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[reminder] Wed27 Target café .on NoBorder Camps Calais & Les
Target café - 26.05.2009 13:21
All included kicks off an info-tour on the two NoBorder Camps of this summer – Calais (France) June 23-29 and Lesvos (Greece) August 25-31.
Wed May 27 - Target café, OT301 Amsterdam (see info at the bottom)
Thu June 4 - Basta infoshop, De Kargadoor Utrecht
( http://www.bastadebat.nl/Radicale_Zomervakantie.htm)
Fri June 12 - Linkse Kerk Leiden.
more upcoming info-nights will be announced soon. Most likely in Nijmegen & Zwolle.
http://london.noborders.org.uk/calais2009
The Calais No Border camp is a joint venture between French and Belgian activists and migrant support groups and the UK No Borders Network. It aims to highlight the realities of the situation in Calais and Northern France; to build links with the migrant communities; to help build links between migrants support groups; and lastly, but not least, to challenge the authorities on the ground, to protest against increased repression of migrants and local activists alike.
http://lesvos09.antira.info/
Repression has no place on our boat .....
In the last few years the island of Lesvos has represented one of the main entrance gates for thousands of refugees and migrants seeking to reach Europe. Packed in tiny plastic boats they try to cross the sea border between Turkey and Greece but some of them can't make it. More than 1.100 migrants and refugees have lost their lives that way in Aegean sea the last 20 years. The Lesvos No Border camp is a collaboration of Greek and Turkish activists. One of their aims is to highlight the harsh border control activities of Frontex* in this region.
Target café - Wednesday May 27
OT301 (Overtoom 301 Amsterdam)
19.30 uur (program starts at 20.00)
http://www.allincluded.nl
*on Frontex: http://allincluded.nl/index.php/actie/campagne-tegen-frontex
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| supplements | | a class perspective | no one is illegal - 26.05.2009 20:30
No Border Camp Calais, France June 23 - 29 // For Resistance edition.
The situation for undocumented migrants in Calais has become a major news story in recent months, with the humanitarian crisis now an unavoidable reality. At any one time there are around 800-1000 migrants living in 'The Jungle' trying to cross the Channel, under constant harassment from the police. UK Immigration minister Phil Woolas boasts that migrants “have been locked out by one of the toughest border crossings in the world” whilst his French counterpart Éric Besson vows to make Calais a no migrant zone by the end of the year and has increased police actions in the area.
Since the mid-nineties tens of thousands have been living in destitution in the region. Between 1999 and 2002 the Red Cross ran a centre at neighbouring Sangatte but this was forced to close after political pressure from France and Britain. Since then massive police presence and repression has forced thousands to wander along the North coast of France, Belgium and Holland. They are routinely brutalised by the police; tear-gassed, beaten, arrested and repeatedly interned at the nearby Coquelles detention centre.
The police regularly burn the makeshift shelters built by the migrants along with the few meagre possessions that they contain. There is no legally sanctioned support for people without 'correct' migration status and giving any sort of assistance can carry heavy penalties. The local groups that provide food and other humanitarian aid are coming under increasing attack from the police and a number of activists have been arrested in recent months.
Meanwhile the UK Borders Agency have been calling for the construction of a new permanent holding/detention centre for migrants in Calais docks. Already dubbed "Europe's Guantanamo' by the The Independent newspaper, the centre would lie outside the jurisdiction of both countries' legal systems. Those detained would be denied access to even the limited asylum or legal provisions currently available or the opportunity to fight deportation through solidarity campaigns, appeals or community organising.
On 23rd-29th June there will be a No Border camp in Calais aiming to highlight the reality of the situation in northern France, to build links between migrant communities and support groups, to challenge the border itself and protest against increased repression of migrants and local activists. It is a joint venture between anarchists and activists in France, Belgium and the UK along with migrant support groups in the area.
The undocumented migrants or 'Sans-Papiers' in Calais are only the tip of the iceberg; it is estimated that there are over 200,000 Sans-Papiers in France, a million in the UK, and up to seven million in Europe as a whole. Migration is arguably causing a fundamental shift in the class struggle. The British Left stands at an impasse with the possible responses summed up in two phrases; “British Jobs for British Workers” or “Workers of the World, Unite.” Migrants are not a separate social group, they are labour on the move. As such they are competitors for the crumbs from the rich man’s table and potential allies in the struggle for an equal society. We can either stand against fellow working class people in the hope of clinging on to the few pathetic crumbs the establishment let us have, or we can join with the masses of the dispossessed of the empire and together as equals create a new society. It seems likely that many who claim to act in the ‘best interests’ of workers will side with the British ruling class against the poor. We advocate standing alongside our natural allies in the class struggle and this summer that can begin in Calais.
This camp will continue the tradition of the No Border camps taking place across the world since the late 1990s. Like the camp taking place this year in Lesvos in August, it will be a space to share information, skills, knowledge and experiences and to mobilise for transnational class consciousness. On Saturday 27th June there will be a demonstration starting at 10am from the lighthouse on Boulevard des Alliés in the centre of Calais to Coquelles immigration detention centre. We call on everyone who believes in worldwide class solidarity to join us in Calais to take action for freedom of movement and equality for all!
No Borders UK - noborders.org.uk // calaisnoborder.eu.org //  calais@riseup.net
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