EYFA Network News
November 2007
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While putting this newsletter together tents are still being set up on both sides of the US/Mexico border. It’s the third NoBorder Camp this year after Camps in the Ukraine in August and UK in September. And for today November 10 – on the 18th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall – actions will be mounted against border regimes in Mexico, Guatemala, the United States, Canada, Israel and Palestine.
See Campamento Contra Las Fronteras
**Contents
1. NoBorder Camps – intro
2. NoBorder Camp Ukraine – last August
3. NoBorder Camp UK – last September
4. European Police Congress 29th-30th, Berlin
5. Youth Crossing Borders – last August
6. Be a refugee
7. MigMap
8. Fortress Europe’s death toll
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1. NoBorder Camps – intro
NoBorder Camps came up by the end of the 90s organized by a network of groups struggling for the freedom of movement for all and an end to all migration controls; calling for a radical movement against the system of control, dividing us into citizens and non-citizens; demanding the end of the border regime for everyone, including ourselves, to enable us to live another way, without fear, racism and nationalism.
A space was created to gather and meet, discuss, make actions and create connections. At first in countries that found themselves on the edges of Fortress Europe – Poland, Romania, Spain and Italy – but in 2002 Strassbourg had a camp with a couple of thousand participants. This camp turned out to be of great importance for the G8 protest camp Vaaag that followed the year after in Evian, France: How to set up an infrastructure that accommodates thousands of people, that is run non-hierarchically, and that is a base for direct actions. After a break of a couple of years the NoBorder Camps are back with camps this year in Ukraine, UK and US/Mexico.
See overview early NoBorder Camps
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2. NoBorder Camp Ukraine – August 11-20 2007
Organizing a NoBorder Camp is a challenge that not only deals with setting up a large camp but also with the context of the nearby physical border and the migrantphobic surroundings. The NoBorder Camp in Ukraine was located at the eastern border region Transcarpathia. With the enlargement of the EU, and shifting of borders, Transcarpathia became one of the main routes for international migration. This region is known for its unique blend of cultures and traditions and has a history build on migration. But under EU pressure National migration policies changed and the border regime harshened. State and popular media’s use of xenophobic retorics has created tension among the ancestors of migrants and new-comers. One of the main aims of the Camp was therefore to do outreach and spread counter-information.
The NoBorder Camp was attended by 300 activists from approximately 20 countries and also hosted a regional Food Not Bombs Gathering. A lot of activists from the region, at first unfamiliar with NoBorder activism, later joined the actions against the nearby detention center and immigration offices. Besides the actions also a No Border festival was organized in the nearby city Uzhgorod which attracted a lot of local people with concerts, films and seminars. Borders, however, also came up within the settings of the camp with an invisible border apparent between the Russian and English speaking participants. Macho sexist behavior by some of the male fellow activists and daily alcohol abuse also created division among the participants.
See also an extensive report in Abolishing The Borders From Below-magazine issue #30, Oct.’07
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3. NoBorder Camp UK – September 19-24 2007
It took some time to find a nice field to put the camp up. Police were harassing local farmers not to host the camp on their lands. Eventually one farmer did not give in and the camp was still located near one of its targets – the new detention center Brook House that is being build at the Gatwick Airport. The UK had a summer of several protest camps – e.g. Climatecamp . Still some 200 activists gathered at the NoBorder Camp to discuss the situation in the UK and Europe, to exchange information and tactics and to do actions. The participants were predominantly from the UK and the Camp was of great importance for the growing UK NoBorder network
Two years of No Borders UK:
It was before the G8 2005 in Scotland that initiatives started to network around the issues of Freedom Of Movement in the UK again. A Make Borders History demo took place in Glasgow during the 2005 G8 summit in Scotland, calling at several institutions and companies involved in the Border Regime.
During the following year, No Borders groups were set up all over the country, in London, Brighton, Cardiff, Nottingham, Leeds and other cities. Regular demonstrations targeted immigration reporting centers and as well as detention centers.
The year 2006 saw the first UK-wide No Borders Gathering in London and exactly one year later, another gathering was held in Glasgow. The initiatives naturally had different focal points, from fighting against dawn raids, anti-deportation actions (e.g. in Leeds ), campaigning against the point-based system, to solidarity with migrant workers (e.g. justice for cleaners) and, of course, demonstrations at immigration prisons. In Glasgow, people started Unity, a union of by and for asylum seekers. In London, Harmondsworth became another focus of protests as well as building up practical support for detainees. The October 7th Network organised a demonstration in London as part of the Transnational Day Of Action for migrants’ rights. However, when the Home Office disclosed plans to build a new immigration prison at Gatwick, the new Brook House became a focus for the whole network.
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4. European Police Congress- January 29-30 2008, Berlin
The “European Police Congress” is a forum where politicians, police authorities, intelligence services, the military and the security industry meet to discuss the implementation of new measures for prosecution. Big topic on their agenda is the policing of borders – see the official program in pdf. Not only is there the ambition to strengthen the walls of the fortress but also to increase the control of people inside the walls. A Campaign was initiated, demonstrations are being planned and actions in the making. Against a “Global Security Architecture”, for more security-critical behaviour!
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5. Youth Crossing Borders – August 4-19 2007, Aljezur, Portugal
EYFA organized a 14 days exchange in Aljezur that brought together young activists from old and new EU member states to disscuss, compare and enrich their different perspectives on migration issues. The topics ranged from ‘Environmental refugees’ to ‘Detention in the Netherlands.’ The participants came from countries and groups like Albania(Mjaft), Romania(Kommunitas), Serbia(Stanipani), Montenegro(PlagusM), Croatia(YPGD), Italy(la libellula), Portugal(Edsime) and The Netherlands(EYFA).
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6. Be a Refugee
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) produced a video game that ‘let’s you experience what it’s like to be a refugee.’ Games are the way to communicate to a generation stuck with their heads in the box, they must have thought. The game is called ‘Against all odds’ and is odd indeed.
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7. MigMap – governing migration
MigMap is a ‘Virtual Cartography of European Migration Policies’ – it’s a map! Trying to get a grip on the European policy field of migration is a horror. This map leads you along the different actors, institutions, the discourses, the places and the practices.
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8. Fortress Europe’s death toll
Fortress Europe is tracking the numbers of people dying along the borders of Europe. Their October 2007 Report report mentions that at least 296 migrants and refugees have died trying to reach European Union that month. More than 200 people were reported to be missing off Canary Islands, in Spain, 51 migrants died in the Strait of Sicily and Calabria (south of Italy) and 33 others were drowned in the Aegean sea, between Turkey and Greece. At least 1,343 migrants have already died since the beginning of the year.
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Published electronically by EYFA.
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