THE KRONSTADT HANGAR ONCE AGAIN EVACUATED : CALL FOR GATHERING OUTSIDE OF THE SUB-PREFECTURE IN CALAIS
Yesterday, activists from SOS Soutien O Sans Papier and the No Borders network were once again evicted from the Kronstadt hangar in Calais which they are legally renting. Despite having informed the police that morning that the space was only open between 10-6pm, and with no migrants present in the hangar, the street was cordoned off by riot police at around 6.30pm.
The police were told by the five inhabitants that no-one else was in the building and that they were welcome to come and look inside to verify this. The offer was refused and without stating their reasons or providing any official documents, the CRS began to try to smash down the door. The inhabitants quickly opened the door before the CRS burst in to search the space and take everyone present to the police station.
No concrete reason has been provided as to why they were taken and not allowed to return. A police van is still blocking the entrance to the hangar.
The authorities claim that the building is not adapted to welcome the public. This is simply a pretext used to suppress any opposition to Franco-British border and immigration policies which have resulted in migrants being forced to live in woods and wastelands, and to wander the streets of French towns and cities. Are the streets more adapted to welcome public ?
We demand access to the space we are legally renting.
This hangar is not humanitarian shelter, but a space of exchange, discussions and political opposition. We want to struggle against a situation of human suffering provoked by the closure of borders, not just in Calais but all around the European Schengen space. It is not us but the state and the racist, repressive immigration regime that should challenged.
We demand freedom of movement and equal migration rights for all, and that every human, as we do, should be able to choose their destination.
We demand that the local and national authorities stop pretending that the situation of people being forced to leave their countries can ever be resolved through the closure of borders. It is the economic policies and wars of rich countries which are the principal reasons forcing people to leave.
We oppose a world where tourism is never seen as a problem and where people who are forced to migrate are criminalised.
We call for a gathering in front of the sub-prefecture in Calais at 2.30pm tomorrow, Friday 19th February.
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