News from Calais
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
After our info events in Manchester and Hebden Bridge, about 20 people from the Manchester area will travel to the No Borders Camp in Calais next week. A minibus will leave early on Monday 22 June (there are still seats available) and others will make their own way there.
The camp site has now been announced, situated in a public park to the east of Calais. We are intending to have some kind of ‘North West of England’ camping barrio to feed into the logistical and decision-making structures of the camp.
Local newspapers have already given a lot of coverage to the arrival of the No Borders camp, while here the Daily Mail has run one of its usual propaganda stories about violent anarchists invading Calais. It is possible that this could lead to some shops and supermarkets in the area to be shut during our presence there.
The Mayor of Calais and local authorities seem set on making the situation next week tense. Local civil society organisations have been pressured not to support the camp and migrants taking part in protests could be threatened with deportation. And there are indications that the nearby immigration detention centre ‘Coquelles’ could be evacuated for the duration of the camp.
Anti-riot police from all over Northern France are already being stationed in the Calais area. This comes after the recent arrival of organisations such as the IOM, the UNHCR and Medicins du Monde in the town. With all eyes on Calais, we now have a chance to make a real impact.
On Saturday 27 June, the camp participants will be holding a large demonstration for freedom of movement. The call for the demonstration has now also been signed by a wide range of anarchist, anti-fascist and anti-racist groups from the UK, France, Belgium and Germany.
We are hoping for this to be a truly transnational event, which could open spaces for significant political shifts in the public debate on migration to the UK.
More info here:
http://calaisnoborder.eu.org/
Posted byManchester No Borders at 1:55 PM
Labels: events