UK Migration Feature Archive
Close Campsfield Now!
30-11-2003 18:41
From 150 to 300 people turned up and demonstrated to close Campsfield now. An Oxford and London based samba band sent its rhythms to give moral support to the detainees, while speakers from very different backgrounds talked to an equally heterogenous crowd. At 2 pm the crowd moved to Oxford, where the demonstration continued in Broad Street, the samba band music attracting a big crowd. Both in Campsfield and Oxford there was a heavy and intimidating police presence, which seemed totally unjustified given the peaceful and colourful nature of the protest.
Meanwhile, three banners mysterisouly appeared snagged high on the perimeter fence the night before, on the 28th. Stating "No One is Illegal", "No Deportations" and "No Detentions", these banners were clearly visible to detainees inside providing much needed morale boost for the asylum seekers.
[Report on the demo and background information on Campsfield] [Report and picture] [Report and pictures of the banners] [Campaign to Close Campsfield]
Glasgow Demonstrators Denounce Deportations and Evictions
11-11-2003 14:12
"This is beyond humanity", cried a woman from Rwanda. "I fled for my life from Rwanda, now this Friday here in Glasgow they are coming to evict me and deport me."
Demonstrators rallied outside the Glasgow City Council Chambers in George Square last night, 9th November, to denounce the Council's new policy of evicting refugees who have been refused asylum. Protestors erected tents in the Square to illustrate the reality of the State's inhuman policies.
Asif, a refugee from Afghanistan, spoke on behalf of the Glasgow Refugee Action Group. "The Glasgow City Council are making millions of pounds from their contract with the Home Office to take refugees. Now they are throwing the refugees out on the street....We appreciate the support of ordinary people in Scotland. This is not the end of our struggle but the beginning."
Freeing Asylum Seekers from Oakington
11-11-2003 11:01
Concerned individuals in Cambridge have therefore set up the Cambridge Bail Circle. The Bail Circle aims to attract individuals from the area and link them up with Oakington detainees identified by lawyers as having arguable cases. The individuals are asked to meet the detainee, attend court with them for a "bail hearing", and stand as "surety" for the them. The asylum seeker is then at least freed from detention whilst they await the review, although conditions are imposed.
Asylum Seekers - No One Is Illegal
10-11-2003 13:40
In Liverpool, campaigners slept out in the streets in solidarity with destitute asylum seekers [pics | call].
In Scotland, over 1000 protesters expressed their opposition to the imprisonment of refugee children at the remote and isolated Dungavel Detention Centre. On November 10th, people protested in Glasgow against the eviction of 200 refugees from their accommodation.
Destitute women asylum seekers joined up with the Global Women Strike Campaign in an antiwar protest in London, simultaneously highlighting the ongoing breeches of human rights by Section 55 [ report | Amnesty InternationalAfghanistan report].
In Cambridge campaigners join up with refugees from Oakington Detention Centre and support groups to cope with the current repressive measures and proposed new cuts of human rights.
In Manchester a refugee died in September after setting fire to himself in desperation of having his benefits cut.
National Coalition for Anti- Deportation Campaigns | Asylum Rights | Asylum Support | Asylum Policy | Joint Council for the Welfare of immigrants
Boundaries-to-Bridges Tour 2003/2004
29-10-2003 00:00
A caravan of artists, media activists, scientists and technicians from all over the world is presently gathering in Andalucia in the South of Spain. The Euro-African project will cross the Straits of Gibraltar in December, and move south along the west-coast of Africa [map], reclaiming the Straits as a bridge, not a boundary. The Caravan describes itself as "a sound system, a circus, a mobile cinema and a stage for theatre and performance". It is constantly open for everyone who wants to participate.
news about the tour | german version
Demonstrators besiege Dungavel refugee prison
08-09-2003 18:29
Sticks, boots and bare fists beat a rhythm of resistance on the razor-wire fence around Scotland’s refugee prison, Dungavel, last Saturday 6th September. Over 1,000 demonstrators travelled to the south Lanarkshire countryside to demand the closure of Dungavel and freedom for the men, women and children imprisoned within.
Pics [1, 2, 3,] audio
Iranian Refugee Sets Fire to Himself
06-09-2003 22:00
Israfil Shiri has died after five days of terrible suffering in Wythenshawe Hospital Burns Unit Manchester.
On Thursday 27th August Israfil Shiri, a destitute young Iranian man poured petrol over his body and set fire to himself in the offices of Refugee Action in Manchester. He suffered burns to 80% of his body. He had told his friends he would do it to prove that this government cares more about animals than people fleeing torture and persecution.
"If they cut off all my benefits, prevent me from working and make me homeless, I too will commit suicide". These were the words of another Iranian asylum seeker who, along with 30 other people, attended a meeting on Monday to discuss last Thursday's tragedy and how we can prevent it from happening again.
Israfil Shiri, 30, who has been on life support at Wythenshawe Hospital Burns Unit following the suicide attempt at the Manchester offices of Refugee Action last week, died early on the morning of the third September.
Actions at Oakington Detention Centre
06-08-2003 15:03
Video coverage of this action is now available.
Noborder Camp in Krynki, Poland
06-07-2003 11:14
This noborder demo in Warsaw on June 30 ended with 16 arrests for a short time.
A website with templates for appeals to authorities and more info was prepared.
The demo ended a noborder conference and an International Anarchist Meeting preceding the Krynki bordercamp which started on June 2nd.
Upcoming Noborder Camps
28-06-2003 11:51
The noborder camp in Timisoara (Romania) ended with a cheerful demo. From July 2, a conference and a bordercamp in Krynki will start in Poland, followed by Puglia (Italy) from 21-27 July, and Cologne (Germany) starting on 31 July.
Mobile media units like the noborderlab of the Publixtheatrecaravan are connecting the events. See noborder.org for details.
Build up begins for Thessaloniki
17-06-2003 22:00
Anarchist techs have installed their radio broadcast software on Law Faculty computers and are currently broadcasting Ozzy Osbourne tunes and news updates in 4 languages including English. You can listen to the broadcast in MP3 software such as WinAmp, iTunes, or XMMS - just open the stream at http://dimitra.law.auth.gr:8000. The US consulate is closed although everything remains peaceful at this point. There are nearly 20,000 security personnel including a division of the Greek army around the Summit.
Protests Against EU Summit In Copenhagen
14-12-2002 23:00
The weekend of the 13 - 14 December an EU summit took place in Copenhagen, Denmark.Strasbourg noborder camp
21-07-2002 22:00
This first Europe-wide noborder camp was initiated by the Noborder network and organized by activist groups from a number of European countries. The camp consisted of 10 days of actions, workshops and discussions around the central demand of 'Freedom of Movement and Settlement for Everyone', bringing together activists, migrants and artists from across Europe in a laboratory of creative resistance and civil disobedience.Hack the border Reclaim cyberspace
21-07-2002 22:00
Time lines of events:
Wed-Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun
After a demonstration for freedom of movement was attacked with pepper spray, baton charges and tear gas on the Bordercamp's third day, all actions and demonstrations relating to the bordercamp in Strasbourg were declared illegal. The denial of the right to protest was confirmed when media activists of the Publix Theatre Caravan and Indymedia were removed from the Strasbourg city centre on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Despite the ban protests continued with prisoner solidarity and street theatre. The last action of the camp was marked by leaving in a mass exodus convoy on Sunday.
This first Europe-wide noborder camp was initiated by the Noborder network and organized by activist groups from a number of European countries. The camp consisted of 10 days of actions, workshops and discussions around the central demand of 'Freedom of Movement and Settlement for Everyone', bringing together activists, migrants and artists from across Europe in a laboratory of creative resistance and civil disobedience.
Strasbourg was chosen because it is home to the central headquarters of the Schengen Information Systems [SIS], the database being used to store details of immigrants (legal or otherwise) the details of terrorists and political protestors (even only suspected ones!) and especially 'anti-globalisation' protestors. From here the project d.sec was born,which attempts to mix the cyber-activism with the activist movements of Europe.
Radio Noborder Bus:
http://noisebase.t0.or.at:4000/noborder
Radio SIS [offline now]
http://freeteam.nl:8000/sis32
http://paranoia.autistici.org:8000/noborder
More radio info at www.noborder.org/strasbourg/radio
Reports:
July 28th: Sunday report
July 27th: Saturday timeline
July 26th: Friday round-up | Virtual border action | Court case
July 25th: Media activists removed from city centre | Days events | Street Theatre pics | Pics and article
July 24th: Pics of the day | Press Release from the NoBorder Collective | Noborder Protests Declared Illegal In Strasbourg | Latest + witness reports
July 23rd: Pink-Silver and Black Block
July 22nd: Noborder Demo at Euro Court of Human Rights - Photos
Previous reports:
1 | 2 | 3 | pics
Resources:
noborder.org | d'sec | Statewatch
EU Summit in Seville: General Strike and Actions
22-06-2002 23:00
Seville hosted the EU summit of 20-21 June, marking the end of Spain 's EU presidency. The main subjects of the Seville summit were the strengthening of "fortress Europe" and the toughening of immigration laws. Meanwhile, the Seville Social Forum, unions, disobedients and many groups within Spanish civil society called for two days of action against the Europe of Capital and War that concluded with a 200.000 strong demonstration in the streets of Seville.
- Saturday 22nd, Day of solidarity with immigrants: The focuss of the day's actions, workshops, debates and demonstrations was to highlight issues related to emmigration, social exclusion and the casualisation of labour.
See IMC UK Breaking News for more detailed information and the day's timeline of events. Photo gallery and photos 1 | 2 | 3.
- Friday 21st, Day of Disobedience: Although people gathering in Seville were consistenly searched, identifyed and prevented from moving freely around the city by police, actions still took place all over Seville.
See IMC UK Breaking News for more detailed information and the day's timeline of events. Photo gallery and photos 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5.
Trade unions across Spain also called for a General Strike on Thursday 20th in protest at the Popular Party government's reform of unemployment and workers' rights laws. The strike was widely followed all over the Spanish State with reports of up to 85% stoppages in some areas, affecting the manufacturing, transport, private and public sectors.
See IMC UK Breaking News for more detailed information and the day's timeline of events. Photo gallery and photos 1 | 2 | 3
See the extended major report for full coverage of the EU-Summit and the General Strike.
More information:
IMC-Barcelona | IMC-Madrid | La Haine
Border camp brakes the cage of Woomera
02-04-2002 22:00
WOOMERA, AUSTRALIA: BORDER CAMP Mar 27 - Apr 2 2002On March 29th protesters at the Woomera border camp broke through the outer two fences guarding the refugee detention centre while detained refugees dismantled other fences from the inside. More then 40 detainees managed to escape, although most of them were recaptured later. Full story | BBC pictures
Over the whole Easter weekend, people have protested the imprisonment of refugees from all over the world at the Woomera detention centre in Southern Australia and have demanded the freedom of movement and freedom from arbitrary imprisonment for everyone. The border camp outside the detention centre had started on Wednesday March 27th with a large demonstration, following massive protests against the restrictive Australian asylum policy in Melbourne and other cities the weekend before. Pictures and videos from the first day of the camp.
Woomera is located in the middle of the desert, 500 kms from the nearest city of Adelaide. Conditions of imprisonment are unbearable and have repeatedly triggered uprisings by imprisoned refugees. Last December, several buildings were set on fire by prisoners. There have been hunger strikes, many prisoners injured themselves or comitted suicide.
Read more about Woomera and the border camp | Woomera 2002 campaign website | Indymedia Melbourne | Indymedia Adelaide | Fence Foto
Protests against imigration detention centres
24-01-2002 23:00
Jan 24 2002Hunger Strike at Woomera Detention Centre
Asylum seekers at the Woomera detention centre in South Australia are protesting against the Liberal government's draconian asylum policies. Many detainees have sewn their lips together and are refusing food, several drank shampoo and 15 have attempted suicide. This comes after 3 days of rioting last December and the death of a woman at the Villawood detention centre in Sydney. More than 30 detainees at the Maribyrnong detention centre in Melbourne are also on a hunger strike in solidarity with those at Woomera.
Read more | Foto
Activists blockade Malaga's Detention Centre
Since Thursday 26th activists from 'Ninguna Persona es Ilegal" are indefinitely camping in front of an immigration detention center near Malaga (southern Spain). Their action is to stop the deportation of 8 out the 31 immigrants who were beaten and arrested in Almer when they were demostrating against their ilegal situation.
Read more.
LATEST NEWS 29th Jan: Police have violently evicted the camp outside the detention centre in Malaga. Two protesters have been seriously beaten. Read more.
Diary of events from Malaga.
Disobedienti occupy Bologna's Detention Centre
Bologna (Italy)- In the morning of January 25th a group of 100 Disobedients occupied and dismantled a deportation centre that was to detain more than a hundred migrants under the new Italian immigration law promoted by the current fascist government. The activists were brutally charged when they were voluntarily leaving the building and a dozen of them were arrested despite the peaceful atmosphere of the protest.
Read more: Report 1 | Report 2 | Photos
Timeline of events from Radio Sherwood (Italian)
For more info, news and campaigns:No Border network
Global warming creates refugees in South Pacific
26-11-2001 23:00
NO-MAN'S ISLAND IN TUVALUThe small island of Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean has become the first victim of climate change. The island's 11,000 inhabitants are being forced to abandon their homes as rising sea levels have caused coastal erosion, increased storms and salination of their drinking water. New Zealand has agreed to accept all of the island's residents, although serious concerns have arisen about the cultural and social implications of displacing the entire Tuvalu nation from the land their ancestors have lived on for thousands of years. Tuvaluans are laying the blame on climate change, and especially on the US for their refusal to implement policies to prevent further global warming. Full story
Current estimates reckon that sea levels could rise up to one metre during this century. At the present rate of global warming, sea levels will rise enough to inundate not only several islands in the South Pacific, but also large parts of countries such as Bangladesh, which could create millions of climate refugees.
More info and climate campaigns:
Indymedia-Climate | Rising Tide Coalition | Photo
Border camp targets deportation airport
05-08-2001 22:00
BORDERCAMP FRANKFURT/GERMANY Jul 30 - Aug 5 2001The series of border camps highlighting the racist and violent European border regime has been concluded with a camp near Frankfurt airport. Almost 2,000 people met there to make "internal borders" visible. Frankfurt airport is both a major place of arrival for refugees coming to Europe, and a channel through which many of them are deported.
In addition to a large number of meetings and talks highlighting racist aspects in society, the camp provided a base for creative actions both at the airport and in the city of Frankfurt. These included, amongst many others, actions against racist politicians, mock border controls at post code borders, an action "no peanuts for former forced labourers" at the stock exchange, theatrical performances in the airport terminals, and a large demonstration calling for the shut-down of the deportation prison at the airport. For three days, the airport was partly closed and everyday-business was restricted.
For an overview of the series of border camps go to our Summer of Resistance section. For information on the Frankfurt border camp check the border camp web magazine.
Coverage from Gothenburg EU summit protests
17-06-2001 22:00
Thousands converge in Sweden's second largest city to protest at the European Union summit. Migration, corporate Europe and militarisation are among the many issues raised by protesters.
