No Borders Demonstration Harmondsworth Pictures

Pictures from the No Borders demonstration outside Harmondsworth and Colnbrook Detention Centres in west London on Sat April 8, 2006.

Band prepare to play. Colnbrook Detention Centre in background

Outside Harmondsworth Detention Centre

Listening to the speeches

Speaker outside Harmondsworth Detention Centre

Penned in by police on the A4

Several hundred demonstrators gathered in the car park at 11.00. A number of people, including some who had been detained in these and other centres spoke, and we were also able to hear some of those inside the two centres speaking on mobile phones.

The detainees thanked the demonstrators for coming and told how they were being prevented from hearing what was happening. There had been some assaults on detainees and they were refusing food and water. At one point a small group inside sang over the phone for those outside.

Around one o'clock the police penned in a group of around 60 demonstrators on the main road, holding them for some time. They held one NUJ member, refusing to accept his Press Card was genuine, then going on to argue that press who got close to the demonstrators and went to a lot of demonstrations should be treated as demonstrators. Eventually they released him. At this point I had to leave before the demonstration finished

More pictures on My London Diary shortly.

Peter Marshall
e-mail: petermarshall@cix.co.uk
Homepage: http://mylondondiary.co.uk

Comments

Hide the following 4 comments

no borders is nonsense!

09.04.2006 08:50

No borders, please reply in good faith to my enquiry. While of course, i destest the current treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, i find the idea of no borders stupid. Why? there can be no borders with countries of more or less the same wealth, such as the EU, but if there were no borders in general, then the rich western countries would face millions of africans and asians who cannot speak english and have a completely different culture. In short, there would be chaos. The working class would probably vote in a far right BNP type guy. We can talk about working class solidarity, but it only exits in theory. Look at our cities, the different communities barely meet. Look at france... Furthermore, i do not see how no borders helps third world countries. Surely, by giving the chance for all the young people to come to europe, this deprives africa and asia of all its best people. Europe can afford to train its own doctors...Africans and asians who study here should be encouraged to go back to their own countries so as to help their own people, and not become a social problem in europe. It seems to me there can only be no borders once there is a similar level of wealth throughout the world, until then, no.

g love

dear g love,...

09.04.2006 13:30

...in fact we are in favour of the abolition or ALL differences in distribution of wealth, whether between nations or between the people and the multinational corporations. The NoBorders idea is part of the bigger idea that exploitation must end altogether and equality being re-instated. The 'rich' countries are not rich because God made them rich, they are rich because they have stolen and continue stealing from the 'poor' countries, which were not poor at all before the advent of colonialism and imperialism. The global scale theft includes stealing resources such as raw materials and expoliting the work force, with millions people being forced to work 12 or 16 hours a day withuot enough food. It also includes the expliotation of migrant workers, skilled or unskilled, and the drain of doctors, nurses etc. from poor countries. The free movement of people is a challenge to the unequal distribution of wealth, that's why there were so many cops at our demonstration. That millions of people would come here if borders were abolished is a fairy-tale and a nasty piece of propaganda: history proves that movements of people are somehow self-regulating, and no country has ever collapesed under the pressure of too many immigrants. Immigration controls are a very recent invention, they only appeared in the late stage of imperialism and were ony made so harsh in very recent years, roughly in concomitance with the latest developments of globalisation and neo-liberal policies - roughly described as 'mulitinationals take it all'. Have I answered to your queries?

Chiara

"Immigration controls are a very recent invention" No they are not!

09.04.2006 17:12

"Immigration controls are a very recent invention", no they are not infact they date back centuries. Infact migration control was much stronger centures ago as the offence of "Wandering abroad" was part of the vagrancy act which forbid people to travel more than ten miles from their homes even within their own country. Only long distance travel for business pruposes was permitted from about 1300 onwards.

Historian

phew

10.04.2006 11:17

'movements of people are somehow self-regulating'
That's alright then

We'd gladly support the hundreds of thousands or even millions till they found their feet and filled the vast numbers of employment vacancies in the UK.

Accommodation wouldn't be a problem as we'd just build several more cities.

They'd all be honest so there wouldn't b a surge in crime among people surrounded by wealth but unable to access it. There'd be no friction in the de-industrialised areas ,so the BNP wouldn't get massive working-class support and come to power in a coalition with the Tories.

No borders no probs!

phats

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