Like similar groups worldwide, Birmingham NoBorders will be a tool/framework for many grassroots activists and groups who work on immigration- and asylum-related issues and struggle for the freedom of movement for all people, for the right of all to stay in the places they choose, against repression and the many controls that multiply the borders everywhere in all countries. Thus, the the group will naturally be different from lobbying campaigns and NGO's because it is based on grassroots activists and opposed to all sorts of controls whatsoever.

The global No Border network was created in 1999, following the European Summit in Tampere, Finland, in October that year. The summit was basically one more step towards the constitution of "corporate Europe" with its level of control adapted to the level of exploitation. Various European groups in different countries called for demonstrations against the summit. The motto was: "this actually means more controls, more arrests, more deportations."

From anti-deportation and anti-detention campaigns, border camps, to international days of actions, the network has been a great success. For more information, see the No Border website:
 http://www.noborder.org

In the UK, too, No Border has been gathering momentum. In London, Manchester, Sheffield, Glasgow and elsewhere, local No Borders groups have been set up and various actions and activities have been organised. For more information, see the UK Indymedia's sub-sites on migration and anti-racism:
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/topics/migration
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/topics/anti-racism

Also have a look at the Make Borders History website, which was set up during this year's G8 protests to cover no-border-related actions:
 http://www.makebordershistory.org

Finally, if you want to keep informed about our activities and, more importantly, get involved in actions, subscribe to the Birmingham NoBorders mailing list:
 http://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/noborders-brum