Category: News – English

STATEMENT BY COLLECTIVES FIGHTING AGAINST CRA AND BORDERS // COMMUNIQUÉ DES COLLECTIFS DE LUTTE CONTRE LES CRA ET LES FRONTIÈRES

[FRANÇAIS EN-DESSOUS]

STATEMENT BY COLLECTIVES FIGHTING AGAINST CRA AND BORDERS

As collectives involved in the struggle against immigration detention centers (called “CRA” in France) and borders, we express our solidarity with the Palestinian people and warn against the French government’s weaponisation of the current situation.

As a reminder, the CRAs are a direct product of colonialism. In France, it was in the context of the repression of people from its former colonies (starting with Algeria) that they were created in their current form. True to its colonialist and imperialist policy, the French state expresses its unwavering support for the Israeli occupier in Palestine, legitimizing the massacres and dehumanizing Palestinians. The same French state represses all forms of support for Palestinian resistance in France.

At the same time, France is intensifying its policy of repression and criminalization of all those considered “illegal” on its territory, in particular via the “Loi Darmanin” which is being voted on at this very moment in the French National Assembly, and by all the racist, repressive, securitisation and Islamophobic measures and rhetoric that come with it.

The French government, with the complicity of the media, is once again fuelling hatred and suspicion of undocumented, racialized and Muslim people, all considered as potential threats. In its manufacture of the racist figure of the “enemy within”, it uses the apology of terrorism as a pretext to justify its repressive measures, detentions and expulsions. The current situation in Palestine allows it to reinforce these common practices, while using its legislative and security arsenal to repress any support for the Palestinian people.

That’s how the French government prevented Mariam Abu Daqqa, a feminist figure and member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), from travelling to Occitania on October 16 for her series of conferences in France, on the pretext that these meetings were “likely to cause serious disturbance to public order”. She was then violently arrested and deported to Cairo.

In a further example of its collaboration with the Israeli occupier, the French state has kept George Ibrahim Abdallah, a revolutionary militant of the Palestinian resistance, locked up for 40 years, even though he has been eligible for release since 1999. He is the oldest political prisoner in Europe, and continues to fight from his cell for the liberation of the Palestinian people and against imperialism.

More generally, while many demonstrations in support of Palestine have been banned and repressed, people considered as illegal are the most violently criminalized, notably under the pretext of “apology for terrorism”.

During the week of October 20, 3 people were arrested for taking pictures of themselves in front of the Eiffel Tower with a Palestinian flag. As they had no French papers, they were sent directly to the Vincennes CRA, and one of them was deported just a few days later.

On November 14, a student was detained in the CRA of Rennes with a view to his deportation, for an inscription against the bombing of Gaza on municipal signs. The prefecture is demanding an OQTF (obligation to leave French territory) and a 3-year ban from French territory.

The tightening of legislative and police measures targeting immigration in France, and in particular the deadly and racist policy of closing borders under the pretext of “fighting terrorism”, has concrete and dramatic consequences for illegalised immigrants living in or arriving in France. These measures continue to kill people, many of whom go unnoticed, at the border, in detention centers, at work and in the street.

Since the summer, two people have been killed on the French-Italian border, after being chased by police for several hours in the mountains of the Briançonnais. On the French-UK border, at least 8 people have been murdered by these policies since the beginning of November.

All this will be reinforced by the Darmanin law on immigration. It will enable the state to continue to deliberately use people without the “correct” papers as disposable labor that can be deported at will, while reducing them to living in fear, without rights, without access to healthcare, without the possibility of decent housing. Darmanin has also repeatedly asserted his determination to lock people up more and more, and to deport them more and more quickly. To achieve this, in addition to the simplification of deportation procedures made possible by the Darmanin law, the State plans to double the number of places in CRAs, and therefore to build many new ones.

We urgently need to combat this racist, colonial and Islamophobic policy, which has deadly consequences.

In response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza by the Israeli occupier, with the complicity of the French state and French companies, we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance and support the Palestinian people in their call for an end to the bombardment of Gaza, an end to the blockade of Gaza, and an end to the 75-year policy of colonization, apartheid and ethnic cleansing. Long live Free Palestine!

Against imperialism, racism and state Islamophobia, long live internationalist, decolonial and anti-racist struggles!

Calais anti-CRA, Lyon anti-CRA, Marseille anti-CRA, Progetto 20K (Vintimille), Toulouse anti-CRA

COMMUNIQUÉ DE COLLECTIFS DE LUTTE CONTRE LES CRA ET LES FRONTIÈRES

En tant que collectifs impliqués dans la lutte contre les centres de rétention administrative (CRA) et les frontières, nous affirmons notre solidarité avec le peuple palestinien et alertons sur la récupération et l’instrumentalisation de la situation actuelle par le gouvernement français.

Pour rappel, les CRA sont un produit direct de la colonisation. En France, c’est dans le contexte de la répression des personnes originaires de ses ex-colonies (à commencer par l’Algérie) qu’ils ont été créés dans leur forme actuelle. Fidèle à sa politique colonialiste et impérialiste l’État français exprime son soutien sans faille à l’occupant israélien en Palestine, légitimant ainsi les massacres et déshumanisant les Palestinien·nes, et réprime toute forme de soutien à la résistance palestinienne en France.

Dans le même temps, il accentue sa politique de répression et de criminalisation de toutes les personnes qu’il considère comme “illégales” sur son territoire, notamment via la loi Darmanin qui est votée en ce moment-même à l’assemblée nationale, et par tous les discours et mesures racistes, répressives, sécuritaires et islamophobes qui l’accompagnent.

Ainsi le gouvernement français, avec la complicité des médias, attise encore une fois la haine et la suspicion envers les personnes sans papiers, les personnes racisées et les personnes musulmanes, toutes désignées comme des menaces potentielles. Dans sa fabrique de la figure raciste de “l’ennemi intérieur”, il prétexte l’apologie du terrorisme pour justifier ses mesures de répression, d’enfermement et d’expulsion. La situation actuelle en Palestine lui permet de renforcer encore ces pratiques habituelles, tout en utilisant son arsenal législatif et sécuritaire pour réprimer tout soutien au peuple palestinien.

Le gouvernement français a ainsi empêché Mariam Abu Daqqa, figure féministe membre du Front Populaire de Libération de la Palestine (FPLP), de se rendre en Occitanie le 16 octobre pour son cycle de conférences entamé en France sous prétexte que ces rencontres étaient “susceptibles de susciter de graves troubles à l’ordre public”. Elle a ensuite a été violemment arrêtée avant d’être expulsée au Caire.

Toujours dans le cadre de sa collaboration avec l’occupant israélien l’État français maintient enfermé depuis 40 ans George Ibrahim Abdallah, militant révolutionnaire de la résistance palestinienne alors même qu’il est libérable depuis 1999. Il est le plus ancien prisonnier politique d’Europe, et continue de lutter depuis sa cellule pour la libération du peuple palestinien et contre l’impérialisme.

Plus généralement, si beaucoup de manifestations en soutien à la Palestine ont été interdites et réprimées, ce sont les personnes considérées comme étrangères qui subissent le plus violemment cette criminalisation notamment sous prétexte “d’apologie du terrorisme”.

La semaine du 20 octobre, 3 personnes ont été arrêtées car elles se prenaient en photo devant la tour Eiffel avec un drapeau palestinien. N’ayant pas de papiers français, elles ont été directement envoyées au CRA de Vincennes et l’une d’entre elles a été expulsée à peine quelques jours après.

Le 14 novembre, un étudiant s’est vu retirer son droit de séjour pour une inscription contre les bombardements de Gaza sur des panneaux municipaux. Il a reçu obligation de quitter le territoire (OQTF) et une interdiction de retour sur le territoire français de 3 ans, il a été enfermé au CRA de Rennes en vue de son expulsion.

Plus largement, le durcissement des dispositifs législatifs et policiers qui visent l’immigration en France, et notamment la politique mortifère et raciste de fermeture des frontières sous prétexte de “lutte contre le terrorisme”, a des conséquences concrètes et dramatiques pour les personnes illégalisées qui vivent ou arrivent en France. Ces mesures ne cessent de tuer, la plupart du temps passant ces morts sous silence, à
la frontière, dans les CRA, au travail, dans la rue.

Encore ces dernières semaines, deux personnes ont été tuées à la frontière franco-italienne, après avoir été traquées par la police pendant plusieurs heures dans les montagnes du Briançonnais et au moins 8 personnes sont mortes à la frontière franco-britannique.

Tout cela va être renforcé par la loi Darmanin sur l’immigration. Elle permettra à l’État d’utiliser encore plus délibérément les personnes dont il ne reconnaît pas les papiers comme une main d’œuvre jetable et expulsable à merci, tout en les réduisant à vivre dans la peur, sans droits, sans accès à la santé, sans possibilité de logement décent. Darmanin a également affirmé de nombreuses fois sa volonté d’enfermer toujours plus, et d’expulser toujours plus vite. Pour cela, en plus de la simplification des procédures d’expulsion que permet la loi Darmanin, l’État prévoit le doublement du nombre de places en CRA, et donc de nombreuses nouvelles constructions.

Il est nécessaire et urgent de combattre cette politique raciste, coloniale, et islamophobe aux conséquences mortelles.

Face au génocide en cours à Gaza mené par l’occupant israélien avec la complicité de l’État français et des entreprises françaises, nous apportons notre solidarité à la résistance palestinienne et soutenons le peuple palestinien pour la fin des bombardements sur Gaza, la fin du blocus de Gaza, la fin de la politique de colonisation, d’apartheid et de nettoyage ethnique qui dure depuis 75 ans. Vive la Palestine libre !

Face à l’impérialisme, au racisme et à l’islamophobie d’État, vive les luttes internationalistes, décoloniales et antiracistes !

Calais anti-CRA, Lyon anti-CRA, Marseille anti-CRA, Progetto 20K (Ventimiglia), Toulouse anti-CRA

Contre le projet de CRA à Dunkerque – réunion publique vendredi 15 décembre // Against the CRA project in Dunkirk – public meeting on Friday 15/12

[English below]

Prison pour étranger-es : ni à Dunkerque, ni ailleurs !

Les états français et britannique veulent construire un centre de rétention administrative (CRA) à Dunkerque !

Les CRA sont des prisons où l’état français enferme les personnes qui n’ont pas les « bons papiers » dans l’attente de leur expulsion du pays. Il en existe déjà plusieurs dizaines dans toute la france, dont un à Calais et un autre à Lille. Les violences et mauvais traitements contre les prisonnier-es y sont quotidiens.

Ce nouveau projet s’inscrit dans les logiques racistes et sécuritaires de la france et du royaume-uni, comme de l’ensemble des pays européens, qui dépensent des milliards d’euros dans la militarisation des frontières, le flicage et le harcèlement des personnes exilées.

Pour s’informer et s’organiser contre ce projet, rendez-vous vendredi 15 décembre, à 18h, au bar le Kilimanjaro (338 avenue de l’université) à Dunkerque. Au programme, projection d’un court reportage sur les CRA suivie d’une discussion.

LIBERTÉ POUR TOUTES ET TOUS ! Abolition des frontières et des prisons !

Prison for foreigners: neither in Dunkirk, nor elsewhere!

The French and British states want to build an administrative detention center (CRA, “centre de rétention administrative”) in Dunkirk!

CRAs are prisons where the French state locks up people who don’t have the “good papers” while awaiting their deportation from the country. There are already dozens throughout France, including one in Calais and one in Lille. Violence and mistreatment against prisoners is a daily occurrence there.

This new project is part of the racist and securitarian policies of France and the United Kingdom, as well as all European countries, which spend billions of euros on the militarization of borders, policing and harassment of exiled people.

To get information and organize against this project, let’s meet on Friday December 15, at 6 pm, at the bar le Kilimanjaro (338 avenue de l’Université) in Dunkirk. Program: screening of a short report on the CRAs followed by a discussion.

FREEDOM FOR ALL! Abolition of borders and prisons!

L’état lance son appel d’offre pour construire un CRA à Dunkerque / The state launches its call for tenders to build a CRA in Dunkirk

(ENGLISH BELOW)

Organisons-nous contre ce projet !

On savait depuis les annonces de mars dernier de Rishi Sunak et Emmanuel Macron que les états français et britanniques espèrent ouvrir un nouveau centre de rétention administrative (CRA) dans le nord de la france. Ce centre de rétention serait en partie financé par les 500 millions d’euros que le gouvernement Sunak transfère à la France pour “stopper les small boats”.

L’appel d’offre pour la construction de cette prison pour étranger-es a été publié début octobre, suivi de l’annonce par le ministère de l’intérieur de l’ouverture à venir de 11 nouveaux CRA dans le pays : Aix-en-Provence, Béziers, Bordeaux, Dijon, Goussainville, Mayotte, Nantes, Nice, Orléans, Rouen, et donc Dunkerque.

Les détails disponibles sur le marché public sont en ligne ici : https://www.marches-publics.gouv.fr/app.php/entreprise/consultation/2397175?orgAcronyme=g6l

On apprend donc que l’état cherche un terrain à Dunkerque et alentours pour construire cette prison. La destination de Dunkerque n’est pas une coïncidence. En 2022, 142 personnes ont été enfermées au CRA de Coquelles près de Calais après avoir été secourues en mer et 467 personnes ont été enfermées après des interpellation frontières.

Si le gouvernement tente de justifier ce projet coûteux (30 millions d’euros estimés pour la seule construction) en prétendant que ces lieux servent essentiellement à enfermer les “délinquants étrangers”, à la lecture de ces documents on découvre notamment qu’il veut que le CRA contienne une zone pour enfermer des familles. 

Le CRA de Coquelles ne dispose pas de places pour les femmes ou les familles, mais une telle installation fait certainement partie de leur plan pour “résoudre le problème commun” et “arrêter les bateaux”. 

Tant que certaines personnes se verront refuser l’accès aux ferries, les traversées en petits bateaux se poursuivront. Même si la capacité de détention et d’expulsion des personnes en provenance du Nord-Pas-de-Calais est doublée.

Nous regardons de près les infos de ce marché public, nous continuerons de partager les informations et actualités utiles sur notre blog (https://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com/). Si vous vous penchez également sur ces documents de votre côté, n’hésitez pas à nous partager toute info/avis utile : calais_solidarity [at] riseup.net !

Nous appelons chacun-e à la vigilance concernant tout indice sur le lieu possible de ce projet. Nous invitons également à continuer la mobilisation entamée le mois dernier contre ce projet, comme toutes les autres prisons, qu’elles soient en projet ou déjà existantes !

Feu aux frontières et aux prisons !

ENGLISH:

Let’s organise against this project!

We’ve known since Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron met in March that the French and British governments were hoping to open a new administrative detention centre (CRA) in northern France. The planned detention centre would partly be funded by the 500 million euros the Sunak government is transferring to France to ‘stop the boats’.

The call for tenders for the construction of this prison for foreigners was published at the beginning of October, followed by the announcement by the Ministry of the Interior of the forthcoming opening of 11 new CRAs in the country: Aix-en-Provence, Béziers, Bordeaux, Dijon, Goussainville, Mayotte, Nantes, Nice, Orléans, Rouen, and finally Dunkirk.

Details of the public tender are available here: https://www.marches-publics.gouv.fr/app.php/entreprise/consultation/2397175?orgAcronyme=g6l

So we learn that the state is looking for land in or around Dunkirk to build this prison. The location of Dunkirk is not coincindental. In 2022 142 people were locked up in the CRA of Coquelles near Calais after being rescued at sea and 467 people were locked up after being arrested at the border. 

The government is trying to justify this costly project (estimated at 30 million euros for the construction alone) by claiming that these facilities are essentially used to lock up “foreign delinquents”. However, on reading these documents we discover that they also want the CRA to contain an area for locking up families. The CRA in Coquelles has no spaces for women or families but such a facility surely forms part of their plan to ‘solve the shared problem’ and ‘stop the boats’. 

So long as some people are denied access to the ferries, small boat crossings will continue. Even if the capacity to detain and deport people from the Nord-Pas-de-Calais is doubled.

We’re keeping a close eye on the news of this public contract, and will continue to share useful information and news on our blog (https://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com/). If you’re also looking at these documents on your own, don’t hesitate to share any useful info/opinions with us: calais_solidarity [at] riseup.net!

We urge everyone to be on the lookout for any clues as to the possible location of this proposed construction. We also call on everyone to continue the mobilisation started last month against this project, as well as to fight againt all other prisons, whether planned or existing already!

Break the borders and burn the prisons!

Calais anticra

Actions at the northern French border against the new detention centre project

In recent days, multiple actions have taken place against the plan by the French and British governments to open a new administrative detention centre (CRA) at the border.

A CRA is a prison to lock up undocumented people before deporting them out of the country.

This project was announced in March 2023 following yet another agreement between the two countries to militarise the border. All over Europe, states are tightening border policies (floating prisons in the south of England, an increasing number of detention centres: Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, etc.).

The police are organised at the international level, but so are our sources of inspiration: starting fires to shut down detention centres (like at the CPR in Turin in February-March 2023), escapes, prevented deportations… It is possible to resist and attack.

The actions, carried out in multiple locations near the Franco-British border in recent days, aim to intensify the mobilisation against all detention centres, here and elsewhere. The people detained are the first to act in this daily struggle. These actions are in solidarity with them. Here are some recent examples:

  • Around 50 people made a noise demonstration in support of the prisoners of the CRA of Coquelles, near Calais.

  • A demonstration of more than 200 people against detention centres took place in Calais this Sunday 17.09.

  • Numerous banner drops above the A16 motorway: “detention centre neither here nor elsewhere”, “No borders, no nations, stop deportations”, “Papers for all”…

  • Tags appeared in Lille at the head office of Vinci Immobilier, a company which profits from the construction of prisons : « stop building CRAs and prisons »

  • Distribution of leaflets to denounce the new Franco-British CRA project in different places on the border.

Against all forms of surveillance, control and detention, we must not remain indifferent! Let us increase actions and put pressure on all those who profit from the military-industrial complex: companies and airlines (https://abaslescra.noblogs.org/files/2022/09/boites-collabo-CRA.cleaned.pdf), politicians of all colours who make electoral gains from social poverty…

Against pushbacks in the Aegean – an animation // Contre les refoulements en mer Égée – une animation

This is a short animation (3.47mins) based on refugee accounts of pushbacks in the Agean. This video is free to share with anyone trying to fight pushbacks. More information[EN] on pushbacks[EN] in the Aegean sea[FR].

Contre les refoulements en mer égée – une animation

Voici une courte animation (3,47 minutes) basée sur des témoignages de réfugié-es refoulé-es dans la mer Égée. Cette vidéo est à partager avec toutes les personnes qui essaient de lutter contre les
refoulements. Plus d’informations[EN] sur les refoulements[EN] en mer Égée[FR].

Pushback / Refoulements – an / une animation

Calais: after the Jungle – an interview with Calais Migrant Solidarity, June 2019

In 2016, the northern French port town of Calais was all over the TV screens, as an army of Gendarmes and CRS riot police evicted the “Jungle”[*] – a largely self-built refugee camp where about 6,000 exiles from the world’s war zones lived in sight of the razor wire border fences. But Calais’ refugee story goes back much further, and it’s not over yet. Hundreds of refugees are still gathered around the main channel crossing point, living in even more miserable and precarious conditions now the big jungle is gone. To get a snapshot of the current situation Corporate Watch talked to friends from Calais Migrant Solidarity, a network that has been active alongside migrants in Calais since 2009.

See also: Calais border profiteers update June 2019

How many people are still trying to cross the border at Calais? Where do they come from?

In Calais itself, maybe around 500 people. It fluctuates a lot, so perhaps between 300 and 600 people at any time. But then there are also hundreds more people further along the coast at Dunkerques, and all the way towards Belgium.

In Calais the nationalities of people follow the same patterns – we’re talking about people from war zones and dictatorships, where those countries have a historical connection to British colonialism. So people may speak English, or have family connections, or may have grown up with some idea of the UK as a safe haven and a beacon of democracy. Many Afghans, Iraqis, Iranians, Kurds, Eritreans, Sudanese, and also a few others now from as far as Nigeria, Chad and other places.

There are not so many children and women now, and those that do turn up are often sheltered by charities. There are more families in Dunkerques, where there is a more sympathetic mayor who provides a gym building where vulnerable people are allowed to stay. There are maybe 300 people living inside that, including at least 30 families (about 100 people), and maybe around 100 unaccompanied minors. And around another 300 people living in tents near the gym, which are more or less tolerated by the authorities. A lot of these are Kurdish people from all countries – Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq. Then there are also more informal Pakistani and Afghani settlements in the woods outside Dunkerques, which are treated much worse and attacked on a daily basis by the police, as in Calais.

And do people still manage to cross?

Yes, of course. But the massive securitisation in recent years has meant that people need to travel farther and take ever greater risks.

Hence the recent boat crossings that have made the headlines?

They can’t make a fence in the middle of the sea. People always find ways round fences, under or over, and crossing the channel is one of the latest and most visible ways people have been trying. It is extremely dangerous, particularly for the high traffic. But the UK is actually visible from Calais. People have travelled thousands of miles to get here, often risking their lives many times, then they see the cliffs of Dover in the distance, and they’re not going to stop.

The boats are so far mainly organised by smugglers who charge a lot of money for places. But there have also been some individuals trying to cross on makeshift rafts, like the guy without an engine who was washed as far as the Netherlands. People like that aren’t even able to buy a life jacket –there have been reported cases where shops refused to sell lifejackets to people, asked to see their papers and threatened to call the police. Of course this doesn’t hurt the organised smugglers, but it makes the attempted crossing even more hazardous for individuals trying to make it themselves.

So what is daily life like now for people trying to cross the border in Calais?

Basically, the authorities have pretty much succeeded now in clearing people out of the town centre, and also stopping them from creating any stable settlement like the old jungle. So people are scattered and hidden in very precarious camps outside of the town. People still talk about the “jungles”, but that means just a few tents hidden in the bushes. The old jungle site has been turned into a nature reserve of sand dunes and swamps. Other more habitable areas nearby, of woodland and fields, have been fenced off to prevent people living there.

The camps are clustered around three main sites along the highway: the roundabout by the hospital, the roundabout by the stadium, and the turn-off close to the old jungle. The state has now set up official amenities at these three spots – water points, toilet cubicles, and a few showers. This came after a long struggle and a court case taken by individuals without papers, supported by volunteers, with lawyers from Paris who had worked on case against the jungle demolition.

The facilities are provided by La Vie Active, the same NGO that ran official services at the old jungle and container camp. These official spots also act as distribution points where the associations (charities) come at a set time with vans to give out food, clothes and so on.

One point we should maybe note here. While it’s no doubt unwitting, the associations running these van distributions help the authorities’ policy of keeping migrants segregated outside the town. In the past, the town hall hated that migrants came into the town for the food distribution, or to get clothes from the church “vestiaire”, or medical treatment from the main clinics. Having all these services delivered away in the woods certainly helps whitewash the migrants out of Calais.

Pic: a field where people had been camping now fenced off

What do the police do?

Apart from guarding the fences, the police also focus on the three distribution points. They come almost every morning to those areas. Sometimes they just park up and stay there by the distribution points for a few hours, sitting in their vans or standing outside. This intimidates people and scares them from settling. Then, when they get the order, they attack the camps. They work with the prefecture authorities who send their “cleaners” – employees who pick up the tents and people’s belongings. Apart from stealing tents and personal affects, the police like to spray tear gas. This is pretty much like the old days in Calais before the big jungle was allowed in 2015.

Also, of course, they patrol the crossing points along the highway. When they catch people trying to cross they sometimes arrest them and bring them to the detention centre in Coquelles. Sometimes they put people in the van but don’t head for Coquelles. Instead they drive some miles out along the highway and just dump people in the middle of nowhere.

But often they just spray tear gas and chase people away. Sometimes they beat people up, using batons and kicks. Also, there is a lot of verbal abuse and intimidation. People complain a lot about the verbal insults – you dirty nigger, you black dog, etc. People find this particularly demeaning and somehow shocking. It’s as if maybe you expect the police to use a bit of force to clear you away from the fences, but the insults show they’re not just “doing their job”, they’re really revelling in their violence.

Do the police arrest people away from the fences too, like when they used to patrol around the town and just round anyone up who looks like a migrant?

This happens less than it did before 2015. People feel fairly safe during the day. In the night, it’s more common. The police will drive around in vans and pick up people they see walking from the jungles to the town, or walking back from the detention centre at Coquelles. We still have that thing where people get arrested and taken to Coquelles, then released and are arrested again when they’re walking back from detention. But on the whole, those kind of random controls are not so much the police’s main focus now as they were in the past.

What is the effect of all these attacks on people? Do they actually deter people from crossing?

No, as we said, people have travelled thousands of miles and gone through a great deal to get to Calais. They are not going to give up now.

But what we do see is the very real effects of all this constant harassment on people’s mental health. I think this has really got worse. There are ever more fences and walls, its ever harder to live, as well as get to crossing places. And people are chased relentlessly, like vermin. Forced out of the town, forced to hide and disappear. And the verbal abuse and intimidation compound that.

As it gets harder to cross, people may stay a lot longer around Calais than before. You also see an increasing number of people who have already been on the road for years, maybe they have already been refused asylum in other European countries, so they come here, seeing the UK as their last hope. This can lead to big problems with alcohol and drugs, and makes people vulnerable to traffickers and others willing to profit from their distress.

Image: one of the many former squats called “Africa House”, 2011

You said the authorities have largely succeeded in clearing people out of the town centre. Before 2015, a lot of people used to live in the town in empty buildings – both the officially-recognised squats that CMS helped to create, as well as informal occupations that were more vulnerable to police attacks. Is that no longer possible?

Well, certainly there are no “official” squats now in Calais at all. Any recent attempts to open them have been shut down straight away by the police, whatever the law might say. That’s not to say it’s impossible to do again. But there haven’t been people in Calais really concentrating on trying to do that.

As for unofficial squats, people may shelter in buildings and survive if they keep hidden or are in very small groups that don’t attract attention. The town hall and police deny the presence of any “illegals” in the town, so they may prefer not to move against small groups that stay largely unnoticed. But there are no big or visible squats like in the past. These would be shut down immediately.

There was a massive surge of aid and support organisations, mainly from the UK, into Calais in 2015-16. Has this kept up, or have the charities left now that Calais is no longer in the headlines?

Many of them stayed. This is a big difference from before 2015 – the presence of still quite large numbers of humanitarians, professionals and volunteers, particularly from abroad. However, they haven’t really adapted their infrastructure or approaches so much after the closure of the big jungle.

There are still two big distribution warehouses in Calais. One is run by Care for Calais, which distributes mainly clothes, tents, sleeping bags, hygiene items. They also now work beyond Calais, taking stuff as far as Paris. The other warehouse is run by the French association L’Auberge des Migrants and the British charity Help Refugees. In the same building there is also the Calais Refugee Community Kitchen (RCK), which cooks and distributes food.

Help Refugees was a big player in the jungle, after raising possibly millions from donations in the UK. This gave it a lot of power to set the agenda, as many other associations came to rely on it for funding. Now Help Refugees is quitting its direct presence in Calais, but will continue to act as a foundation funding other groups.

There is also Utopia, which managed the former camp in Dunkerques, then turned to litter picking in the jungle, and now distributes clothes, food, and other items.

One of the most interesting developments has been the new day centre run by the Catholic charity, Secours Catholique. This is a big purpose-built centre in the town, on Rue du Moscou towards the port. It’s open Monday to Friday until 5pm and has lots of activities like language classes, clothes mending, and even a radio station. There are water points and toilets, meeting rooms, and a big space where people hang out, charge phones, use wifi, drink tea and play board games.

One thing that’s interesting about the day centre is that it’s right on the corner of Rue de Cronstadt, the street where CMS rented a warehouse and opened it as a social centre back in 2010. That was shut down within days by riot police using a dubious health and safety excuse. What do you think when you see Secours Catholique running a centre there now?

Of course, the Catholic church is a lot more respectable and powerful than we were. But it’s an interesting indication of how the political landscape has shifted in Calais. In 2010, it would have been unthinkable for the church to support a project like that, let alone organise it themselves. CMS tried twice to open legal centres, the “Zetkin centre” as well as Rue de Cronstadt, besides the numerous squats. Both received an immediate response from the state. It was clear that a social centre open to migrants in the town was a serious challenge to the town authorities, and they wouldn’t tolerate it. It’s interesting to think about how this has changed – whether the authorities are not so scared of a place like that now, or the official charities are willing to push further.

As for the Secours Catholique centre, it’s far from perfect, but it is a space of possibilities. And, interestingly, they do seem to be working in a way that is less patronising, less of a giver/receiver relationship, than some other charity attempts in Calais. They allow people to use the space in their own ways. And, as opposed to other associations, most of the people volunteering there are long-term Calais residents, including refugees who have settled in the town. The space is also used by groups like the Legal Shelter that collects testimonies of police violence or accompanies people on asylum claims.

It seems like quite a few of the main public roles of CMS, like running social centres or tracking police violence, are being carried out by more official organisations now. What do you think about that? And what role does CMS have to play now?

Yes, it’s true. Again, it’s interesting to think about how the landscape has shifted, about what’s seen as radical and unacceptable by the authorities and the charities, and what’s considered normal or acceptable. For instance, CMS were the first in Calais to really talk about and document state violence, with the “This Border Kills” dossier in 2010. That was seen as a radical move, few of the associations would go anywhere near it. Also, we were the first to open a squat dedicated to housing women and children. Now everyone agrees with challenging police violence, and everyone agrees with providing accommodation for women – if not everyone else.

But still there’s a big difference between our approach and how the charities work. You can talk about people’s miserable conditions of life. But why are those problems there in the first place? Why are the police going round beating people up in Calais, why are people hiding in tents in the woods?

It’s because of the border. These problems will exist, in one form or another, so long as the border exists. That is: so long as people facing bombs and exploitation in Africa and Asia try to get to the rich world that’s sending the bombs, and so long as our politicians and police try to keep them out. But, maybe apart from a few slogans on a demo now and then, the charities don’t mention the border.

So some of the actions, like making accommodation or a social centre, may be similar. But we also have to think about the wider repercussions, the meanings of these actions. First of all, do they bring people together – people with or without official papers, people from Calais and people from far away? Ideally on a basis of equality, not just giving and receiving, but sharing and making a struggle together. And do they challenge the silence of the border, help force into the open those questions the authorities are so keen to hide?

Since CMS started ten years ago in 2009, you could say we’ve been causing trouble by challenging the authorities’ attempt to whitewash the town and the border. They have a vision of a clean white town – ethnic French people and British tourists shopping happily in shiny corporate malls. Hence all the efforts to push migrants out of the town, keep them hidden in the bushes. Whereas in reality, most of Calais is a boarded up ghost town, with very many white Calaisiens also living in poverty. The right-wing, anti-migrant politics hasn’t done anything to address that, just provided a scapegoat.

At least some of us in CMS have had a different vision of what Calais could be. Imagine a town where people with and without papers, French or migrant, meet each other freely, share experiences and creativity. Making projects together that could help bring the town back to life. And helping each other fight our common enemies.


Notes

Drawings by Carrie Mackinnon

[*] The word «jungle» is the term still widely used by migrants in Calais for camps in the woods outside the town. It was used long before 2015, including for the major Afghan jungle in 2009-10. It comes from the farsi and pashto word for forest جنگل (jangal).

Briançon. La frontière tue. La militarisation est son arme. / Chronique d’une mort annoncée.

Nous transmettons ces deux communiqués reçus du Refuge autogéré “Chez Jesus” – https://www.facebook.com/Chez-Jesus-Rifugio-Autogestito-362786637540072/

Autres sources d’information :

Version en italien ci-dessous.

Une femme est morte. Un cadavre sans nom a été retrouvé mercredi près du barrage de Prelles, dans la Durance, la rivière qui traverse Briançon.
Une femme noire, sans papiers, dont personne n’a déclaré la disparition. Un corps sans vie et sans nom, comme les milliers qui sont retrouvés dans le fond de la Méditerranée.
Cette mort n’est pas une disgrâce inattendue, ce n’est pas un hasard. La montagne, la neige et le froid n’ont rien à voir là-dedans.
Cette mort a été annoncée par l’hiver qui vient de passer, par la militarisation qui, ces derniers mois sévit dans ces montagnes et par les dizaines des personnes hospitalisées après les blessures causées par leur fuite vers la France. C’est une conséquence inévitable de la politique de fermeture de la frontière et de la militarisation.
Ce décès n’est pas une fatalité.  C’est un homicide, avec des mandataires et des complices bien faciles à identifier.
En premier lieu les gouvernements, leur politique de fermeture de la frontière, et chaque personne qui la soutient.
Gendarmes, police de l’air et des frontières, chasseurs alpins, et maintenant ces ridicules néofascistes de Génération Identitaire, qui patrouillent sur les chemins et les routes pour partir à la chasse aux migrants qui cherchent un passage par ces cols.  Ils traquent sur les sentiers et dans la neige avec des motoneiges ; les attendent dans la voiture, à l’affut, sur les routes qui amènent à Briançon et celles du centre-ville. Beaucoup des cas cet hiver de personnes blessées et conduites à l’hôpital font suite à des chutes dues aux fuites consécutives aux contrôles de police.
 Cette femme-là n’est qu’une des dizaines d’exilés qui, chaque jour, cherchent à aller en France pour continuer leur vie. Pour ce faire, elle a dû traverser à pied dans la neige, cette ligne imaginaire qu’ils appellent frontière. En effet, la possibilité de voyager par des moyens de transports sûrs lui a été refusée parce qu’elle ne disposait pas de papiers en règle et par la politique raciste de contrôle qui actent à la frontière. Après elle doit être descendue sur la route, parcourir les 17 kilomètres qui la séparaient de la ville. C’est pendant ce long trajet qu’elle doit être tombée sur un blocage de la police, comme les personnes refoulées le racontent souvent.  Le groupe avec lequel elle était, qui comme elle essayait de traverser la frontière s’est probablement dispersé à la vue de la Police ou de la Gendarmerie qui traquent les indésirables pour les attraper et les ramener en Italie : l’habituel jeu de l’oie cette fois a tué.
Cette femme sans nom doit avoir glissé alors qu’elle essayait de s’échapper et de se cacher, tuée par les contrôles policiers. L’autopsie qui aura lieu à Grenoble dans la journée de lundi nous permettra d’avoir des détails précis sur la cause de sa mort.

La frontière sépare et tue.
N’oublions pas qui sont les responsables.

11 mai, Refuge autogéré Chez Jesus

Chronique d’une mort annoncée

Une semaine est passée depuis la mort de B. Cinq jours depuis que le cadavre d’une jeune femme « peut-être migrante » a été retrouvé, dans le fleuve qui passe sous Briançon, la Durance.
Voici les faits.
Un groupe d’une petite dizaine de personnes part de Clavière pour rejoindre Briançon à pied. Nous sommes dimanche soir, et comme chaque nuit les exilé·e·s qui tentent d’arriver en France se trouvent obligé·e·s d’éviter la route autant que possible et de passer par la montagne pour éviter les contrôles d’identité.

Le groupe commence son chemin, et puis se sépare : la femme a des difficultés à marcher et a besoin d’aide et de soutien. Deux personnes restent avec elle, et les trois se détachent du groupe. Ils marchent sur la route, en se cachant dès qu’ils aperçoivent des lumières de phares ou entendent des bruits.

La police a mis en place une véritable chasse aux migrant·e·s, plus féroce que jamais ces derniers jours. Ils se cachent sur les sentiers, pour surprendre, torches en main, ceux qui tentent la traversée, et font des rondes en voiture sur les routes. Ils se postent aussi aux entrées de Briançon, et à côté des carrefours, mettant en place de réels postes de blocage.

Les trois personnes marchent pendant une quinzaine de kilomètres et se trouve à 4 ou 5 kilomètres de Briançon. A la hauteur de la Vachette, cinq agents de la police nationale les attendent. Ils surgissent de derrière les arbres à gauche de la route. Il est entre quatre et cinq heure du matin, Lundi 7 Mai. Les policiers se mettent à leur courir après. Le groupe se met en fuite, et entre dans le village de la Vachette. Un des trois réussit à se cacher, et les deux autres, un homme et une femme, courent sur la route. L’homme court plus vite, il cherche à attirer la police, qui parvient à l’attraper et le ramène directement en Italie.
La femme, elle, disparaît.
La police continue ses recherches dans le village de la Vachette pendant quatre heures. La rivière est en crue, et la police concentre ses recherches sur les rives de la Durance et autour du pont. Puis ils s’en vont. Cette façon de faire est tout à fait différents des pratiques habituelles de la police, pendant ces nuits de contrôle : en général, après avoir attrapé quelques personnes, ils ne recherchent les fugitifs et fugitives restant·e·s que pendant quelques dizaines de minutes.
Les recherches concentrées dans la zone du fleuve indiquent clairement que les policiers avaient compris que quelque chose de très grave avait eu lieu.
50 heures plus tard, Mercredi 9 Mai, un cadavre de femme est retrouvé bloqué à la digue de Prelles, à 10 km au Sud de Briançon. Il s’agit d’une femme d’1 mètre 60, aux longs cheveux noirs tressés. Des cicatrices sur le dos, un collier serti d’une pierre bleue.
Le Procureur de la République de Gap, Raphaël Balland, a annoncé la nouvelle le jour suivant, en précisant que « Cette découverte ne correspond à aucune disparition inquiétante. Pour le moment, nous n’avons aucun élément qui nous permette d’identifier la personne et donc de dire si il s’agit d’une personne migrante ».
Lourde déclaration du procureur. Les disparitions de personnes exilées ne sont donc pas inquiétantes, sous prétexte qu’on ne les signale pas ? Les soutiens de B. étaient au contraire très inquiets : mais comment se tourner vers la police pour déclarer des disparus, quand ils risquent d’être maltraités, et leurs soutiens réprimés ?
De plus, le procureur ment, car la police savait qu’une femme avait disparu après une poursuite.
Très peu de journaux ont relevé la nouvelle. Il semblerait que personne n’ait souhaité publier celle-ci. L’intérêt est d’ensevelir cette histoire, pour éviter un scandale face aux violences policières. Deux cas de femmes enceintes refoulées avaient déclenché des réactions publiques en mars dernier.
 Une enquête judiciaire a été ouverte et confiée à la gendarmerie afin de déterminer les circonstances du décès. Le magistrat a annoncé que « n’ayant pas d’éléments qui font penser à la nature criminelle du décès, une enquête a été ouverte pour déterminer les causes de la mort ». Mais cela aussi est faux. La nature du décès est criminelle.
Ce n’est pas une mort accidentelle, ce n’est pas une erreur. Ceci est un homicide. Celui d’une jeune femme nigérianne de 21 ans.
Cinq policiers les ont poursuivis. Cette femme, B, est morte à cause d’eux et de la politique qui dirige, contrôle et légitime leurs actions.
B. est morte parce que la frontière ne peut pas être traversée en sécurité par les personnes sans papiers.
B. n’est pas morte à cause de la montagne, par erreur, elle n’est pas morte dans la neige cet hiver. Elle est morte parce qu’elle était en train d’essayer d’échapper à la police, qui s’adonne de façon toujours plus violente à la chasse aux migrant·e·s.
Elle a été tuée par ces cinq agents, comme le système de la frontière le leur ordonne.
Il s’agit d’un homicide avec des mandataires et des exécutants.  Le Procureur de Gap et la préfète sont autant responsables que les policiers qui l’ont tuée, compte tenu des directives assassines qu’ils donnent.
Les responsables sont aussi la magistrature et le tribunal, qui criminalisent les solidaires qui cherchent à éviter ces morts en rendant la traversée la plus sûre possible. Les responsables sont tous les politiciens qui fondent leur campagne électorale sur la différence de couleur de peau et de nationalité des personnes.
Si cela continue, les morts se multiplieront.

14 maggio, Rifugio Autogestito Chez Jesus

En italien

La frontiera uccide – La militarizzazione è la sua arma.

Una donna è morta. Un cadavere ancora senza nome è stato ritrovato mercoledì all’altezza della diga di Prelles, nella Durance, il fiume che scorre attraverso Briançon.

Una donna dalla pelle nera, nessun documento, nessun appello alla scomparsa, un corpo senza vita e senza nome, come le migliaia che si trovano sul fondo del Mediterraneo.

Questa morte non è una disgrazia inaspettata, non è un caso, non è “strana” per tanti e tante. Non c’ entra la montagna, né la neve o il freddo.

Questa morte è stata annunciata dall’inverno appena passato, dalla militarizzazione che in questi mesi si è vista su queste montagne e dalle decine di persone finite in ospedale per le ferite procuratesi nella loro fuga verso la Francia. È una conseguenza inevitabile della politica di chiusura della frontiera e della militarizzazione.

Questa morte non è una fatalità. È un omicidio, con mandanti e complici ben facili da individuare.

In primis i governi e le loro politiche di chiusura della frontiera, e ogni uomo e donna in divisa che le porta avanti. Gendarmi, polizia di frontiera, chasseurs alpins, e ora pure quei ridicoli neofascisti di Géneration Idéntitaire, pattugliano i sentieri e le strade a caccia dei migranti di passaggio da questi valichi alpini. Li inseguono sui sentieri e nella neve sulle motoslitte; li attendono in macchina in agguato lungo la strada che porta a Briançon e quelle del centro città. Molti i casi quest’inverno di persone ferite e finite all’ospedale in seguito alle cadute dovute alle fughe dalla polizia.

Quella donna era una delle decine di migranti che ogni giorno tentano di andare in Francia per continuare la propria vita. Per farlo, ha dovuto attraversare nella neve, a piedi, quella linea immaginaria che chiamano frontiera. Perché i mezzi di trasporto, sicuri, le erano preclusi data la mancanza di documenti e per la politica razziale di controllo che attuano al confine. Poi è scesa sulla strada, quei 17 chilometri che devono percorrere a piedi per raggiungere la città. È lungo quel tratto che deve essere inceppata in un blocco della polizia, come spesso viene raccontato dalle persone respinte. Probabilmente il gruppo di persone con cui era, che come lei tentava di attraversare il confine, si è disperso alla vista di Polizia o Gendarmerie alla ricerca di indesiderati da acchiappare e riportare in Italia, nel solito gioco dell’oca che questa volta ha ucciso.

Questa donna senza nome deve essere scivolata nel fiume mentre tentava di scappare e nascondersi, uccisa dai controlli poliziesci. L’ autopsia avverà a Grenoble nella giornata di lunedì, solo allora sarà possibile avere maggiori dettagli sulla causa della morte.

La frontiera separa e uccide.

Non dimentichiamo chi sono i responsabili.

11 maggio, Rifugio autogestito Chez Jesus

Cronache di una morte annunciata

È passata una settimana dalla morte di B. Cinque giorni dal ritrovamento del cadavere di una giovane donna, “forse una migrante”, nel fiume sotto Briançon, la Durance.
Questi i fatti.
Un gruppo di quasi una decina di persone parte da Claviere per raggiungere Briançon a piedi. È domenica sera, e come ogni notte i migranti che cercano di arrivare in Francia si ritrovano costretti a camminare per le montagne per evitare i controlli di documenti.
Il gruppo inizia il cammino e poi si divide, una donna fa fatica a camminare ed ha bisogno di supporto. Due persone stanno con lei, e i tre si staccano dal gruppo. Camminano sulla strada, nascondendosi alla luce dei fari di ogni macchina e a ogni rumore.  Infatti la polizia sta attuando una vera caccia al migrante, negli ultimi giorni più che mai. Oltre a nascondersi sui sentieri per sorprendere con le torce chi di passaggio e fare le ronde con le macchine sulla strada, hanno iniziato ad appostarsi sempre più spesso agli ingressi di Briançon e ai lati dei carrefour facendo dei veri posti di blocco.
Il gruppo di tre cammina per una quindicina di chilometri e si trova a 4-5 Km da Briançon. All’altezza della Vachette, cinque agenti della Police National sbucano fuori dagli alberi alla sinistra della strada. Sono le 4-5 del mattino di lunedì 7 maggio. I poliziotti iniziano a rincorrerli. Il gruppetto corre e entra nel paesino della Vachette. Uno dei tre si nasconde; gli altri due, un uomo e una donna, corrono sulla strada. L’uomo corre più veloce, cerca di attirare la polizia, che riesce a prenderlo e lo riporta in Italia diretto. La donna scompare.
La polizia prosegue per altre quattro ore le ricerche nel paesino della Vachette. Il fiume è in piena, e i poliziotti concentrano le ricerche sulle sponde della Durance e nella zona del ponte. Poi la Police se n’è andata. Questo operato si discosta totalmente dalle modalità abituali della Police Nationale, che nella prassi cerca i fuggitivi per non più di qualche decina di minuti. Le ricerche concentrate nella zona del fiume rendono chiaro che i poliziotti avessero compreso che qualcosa di molto grave era successo, a causa loro.
50 ore dopo, mercoledì, un cadavere di una donna viene ritrovato bloccato alla diga di Prelles, a 10 km a sud da Briançon. È una donna nigeriana, un metro e sessanta, capelli lunghi scuri con treccine. Cicatrici sulla schiena, una collana con una pietra blu.
Il Procureur della Repubblica di Gap, Raphael Balland, ha dato la notizia il giorno seguente, dicendo che “Questa scoperta non corrisponde a una scomparsa inquietante. Per il momento, non abbiamo nessun elemento che ci permette di identificare la persona e quindi di dire che si tratta di una persona migrante”. Pesanti le dichiarazioni del procuratore. Una scomparsa “non è inquietante” se non c’è una denuncia, e quindi se si tratta di una migrante? In più il procuratore mente, perché la polizia sapeva che una donna era sparita dopo un inseguimento. Ben pochi i giornali che hanno rilevato la notizia. Sembra che nessuno fosse molto interessato a far uscire la vicenda, anzi. L’interesse è quello di insabbiare questa storia, per evitare un ulteriore scandalo, dopo i due casi di respingimento di donne incinte, che possa scatenare una reazione pubblica davanti alle violenze della polizia.  Un’inchiesta giudiziaria è stata aperta e affidata alla gendarmeria al fine di determinare le circostanze del decesso. Il magistrato ha detto “non avendo elementi che fanno pensare alla natura criminale del decesso, un’inchiesta è stata aperta per determinare le cause della morte”.
Ma anche questo è falso. La natura del decesso è criminale.
Non è una morte casuale, non è un errore. Questo è omicidio. Erano cinque i poliziotti che li hanno inseguiti. Quella donna, B, è morta per causa loro e della politica di leggi che dirige, controlla e legittima le loro azioni. B. è morta perché la frontiera senza documenti non la passi in altro modo. Ma B. non è nemmeno morta a causa della montagna, per errore, e non è morta per la neve quest’inverno. È morta perché stava scappando dalla polizia che in modo sempre più violento si dà alla caccia al migrante. L’hanno uccisa quei cinque agenti, come il sistema di leggi che glielo ordina. Un omicidio con dei mandanti e degli esecutori. Il procuratore di Gap e la prefetto sono responsabili quanto i poliziotti che l’hanno uccisa, date le direttive assassine che danno. Responsabili sono le procure e i tribunali, che criminalizzano i solidali che cercano di evitare queste morti rendendo il più sicuro possibile il passaggio. Responsabili sono tutti i politicanti che portano avanti la loro campagna elettorale sulla pelle delle persone.
Se continuiamo così, i morti aumenteranno. È la militarizzazione che mette in pericolo le persone. La polizia, uccide.

14 maggio, Rifugio Autogestito Chez Jesus

300 march across the Italian border at Montgenevre

From comrades in Valsusa:

CROSSING THE BORDER – MARCH AGAINST THE FRONTIERS

Yesterday 22 April 300 people left Claviere, a small town in the Susa valley in the Italian Alps, to cross the border with France. The morning started with a meeting and discussion on “The Alps, the borders and resistance”, and then a shared lunch outside the self-managed Refuge Chez Jesus, a church hall occupied as a centre of solidarity with migrants. Then after the lunch we gathered, both migrants and people in solidarity, to cross the border together.

We walked together on the road that leads from Claviere, to Briançon on the French side. We were responding to the militarisation that in recent days has seen the border become completely blocked. But also to answer the action of the neo-fascists of “Génération Idéntitaire” who on Saturday mounted their own border post at the Colle della Scala pass. If the military and fascists want to block the borders, we will continue to fight to break them down.

In this last week, with the end of the tourist season, the Italian-French frontier of Montgenèvre has dropped its image of a ski resort to become a destination for dozens of soldiers here to train in the war hunting for migrants. These nights have seen serious ambushes in the woods against migrants by the military and gendarmes. The many attacks have meant dozens of people have become stuck in the Chez Jesus shelter, unable to pass the border. This, together with the neo-fascist presence at Colle della Scala, has led us to come together in numbers to break the blockade of those who are not welcome.

Yesterday we walked for 19 kilometers both on the mountain path and on the road. We resisted the attempts of the French police to interrupt our march, determined to reach the goal. We arrived in Briançon in the afternoon, 300 of us entering the city with choruses and slogans against borders, fascists and police checks. For once, no one was forced to hide in the night and the snow, to walk many miles only to be turned back by the police.

Our arrival in Briançon was the end of a good day of struggle. At six o’clock in the afternoon we arrived in the center of Briançon and the celebrations began.

At this moment, though, the police started their manhunt. We learnt that nine protesters were stopped in small groups when they were far from the main demonstration. The police stopped them on the pavement, put them against the walls, handcuffed them and took them away. Four people were released this morning. All the others are still in custody. The gendarmes also tried to take another comrade, who was knocked to the ground and beaten. Fortunately other comrades came to his aid and put an end to the attack.

The border is made up of uniforms, batons, tools to identify and select people. It is up to us to find the mechanism of this gear, and so destroy it.

We want the immediate release of all the comrades arrested.
The border is just an imaginary line. As we showed yesterday, it does not exist if we organise together to fight it.

FREEDOM FOR ALL THE ARRESTED COMRADES

 

Fuel

How to (nearly) incite a riot: Lessons from the French police in the Jungle

 

On Tuesday the Calais police made a dangerous move to fuel violence in an already-tense moment in the Jungle. If violence erupts, the state will have the blood on their hands. For now, the communities in the Jungle have refused to rise to the bait.

On Monday night, conflict broke out on the motorway near Marck, between predominantly Afghan and Sudanese groups attempting to make the crossing to the UK. The police were called in with water cannons to disperse the crowd. In the course of the evening, 15 Sudanese were hospitalised and one was killed. The exact circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear.
On Tuesday, a gang of at least 20 cops – some CRS, some Police Judiciare – entered the Jungle at approximately 6pm. They marched to the intersection on the main road where the Sudanese and Afghan neighbourhoods meet, held formation, weapons ready, and seemed to post a single photo on the wall of a building.
The photo was apparently a close-up image of the man who had been killed the night before. Dead.
The police stood in formation and watched, with one filming those passing by. They then marched through the Jungle, concealing themselves in the La Vie Active container park, surrounded by fences and private security. Before leaving, one of the Policia Judiciare, having his unmarked car filmed by an activist, physically grabbed and threatened the activist, while a colleague threateningly told them to ‘Take care.’
Once the police were gone, tensions began to rise. The conversations spread throughout the Jungle like wildfire. The usual groups of twos and threes on the main road were replaced by bigger groups – five, ten, fifteen, mostly divided by nationality.
The outrage in the Sudanese quarter was palpable. One of their brothers had been killed the night before, and the police had piled insult and disrespect onto the tragedy, by photographing the deceased and then posting the photo in the middle of a public place, like a looming threat or a game trophy to be paraded through the streets.
Africans of different nationalities began to group together and Afghans with cricket bats, pipes and planks of wood began to fill the streets, milling about, as tensions rose.
Remarkably, the afternoon ended in relative calm, though the possibility of violence has far from gone. Several reports have said that community leaders managed to defuse tensions before they erupted into serious violence. While the ongoing tensions between different communities in the Jungle are constantly exacerbated by the state, via evictions and the resulting overcrowding, the police intervention surrounding this murder seemed deeply irresponsible at best, and outright criminal at worst.
Whatever the circumstances surrounding this man’s death, to post a photo of a dead body in a public place, at the geographic juncture between the two primary communities involved, is an insult to the deceased and to the community. It is also an incitement to violence.
Like spreading rumours to stoke existing tensions, the police’s move appears to have been aimed at inciting violence in the Jungle, as happened in February. After the photo posting, they left and were not to be seen. They chucked a match into the petrol and then walked away.
The lack of violence following the death of the Sudanese man and the following instigations by the police, is a testament to a collective maturity winning out in the Jungle under massively unfavourable circumstances. The actions of the police provided more than the kindling, but also the spark for a wildfire that very nearly was. Even before the police arrived, violence between communities was a very-real possibility; after their intervention, it seemed almost inevitable. Yet the moment passed.
Of course, the police will deny any ill-intent, and argue that they were simply investigating the death of the night before and searching for witnesses or new information. But such tactics must not be allowed to pass unnoticed. The police and the prefecture know that clearing the Jungle faces many obstacles, from both the people living there, as well as the political fall-out of the heavy-handed action that a major eviction would inevitably require.
If the boiling anger of 9,000 people living in often-subhuman conditions can be used as a tool to either destroy parts of the Jungle itself (through riots and arson, etc), or as a pretext for escalating police violence, then the police will surely do their best to exploit and encourage this anger. Which is what they did on Tuesday.
What may appear one of the cops’ more innocuous interventions into the Jungle on Tuesday, very nearly became one of their most-destructive. So far, the levee has held against immense odds, but if it breaks, the state will have blood on its hands.

Jusqu’au bout ils essaieront de tuer la vie.

ENGLISH BELOW. Calais. La Jungle. Dimanche 07 Août 2016.

On pourrait faire une encyclopédie des idées de notre gouvernement pour anéantir toute forme de vie sociale dans cette enclave française. À croire qu’après avoir traversé terres et mers, et perdu déjà une bonne partie de sa vie à fuir à peu près tout ce que beaucoup fuiraient aussi, on serait voué à toujours se noyer, mourir, souffrir parce que l’Europe (et la France dans notre cas) en a décidé ainsi. Jusque là rien de neuf.

Leur dernière trouvaille en date – j’ai l’impression d’avoir déjà entendu et dit ça mille fois – c’est le harcèlement policier des nombreux shops et restaurants du camp. Tous les jours, ou presque, ils sont là. Armes au poing, pointées à seulement un ou deux mètres de ceux qui sont là et qui regardent complètement désabusés, ils font leur petite promenade quotidienne.

Deux hommes prenant tranquillement le soleil, comme si de rien n'était le lance-grenade lacrymogène à la main.

Deux hommes prennent tranquillement le soleil le lance-grenade lacrymogène à la main, comme si de rien n’était. Il fait beau non ? C’est parti pour une tournée des bars ! Ah, non, des restos, pardon…

 

Un CRS probablement mis en danger par le photographe, Cow-boy de notre gouvernement. C'est vrai que là on se sent en sécurité.

Un CRS, ou plutôt un cow-boy (il y a un petit air de Lucky Luke, vous trouvez aussi ?), probablement mis en danger par le photographe. C’est vrai que là on se sent en sécurité. Et les usagers des restaurants du camp juste de l’autre côté de la route doivent aussi se sentir super bien !

Ils sourient. Ils se parlent et rient bruyamment, méprisant tous ceux qui vivent ici, bien loin de leurs vies et leurs priorités de bon petit CRS ou policier obéissant qui me donnent envie de vomir rien que d’y penser.

Des policiers, ainsi qu'un homme, probablement des services de contrôles sanitaires (il ne s'est pas présenté), qui ont franchement l'air de bien s'amuser.  Faut bien vous reconnaître le droit à la détente, pauvres policiers de mon pays, toujours armés mais victimes ! M'enfin là vous êtes quand même un peu désobligeants,, moqueurs, insultants, blessants et violents !

Des policiers, ainsi qu’un homme, probablement des services de contrôles sanitaires (il ne s’est pas présenté), qui ont franchement l’air de bien s’amuser.
Faut bien vous reconnaître le droit à la détente, pauvres policiers de mon pays, toujours armés mais victimes ! M’enfin là vous êtes quand même un peu désobligeants, moqueurs, insultants, blessants et VIOLENTS (comme toujours) !

C’est vrai qu’avoir une arme à la main c’est marrant.

C’est vrai que l’exil c’est marrant.

C’est vrai que la faim c’est marrant.

Et la promiscuité.

Et la saleté.

Etcetera, tout le monde a compris de quoi on parle.

Mais ce qu’il y a de plus poilant c’est quand même, après tout ça, de réussir encore à leur rendre la vie toujours plus dure, et à les enfoncer plus bas que terre. Ça met clairement du fun dans leur existence autant que dans celle des individus malsains composant notre gouvernement et nos « autorités » (autorité qu’ils ont d’ailleurs perdue depuis bien longtemps, bien qu’ils essayent de nous faire croire le contraire en employant systématiquement la violence, quelle que soit sa forme).

La violence à l'état pur : quand on vient d'Afghanistan, du Soudan, d'Erythrée, d'Ethiopie, de Syrie ou du Pakistan, déjà traumatisé par les morts, les combats, les traversées maritimes et les frontières, avec des forces de sécurité très accueillantes dans les Etats traversés, ça doit rappeler des bons souvenirs une intrusion quasi militaire à sa porte !

La violence à l’état pur : quand on vient d’Afghanistan, du Soudan, d’Erythrée, d’Ethiopie, de Syrie ou du Pakistan, déjà traumatisé par les morts, les combats, les traversées maritimes et les frontières, avec des forces de sécurité très accueillantes dans les Etats traversés, ça doit rappeler des bons souvenirs une intrusion quasi militaire à sa porte (et pour fermer des restaurants, attention c’était nécessaire) ! Ils sont vraiment méchants ces migrants, là, les bras croisés, ils font si peur qu’on leur braque dessus une arme qui n’est pas si agréable que ça, et encore moins à bout portant. Mais bon, pour beaucoup ils connaissent déjà ce que ça fait, alors si c’est banal pour eux, c’est pas grave. Et tant mieux, pas de surprise…

Donc, si vous n’êtes pas perdus après cette bonne tranche de rigolade, on ferme la parenthèse.

Depuis deux semaines, la préfecture envoie ses troupes visiter les shops et restaurants du camp. Au programme, au choix ou tout à la fois, on trouve : fermetures, arrestations (de n’importe qui puisqu’il n’y a ni propriétaire, ni responsable, ni vendeur à l’arrivée du contingent armé), vols et/ou destructions de biens (y compris de ce qui n’a aucun rapport avec l’activité de commerce « illégale », comme la destruction de toutes les ampoules visibles), saisies, convocations et autres cadeaux en tous genres.

Ils sont là, les CRS pleins de professionnalime qui représentent si bien notre gouvernement ! Mission accomplie parfaitement ! Le téléphone personnel pour prendre des photos, ça leur est pas aussi interdit par la loi ? Si, mais eux ils sont au dessus des lois. Et les migrants en dessous. Invisibles. Beau pays, belle mentalité.

Ils sont là, les CRS pleins de professionnalime qui représentent si bien notre gouvernement ! Mission accomplie parfaitement ! Le téléphone personnel pour prendre des photos, ça ne leur est pas interdit par la loi ? Si, mais eux ils sont au dessus des lois. Et les migrants en dessous. Invisibles. Beau pays, belle mentalité. En tout cas faut pas s’étonner qu’ils s’investissent en tant que casseurs à leur tour, pas en manif, certes, dans les restaurants des étrangers. C’est mieux et plus acceptable…

Les raisons, puisqu’il fallait qu’ils en trouvent, sont la concurrence déloyale aux commerces calaisiens, l’insécurité sanitaire des aliments servis et l’illégalité fiscale de ces lieux.

D’accord, on n’a rien à redire. Ah, si !

Une voix me dit que, en fait : d’abord, le Lidl et d’autres commerces du coin (légaux, ceux-là) doivent se frotter les mains depuis la création et l’augmentation de la population du camp, puisque beaucoup d’habitants de la Jungle ainsi que de commerces s’y approvisionnent. Et si les commerçants de Calais acceptaient les ennemis publics que sont les exilés, la question se poserait aussi moins. Du coup on aimerait savoir à qui ils font de la concurrence.

Ensuite, une interrogation se pose : est-ce que tous les Quick de France – ainsi que les autres « restaurants » aux conditions d’hygiène et de production horriblement similaires – ont été fermés après qu’un enfant y ayant mangé ait de ce fait et malheureusement trouvé la mort ? Vous connaissez la réponse. Ici ils évoquent des hospitalisations, dont personne n’a d’ailleurs jamais entendu parlé, pour pouvoir utiliser la santé des migrants et des bénévoles comme raison sanitaire à tout cela. Bon, on ne va pas se mentir, c’est bien la première fois qu’ils se soucient de la santé des migrants ! S’agissant d’un accident vasculaire cérébral, le médecin hospitalier répondra que sans demande d’asile en France il ne peut rien faire à part donner de l’aspirine, pour la pire de toutes les histoires de ce type. Bref, tout le monde ici vous le dira, on a vraiment peur des rats et des toilettes, dont le nombre diminue alors que la population augmente (logique gouvernementale), dont le nettoyage se fait rarissime et qui sont, à l’heure où ces lignes sont écrites, toutes affreusement sales et débordantes (pour rester poli). Mais sûrement pas de la cuisine des restaurants ! Leurs cuisines sont pour la plupart plus propres et présentables que celles du dernier Flunch que vous avez visité. D’ailleurs ceux qui ont fait l’expérience d’une hospitalisation en France vous le diront, ils préfèrent qu’on leur propose des plats des restaurants du camp plutôt que de perdre plusieurs kilos en quelques semaines car la nourriture de l’hôpital est immangeable. Et la même chose vous sera dite concernant les plats servis au centre d’accueil Jules Ferry : combien de fois au cours de discussions on a pu entendre que même un chien n’en voudrait pas, et que s’ils n’avaient pas aussi faim ils n’oseraient même pas y toucher… Et si on les laissait s’équiper, il ne fait aucun doute qu’ils feraient de belles cuisines qui brillent pour que les français ne se sentent pas trop dépaysés. Si ce n’est pas blanc et que ça ne brille pas la cuisine d’un resto, c’est que c’est sale ! On apprend ça à l’école de la République, non ?

Quand à l’irrégularité des restaurants, voilà un argument infaillible de la préfecture ! Des commerces illégaux avec des usagers indésirables dans un endroit qui n’a rien de légal du point de vue de la Déclaration Universelle des Droits de l’Homme, de la loi française et européenne, des accords, conventions et traités internationaux. Ça fait sens ! Il faudrait que des personnes jugées indésirables et qu’ils veulent illégales, qu’ils essayent par tous les moyens possibles de dissuader de rester en France en leur faisant subir toute la violence républicaine, physique et psychologique, fassent les démarches administratives pour pouvoir ouvrir un commerce qui servirait à d’autres indésirables. Cherchez bien, là encore il doit y avoir une logique. Si nos élus pouvaient nous aider à la trouver, elle doit être cachée en dessous de la Déclaration Universelle des Droits de l’Homme qu’ils n’ont jamais lue !

Quand j’entends leurs arguments de légalité, et fiscale qui plus est, je n’arrive pas à enlever cette petite voix qui finalement crie très très fort dans ma tête : « Les Droits de l’Homme, la Constitution française, la loi française, la loi européenne, la Convention de Genève et le reste, quelqu’un de chez vous s’est préoccupé de l’appliquer ici avant d’essayer d’appliquer le droit fiscal ? ». « Vous » c’est elle, la gauche qui continue à faire perdre tout leur sens aux mots « socialisme », « démocratie » et « liberté ». On n’avait vraiment pas besoin de ça.

Depuis quand les droits à appliquer sont ils sélectifs ? Depuis quand peut-on imposer des devoirs à ceux à qui on ne donne aucun droit ? Des droits et des devoirs, elle est là la plus grande blague qu’on nous enseigne depuis la maternelle.

Les Etats, la France et l’Angleterre, par leurs erreurs volontaires sont les premiers responsables de la création de ce lieu. L’arrivée de commerces était inéluctable et ils sont nécessaires à la survie des quelques 7000 (8000, 9000 aujourd’hui ? Qui sait le chiffre que nous donnera le prochain recensement…) personnes qui (sur)vivent ici. Les distributions alimentaires et de repas ne suffisent plus depuis longtemps au ridicule chiffre d’un repas par jour par personne. Les portions sont diminuées semaine après semaine, y compris pour les familles et donc pour les enfants (dont le plus jeune a, aux dernières nouvelles, 4 mois).

Les restaurants et magasins, en plus de combler ce manque alimentaire, permettent de charger les téléphones et donc aux habitants de communiquer avec leurs familles, de prendre des nouvelles régulièrement dans les zones de conflits ou après des événements particuliers (si, si, à Kaboul aussi il y a des attentats).

Et puis, dans la survie, ils apportent aussi un peu de vie. De l’humain, du social, du lien et de la mixité entre communautés. Ça change des « lines » de distribution qui ne sont sources que de tensions. Bien des valeurs que nos gouvernements ont passées aux oubliettes depuis bien longtemps. C’est la même chose que pour la liberté de circulation des personnes ou le droit d’asile, on ne veut plus en connaître la définition, c’est bien trop contraignant ! Alors que ça règlerait les problèmes de tout le monde, du gouvernement qui les crée jusqu’à nos amis qui en subissent les dramatiques conséquences, physiquement et psychologiquement violentes et traumatisantes.

La réponse du juge des référés du tribunal administratif de Lille à propos du référé de l’Etat français pour la destruction des commerces (et donc de la vie) du camp sera connue mercredi.

La vérité c’est qu’ils essayent de tuer le peu de vitalité qu’il reste dans les yeux de ceux qui ne cherchent que protection, mais qu’ils n’y arrivent pas. Ils ne savent plus rien faire d’autre que détruire, enfermer et déporter. Et pourtant tout le monde ici continue de sourire parfois, quand il ne pense pas aux morts, aux tortures et aux violences qu’ils continuent de subir ici.

Des vraies solutions, qui demanderaient certes une réflexion positive plutôt que sécuritaire et répressive, existent pourtant : l’hébergement inconditionnel et l’ouverture des frontières pour les personnes.

Mais leur liberté est vendue des millions à l’Angleterre, les rendant esclaves d’une Europe moderne en perdition.

Mais la liberté est en voix d’extinction, dans un pays qui l’avait pourtant choisie comme première valeur il y a plus de 225 ans. Vivement la piqûre de rappel… Horria !

ENGLISH
Until when they will try to kill life.
Calais. The jungle. Sunday, 7th August 2016.

We could make an encyclopedia out of our goverment’s ideas to wipe out all forms of social life in this part of France. To believe that after crossing land and sea, and already losing much of their lives running away from what we all would flee from, we would still be doomed to drown, die, suffer, because Europe (and France in our case) has decided so. So far nothing new.

Their latest brilliant idea- It seems to me I have already heard and heard it said a thousand times – is the police harassment of the camp’s shops and restaurants. They are there almost every day. They make their short patrol, weapons in their hands, just one or two metres from those who live there, who look at them lost for words.

Two men quietly bask in the sun holding their tear gas grenade launcher, as if it was normal. It looks cool, doesn’t it? And now we go for a bar crawl! Ah, no, restaurants, sorry…

A CRS, or maybe a cowboy (kind of reminds us of Lucky Luke), feels put in danger by the photographer. It is true that there we feel safe. And customers of the restaurants of the camp just on the other side of the road must feel super good too!

They smile. They talk and laugh loudly, not giving a shit about those who live here, so far removed from their lives and their priorities as good obedient CRS or policeman that just thinking about them makes me want to vomit.

Police officers and a man, probably from health checks services (he didn’t say where), who frankly seems to be having fun.

You must recognize the right to relax, poor police of my country, always the armed victims! but finally you are still a bit derogatory, mocking, insulting, hurtful and VIOLENT (as always)!

It’s true that having a gun in his hand is funny.

It’s true that being in exile is fun.

It is true that hunger is funny.

And promiscuity.

And the dirt.

Etc, everyone understands what we are talking about.

But what winds you up even more, is even after all that, they still manage to make their lives harder, and to push them lower than dirt. It clearly puts fun in their lives as much as the unhealthy individuals that compose our government and “authorities” (authority that they lost long ago, although they try to make us believe otherwise using systematic violence, whatever its form).

Violence: when it comes to Afghanistan, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Syria or Pakistan, already traumatized by the deaths, fights, sea crossings and borders, with very welcoming security forces in the states crossed, the almost military intrusion must recall good memories (and closing the restaurants, that was really needed!). They are really nasty these migrants with arms crossed, they create such fear that training a weapon on them, a weapon that is not as pleasant as that, let alone at close range. Still, for many they already know how it feels, It so commonplace for them, it’s okay. And better than that, it is no surprise…

So if you are not out of your mind after this good slice of fun we’ll move on to the next thing.

For two weeks, the prefecture has sent his troops to visit the shops and restaurants of the camp. Their agenda: closures, arrests (this could be anyone since there it is not obvious who is the owner nor who is responsible nor who is the seller when the Police arrive), and/or destruction of property (including that which has no connection with the “illegal” trade activity such as the destruction of light bulbs and TVs), seizures, court summonses and other gifts of all kinds.

They are there, the riot police, full of professionalism, representing or government so well! Mission accomplished perfectly! Using a smart phone to take pictures, it is not to them prohibited by law? Yes, but they are above the law. And migrants below. Invisible. Beautiful country, beautiful mentality.

Anyway is is not surprising that they behave like thugs, never towards their own people in protests, of course, but towards foreigners restaurants. It’s better and more acceptable …

The reasons, as it was necessary that they found some, are unfair competition to businesses of Calais, poor hygiene of food served and tax illegality of these places.

Okay, we have nothing to complain about. Oh yes !

Someone told me that in fact: first, Lidl and other shops in the area (legal, these ones) have seen their profits soar since the inception and increase in population of the camp, since many inhabitants of the Jungle and the shops buy their stock from them. And if Calais shops end the colour bar and start allowing in the public enemies that are the refugees, the question would be posed even less. So we would like to know who is losing out.

Then another question arises: were any fast foot restaurants in France – as well as other “restaurants” with similar conditions of hygiene and horribly similar production – closed after a child who ate there unfortunately died as a consquence? you know the answer.
Here they talk of hospitalizations, which nobody else has ever heard of, to use concern about migrant health as a reason for all this. Well, this is the first time that they have cared about the health of immigrants! In the case of a stroke, the hospital doctor will answer that without asylum in France he can not do nothing except give aspirin to the worst diseases. In short, what everyone here will tell you is that what they are really afraid of are rats and the toilets, of which the number decreases as the population increases (government logic), cleaning is extremely rare and are, at the time we are writing these lines, dirty and overflowing (to be polite). But surely no it is the restaurant kitchens! Their kitchens are mostly more cleaner than the last Flunch you’ve been in. Those who have experienced a hospitalization in France will tell you, they prefer the food they find in camp’s restaurants rather than lose several kilos in a few weeks because of the inedible hospital food. And the same will be told to you about the dishes served at the Jules Ferry Center: how often we hear that not even a dog would want it, and if they were not starving they wouldn’t touch it… And if we just let them equip themselves, there is no doubt they would have nice kitchens that will shine so the French won’t feel too disoriented. If the kitchen of a restaurant it is not white and it is not shining it means that it’s dirty! We learn this at school of the Republic, right?

Then, the informality of restaurants, this is a foolproof issue of the prefecture! Illegal businesses on with unwanted customers in a place which is squatted and not legal according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the French and European law, agreements, conventions and treaties. That makes sense! Those undesirable persons -who government try by all means to dissuade to stay in France by subjecting them to any possible violence, physical and psychological- should do the paperwork to open a legally owned business that would serve other undesired people. Look around, again there must a logic. If our elected officials could please help us find it, because it must be hidden under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that they have never read!

When I hear the reasoning of legality, which is more about taxes, I can not remove that little voice that screams loudly in my head: “The Rights of Man, the French Constitution, the French law , the European law, the Geneva Convention and the rest, has anyone been concerned to apply them here before trying to apply the tax law? “. “Anyone”, is it the Left that continues to spout out , devoid of all meaning the words “socialism,” “democracy” and “freedom.” We really don’t need that.

Since when were rights to be applied selectively? Since when can we impose duties on those who have no rights? Rights and duties, it’s the biggest joke we are taught since nursery.

Nations, France and England, through their voluntary errors hold the main responsibility for the creation of this place. The arrival of shops was inevitable and they are necessary for the survival of 7000 (8000, 9000 today? Who knows the number that the next census will state…) people living (surviving) here. Food distributions are not enough since a lot of time for it is only one meal per day per person. The portions are reduced week by week, including those for families and therefore children (the youngest of whom was, at last count, 4 months, but since then another girl has been born).

Restaurants and shops, in addition to filling this food shortage, allow migrants to charge phones and thus people to communicate with their families, having regular news from areas of conflict or after particular events (yes, also in Kabul there are terrorists attacks).

And in the struggle to survive they also bring a bit of life. They are a place for human, social relationships and are a melting pot between communities. It is a change from endless waiting in distribution lines that are the cause of so much tension. Although they are values ​​that our governments forgot long ago. This is the same as for the freedom of movement or the right to asylum, you don’t want to know the definition, is too restrictive! While it would solve the problems of everyone, from the government that created the situation up to our friends who are suffering its dramatic consequences, physical and psychological violence and trauma.

We will know on Wednesday the decision of the judge of the Administrative Court of Lille about the interim of the French State for the destruction of shops (and therefore life) of the camp.

The truth is that they are trying to kill the little vitality that remains in the eyes of those who seek only protection, but they don’t find it. They know nothing else to do than destroy, lock up and deport. Yet the people here still smile sometimes when they are not thinking about deaths, torture and violence that still exists here.

True solutions, which certainly would require a positive reflection rather than protecting safety and repression, already exist: the unconditional accommodation and the opening of borders for people.

But their freedom is sold by millions in England, making them slaves of a sinking modern Europe.

But freedom is on its way to extinction, in a country that had chosen it as the first value more than 225 years ago. A deeply felt wakeup call… Huriyeh!