I am expected to go into TV studios and fight. Programme titles like Punchbag, introductory sequences that show images of snapping crocodiles in parliamentary debates, help reinforce this impression. But it is a sham fight for the middle ground. Nothing new or challenging to the status quo can emerge in this charade except from the edge, the real interface between politics and people. We have the opportunity to use our own marginalisation to seek out and reveal the marginalised in society, to reveal the "lost" people, the threatened environments, the dwindling species. To identify with them and, when we are elected as we increasingly shall be as time goes on, not to forget the disappeared.

I wish you all energy and courage. We are identifying the real problems of our society, we are finding lasting solutions. Our theme for the coming election is "Justice". Let's bring justice back to the heart of politics and help each other find imaginative ways of proclaiming it in the weeks ahead.

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