freedom not frontex

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Today we were brutally attacked by police forces in Luxembourg during our peaceful blockade action against the summit of the European Council. While the Ministers of Interior Affairs of every EU member state were sitting inside behind closed doors speaking about the Mediterranean Task Force, the new Executive Director of Frontex as well as better ways! to administrate the Schengen Area. As the agenda of the summit concerns us, the victims of their laws and policies, we wanted to send representatives of the Protest March for Freedom to read out our demands, since our voices – as a group that‘s fighting for the rights of the oppressed – should be the priority topic of such a summit. Our peaceful blockade got violently smashed by the police and security forces in and around the conference building. During their whole operation the police was not communicating with us in any way, even though most of the officers speak three languages (english, french and german). They ignored all our attempts to talk with them in order to explain to them that we want to talk in behalf of the refugees in the summit. Pepper spray attacks, beating with battons, kicks and bites of the police dogs were the only answer we received. The police also told us that in case we move further into the building where the summit took place, they have the authority to use their guns against us. Many of us got injured.

We got pushed back and therefore gathered in the middle of the square with our banners and loudspeakers. We held speeches in order to make ourselves be heard from the outside, as our demand to participate in the summit continued to go totally ignored. Once again we read out our demands, addressed the police burtality and asked the police over and over again to stop escalating the situation as we are a non-violent protest march well known in the public.

Then, after we announced that we will continue with our march and started to leave, the police forces attacked our march once again. They surrounded us, blocked off all exits and started to attack us once more with pepper spray, physical violence and police dogs. Then they started to arrest the people from the march, targeting mainly refugees.

The protest march followed the arrested comrades to the police station escorted by dozens of police cars and police officers who on the way harrased over and over again those individuals from the march that were spreading flyers to the passing people. The march arrived at the front door of the police station and started a rally there. After several hours of protest our 13 comrades finally got released.

During the last twenty years – since 1993 – over 17 000 deaths have been documented in the mediteranean sea; People trying to escape from wars, poverty, exploitation and oppression. Though the problems that they are fleeing from are mostly caused by capitalist dominant countries, at the borders (of those countries) refugees face strong controls that are part of the racist policy that makes immigration ‚illegal‘. Human Beings who know that freedom of movement is their basic human right, face military operations both at the border and in the sea. Closed borders and strong controls are ending up creating an ungoing tragedy in the mediterranean sea.

We condamn this capitalist system which is isolating people and is depriving them from their basic human rights just to keep the profit growing.

We also condamn the brutal behavior and criminalization of the Luxembourg police that acted illegitimately violent towards us. We are struggling non-violently for our fundamental rights, like freedom of movement and residency. We do not allow state authorities to intimidate us with their illegitimate criminalization of our struggle; we never give up.

Tomorrow we will cross the border between Luxemburg and Belgium that‘s supposed to be controlled because of the G7 meeting. The politicians that gather there are the heads of those states that are responsible for our situation and the criminalization of the people who are victims of their racist policies. We will not let them restrict our lives, our rights or our freedom of movement anymore!

So still we will cross the border and therefore we call for your full support and solidarity. Especially media presence is in high demand!

We are here and we will fight – Freedom of Movement is Everybodies Right!

No border crossing is illegal!

Protest March For Freedom

WE ARE ONE!

The March for Freedom started yesterday in the morning in the german village Perl with a lot of support to cross the border to Luxemburg. Making photo together, with solibanners from the night before like most of the other days was our first political morning action. From the sleeping place, the gym of the village, the march started with a loud demonstration through the village.

The border in this area is the river Mosel. Schengen is an important symbolic place along the way of the march, because of the Schengen agreement. It gives the citizens of Europe the privilege to cross the borders of the member states without any control, but for non-citizens, refugees, sans-papiers and migrants, it means everything else than freedom of movement.

Before the crossing the bridge, there was a press conference. Some activists made clear why they participate in the March For Freedom. The restriction of movement, capitalism, racism and the deaths in the mediteranean sea, caused by fortress Europe, were the main topics.

To make visible the danger that a lot of people have to face to reach the coasts of europe, some of the refugee activists crossed the river by boat or jumped out of the boat and swam to the other side. Bloody they reached Schengen, at the point where the heads of the european states left the luxury boat after signing the agreement in 1990.

The three columns which inform about the history of the agreement got redecorated to show the brutal reality of its affects.
After a while the demonstration continued untill it reached the Schengen museum. A museum which also deals with the story of Frontex. The tunesian delegation, which is participating in the march for freedom, made an exibition with pictures and long lists of names of the ones who are missing and the ones who died in the sea or in the hands of the european authorities. A group which occupied the roof of the museum hang up a banner asking: „Frontex. Où sont nos enfans?“ (Frontex, where are our children?) and another banner stating „Frontex kills“.
On the way along the river an exibition showed the terrible situation for refugees in Greece.

The afternoon ended with food and a cultural programm, then the march continued for the last 4 km to the sleeping place in Remerschen.
The whole day the police was almost not visible and also didn‘t react repressively against any action. Until now the march didn‘t have any serious problems with border crossing, but still there is another border to cross on the way to Brussels. On the 6th of June the march will enter Belgium. Since the G7 summit takes place on the 4th and 5th of June in Brussels, Belgium has announced that they will make restrictive border controls from the 1st to 6th of June.

The leaders of the seven most dominant capitalist nations don‘t like to be disturbed when they make their dirty business.

As the biggest consumers of resources and energy in the world and leaders in production of weapons, they want to avoid seeing the victims of their policies.

„We are here, because you destroy our countries.“

The march will continue, and the goal is to reach Brussels. The fight will go on until it is impossible to ignore the voices of people who get victimised by capitalism, rulership, racism and wars.

anti – schengen – front2_merged

No border crossing is illegal!
March For Freedom