No Borders Camp Brussels

At the beginning of October a group of us in Nottingham went to the Brussels No Borders camp. In many ways it was interesting and inspiring, and at the same time tiring and frustrating. Since returning to Nottingham we’ve tried to piece together our thoughts on the camp, its successes and failures and how it might be relevant to those living in Nottingham who aim to live in a world without borders.

We’ll start of with a collation post from Brussels Indymedia which gives us a rough idea of what autonomous group actions happened over the week.

• A police station was attacked, windows smashed, 2 cops injured and some of their cars destroyed. http://bxl.indymedia.org/articles/211
• The façade of the Italian Embassy was covered in shit and graffiti to protest against the deportation of Roma people and the recent agreements with Libya on immigration. http://bxl.indymedia.org/ articles/196
• Buildings of companies involved in the deportation machine were smashed and graffitied across town:
  • CarlsonWagonLit et Randstatd: http://bxl.indymedia.org/articles/128
  • Serco: http://bxl.indymedia.org/articles/147
  • Sodexho: http://bxl.indymedia.org/articles/236
  • Steria: http://bxl.indymedia.org/articles/244
  • Dalkia: http://switzerland.indymedia.org/de/2010/10/77904.shtml

• A Frontex meeting was blocked, and the front house was painted: http://www.vimeo.com/15401376
• An action against Frontex took place in Brussels airport, with a banner drop and flyering: http://bxl.indymedia.org/articles/227
• STIB, a Brussels transport company which participates in mass arrests of undocumented migrants, were targeted with machines to control and sell the tickets destroyed in three subway stations
  http://cettesemaine.free.fr/spip/article.php3?id_article=3515 and other inspection machines damaged in the trams.
• A police station was attacked, windows smashed, 2 cops injured and some of their cars destroyed: http://bxl.indymedia.org/articles/211
• The façade of the Italian Embassy was covered in shit and graffiti to protest against the deportation of Roma people and the recent agreements with Libya on immigration: http://bxl.indymedia.org/ articles/196
• A symbolic action took place against the offices of BP’s lobbying in Brussels: http://bxl.indymedia.org/articles/197
• Sodexho, providing food in many prisons and detention centres, received a visit from a group of people who poured 40 litres of oil inside their building: http://bxl.indymedia. org/articles/180
• The façade of the cultural representation of southern Germany was trashed in response to the repression of a demonstration in Stuttgart: http://linksunten.indymedia.org/de/node/26075
• A recruitment session of the Brussels police was disrupted by several activists: http://bxl.indymedia.org/articles/239
• The doors of the IOM (International Organisation for Migration) were glued http://bxl.indymedia.org/articles/262

Along with these actions we took lots of positives from the camp. It was a self-organised camp which changed and developed as the week went on. The levels of accessibility to become involved in the organisation varied between working groups, with social networks and lack of time to pass on responsibility and skills sometimes playing a role. However on the whole for those who wished to participate in the functioning of the camp there were possibilities. The camp was based in and around big old and abandoned train station which provided plenty of room both inside and outside, for the workshops, meeting spaces and camping.

From what sometimes feels like an isolated and fractured no borders movement in Nottingham, a sense of the bigger picture of this movement was an inspiration for us. Links were made between campaigns that highlighted the ways in which a No borders position intersects with other political issues.

For the most part the camp itself physically felt to us like a relatively safe space. Although there was massive amount of police repression during the camp it often felt like we were coming into contact with that once outside of the physical camp itself.

In terms of the negatives we’ve discussed during and after the camp, one of the big issues to us was how the camp interacted with the ‘mass mobilizations’. They took place throughout the camp but actually the only no borders organized demo was on the last Saturday. The innumerable arrests, most preemptive, that took place over the course of the week often took place when no borders was participating in events organized by other groups. This threw up loads of issues, not least that there was relatively little participation people like us who had just arrived for the week could undertake to understand the situations we were about to be a party to.

The big trade union demonstration on Wednesday for e.g. was expecting 80,000 participants. The trade unions had organized for no borders to be right at the back of the march. This inevitably left us isolated, and through our half – hearted poorly communicated attempts to address this situation left us vulnerable, assaulted, kettled and arrested. (although before the kettle happened we managed to get some physical solidarity from the other participants in the demo in the face of the police’s stalking.)

Brussels, as has been talked of before, is also quite an isolated space in terms of how accessible it is to a range of no borders activist. For this and other reasons there was unfortunately far less participation from activists without documentation/papers than what might have been possible.

Finally considering the international crowd, English became the dominant but also often only language used in group meetings which meant a lot of people probably didn’t engage with some of the larger daily meetings.

Preventative arrests were one of the biggest issues during the camp with police identifying any groups larger than two or three likely-looking people as a threat. This meant many autonomous groups were swiftly disabled by Belgian arrest powers before anything exciting could happen during mass actions. There were also incidents of police assault, sexual and physical as well as general intimidation tactics throughout the week.

The fact that every event organized by the camp (such as the demos, as well as smaller events like the city bus tour and the samba parade through the local neighborhood) was met by vast members of Police, indicates that they did view our presence as threat. More accurately what we were there to talk about, to oppose and also to create made them fearful. The predictable and excessive level of presence and force they used – particularly with the mass use of preventative arrests alongside the proposal to create a database of “suspected trouble makers” that will be shared across Europe, is another example of the way in capitalism extends its control via the “legitimized” power of states.

As a group we have felt inspired and reassured by the momentum of this autumn’s no borders camp and hope that the more we communicate in Nottingham about how to recreate that momentum the further we will get – there’s loads more information about the camp on the Brussels indymedia site.

From September 27th until October 3rd 2010 a No Border camp will take place in Brussels.

The set-up of the camp will start on Sept 25th. There will be a lot of activities organised during the week and a big demonstration on October 2nd. The idea of the camp is to bring people together who support the demands of No Borders and who want to gather to debate, get informed, protest, view documentaries and party. The No Border movement struggles against the European and Belgian migrant policy, for freedom of movement and settlement and for the abolition of borders.

A multi-lingual website has been set up. This is the English language home page:
http://www.noborderbxl.eu.org/?lang=en

The banners stayed up for varying lengths of time, with one still being there late into the afternoon. One of the banners was directly facing the offices of the Nottingham Evening Post in order to highlight their practise of distributing prejudice around Nottingham on a daily basis (see article here: http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/articles/125 )

Elsewhere, London No Borders produced a spoof Metro newspaper: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/07/454790.html

Watch this!
New video about Calais Migrant Solidarity:
http://www.youtube.com/noborderscalais#p/a/u/0/LLFP8YA-J8s

Join this!
Calais Migrant Solidarity facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=125191959561

The first ever demonstration against a detention centre in Bulgaria organised by the Bulgarian Anarchist Federation of Anarchists in Bulgaria (FAB-IFA). March 20th, 2010 (no sound):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrFEFpmkMqU

Documentary about Frontex (EU border control operation) in 2009:
Frontex: The Movie (featuring noborder camp in lesvos 2009) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOuFo5egBqE

Schedule

19 May – Detention and Deportation
23 June – Capitalism and Migration
21 July – Frontex
25 Aug. – Clandestinity and the struggle of migrants
22 Sept. – European migration policy

In preparation for the Brussels No Borders Camp in September, Nottingham No Borders is holding a series of info nights as an introduction into the topics that will be discussed at the camp. With films, food, and lots of interesting discussion, we hope to create an informal and open space for those who may be new to the politics of No Borders as well as those who would like the chance to delve more deeply into the details of the UK and European border regime and how it can be challenged.

Detention and Deportation
Wednesday 19 May, 7pm, Sumac Centre

The system of detention and deportation is one of the main ways in which the state attempts to control migration and violently curtail people’s freedom to move. What can we do to work in solidarity with those in detention? How do we challenge the private companies that make a profit from running detention centres and forcibly removing people? Is there a wider battle to be fought against the prison system as a whole?

No Borders is an activist network that supports Freedom of Movement and the Right to Remain for all. The network links No Borders groups across the UK and there are transnational ties to groups on the continent of Europe and across its borders. The No Borders group in Nottingham includes many local activists who are involved with supporting and working alongside asylum seekers who live in the area, detainees wherever they are, migrants in the squats and on the streets in Calais and supporting solidarity between domestic and migrant workers.
[Click 'Read more' for the rest of the text. For details of Mayday 2010 read our older blog article below.]


What does No Borders believe?

No Borders is completely opposed to the concept of nation states and the control of borders for the purposes of the control of the movement of people, whether on land, at sea, or within territories. Nation states and borders are artificial creations that do not benefit the majority of people on Earth. They continue to foster mistrust, racism, conflict and poverty. They arose from elites taking what they wanted; though colonisation and the making of empires, from lines drawn on maps after wars, and from forced movements of people into countries based on their ethnic background or religion. And all over the world, by highlighting these divisions for political ends, the painting of migrants as security threats creates fear. Such a view creates a smokescreen, hiding the need for a scapegoat, presenting myth as fact.

We know that people are on the move around the world for many reasons …

• In response to the global capitalist relations that bring poverty, starvation and war;
• In response to political and religious persecution;
• In response to bigotry against women and homosexuality;
• In response to the adverse affects of climate change;
• In response to the world getting smaller;
• In response to our human needs.

The attempts by nation states to control the movement of people leads only to criminalisation, apartheid and death. People are divided into those with and without documents, workers are divided into those with and without rights, and countries are divided into a strict hierarchy of wealth. Thousands face fear or death as they try to cross borders, as the conditions of detention become unbearable or as the threat of return to unbearable conditions hangs over them. Selective inclusion and ‘illegality’ are methods to divide and control us all. Imprisoning people because they decide to move from one part of the world to another is barbaric. We say that No One Is Illegal!
(Note: click ‘Read More’ for the rest of the text. See older blog for details about Mayday 2010 in Nottingham).
What do we do?

No Borders brings together people who want to stand in solidarity with migrants who participate in a variety of ways and on a number of related projects. In Nottingham individuals work with local organisations and groups on various projects and on independent projects and direct actions. We try to bring a radical anti-state perspective into these projects. One example of this was Full Circle where we worked with the local campaign against Heckler & Koch to link the arms trade to asylum. We hold local meetings. We have also participated in actions outside Nottingham, such as demonstrating at immigration detention centres and also outside the UK, such as in Calais.

More generally we aim to increase awareness and to challenge media and government lies about immigration and so-called security. We want an end to the forced destitution of asylum seekers who are not allowed to work. We support them in their right and opportunity to work. In the meantime we support asylum seekers in detention centres. All detention centres must close and we applaud their brave uprisings against terrible conditions, deaths in detention and abuse during removal attempts. We oppose the UK Border Agency and the private companies who benefit from the imprisonment of people coming here for help by building and running prisons on behalf of the Home Office. We oppose the deportation of asylum seekers and the airlines that are complicit in their removal.

We want more and more people in Nottingham to show solidarity with asylum seekers and migrant workers so that we can see that the artificial division of nationality just helps the rulers to rule, the powerful to remain powerful and the rich to stay rich.

Please get involved!
Visit our website: www.nobordersnottingham.org.uk Email us at info [at] nobordersnottingham.org.uk

Latest issue, Movement, no. 4 (Feb 2010)
http://noborderswales.org.uk/2010/02/17/movement-4/
Back issues and links to older newsletters:
http://noborders.org.uk/node/11

Other sources of No Borders related activity:

Crossing Borders (No Border transnational newsletter)
http://www.noborder.org/crossing_borders/index.php

Calais No Border Camp news:
http://www.nobordersnottingham.org.uk/all-articles/calais-no-border-camp-news/

Calais 9 zine, by Calais Migrant Solidarity:
http://calais9.wordpress.com/calais9-pdf/

At 10am today, the No Borders network officially reopened the Kronstad Hangar in Calais to the migrant population. This follows the first public opening on Saturday 6th February, and the subsequent violent police eviction the following day .

The major of Calais ordered the eviction of the Hangar on alleged grounds that the hangar was not fit for public use, so the Kronstad Hangar is now open as a private space for members of SoS Soutien o Sans Papiers only. All migrants and activists inside the hangar have official membership.

The hangar is presently open to migrants from 10:00 until 18:00. The hangar is not just a humanitarian space but also a space for politicial discussion and debate, as well as various cultural and entertainment exchanges.

Marie Chautempts says “while the authorities are blocking any shelter proposals, migrants in Calais are facing one of the coldest winters in recent history and a constant ritual of police harrasement. The situation is degrading and goes against any common understanding of decent behaviour towards other human beings. Something has to be done, so we are fighting to
creating to a space for migrants to come and engage in activities at their leisure.”

It is to be noted that at the time of writing the circumstances regarding another police intervention are unknown. However, on the new front door of the hangar Article 1 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (4) has been painted. Any violent police intervention into the hangar is regarded as contrary to human rights law.

Tim Wallace says “another violent eviction will not deter us, we will not stand by and watch human beings being treated as animals. 8 years of violence and migrants are still in Calais because there is no recognition of the reasons behind migration from places such as Afghanistan, Darfur and Iran.”

Notes to editors

(1) The No Borders network is a global movement of individuals and groups fighting for the right to freedom of movement for people, not just for the Lorries that make sections of European society rich. Since the No Border Camp held in Calais in June 2009, No Borders activists have had a constant presence in Calais under the banner of Calais Migrant Solidarity. We have monitored and documented police abuse and violent, collectively resisted evictions, organised humanitarian aid distribution, and made direct
interventions for the rights of migrants.

(2) As a continued act of resistance and solidarity with undocumented migrants in Calais No Borders have rented the Kronstad Hangar for the months of february and march, together with SoS Soutients O Sans Papiers. The Hangar is in between the port and the centre of Calais.

(3) On Saturday evening, about 100 migrants came to the warehouse with the intention of entering. They were met by two separate lines of French police on either side of the hangar. Shouting “freedom! freedom!”, the migrants and No Borders activists pushed through the police lines and successfully
occupied the hangar. Donations of blankets, extra-clothes, basic
mattresses and hot tea were provided for the migrants.

However, after a safe and secure night, 75 CRS police arrived on Sunday afternoon and forcibly evicted the new space by smashing down the front glass doors. 12 activists were arrested, but later released, while one was taken to hospital.

(4) Article 1 reads:”All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.