In the time of neo-liberal globalization and perpetual war, forms of apartheid have spread within Western society. A climate of repression has prevailed throughout Europe around the question of the freedom of movement and rights of migrants. A repression that gives rise to ever more instruments of exploitation and detention.

The growing fortification and militarization of national boundaries, exacerbated by harsher measures of expulsion and administrative detention and by the introduction of new criminal offences, has furthered the process of "clandestinization" of immigration and the consequential exploitation of migrant workers. Behind the rhetoric of "firmness" against clandestine immigration is the assurance of a quota of workers within the country who are forced to endure conditions of total exploitation and who are denied any protection of civil and social rights. The recent changes to the immigration law in Italy - the so-called "Bossi-Fini" law - have introduced the "contract of residence" which rigidly links the possibility of residence with regular employment, exposing even more explicitly the hidden intentions behind the politics of immigration control which serve to benefit those with powerful economic interests. Linking the residence permit to the place of
work transforms individuals into nothing more than a workforce, namely, economically usable and always replaceable commodities. This is even more so
for irregular immigrants who have no form of legal protection in the work place, and for whom reporting conditions of exploitation often means running
the risk of expulsion from the country. Policies of this kind are now coordinated throughout Europe, integrated on legislative, informational, and
military levels. For refugees and those in exile, the doors are increasingly closed (and in countries such as Italy, were never open), while "Enduring Freedom" promises to bring yet more war and devastation to much of the world's population. The brutal price of these xenophobic and criminalizing decisions is paid by millions of women and men with their lives, repression, and exploitation.

It is reasonable to think that these policies do not correspond solely to the necessity of control and division of the workforce on an international scale. Neither, is their only aim to turn migrants into "sacrificial lambs" for the problems of instable contemporary societies. From a perspective dominated by the paradigm of insecurity (work, existential...) the social
inferiorization‚ of migrants represents a dark side of modernity: re-defining social links and new models of sovereignty in which the welfare state is replaced by a state based on punishment and repression.

At the same time the reality of migration, in other words the actual and continual practice of "the right to exit" from the present disasters of globalization, constitutes a fundamental element in the struggle against the
neo-liberal order and a resource for the emancipation of women and men from the domination of commodity and profit. Migrants can be considered a potential sort of virus‚ which is able to spread the idea "Another world is possible", the powerful narrative which after Seattle and Genoa signalled a global transformation of social
movements.

As a result of migrants‚ nomadic subjectivity new individual and collective forms of action and knowledge are being experimented in the face of repressive polices. In such a context, the struggle against this situation of apartheid involves the whole society and is not simply limited to solidarity: there are no labour conflicts, social or political struggles that can be claimed without considering migration.
As a result of the growing role of migrants in social movements (including those countries where immigration is a recent phenomenon as in the case of
Italy) the awareness of these processes is now spreading across "the movement of movements". Anti-racism is finally gathering mass participation.
The European Social Forum in Florence in November 2002 represented a step forward in the construction of a global movement for the freedom of circulation and the rights to citizenship, and we think that our efforts and proposals should be aimed in this direction.

Proposal

Our proposal is for a camp in Puglia from 21st to 27th July 2003 around the themes of border controls, migrant work and citizenship rights. The initiative is part of a series of proposals and campaigns launched at the European Social Forum held in Florence last November. Puglia has been chosen due to its position on the edge of "Fortress Europe" (its territory is characterized by a strong militarization and the presence of administrative detention centres) and because of the presence of thousands of migrants who
work under conditions of total exploitation, especially in the agricultural sector.

The camp wants to involve anti-racist organizations as well as other social movements and workers‚ organizations. It is the first experience of this kind in Italy, while similar experiences are common in other European Countries. In the area where we intend to locate the camp (Frassanito, Puglia) there are numerous centres for the administrative detention of
migrants and, during the summer, the region is characterized by the presence of many migrants working in agriculture. It is important to remember that
during the last few years the number of legal admittances to work in Southern Italy has been ridiculously low due the Italian government's
preference for an agricultural development based on the exploitation of clandestine migrants and black-market work.

The programme of the camp includes a series of workshops as well as direct actions and initiatives. Our goal is to share the knowledge acquired within the various anti-racist movements, as well as the legal expertise around, for instance, the protection of migrants‚ and refugees‚ social rights (e.g. health), but also practical knowledge developed during direct actions against the expulsion of aliens, administrative detention centres and mechanisms of social exclusion. During the camp we want to organize demonstrations and interventions against the administrative detention centres and the militarization of the territory, and an investigation into the various aspects of immigrant employment in Europe. We also want to agree
with migrant workers on direct actions against labour exploitation. One of our objectives is to expose the connection between expulsion programmes and
activities of NGOs, with special regard to the conduct of the IOM.

However, this camp does not want to involve just anti-racist organizations. One of the main goals is to favour cooperation and awareness among all the
individuals and groups acting in social movements. It is necessary to overcome the actual situation where, except in the case of mass demonstrations, the daily struggle for migrants‚ rights is delegated to specialised anti-racist activists.

Another important theme is the growing political self-organization of migrants, and we intend to debate this issue throughout the duration of the camp. However, apartheid policies can only be defeated if the social movements become aware of the central role that these policies play within the neo-liberal agenda. We have to defeat the isolation of migrants‚
struggles. For this reason, we propose that the camp be developed in cooperation: a) with activists working in the field of communication, so as to break the wall of indifference around migrants and to expose the
hypocrisy and hostility of the mass media; b) with organized workers‚ movements and unions, so as to investigate and confront the political and legal mechanisms that govern migrants‚ work. We propose to hold during the camp a European meeting in order to continue the debates and campaigns commenced in Florence.

Programme for meetings and actions:
- 21 welcoming day
- 22 meeting of the Comitato Immigrati in Italia (Italian Immigrant
Committee)
- 23 action against borders
- 24 actions related to migrant work (to be decided)
- 25 meeting of the Euro-Mediterranean anti-racism movement
- 26 demonstration against a centre for administrative detention
- 27 meeting of the Italian anti-racism movement

workshops on 4 themes:
- Border control and action against it.
- Migrants work.
- European policies
- Communication (concerning also freedom of movement/freedom of expression).


Web site: www.migranti.net
Info:  noracism@virgilio.it