international call for days of action on may 31st and the 1st of june
david | 15.05.2008 17:26 | Migration | World
International call for actions on the 31th of May and the 1rst of June against borders, States, closed centers, prisons and their guards.
The free movement of persons doesn't form an exception to a world in which everything is subjected to control.
To the numerous laws that subject us, the States have added the migration policy. This allows them, amongst others, to know who's where and when, but also to decide where we can and cannot go. Moreover these laws serve political and economical interests and give shape to the identity of the "foreigner".
The apparatus "Europe" is being added to the weaponry of the States to justify their repressive campaigns, while they wash their hands in innocense ("it's not us, it's Europe!").
It's the migrationpolicy of this "Europe" that tends to "zero immigration" since the Seventies. But the migration was, of course never completely stopped: it has always existed and will always exist. First of all because Power doesn't control everything (yet), but also because capitalism has interests in illegal migration. The invention of the category "without papers" is not an accidental consequence, but the clear result of a political will. Confronted with this reality the leaders of today all pass on to a "more realistic" policy; one of economical migration.
On the 20th of May a new guideline will be voted by the European Parliament, in order to harmonise the migrationpolicies of the European countries. The most remarkable new measures are (amongst others): the maximum detention-time in a closed center will be 18 months; the banishment for five years of all deported people from the Schengen-countries...
This new guideline doesn't surprise us. It's not a consequence of a democratic failure, but an integral part of its functioning. A system (be it representative or not) that is based on borders cannot exist without camps, nor without a judicial apparatus.
Even if this attack, this new leap towards totalitarian control, barely surprises us, we have, nevertheless, decided not to undergo the blows in silence any longer.
Us? That is the growing number of people that's aware of the democratical deceit.
That's the people who personally feel the expropriation of their lifes by the system.
Confronted with this feeling one can give up or try to individually manage the situation somehow. But one can also decide to struggle for the conquest of his life and aspire autonomy and freedom. This demands the fall of a system, because how can we be free as long as there's a juridical apparatus?
Therefor this struggle cannot remain partial.
IF WE ATTACK THE EXISTENCE OF PAPERS, it's because they allow the State to control our lifes. It's because they reduce us to a nationality and make us controllable by an institution. It's because they reduce our lifes to a piece of paper.
IF WE ATTACK THE BORDERS, it's because they are historical constructions, drawn according to the (economical) interests of some leaders. These borders are not natural, nor evident. They serve to control, to limit and to separate...
IF WE ATTACK THE CLOSED CENTERS, THE PRISONS and THE LOGIC OF IMPRISONMENT, it's because because they drag our sisters, friends, our children and our neighbours from us, while we know they don't belong behind these walls. It's because the State decides for us how to resolve our conflicts. Because these institutions steal away our freedom. Because these places are graveyards for those who don't play by the rules - rules that don't fit us and that we never chose for.
This international call doesn't revendicate more human policies, but the destruction of every kind of policy over our lifes.
We have nothing to demand. We only long for FREEDOM. And everybody knows freedom cannot be asked for, it has to be taken.
The free movement of persons doesn't form an exception to a world in which everything is subjected to control.
To the numerous laws that subject us, the States have added the migration policy. This allows them, amongst others, to know who's where and when, but also to decide where we can and cannot go. Moreover these laws serve political and economical interests and give shape to the identity of the "foreigner".
The apparatus "Europe" is being added to the weaponry of the States to justify their repressive campaigns, while they wash their hands in innocense ("it's not us, it's Europe!").
It's the migrationpolicy of this "Europe" that tends to "zero immigration" since the Seventies. But the migration was, of course never completely stopped: it has always existed and will always exist. First of all because Power doesn't control everything (yet), but also because capitalism has interests in illegal migration. The invention of the category "without papers" is not an accidental consequence, but the clear result of a political will. Confronted with this reality the leaders of today all pass on to a "more realistic" policy; one of economical migration.
On the 20th of May a new guideline will be voted by the European Parliament, in order to harmonise the migrationpolicies of the European countries. The most remarkable new measures are (amongst others): the maximum detention-time in a closed center will be 18 months; the banishment for five years of all deported people from the Schengen-countries...
This new guideline doesn't surprise us. It's not a consequence of a democratic failure, but an integral part of its functioning. A system (be it representative or not) that is based on borders cannot exist without camps, nor without a judicial apparatus.
Even if this attack, this new leap towards totalitarian control, barely surprises us, we have, nevertheless, decided not to undergo the blows in silence any longer.
Us? That is the growing number of people that's aware of the democratical deceit.
That's the people who personally feel the expropriation of their lifes by the system.
Confronted with this feeling one can give up or try to individually manage the situation somehow. But one can also decide to struggle for the conquest of his life and aspire autonomy and freedom. This demands the fall of a system, because how can we be free as long as there's a juridical apparatus?
Therefor this struggle cannot remain partial.
IF WE ATTACK THE EXISTENCE OF PAPERS, it's because they allow the State to control our lifes. It's because they reduce us to a nationality and make us controllable by an institution. It's because they reduce our lifes to a piece of paper.
IF WE ATTACK THE BORDERS, it's because they are historical constructions, drawn according to the (economical) interests of some leaders. These borders are not natural, nor evident. They serve to control, to limit and to separate...
IF WE ATTACK THE CLOSED CENTERS, THE PRISONS and THE LOGIC OF IMPRISONMENT, it's because because they drag our sisters, friends, our children and our neighbours from us, while we know they don't belong behind these walls. It's because the State decides for us how to resolve our conflicts. Because these institutions steal away our freedom. Because these places are graveyards for those who don't play by the rules - rules that don't fit us and that we never chose for.
This international call doesn't revendicate more human policies, but the destruction of every kind of policy over our lifes.
We have nothing to demand. We only long for FREEDOM. And everybody knows freedom cannot be asked for, it has to be taken.
david