Mayor of Calais ‘shocked’ as ‘outsiders’ defy authorities to open shelter for migrants in sub-zero Calais

British media reports Sangatte bis opening in Calais. Radical British activists No Borders defiant. La Voix du Nord identifies mysterious hanger. The mayor blaming outside agitators.  “To see these people from outside of Calais come to forment trouble in the heart of a neighborhood without taking into account the local Calais population is scandalous,” she declares. Les anglais ont débarqué, so to speak….

VdN interviews Natacha Bouchart.

Moving story … following.

This is current statement on No Borders website:

Activists from the transnational No Borders network and the French organisation, SôS Soutien aux Sans Papiers, have opened a large warehouse for migrants in Calais[1]. The building is to be an autonomous space for migrants and activists struggling for the right to freedom of movement. It will be host to information-sharing, debate and practical solidarity. The Kronstadt building is located in the town that has become the symbol of Fortress Europe, a place where police arrests and beatings of migrants are a daily occurrence, and where night-time pursuits are relentless[2].

By this act, they stand in solidarity with those for whom border and immigration control is a discriminatory, oppressive and unjust reality. In a real democracy, every person enriches society in myriad ways, and no-one is surplus to requirements; neither the unemployed, the young, the old, or the foreign. The space, the activists emphasise, is NOT to be a new Sangatte. No band-aid such as Sangatte could suffice to deal with the horrors undergone by the thousands who seek protection or survival from authoritarianism or capitalist wars while arbitrary national borders remain in place. Plans are afoot to hold meetings with organisations and local residents to define how they wish to support and to participate in the project.

http://noborders.org.uk

http://london.noborders.org.uk

http://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com

NOTES

[1]The No Borders Network use direct action and practical solidarity to fight for freedom of movement for all. They form part of the Calais Migrant Solidarity group which has maintained a continued presence in Calais since last summer.

[2] For a summary of police activities in December, please see our report here:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/01/444188.html

Problème résolu

5ans après la fermeture du centre de Sangatte

Terre-derrance is another important group providing aid to the migrants in the North of France. The following is taken from their site where there is much further information of value.

Manifeste pour la liberté des migrants et de ceux qui les aident

Nous, organisations et citoyens soussignés, refusons que l’aide aux migrants soit considérée comme un délit.
Nous sommes scandalisés par les mises sur écoute, les intimidations et les arrestations de bénévoles.
Nous soutenons et soutiendrons toutes celles et ceux qui sont ou seront inquiétés par les autorités pour avoir tendu la main à des hommes et des femmes innocents, abandonnés dans nos fossés par les États européens.
Nous demandons la mise en place d’une nouvelle politique de l’immigration, une politique à visage humain, soucieuse de la dignité et des libertés de chacun.
Le drame de l’après-Sangatte a trop duré.

À Norrent-Fontes, le 28 février 2009

Organisations signataires :
Amnesty international, ANAFE, L’Auberge des migrants, La Belle Etoile, Collectif d’aide aux migrants de Angres, CSP 59 (membre de la coordination nationale des sans-papiers), C’SUR Calais, Emmaüs Saint-Omer, Ligue des Droits de l’homme Boulogne, Ligue des Droits de l’homme France, Médecins du monde, RESF 59/62, RUSF 59/62, SALAM Nord/Pas-de-Calais, Secours catholique Saint-Omer, association Solidarité Migrants (Oise), Terre d’errance Norrent-Fontes, Terre d’errance Steenvoorde

Signer le manifeste

Site internet du manifeste : http://manifestemigrants.wordpress.com/