NoFrontex” days of action
For a Mediterranean mobilization!
Call out from the Palermo Antiracist Forum
“How can Europe be shocked at the tragedy
at sea, when embassies refuse our people visas and force the countries of North
Africa to chase us down? Our only possibility is the sea and the “traffickers”
become our only hope for fleeing to other countries.” (Malian refugee). There
were 184 Malians among more than 800 people who drowned on the night between
the 18th and 19th of April 2015 in their journey from
Libya to Italy.
There were at least 3,771 deaths at sea in
2015 alone. Faced with this recurring tragedy, the EU grants ever more power
and money to Frontex and projects like Triton. But Frontex is an agency for
border control, built on the militarization of Europe's internal and external
borders. Its mandate is to protect these borders, not to save human life.
The story of the last 20 years of the
Mediterranean shows that intensifying the militarization of migrant routes only
leads to more death. Every time that a path into Europe has been blocked by new
technologies of surveillance and an increase in policing, the roads have simply
become longer and more dangerous. Frontex's supposed “successes” equate to the
death and dissappearance of thousands of people, and at the same time has not
meant even the most minimal attainment of its objective to reduce migration.
Over the past few years, Sicily has been
continuously militarized. The military base at Sigonella, MUOS station, the
drones, the arms stores, the radar on Lampedusa – all have transformed the
island into an open-air arsenal of war.
In the last few months, Frontex has
established a headquarters in the city of Catania, a location which is to
become its operative base for a range of the agency's operations in the central
Mediterranean. "The decision to open 5 “Hotspots” in Sicily (Lampedusa,
Pozzallo, Porto Empedocle, Augusta and Trapani – of which, to date, 3 have
opened), with the aim of dividing “economic” migrants from those seeking
political asylum, and the use of coercive methods in order to take finger
prints means – as in the rest of Italy, characterised by centres such as the
CARA at Mineo, as well as many others – a situation in which migrants are
segregated for long stretches of time, subject to constant violations of their
fundamental human rights. "Furthermore, Frontex plays a central role in
leading and coordinating forced detention and repatriation of migrants not
considered “worthy” enough to request political asylum (in clear violation of
the right of asylum, a universal right guaranteed to everyone).
Enough with the hypocrisy of those who
pretend to weep for those who die at sea, and the massacres of migrants, and
then collaborate in the politics of war against migrants themselves!
To deal with the phenomenon of migration
requires a radical shift in the politics of immigration, and the establishment
of a European right of asylum!
Our vision is a Mediterranean which is not
bound by borders which generate death and deportations, but instead a space
founded on freedom of movement, solidarity, the right to protection and the
right to a dignified arrival.
For these reasons, the days of action in
Catania between April 15–18 represent a moment of the utmost importance for us
to meet together, and to unite our energies and voices so as to render our
message yet stronger and more visible still: our definitive 'NO!' to Frontex,
and to all that Frontex represents. We hope that this can also be a starting
point towards new movements and activity 'from below' for the rights of
everyone and against Fortress Europe.
NoFrontex Days of Action, April 15–18
in Catania, Mineo and Palermo
NoFrontex demo in Catania, 16 April 2016
Meeting at the CARA at Mineo, 17 April 2016
Meeting at Palermo with the Migrant Caravan
18 April 2016
workshops
- No more deaths at sea
- For the abolition of the Dublin accord, and for a new European right of asylum
- Yes to “humanitarian corridors” as the first step in a political change towards the free movement of migrants
- For the demilitarization of Sicily
- For the closure of all sites of concentration and detention
- For the end to every procedure of discrimination, rejection and the marginalization of migrants
For further information:
http://nofrontex.blogspot.it/
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