UKBA vans sabotaged in Salford
Monday, June 21, 2010

After an article was published by the Mule newspaper questioning the validity of celebrating Manchester Day while places such as Pennine House and Dallas Court exist, they are now reporting an act of sabotage on UKBA snatch squads in Salford on 'Manchester Night':

Manchester and Salford’s immigration reporting centre for people seeking asylum was attacked in the early hours of this morning by protestors. A group broke into the car park at Dallas Court where they sabotaged the vehicles used by the UK Border Agency’s notorious ’snatch squads’.

According to reports, the vans were immobilised and defaced with spray paint, while the access gate to the car park was also put out of action. Stickers reading “This vehicle has been tampered with” were left at the scene to notify staff.

In a statement the group said: “The action was taken in solidarity with detainee resistance. In the past months media reports have covered the hunger strikes in Yarl’s Wood, protests in Harmondsworth and struggles against chartered deportation flights. These are acts of resistance against an arbitrary system of control and surveillance policed by the UK Home Office and European immigration authorities.”

Dallas Court is home to officials from the UK Border Agency. The snatch squads which operate from the centre often head out in blacked-out vans early in the morning to detain those asylum seekers whose claims have been rejected. They are known for kicking in doors before the children go to school in order to catch the entire family at once. Asylum seekers are also made to sign in at Dallas Court at regular intervals, not knowing whether or not they will be detained on the spot.

When arrested, detainees are taken to detention centres such as nearby Pennine House, the holding facility at Manchester Airport, where they wait indefinitely until their cases are resolved. After long periods of incarceration, despite having committed no crime and having had no trial or sentence, most detainees can expect deportation back to the countries from which they fled.

This is the second time in recent years that Dallas Court has been targeted by campaigners seeking to obstruct dawn raids and disrupt the centre’s day-to-day activities, which today’s protestors described as a symbol of the “constant uncertainty and fear” that asylum seekers and migrants live under.

They said: “Every person has the right to fight against these conditions irrespective of circumstance, and as long as these policies exist people will struggle against them. New arbitrary controls such as the immigration cap proposed by the new government will only intensify resistance. Such resistance will centre on the frontline of border security at sites like Dallas Court and Pennine House.” Read more!

Posted byManchester No Borders at 9:36 AM  

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May Day Report
Sunday, May 9, 2010

Thanks to everyone who helped to make the day a great success. This was the first time in years that there was an explicitly anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist event on 1 May in Manchester - so we are glad it went well.

We only decided three weeks before May Day to call for an autonomous bloc on the annual trade union march and a post-demonstration get-together with the slogan 'You cannot represent us'. This was to counterbalance what we anticipated to be the complete dominance of electoral politics on 1 May in Manchester.




Anti-authoritarians, including from No Borders and the Anarchist Federation, had a decent presence on the march and in town early in the day, distributing lots of literature critical of representational politics. Due to the low profile of the march in Manchester, this was no easy task and we confirm our commitment to mobilise for it in the future.


Others had been busy all morning setting up marquees and a soundsystem on Birley Fields, Hulme. The Fields are due for development by Manchester Metropolitan University and Hulme residents have set up a campaign to save them. A speaker from the campaign described them on the day as 'the green lungs for the working people of the area'. The overwhelmingly positive response from Hulme residents to our presence there shows the great value of this land for the area.


With the rain staying away unexpectedly, the site quickly filled up towards the afternoon with over 200 people coming and going throughout the day. Due to the great work of a Manchester free party crew, music started bang on time at 3pm with a set by Attila the Stockbroker and David Rovics who kindly passed by on the way to their Bradford gig. They were followed by a diverse range of performers and bands from reggae via punk to folk until it got dark. An open-mic speakers corner between the acts saw people from various campaigns talk about government cuts to service and politics away from the ballot box.


The day ended with some impromptu fireworks and a great team-effort to restore Birley Fields to its original state. We are considering a similar event for May Day next year, so be sure to get involved.. Read more!

Posted byManchester No Borders at 4:37 AM  

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You cannot represent us - election count picket in Mcr
Thursday, May 6, 2010

no borders and friends presented a 'petition' to election candidates in Manchester Central at the start of the election count on 6 May.


'You cannot represent us' was the message of the day, with politicians and candidates reminded that unpopular decisions affecting our lives will always be resisted. The picket was held right across the road from the entrance to the Town Hall where ballot boxes were brought in. Police tried to move people behind crowd barriers but failed.

The petition was actually a large wooden board that was used by people at the autonomous Mayday BBQ in Hulme as a message board to write down why they did not vote.

Some photos are here: Read more!

Posted byManchester No Borders at 6:15 PM  

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No Borders Community MayDay
Saturday, April 10, 2010


No Borders Community MayDay BBQ 1st May 2010, Birley Fields Hulme.


Sick of the elections? Sick of tedious work, or being told to get a job? Don’t know who to vote for and think it probably wouldn’t make any difference anyway? Us too!

Join us on Mayday to celebrate International Workers Day, the historical and daily struggle of workers - paid, unpaid and ‘unemployed’ - against the daily grind that is work and ‘life’ under capitalism.

Manchester No Borders calls for a 'You Cannot Represent Our Diversity' anti-election bloc on the TUC May day march (Sat 1st May, 12pm, All Saints Park- look out for the banner) and a celebratory BBQ and Alternative Speakers Corner on Saturday 1st May in Birley Fields, 3pm, between Bonsall St and Streford Rd, Hulme. Hulme has a long tradition of dissent and resisting mainstream ideas of how the ‘local community’ should be doing things. Let’s keep it going and celebrate one of the best bits of public green space in South Manchester at the same time .

The three main political parties, as well as the whacky ones like UKIP and the BNP, assume that being ‘tough on immigration’ is the way to win votes.

If you’re sick of such simplistic scapegoating ideas, which divide people against one another locally and globally, and never look at the causes of inequality, join us on May Day!


Come together to celebrate diversity and community! No Borders, No Nations!


BBQ ** Local Musicians ** Fun & Games ** Non Party-Political Discussions **

Spoken Word Performance **Info Stalls ** Urban Gardening ** Kids’ Area **
And post here the rest of it. Read more!

Posted byManchester No Borders at 3:19 AM  

No Borders benefit gig (Bring Alex Back Home)

Manchester No Borders supports...

Saturday, April 24th - Trof Fallowfied
from 2pm stalls and food
in the evening - gig organised by the band 'Uncle Meat and the Highway Children'.


Here's a message from the band:

As some of you will be aware after Uncle Meat and the Highway Children's summer tour their friend Alex was unable to return to the country. To combat this problem we have organised a benefit gig at Trof Fallowfield on April 24th...

From 2pm there will be art/craft and local designer stalls plus Vegan Dinner Raves will offer you a scrumptious selection of cuisine from all corners of the world to help raise some money to get him back in the UK. Needle & Dread stylist Laurelle will also be about during ther day braiding and dreading hair for donations... If yo have any crafty things like bead, ribbon, wool etc that your dont need please bring it along!

Throughout the whole day there will be a free shop with clothes, books and lots of other unwanted treasures available.

In the evening there will be a selection of live music and poetry from:
Uncle Meat and The Highway Children
www.myspace.com/meatykids

John Player Specials
www.myspace.com/thejohnplayerspecials

Sam Buchanan and The Bathroom Crooners
www.myspace.com/thebathroomcrooners

Deaf Two The West
www.myspace.com/deaftwothewest

Jezzabell
www.myspace.com/jezzadahat

Paradox Poets through out the day!

Any extra money raised will go to support the hard work of UK No Borders. http://www.noborders.org.uk/
The night will also offer a variety of information about how and why smashing borders is a good idea and in turn will offer you a chance to get involved with a group near you.
The amount of the Donation is your choice and if your skint feel free to come and join in anyway :)
Can i also ask that if anyone wishes to donate ingredients or help in kitchen, please get in touch. And if you have any unwanted clothes, books, music, house hold items, please bring them along to put in the free shop, if you need help to bring bigger items, get in touch and im sure we can arange something

After living in the UK for 2 years, Alex left to travel europe with his band for 6 months to avoid breaking the rules of immigration. When he tried to return to the UK he was refused entrance at the border due to the fact the immigration officer believed he was trying to obtain work in the UK. The
means of proof being typing his name into facebook and finding out he was a
musician. He was deported back into europe with no means of support. \he
gathered enough evidence to try and re enter several months later, including
a sponsor and a list of people willing to support his stay in the UK.
However the second attempt proved fruitless as he was again refused on the
grounds his attempt was too desperate, detained in a room akin to to a cell
and deported on a boat back to europe where he is now considered an illegal
immigrant. He now has to go back to america and be thousands of miles away
from the life he has created in england. As his friends and family and firm
believers in no borders we are striving to bring him back by putting on
benefit shows in conjunction with no borders and raising money to help
assist him with the expenditure of visa costs and to show him how much we
love him. Plans include the first show in troff, manchester on april 24th,
an all day punk gig sometime in may and many more. We aim to get alex back
within four months. If anyone is interested in helping in any way shape or
form please get in touch, this group has been set up to show our support for
alex and our dissaproval at the immigration control in england, who act like
god and have the right to strip a person of their life no matter what the
circumstances just because a person doesnt fit their idealsim. In a free
world we should be able to travel openly and without fear, BECAUSE THIS IS
OUR WORLD as much as it is theirs but we are the ones STUCK IN THE RED TAPE.
Show your anger, show your support, not just for Alex, but for the joke that
is the whole fucking system.. Read more!

Posted byManchester No Borders at 3:06 AM  

No Deportations to the Congo!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010



Manchester No Borders supported Congolese asylum seekers who held a protest against forced removals in the centre of Manchester on Saturday 13th.

About 50 Congolese assembled at All Saints Park at noon, with a small number of supporters from socialist and anarchist groups. They danced and sang their way along Oxford Street, sitting down in the road at intervals in a symbolic 'die in.' The first die-in was outside the BBC building, in protest at its failure to give any coverage to the war in Congo.

You can find a series of photographs and more information about the protest here and here.

There is a video of the protest, with interviews, here. Read more!

Posted byManchester No Borders at 7:07 AM  

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Solidarity with the Yarl's Wood hungerstrikers
Monday, March 1, 2010


The national press have started to acknowledge the continuous resistance and protests that occur in Britian's detention centres. The latest - a hunger strike by women in Yarl's Wood who tell of violent and racist assaults by immigration officials - has finally come to the attention of journalists and MPs. This article from the Truth, Reason & Liberty blog provides a good political summary:

"Yesterday, the Observer reported that "Senior Home Office officials will be questioned this week over allegations that women inside Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre were assaulted by staff using riot shields." This comes after significant efforts from immigrant and refugee groups to draw attention to the issue, holding their latest and largest protest on the issue only two days earlier.

That the rebellion inside the centre has finally gained national exposure can be counted as a significant victory. However, the vast majority of the media stil holds to a rabidly anti-immigrant line. With the government determined to do the same, gaining anything more than temporary exposure remains difficult."

read the full article here Read more!

Posted byManchester No Borders at 11:50 AM  

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