***PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release: 29/01/10***
Activists from the transnational No Borders network and the French organisation, SôS Soutien aux Sans Papiers, are shortly to open a large warehouse for migrants in Calais [1].
The building is to be an autonomous space for migrants and activists struggling for the right to freedom of movement. It will be host to information-sharing, debate and practical solidarity. The Kronstadt building is located in the town that has become the symbol of Fortress Europe, a place where arrests and beatings of migrants by the police are a daily occurrence, and where night-time pursuits are relentless [2].
By this act, they stand in solidarity with those for whom border and immigration control is a discriminatory, oppressive and unjust reality. In a real democracy, every person enriches society in myriad ways, and no-one is surplus to requirements; neither the unemployed, the young, the old, or the foreign.
The space, the activists emphasise, is NOT to be a new Sangatte. No band-aid such as Sangatte could suffice to deal with the horrors undergone by the thousands who seek protection or survival from authoritarianism, or capitalist wars, while arbitrary national borders remain in place.
The first meeting with organisations and local residents to discuss how they wish to support and participate in the project is to take place today.
Contact in France: noborder-groupelocal-calais@hotmail.fr
Contact in the UK: 077 949 661 556 or calaisolidarity@gmail.com
http://london.noborders.org.uk
http://noborders.org.uk
http://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
[1] The No Borders Network use direct action and practical solidarity to fight for freedom of movement for all. They form part of the Calais Migrant Solidarity group which has maintained a continued presence in Calais since last summer.
[2] For a summary of police activities in December, please see our report here:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/01/444188.html
Friday, 29 January 2010
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frantini Answers A Few Questions
In a bizarre little interview we came across on the ISRIA (International Security Research and Intelligence Agency) website, Franco Frattini, Italy's Foreign Minister, shows exactly how much you can trust a politician to tell the truth, especially when it comes racism amongst his compatriots.
Italy was accused of being racist following the events at Rosarno.
“Italy is not and has never been a racist country, not least as a result of the fact that it has not got a history of colonialism. [Just try telling that to Libya and Ethiopia, not to mention Albania and Corfu*. As for Italian racism, just read what Inter Milan's Mario Balotelli and Reggina's Shunsuke Nakamura have to say on the subject or ask any Roma on an Italian street or the Rosarno fruit-pickers.] Our government has been working for a long time on encouraging the EU to play a more incisive role, because Europe is exposed, more than any other continent, to the dangers of systemic instability in Africa”. [What has that got to do with racist violence incited by Mafia gangsters?]
Maroni blames excessive tolerance of illegal immigration.
“Illegal immigration fuels criminal activity, [It is the opposite actually. By creating a situation where migrants are criminalised for trying to do what any reasonable human being would do, namely trying to make a better life for themselves and their families, and they are rendered vulnerable to exploitation by crooks. The criminal gangs then spot an opportunity to set themselves up as people traffickers and encourage more people to try for a better life elsewhere.] and a blind eye has been turned to it for far too long. It is clear then that preventive measures are needed, which we are working on with the countries of the Maghreb region—Libya foremost among them—and these have already led to a 90% reduction in the flow of illegal immigrants by boat”.[Yes, by reneging on Italy's International obligations of non-refoulement of refugees.]
* See also: Italy and Africa: How to Forget Colonialism
Italy was accused of being racist following the events at Rosarno.
“Italy is not and has never been a racist country, not least as a result of the fact that it has not got a history of colonialism. [Just try telling that to Libya and Ethiopia, not to mention Albania and Corfu*. As for Italian racism, just read what Inter Milan's Mario Balotelli and Reggina's Shunsuke Nakamura have to say on the subject or ask any Roma on an Italian street or the Rosarno fruit-pickers.] Our government has been working for a long time on encouraging the EU to play a more incisive role, because Europe is exposed, more than any other continent, to the dangers of systemic instability in Africa”. [What has that got to do with racist violence incited by Mafia gangsters?]
Maroni blames excessive tolerance of illegal immigration.
“Illegal immigration fuels criminal activity, [It is the opposite actually. By creating a situation where migrants are criminalised for trying to do what any reasonable human being would do, namely trying to make a better life for themselves and their families, and they are rendered vulnerable to exploitation by crooks. The criminal gangs then spot an opportunity to set themselves up as people traffickers and encourage more people to try for a better life elsewhere.] and a blind eye has been turned to it for far too long. It is clear then that preventive measures are needed, which we are working on with the countries of the Maghreb region—Libya foremost among them—and these have already led to a 90% reduction in the flow of illegal immigrants by boat”.[Yes, by reneging on Italy's International obligations of non-refoulement of refugees.]
* See also: Italy and Africa: How to Forget Colonialism
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
How Stupid Can You Get?
Here's a Sun headline from today: 'Illegals get boot... VIP style'. And we are forced to ask the Sun "How Stupid Can You Get?"
"Illegals immigrants (sic) are getting the VIP treatment when booted out of Britain - with personal security escorts costing almost £500 each," the article by Tom Wells claims. "Shock figures obtained by The Sun show the Government spent £10.43 million to "forcibly" remove 21,360 illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers (sic) in 2008. That works out at £488 per person - about the same as the daily rate for VIP protection by a professional bodyguard."
If you think being locked up in an immigration prison for weeks, if not months, on end, with little idea of when or if you are going to be deported or grudgingly given temporary leave to remain in the country. Maybe you have family here and you do not know what has happened to them either. Maybe you were a victim of torture or rape in the country you came from or maybe members of your family were killed, forcing you to flee for your life. You live in limbo until the day the 2 goons in uniform come to your do and you are forcibly chained between them and dragged off to a waiting coach. Or maybe you were given the courtesy of a removal notice but you still weren't told exactly what day the inevitable would happen. Now you don't have any idea where you are going, you haven't been able to say goodbye to the friends you've made here or possibly eve grab the few meagre possessions you leave. If you resist, you are brutalised and abused, if you don't resist you might still end up brutalised and abused. If you are luck you are not stuck chained between two overtly racist thugs for the entire duration of the flight, but don't hold your breath. If you think any of that is getting VIP treatment, then you are in serious need of psychiatric help.
Phil Woolas is quoted in the article as saying: "Using trained escorts is crucial if we are going to remove foreign criminals or disruptive individuals. Without them we would not have removed thousands of lawbreakers last year." Except that you don't have to be a 'disruptive individual' to end up shackled between two boneheads, it appears to be standard policy for anyone not acquiescing in the abrogation of their human right to live where they please. And the only reason they are now 'lawbreakers' is because Nu Labour like every government since the 1900's* has bowed to racist agitation and brought in successively more restrictive immigration policies.
Where the article does get it right however is pointing up the ludicrous amounts of money that goes to the outsourcing firms like G4S and Serco, companies that have made billions from the misery of others since they became involved in the immigration detention industry, running this country's immigration detention infrastructure.
* There were no immigration controls in the UK until the introduction of the 1905 Aliens Act, passed as a direct result of proto-fascist agitation from the British Brothers League, who claimed that they didn't want the UK to become "the dumping ground for the scum of Europe". Sounds just like something out of a BNP leaflet or a Sun article.
"Illegals immigrants (sic) are getting the VIP treatment when booted out of Britain - with personal security escorts costing almost £500 each," the article by Tom Wells claims. "Shock figures obtained by The Sun show the Government spent £10.43 million to "forcibly" remove 21,360 illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers (sic) in 2008. That works out at £488 per person - about the same as the daily rate for VIP protection by a professional bodyguard."
If you think being locked up in an immigration prison for weeks, if not months, on end, with little idea of when or if you are going to be deported or grudgingly given temporary leave to remain in the country. Maybe you have family here and you do not know what has happened to them either. Maybe you were a victim of torture or rape in the country you came from or maybe members of your family were killed, forcing you to flee for your life. You live in limbo until the day the 2 goons in uniform come to your do and you are forcibly chained between them and dragged off to a waiting coach. Or maybe you were given the courtesy of a removal notice but you still weren't told exactly what day the inevitable would happen. Now you don't have any idea where you are going, you haven't been able to say goodbye to the friends you've made here or possibly eve grab the few meagre possessions you leave. If you resist, you are brutalised and abused, if you don't resist you might still end up brutalised and abused. If you are luck you are not stuck chained between two overtly racist thugs for the entire duration of the flight, but don't hold your breath. If you think any of that is getting VIP treatment, then you are in serious need of psychiatric help.
Phil Woolas is quoted in the article as saying: "Using trained escorts is crucial if we are going to remove foreign criminals or disruptive individuals. Without them we would not have removed thousands of lawbreakers last year." Except that you don't have to be a 'disruptive individual' to end up shackled between two boneheads, it appears to be standard policy for anyone not acquiescing in the abrogation of their human right to live where they please. And the only reason they are now 'lawbreakers' is because Nu Labour like every government since the 1900's* has bowed to racist agitation and brought in successively more restrictive immigration policies.
Where the article does get it right however is pointing up the ludicrous amounts of money that goes to the outsourcing firms like G4S and Serco, companies that have made billions from the misery of others since they became involved in the immigration detention industry, running this country's immigration detention infrastructure.
* There were no immigration controls in the UK until the introduction of the 1905 Aliens Act, passed as a direct result of proto-fascist agitation from the British Brothers League, who claimed that they didn't want the UK to become "the dumping ground for the scum of Europe". Sounds just like something out of a BNP leaflet or a Sun article.
Autonomous School Zurich Forced To Close
We have just learnt that the autonomously run school for undocumented migrants in Switzerland that we highlighted last October has been raided by police and destroyed. Against a backdrop of increased anti-foreigner sentiment, that included the recently banning of the building of minarets on new mosques and the admission by the Swiss government that its 'non-admissions' policy had failed, it was only a matter of time before this open sign of defiance was closed down.
The Autonomous School Zurich (ASZ) opened last April, when activists squatted an empty building at the Allenmoos School on the outskirts of Zurich. Operating according self-organising principles, courses were open to all to put on and attend and included everything from language lessons to open-source computer courses and classes in solar energy fundamentals. The main group involved in the project was 'Education for All', a grass-roots organisation set up by migrants and anti-racist activists to support undocumented migrants and campaign against the exclusion and widespread discrimination against migrants in Switzerland.
Using the excuse of dangerous electrical installations at the school, riot police raided the building on 7 January, driving off the occupants an pepper spraying supporters who had assembled to defend the school. The cops them proceeded to trash the building, confiscation teaching materials and equipment and removing windows, rendering the building uninhabitable.
Supporters of the school had expected the city council to continue its policy of tollerance towards the project until at least the summer, when a new project was due to replace it. However they appear to be victims of the Swiss Federal Office for Migration's crackdown on migrants as their attempts to "facilitate" the registration of migrants in the country have been an abject failure with only an overall increase in registrations of 3% over the last 3 years. The Federal Office now plans to consider asylum claims even if the applicant doesn't present proper identity papers and to cut appeal time for negative decisions by half to 15 days. Inevitably this will have the opposite effect to that intended and even more migranmts will be forced underground.
The Autonomous School Zurich (ASZ) opened last April, when activists squatted an empty building at the Allenmoos School on the outskirts of Zurich. Operating according self-organising principles, courses were open to all to put on and attend and included everything from language lessons to open-source computer courses and classes in solar energy fundamentals. The main group involved in the project was 'Education for All', a grass-roots organisation set up by migrants and anti-racist activists to support undocumented migrants and campaign against the exclusion and widespread discrimination against migrants in Switzerland.
Using the excuse of dangerous electrical installations at the school, riot police raided the building on 7 January, driving off the occupants an pepper spraying supporters who had assembled to defend the school. The cops them proceeded to trash the building, confiscation teaching materials and equipment and removing windows, rendering the building uninhabitable.
Supporters of the school had expected the city council to continue its policy of tollerance towards the project until at least the summer, when a new project was due to replace it. However they appear to be victims of the Swiss Federal Office for Migration's crackdown on migrants as their attempts to "facilitate" the registration of migrants in the country have been an abject failure with only an overall increase in registrations of 3% over the last 3 years. The Federal Office now plans to consider asylum claims even if the applicant doesn't present proper identity papers and to cut appeal time for negative decisions by half to 15 days. Inevitably this will have the opposite effect to that intended and even more migranmts will be forced underground.
Mercure Planning Application Refused
***PRESS RELEASE: IMMIGRATION CENTRE PLANNING PERMISSION REFUSED***
Last night Crawley Borough Council Development Control Committee rejected by 14 votes to 1 the planning application by Arora International Hotels Ltd. for permission to convert the 254-bed Mercure Hotel in Povey Cross Road, Crawley into an immigration detention centre.
During the meeting, apart from the council planning officers, only two people spoke in favour of the application - the applicant himself, Tim Jurdon, Head of Planning Arora Management Services Ltd., and Surinder Arora, sole owner of the Arora hotels chain. Those that spoke against it included a representatives of 11 of the 12 nearest residential houses to the hotel, a neighbouring hotel, a Reigate and Banstead councillor and Bill MacKeith representing the Close Campsfield campaign and SERTUC.
Members of the planning committee itself spoke out almost universally against their own planning officers recommendations, placing special focus on their interpretation and claimed misrepresentation of the wording of GAT4 in the Crawley Borough Local Plan 2000. This states, "planning permission will not be granted within the airport boundary which is not CLEARLY required for operational, functional, safety or security reasons." [our emphasis - see footnote [4] for explanation]
Unfortunately, the planning meeting also revealed the general level of ignorance of the role and function of Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs), even amongst supposedly informed elected representatives. The function of IRCs is not solely, or even largely, that of holding of so-called 'failed' asylum seekers prior to removal, it is the 'administrative detention' of people within the asylum process and those prior to removal. Each year hundreds of people pass through IRCs that are eventually granted leave to remain in the UK.
Additionally, nothing was made of the objection by Sussex Police, which stated that only 13% of detainee removals from Tinsley and Brook Houses, the 2 existing Crawley detention centres, had been via Gatwick Airport itself. As Tinsley and Brook Houses only represent approximately 18% of the UK detention estate, Gatwick can hardly be considered an immigration removal hub and any additional development would have required significant additional vehicle movements from Crawley to Stanstead and Heathrow, the 2 main airports used for deportation flights, contrary to local authority sustainability commitments.
Notes for editors:
[1] The planning application and relevant details can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/AroraApp
[2] Established in 1999, Arora International Hotels is one of the UK's fastest growing privately owned hotel companies, with six luxury hotels in and around Heathrow and Gatwick airports and one in Manchester city centre. For details of the Mercure, see: http://www.mercure.com/gb/hotel-7059-mercure-london-gatwick-airport/index.shtml
[3] For more background on the application, see: http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=3432
[4] As represented in point 4.6 of the report [No. RS. 13] drawn up for the Development Control Meeting, the councils planning officers appeared to have miss represented the text of the Crawley Borough Local Plan 2000 by stating: "Policy GAT4 states that planning permission will not be granted within the airport boundary which is not required for operational, functional, safety or security reasons", leaving out the word 'clearly'.
[5] No Borders Brighton had lobbied all 37 Crawley councillors with a signed statement in opposition to the development, based on the health effects on detainee children, that was endorsed by Dr Caroline Lucas Green Party MEP for SE England, Ben Duncan Brighton and Hove City Councillor and a Green Party parliamentary candidate & the South East Region TUC amongst others. See: http://nobordersbrighton.blogspot.com/2010/01/statement-in-opposition-to-arora.html
Last night Crawley Borough Council Development Control Committee rejected by 14 votes to 1 the planning application by Arora International Hotels Ltd. for permission to convert the 254-bed Mercure Hotel in Povey Cross Road, Crawley into an immigration detention centre.
During the meeting, apart from the council planning officers, only two people spoke in favour of the application - the applicant himself, Tim Jurdon, Head of Planning Arora Management Services Ltd., and Surinder Arora, sole owner of the Arora hotels chain. Those that spoke against it included a representatives of 11 of the 12 nearest residential houses to the hotel, a neighbouring hotel, a Reigate and Banstead councillor and Bill MacKeith representing the Close Campsfield campaign and SERTUC.
Members of the planning committee itself spoke out almost universally against their own planning officers recommendations, placing special focus on their interpretation and claimed misrepresentation of the wording of GAT4 in the Crawley Borough Local Plan 2000. This states, "planning permission will not be granted within the airport boundary which is not CLEARLY required for operational, functional, safety or security reasons." [our emphasis - see footnote [4] for explanation]
Unfortunately, the planning meeting also revealed the general level of ignorance of the role and function of Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs), even amongst supposedly informed elected representatives. The function of IRCs is not solely, or even largely, that of holding of so-called 'failed' asylum seekers prior to removal, it is the 'administrative detention' of people within the asylum process and those prior to removal. Each year hundreds of people pass through IRCs that are eventually granted leave to remain in the UK.
Additionally, nothing was made of the objection by Sussex Police, which stated that only 13% of detainee removals from Tinsley and Brook Houses, the 2 existing Crawley detention centres, had been via Gatwick Airport itself. As Tinsley and Brook Houses only represent approximately 18% of the UK detention estate, Gatwick can hardly be considered an immigration removal hub and any additional development would have required significant additional vehicle movements from Crawley to Stanstead and Heathrow, the 2 main airports used for deportation flights, contrary to local authority sustainability commitments.
Notes for editors:
[1] The planning application and relevant details can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/AroraApp
[2] Established in 1999, Arora International Hotels is one of the UK's fastest growing privately owned hotel companies, with six luxury hotels in and around Heathrow and Gatwick airports and one in Manchester city centre. For details of the Mercure, see: http://www.mercure.com/gb/hotel-7059-mercure-london-gatwick-airport/index.shtml
[3] For more background on the application, see: http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=3432
[4] As represented in point 4.6 of the report [No. RS. 13] drawn up for the Development Control Meeting, the councils planning officers appeared to have miss represented the text of the Crawley Borough Local Plan 2000 by stating: "Policy GAT4 states that planning permission will not be granted within the airport boundary which is not required for operational, functional, safety or security reasons", leaving out the word 'clearly'.
[5] No Borders Brighton had lobbied all 37 Crawley councillors with a signed statement in opposition to the development, based on the health effects on detainee children, that was endorsed by Dr Caroline Lucas Green Party MEP for SE England, Ben Duncan Brighton and Hove City Councillor and a Green Party parliamentary candidate & the South East Region TUC amongst others. See: http://nobordersbrighton.blogspot.com/2010/01/statement-in-opposition-to-arora.html
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Life Is Too Short To Be Controlled II
Reports of the London No Borders' organised 'Life Is Too Short To Be Controlled' demonstration in London yesterday can be seen at:
http://london.indymedia.org/articles/4196
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/01/445104.html
Also a video of the event at:
http://www.blip.tv/file/3136790
http://london.indymedia.org/articles/4196
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/01/445104.html
Also a video of the event at:
http://www.blip.tv/file/3136790
Haitian Refugges To Be Held At Guantanamo Bay
A large tented city, initially capable of holding 1000 people, has been readied at Guantanamo Bay to hold any Haitian refugees unlucky enough to get caught fleeing their devastated country for American. Already on the US mainland the Operation Vigilant Sentry task force has swung into operation, clearing detention camps to hold any who make it there.
Now Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay, which is responsible for planning for any kind of Caribbean mass immigration according to a US military spokeswoman, are readying the notorious camp for a new role: immigration detention centre. "There's no indication of any mass migration from Haiti," Maj. Diana Haynie said. "We have not been told to conduct migrant operations." But the base is getting ready "as a prudent measure," since "it takes some time to set things up."
This is all very timely as Friday was the deadline impossed by Obama for closing the camp and the PR engendered by its 'humanitarian' role takes a bit of the heat off of Obama's administration and it's a win-win situation for the military: "The ability to conduct real-world humanitarian assistance and disaster relief ... that's more exhilarating at the moment then walking the block in the detention camp, not to say that walking the block is not an extremely important mission for the United States but probably not as gratifying as saving someone's life." - Rear Adm. Thomas Copeman, Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay commander.
We can only hope that the Haitians are not forced to wear orange jumpsuits and are moved around in shackles with hoods on little wheeled trolleys.
Now Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay, which is responsible for planning for any kind of Caribbean mass immigration according to a US military spokeswoman, are readying the notorious camp for a new role: immigration detention centre. "There's no indication of any mass migration from Haiti," Maj. Diana Haynie said. "We have not been told to conduct migrant operations." But the base is getting ready "as a prudent measure," since "it takes some time to set things up."
This is all very timely as Friday was the deadline impossed by Obama for closing the camp and the PR engendered by its 'humanitarian' role takes a bit of the heat off of Obama's administration and it's a win-win situation for the military: "The ability to conduct real-world humanitarian assistance and disaster relief ... that's more exhilarating at the moment then walking the block in the detention camp, not to say that walking the block is not an extremely important mission for the United States but probably not as gratifying as saving someone's life." - Rear Adm. Thomas Copeman, Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay commander.
We can only hope that the Haitians are not forced to wear orange jumpsuits and are moved around in shackles with hoods on little wheeled trolleys.
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