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No Borders Convergence: final details & programme

No Borders | 09.02.2012 01:21 | Anti-racism | Migration | Workers' Movements

The No Borders Convergence, on next week (13-18 February), is a week of discussion and action to bring together all those fighting for free movement and against border controls


It starts off with three days (Monday 13 to Wednesday 15) of workshops and open discussion hosted by students at *Goldsmiths College in New Cross, South London*. Refugees from different communities, together with anti-deportation activists from around Europe, will brainstorm about how to stop deportation flights. Ex prisoners and supporters will talk about resistance in migration detention centres and the prison system. Militants working in border zones from Calais to Palestine will share their experiences. A session on migrant worker struggles will bring together the Latin American Workers Association, migrant sex workers' group X:Talk, and others.

Other sessions will feature anti-fascism, radical immigration casework and everyday solidarity, dealing with police stop and searches and ID checks, "counter-mapping", migration economics, and much more.

See here for a more detailed programme & for details of evening film screenings, socials and other events.

All the discussions will share a common focus on action. How can we work more effectively to overcome borders and increase freedom of movement? What successful tactics can we learn from? And how can we create a powerful No Borders network to support movement across Europe and beyond?

The last three days (Thursday 16 to Saturday 18) are about taking action in and around London. There will be public events as well as resources and support for planning your own contributions. We encourage all forms of action that support free movement and undermine the border regime. We encourage people to form affinity groups in advance. Our aim is to create a resistance movement uniting people with and without official papers. No Borders activism is something everyone can get involved in: from essential solidarity work like distributing asylum information, to public pickets and noise demos, to direct action taken by small affinity groups. Check out the Bordered London map with an attractive array of sightseeing locations here.

Finally, on Saturday 18 we take to the streets with a No Borders Carnival starting at St Pauls Cathedral. This is going to be a lively event with samba, banners, and celebration. Bring all your love and rage, but bear in mind that this is an event open for all communities.

*What is "No Borders"?*

Borders are tools to divide and control us, encouraging nationalism and racism, and separating us into "legals" and "illegals" who can be more easily exploited. People migrate for many reasons: to escape war and repression, to earn money in rich countries, or just pursuing our own dreams and desires. Borders don't apply to the rich and powerful, who hop from one tax haven to another without problems. We believe everyone should be free to move, regardless of where you are born, what passport you carry, or how much you have in the bank. We know we are not going to get rid of states, borders, or capitalist exploitation overnight. But we also know that state controls are not all-powerful: millions of people do manage to move and live where they want, whether legally or clandestinely.

The networks and resources we are building provide practical support for migration, undermine the border regime, and lay the groundwork for future uprisings. Our aim is to create a global resistance movement.

*Practicalities*

All venues have disabled access, interpreters should be available (but more are still welcome!), and there will be a crèche everyday from 10am-6pm, but please email noborderslondon[at]riseup.net if you will be needing it. If you need crash space please let us know as well.

Vegan food will be provided during the three days of workshops. Details of the location can be found here.

Legal information will be available on the site within the next few days, so check back then.

This convergence is not taking place now because of the economic crisis, as some have speculated, or because a new immigration prison is being built. It is taking place because of the ongoing silent war being waged day in day out against 'unwanted' foreigners in Europe....

Just take a look at this snapshot & get ready for action.

No Borders
- e-mail: noborderslondon [/at] riseup.net
- Homepage: http://london.noborders.org.uk/

Comments

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A gift to the EDL and BNP

12.02.2012 00:18

What is "No Borders"? It's a load of well-meaning, mostly middle-class activists (sorry, people who are for instance students at places like Goldsmiths etc) putting out a strong, clear, direct message out to the white working-class communities who feel their jobs and benefits are most threatened by immigration, that the same radicals who claim to represent working-class interests also seek to ABOLISH all the border controls that limit economic migration into this country... a gift to the BNP in other words

I'm sure much of the debate at this event will be perfectly sensible, but (much like the Anarchists who instantly alienate themselves from 99% of the population by advocating an approach to anti-social crime that proposes closing all prisons) the "No Borders" movement could not possibly have hoped, in Anti-Fascist terms, to have chosen a more counter-productive name.

Jake


yeah thanks for your thoughtful analysis

12.02.2012 10:03

first, who´s claiming to "represent the working class" -- you´re mistaking radical politics for the labour party

second, has it escaped your attention that there are millions of non-white workers in this city and this country, including hundreds and thousands without papers, with next to no employment rights, doing the shittest jobs for the shittest pay and knowing if you stand up and try and organise you risk getting immigration called and possibly immediate detention or deportation without charge
these workers keep "our" economy going and the profits ticking over for capital
as do all the workers in asian factories on a few pennies an hour making all the shit we consume
so if you want to talk about class politics, class solidarity, and building movements for social change then let´s start thinking how we make alliances across the divides of race, nationality, legal status that the bosses use to divide us
rather than pretending we live in some white fantasy island of the 1930s

on the other hand, maybe you´re spot on
if we all just adopt far right politics wholesale and spout tough borders and zero immigration then you wouldn´t need the fash to do it and you´d cut away their support base
or, now we´re at it, why don´t we also just all embrace austerity packages, neoliberalism, the end of the NHS, anti union laws and the rest of it, and we could just get rid of the tories

nb