Year 2008 and the administrators of the worldwide authority wage wars and
spread exploitation in order to further spread their sovereignty. One of
these war conflicts is in Afghanistan, where the western powers including
the Greek state and leaded by the USA, invaded in the name of the “war
against terrorism” and they still fight this so called “humanitarian” war
seeking to dominate the region on all levels. When the first bombs fell on
Afghanistan the Greek society was demonstrating against the war, but today
that the repercussions of war reach our region most of the people are
hypocritically closing their eyes in front of these repercussions.
One of these repercussions is the situation in the city of Patras.
Refugees from Afghanistan and other Arabian countries come to this
city-gate of Europe with the expectation to travel further into Europe,
and for some of them who might be lucky to acquire papers to stay in
Greece. But they live in a climate of terror and violence by the
authorities. They leave their countries because of the war which destroys
everything or they leave in order to escape from the religious
fundamentalism of the Taliban. They live and travel with the hope to
establish in Europe a new life, a life more dignified and free from the
one they left behind. However even here they suffer a different expression
of the same war, as they are “illegal”, without papers, and they are not
allowed to move freely. They live in the outskirts of society and actually
they are deprived the recognition of the right in existence.
In Patras, the Afghan refugees reside in an off-hand settlement which is
besieged by the police. The settlement is located in the eastern part of
the city near the port and it is blockaded by the police in order not to
exit freely from it. The population reaches approximately 1000 young men
and during the summer a lot more. These small in space community exist in
Patras the last 13 years, when it was originally built by Kurds of Iraq.
The refugees are stacked in off-hand lodgings, which they construct by
scrap materials. The hygiene conditions are non-existed as they are not
allowed to have water, electricity or even toilets. As all these were not
enough, since January 2008 they experience a blockade because of a
relative decision by the authorities that forbids them to move in the city
and especially around the port. So the police have surrounded the
settlement on a permanent basis and whoever attempts to exit its borders
is beaten, arrested, or even kidnapped and deported.
The majority of the local society is indifferent; they pretend that they
do not see the crime committed in Patras, they continue to live their life
without speaking for or against the situation. Nevertheless a small
portion of the citizens has allied with local businessmen asking for the
destruction of the settlement and the displacement of the refugees. In the
same context the authorities of the municipality and the prefecture
together with the local mass media, refuse to look into the matter and
they even try to prevent any kind of material help. On the other hand,
organizations of the antiauthoritarian space and the left space have
formed a solidarity front and they accomplished to prevent a planed police
operation, which aimed to the demolition of the settlement, by organizing
two big marches with all the refugees in the city centre (January –
February 2008), and furthermore they support the immigrants by material,
legal, and medical aid on an everyday basis.
But as the matter remains open, with a hot summer in hand and the police
besiegement in full effect, a multiform and dynamic action is more than
necessary. A continuous social and politically activity that will
communicate the problems and the demands more widely, that will bring
closer the Greeks with the refugees, so as to reach its peak with an event
that will force the society to open her eyes and decide at last to take an
active position.
So, after the proposition of Antiauthoritarian Movement of Patras and the
attendance and co-operation of other organizations and individuals that
are by the side of refugees and immigrants, we call for an open
coorganisation of a NO BORDER CAMP in Patras from the 29th until the 31st
of August 2008, which will take place next to the refugee settlement.
The importance of such a NO BORDER CAMP has double meaning. On one hand we
encounter the internal borders which have enclosed the refugees inside the
settlement and the forbidden zone - even for the citizens - of the port
that has turned the port of Patras into a militarized red zone with CCTV
and wire fences. On the other hand we face the national borders which is
the port itself, the gateway to Italy and the rest of Europe. Some of the
objectives of this NO BORDER are through a series of events, discussions,
and direct actions to bring an end in the multidimensional violence that
is practiced on the refugees and to make the voice of the refugees to be
heard as widely as possible.
In the same context we will organize two days of events and an open
assembly on 23 - 24 - 25 of May 2008, so as to prepare the NO BORDER CAMP
of August.
Our speech and action of an essential solidarity must listen to the
demands of the refugees and transforms them into a spearhead for a free
and dignified life for everyone. The NO BORDER CAMP can constitute a place
of freedom against any kind of borders and against the monodimensional
beliefs, so as to create a wide and solid front that will deconstruct the
EU anti-immigrant policies aiming the transformation of Europe into a
fortress and a world divided according to the interests of the sovereigns.
* No-one is illegal
* Asylum for everyone
* Against internal, national and supernational borders
* Freedom of movement
-against the police blockade of the refugee settlement
-against the arrests, the kidnappings and the beatings
* Abolition of the Dublin Agreement and all the international
anti-immigrant agreements.
повеќе инфо на грчки: http://www.noborderpatras.org/el/