Home » » March 2016 - Kompass AntiRa Newsletter‏

March 2016 - Kompass AntiRa Newsletter‏

Er is een probleem opgetreden bij het openen van foto's van Flickr. Probeer het op de website zelf:https://www.flickr.com/photos/march4refugeerights/albums. Als de foto's privé zijn, is het mogelijk nodig om aan te melden.
„… Hard confrontations are foreseeable for the coming weeks and month: heavy defencing actions on the outer borders, fights for the right to stay and socio political and antifascist resistance inside. Whole Europe will become a highly competitive space, the question is how will the continent look like in future? …“
Find our Kompass AntiRa Newsletter for March 2016 - with a lot of transnational hints again - in full text in english attached and below the links for all three languages including layout and pictures.
Best,
hagen

German:


Kompass – AntiRa – Newsletter Nr. 47, March 2016
Balkan route closed – up to 15.000 refugees in Idomeni +++ Deal of Turkey and NATO-Operation in the Aegean +++ AntiRa manifestations in several cities +++ 12.3. in Cologne: Our Feminism is anti racist +++ 12.3. Freiburg: For unlimited human rights +++ 19.3. in Hannover: Fight against racist mobilization +++ 2.4. in Bielefeld: Freedom of movement instead of deportation camp +++ Freiburg - Basel, Italy – Austria: Actions at the borders +++ WatchTheMed-Alarmphone: Video clips and campaign newspaper +++ Review: Conference in Hamburg; Safe Passages; 1. March action day against border regime and precariousness +++ Prospects: Defencing from 27. to 29.5. at the Slovenian-Croatian border and Nobordercamp mid of July in Greece; 10. - 12.6. in Leipzig: Welcome to Stay-Summit
Dear friends,
7 March 2016 – a new round for polarization. The Balkan route is so to say closed, NATO ships are in the Aegean, Calais vacated, the Asylum package is rushed through and the extreme right-wing persons of the AfD rise – on all levels we are confronted with a racist rollback. The EU-border regime should be straighten up with might and main and the control over the flight and migration movement should be restored at any cost.
But also the social and political resistance is not broken yet. 15.000 people stay in tents and mud in Idomeni. They demand open borders while thousands are looking for new ways to the north. And until now the cross overs to Greece, which has been ongoing the whole winter, are especially braking by the bad weather. Simultaneously up to 2000 activist have meet in Hamburg, mainly self-organized groups of refugees. Never before there were such a good visited conference in Germany, also the antiracist  movement is better organized now.
Hard confrontations are foreseeable for the coming weeks and month: heavy defencing actions on the outer borders, fights for the right to stay and socio political and antifascist resistance inside. Whole Europe will become a highly competitive space, the question is how will the continent look like in future? The Research Institute for Flight and Migration express it like this in their worth reading comment: "The number of migrants in itself is not the problem, also 5 or 20 million would not have to starve and could be provided in a dignified way. The political and medial production shows the importance of the subject and asks questions about the character of the prospective Europe. It will be either the opening of the borders or a fortress of prosperity, it will be either an open society or militarisation and firing order. This questions are asked because the migrants are coming. They move Europe and they don't will vanish, we have to act!
(„Europe in Limbo“, look at http://ffm-online.org/category/kommentar/ )
Let's get involved, let's mobilize! For an open Europe from its bottom, by any means necessary!

Your Kompass Team
Infos and Dates for March 2016
Balkan route and Aegean:
High tension in Idomeni: Will the Balkan route be closed finally after the Brussels summit on 7 March 2016? The rules getting more and more restrictive and arbitrary in the last days, less and less people were able to cross the border to Macedonia. Around 15.000 people from Syria, Iraq hold out there and protest from time to time with blockades of the tracks and hunger strikes for an opening of the borders.
Daily reports at Bordermonitoring.eu: 
Interview by Medico International:
Report by Welcome to Europe:
Recent publishing by Pro Asyl:

Simultaneously the situation in the Aegean is coming to a head too. NATO-ships under German control are brought into position. Together with FRONTEX they supposed to be active in vague tasks. Enlightment about trafficking structures and interception actions. How it will be carried out depends on the ongoing negotiations concerning the so called Deal of Turkey. The Turkish police itself conduct more and more raids on the borders but the lower numbers of cross over goes back to the bad weather conditions. As soon as the weather was good another thousands of people arrived at the Greek island. Look therefor into the weekly reports of Alarmphonehttp://alarmphone.org
12.3.16: Nationwide Demonstration in Cologne, 01:00 pm, Dom (Roncalli Square)
“Our feminism is anti-racist…
Everywhere in Germany, be it in a village, a country town or in the big cities, sexist attacks or sexual intimidations against  women occur each day*. Sexism is daily routine and this not only since New Year’s Eve on the cathedral square in Cologne. Our solidarity therefore goes to all those women*, who have been and still are victims of sexualized violence and attacks. Sexual violence and sexism have to be combated everywhere, regardless of  the perpetrator, the way male and female feminists all over the world have been doing it for many years. Anti-feminism and racism have entered into a fateful alliance. It is grotesque but not surprising that Pegida, AfD, and male and female anti-feminists, as well as all kinds of people who were never interested in women´s rights, suddenly set themselves up as protectors of  “white German women”. The bodies of the attacked women* are used as a means of racist rabble-rousing against refugees and in particular against Muslim immigrants…”
The entire upheaval is to be found here:
12.3.16: Demonstration in Freiburg, 02:00 pm, Johanniskirche
For borderless human rights – against deportations and the big anti-refugee coalition
“We make a stand for a refugee policy that takes fundamental human rights seriously.  The upcoming elections do not provide us the possibility to do so, because all the parties in Baden-Württemberg were ultimately part of a very big coalition, that enforced massive restrictions of the rights of refugees. Further restrictions have been planned …”
The entire upheaval is to be found here:
19.3.16: Demonstration in Hannover, 11:00 am, Weißekreuzplatz
To counter the racist mobilization 
Under the motto of  ‘Reconquest Hannover – The Weißekreuzplatz is ours!’ the ‘Bürgerwehr Hannover’ mobilizes the public to return into “German hands”  the places occupied by “People of Color”, on Saturday 19.03.16.  What is effectively demanded is the removal of the Refugee Protest Camp on the Weißekreuzplatz , as well as a counter-occupation of the square …. 
Therefore: Do come to the Weißekreuzplatz on 19.03.16 at 11:00 am!
Solidarity with those affected by the racist mobilization!
Let’s defeat the merger of civil and militant, right-wing structures!
Let’s make ‘Reconquest Hannover’ a disaster!
The entire upheaval is to be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1973132036244244/
2.4.16: NRW-wide Demonstration in Bielefeld, 02:00 pm, Hauptbahnhof
Closing of  the ZAB instead of deportation! Freedom of Movement instead of  deportation camps! Any reason to seek refuge is legitimate!
In Bielefeld one of the three Central Aliens’ Departments (ZAB) of the federal state   of Nordrhein-Westfalen is located. But the ZAB Bielefeld is not only responsible throughout the NRW for the organization of deportations flights. It also ‘advises’, in special deportation camps (so-called ‘Balkan Centres’) the “undesired” refugees about the “advantages of voluntary returns”… 
However, neither the openly racist people, nor the rulers, will stop the people who have taken to the road – this much is clear even now!
We want to unite with all those who do not want to accept the deportations and the grading of people into ‘real’ and ‘false’ refugees! Together we want to fight for a good life for all.
The entire upheaval is to be found here: 
End of March: planned protest actions between Italy and Austria…
“Call for a Protest Action against the Construction of a Barbed Wire Fence between Italy and Austria…
We therefore call up everyone, to jointly organize by the end of March a transnational protest action at the border between Austria and Italy; a big demonstration which is to express a clear “NO!” to borders and fences and a loud “YES!”  to the freedom of movement. 
Our spring begins here…”  
The entire upheaval plus contact addresses is to be found here:  http://www.leila.network/493-2/
From 1st until 3rd of April in Freiburg and Basel
No Border Action Days
“... If you close your borders of Schengen Area for economic reasons to people on flight to seperate your blinded “healy world” - then we will make Schengen Area unsafe!
We will bring the protest against fortress Europe, against the shitty conditions along the balcan route also to Germany and Switzerland where are located big parts of the causes. We are working on actions for the weekend after eastern, from 1st until 3rd of April. It is planned No-Border-Action-Days in Freibug and Basel … “
WatchTheMed-Alarmphone:  Two Videoclips and campaign paper Ferries not Frontex
Within the following two vimeo-links there are two short videoclips of the transnational project from WatchTheMed-Alarmphone. 
First clip explains possibilities and limits of the hotline to the refugees and migrants as well as the process so they can better prepare in case they get in distress. 
Second clip describes the daily work, the technical methods and political aims of the project against the background of the crossing between Turkey and Greece.
Furthermore, the Alarmphone published campaign paper “Ferries not Frontex”. It is here and can be ordered as well:
Review:
Hamburg Conference:
As already mentioned, this international conference was very well visited like it was never before. Especially self-organised groups met for an exchange, refugee and migrant women pushed through their right on participation and representation. Theater Kampnagel offered great spaces, the  structure of support was great. Especially impressing that during the conference it also has been translated into sign languages. 
This is a good summarising text with a lot of short interviews:
Safe Passages:
In many cities all over Europe have been taken place actions in order to demand safe ways for refugees. Have a look for pictures:
1st of March Actionday:
In more than 20 cities there have been taken place at the same time protest against border regime, coordinated by a platform for a transnational social strike. A map and more:
Outlook: 
From 27. to 29th of May: Defencing the slowenian-croatian border:
The fence between Croatia and Slowenia is more than 160 km and the end of May is supposed to be a goal of action of a transnational mobilisation … 
From 10th until 12th of June in Leipzig:  “Welcome to Stay”
This is the motto under which will be invited to a meeting of “movements of welcome, solidarity and anti-racism”. 
This event adresses to people from welcome campaigns, solidarity groups, self-organisations of refugees, anti-racist groups and networks just like from civic organisations. Planned are an exchange of experience and discussions referring to topics like isolation, the right of asylum law, anti-racism and solidly society.
Probably mid-July: Nobordercamp in Greece/Thessaloniki.
Plannings are not concret yet but they have to stay flexible anyways in order to respond to the changing situations. Nobody knows about how the situation will be in four months but it definetly stays a place of central escalation and so it is the idea to mobilise here for a action for some days.