– MASS ACTION TARGET ANNOUNCED & BREAKDOWN OF THE DAY OF ACTION –
The Acivists’ Guide to French Law is now ready
See callout in Italian, Farsi and German, or check out the French version of this site in the links on the right
—-#1: The Mass Action
The struggle against migration control snakes through to Calais via Paris. At the heart of this city lies the *Gare du Nord*, a Franco-British border and the target for mass action. Several hundred Afghans – most of whom intend to make the journey North to the UK and elsewhere – are currently living a precarious existence in the city, often living in the streets exposed to the elements and to arrest or eviction at the whim of the police.
To enforce elitist migration laws, oppressive levels of surveillance are employed at the station: the police are on permanent stand-by, the military patrol the area, and CCTV is pervasive…
This surveillance facilitates the identification and exclusion of those deemed ‘undesirable’ – such as ‘illegal’ immigrants who often congregate near the station – or ‘yobs from the surburbs’. These youth are often excluded from participating in major public events by the CRS (public order police) who await them on the platforms and send them back to their areas…
Without the requisite I.D. or travel documents – or the means to pay for the prohibitively high cost of public transport – access to the Eurostar, other international lines, & suburban trains, is denied.
Join us in this mass action & fight to reclaim freedom of movement for all!
—-#2: The March
The itinerary of the march:
- People will be assembling at 2pm from Jaurès station, a point of food distribution for migrants.
- It will move along Quai de Valmy, where Afghan migrants are living under a bridge, before heading down Rue des Recollets (next to Square Villemin where Afghan migrants were living prior to the eviction).
- We will then be passing the Gare de l’Est, before moving down Boulevard Magenta and passing before the Gare du Nord.
- We will then be moving on to Barbès, before turning towards la Chapelle et rejoining Place de la Rotonde, Jaurès station
—-#3: Affinity group actions
These small group actions will be taking place throughout the weekend
—–#4: The Party
After the march, we will be gathering at the Place de la Rotonde for an evening music, food (free or donation), infostalls and discussion
—-#5: Debate and discussion
On 16th, there will be discussion and debates with No Borders activists at CICP, 21 rue Voltaire (venue plans still being finalised).
And don’t forget the Festival of Autonomous Resistance, taking place in the week leading up to, and over the weekend of, the 15th- 16th May. (Note: The Festival is not linked to this event).
The Gare du Nord
———————————————————————————–
Day of Action for Freedom of Movement
15th May 2010, Paris
(Meeting point for the demo: Jaurès Metro Station, Line 2, @ 2pm)
Barriers to freedom of movement are on the rise
These days, it’s not just migrants and sans-papiers who are being stopped and questioned by the authorities, but precarious workers, and stigmatised youth alike; all are being forced to undergo checks on identity and travel documents on the basis of their physical appearance.
…Spread the word & be vigilant…
Governments seek to legitimise the increasing control and surveillance of the social sphere each day via an expanding toolbox of security legislation.
It is by this mechanism that the denunciation of men, women and children without legal immigration status is encouraged: in the civil service, in the banks, and even in the workplace.
The unemployed and precarious are monitored, criminalised and penalised; communities are divided, people are arrested in schools, those who commit the French so-called ‘Crime of Solidarity’ are punished, and communities who resist are ultimately vilified.
Time to resist European ‘migration management’
Following a journey lasting many months, the migrants in Calais seeking entry to the UK are harassed, chased, or deported in a relentless routine. The destruction of the ‘Jungle’ in Calais, and the systematic closure of all avenues of solidarity by an inhumane police force, has forced the migrants onto the streets, exposing them to yet more persecution.
In the European policy of ‘migration management’, borders mean watchtowers and barbed wire, and migrants are reduced to mere quotas. To realise their objectives, the European Agency, Frontex – armed and in possession of considerable powers – executes a merciless hunt of migrants in maritime, aerial and terrestrial areas. This only forces people to seek alternative and inevitably more fatal access routes (1,508 deaths at the EU border were recorded in 2008 alone).
Freedom of movement is prohibited and violently repressed for exiles fleeing war, corruption and misery: all accesses to Europe are denied. The right to housing, to work, to a decent existence for those who want to rebuild their lives or rejoin family in Europe, are made a mockery of by oppressive European legislation:
The Dublin II Regulation allows for the systematic removal of an asylum-seeker to the first country of entry, where their fingerprints were recorded (known as the ‘EURODAC’ database). This is why Greece, a principal entry point of Europe, in contravention of the European Convention of Human Rights, takes in just 0.03% of asylum seekers.
The European Return Directive ‘harmonises’ the duration of immigration detention across Europe, expressly permitting detention for to up to 18 months (with the exception of the UK which opted out and allows for near indefinite detention).
Meanwhile, the new Stockholm Programme, negotiated by the 27 Ministers of the Interior, will harden existing measures. Under the pretext of the War on Terror, EU nations are choreographing our descent into greater repression and social control.
The guilty parties
When the fight against immigration becomes a business, deportation, detention, and the rest of the security architecture becomes the source of (major) profit. Men and women build the detention centres that imprison them, clean the stations and trains in which they are monitored and arrested. They are reduced to a mere workforce, one which can be picked up and discarded without mercy. Cynicism has no borders…
BECAUSE FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IS THREATENED BY THE VERY EXISTENCE OF BORDERS.
NO BORDERS REJECTS AND INTENDS TO FIGHT THE PRISON-LIKE, PROFIT-DRIVEN EUROPE WHICH TRAMPLES ON OUR FREEDOM TO MIGRATE AND TO SETTLE.
FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND SETTLEMENT FOR ALL!!!
ON SATURDAY 15TH MAY 2010, WE CALL ON EVERYONE TO PARTCIPATE IN A DAY OF MASS ACTION AGAINST POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, INSTITUTIONAL AND IDEOLOGICAL ACTORS WHO CONCEAL THEIR PROFITS BEHIND A SECURITISED AND REPRESSIVE EUROPE.
NO BORDERS! NO NATIONS!
Only a month to go…
Migration controls are a global scourge; our resistance to it can only be transnational. Paris is both a town of transit for those heading to to the UK via Calais – now notorious as a focal point for brutal and discriminatory policing – and a place of repression and alienation in itself [1].
Start forming affinity groups, make your travel arrangements (it’s best to arrive in Paris on 14th – see below for details), and keep checking back here for updates. Prepare for a beautiful Spring day of transnational resistance to Fortress Europe’s elitist migration policies, and the relentless persecution of those seeking a better or safer life.
Accomodation and legal support will be provided (more info
There will be accomodation provided (for more info, please contact noborderparis at riseup.net), and a guide to arrest in France & your rights in custody will soon be uploaded. Finally, we will shortly be announcing the exciting target for mass action!
Transport links from the UK:
Eurostar, London-Paris from £34.50 return:
Coaches, London-Paris from £38 return:
And you can always hitch across the ferry…
[1] Over 100 migrants, predominantly Afghan, were evicted from Parc Villemin in August
May 15th 2010, Paris 