Stop The War On Migrants

[English below]

“De Libische kustwacht jaagt met bewapende schepen van Damen op migranten”, schreef NRC in 2018. Deze krant onthulde toen dat de Nederlandse scheepsbouwer een wapenembargo tegen Libië had omzeild om de gevreesde kustwacht acht patrouilleboten voor grensbewaking te leveren. Eén van de schepen is bijvoorbeeld ingezet bij het tegenhouden van een vluchtelingenboot, waarbij zeker twintig mensen verdrinken. In een ander geval wordt vanaf een Damen-boot een schot gelost op een boot van een NGO die vluchtelingen in nood probeert te redden.

Vluchtelingen die door de Libische kustwacht worden onderschept worden teruggebracht naar Libië om opgesloten te worden in de gruwelijke detentiecentra, waar geweld, marteling en onmenselijke omstandigheden aan de orde van de dag zijn.

De levering aan Libië is waarschijnlijk de meest omstreden deal waarmee Damen betrokken is bij geweld tegen vluchtelingen. Het is echter verre van de enige, schepen van Damen worden zowel aan de Europese grenzen als ver daarbuiten ingezet voor grensbewaking. Alleen al rond de Middellandse Zee beschikken ook marines, grens- en/of kustwachten van Albanië, Griekenland, Italië, Malta, Marokko, Portugal, Tunesië en Turkije over patrouilleschepen van Damen. In een aantal gevallen zijn de aankopen gefinancierd door de EU in het kader van diens gemilitariseerde migratiebeleid. Zo zijn de schepen voor Turkije betaald uit het budget van het ‘Instrument Contributing to Stability and Peace, en bedoeld om een bijdrage te leveren aan de omstreden migratiedeal tussen de EU en Turkije.

Schepen van Damen zijn ook ingezet bij Frontex-operaties op de Middellandse Zee, die zwaar onder vuur liggen vanwege geweld tegen vluchtelingen, illegale pushbacks en andere mensenrechtenschendingen. Continue reading “Damen levert schepen voor geweld tegen vluchtelingen”

On Tuesday 20 June, World Refugee Day, some posters appeared around Amsterdam to protest Corendon’s involvement in deportations. The posters read: “Corendon, Europe’s proud partner in deporting refugees to conflict areas.” Moreover, people also did a picket line at a Corendon College Hotel at Roelof Hartstraat 1. Despite the bad weather and the rain, people stood in front of the hotel and let Corendon know that their involvement in deportations needs to be stopped.

Deportations take place via both regular scheduled flights and specially hired charter flights. Dutch airline Corendon is an increasingly important player in the second field. Deportation Alarm! in Berlin reports that on average 1-3 times a month a Corendon plane deports people on the move from various airfields in Germany to countries as Tunisia, Ghana, Egypt, Armenia and Albania. Corendon has also been hired by the UK to deport people to Albania and Romania. And in the past Israel hired Corendon planes to deport people on the move to South Sudan.

Europe is built on a history of colonialism, slavery, imperialism, extractivism and exploitation that continues today. Modern borders are colonial and racist constructs, and the EU’s border policies institutionalise this violence, injustice and inequality. Corendon is an active player in keeping these injustices alive. Stop the War on Migrants therefore starts a new campaign to stop Corendon’s profiteering of deporting people, as part of the ongoing ‘Abolish Frontex’ campaign. Stop all deportations!

On the 9th of December, people decorated offices of the IND in different cities in the Netherlands as part of the international Abolish Frontex action days. With this action they ask for attention for the horrendous situation of migrants in The Netherlands and EUrope in general.

The IND is responsible for the processing of asylum claims in the Netherlands. They make it incredibly hard for people to get asylum by not believing their stories and making uninformed decisions about people’s lives. Not only is the IND active in The Netherlands, they also take part in so-called migration missions in third countries, where they closely work together with Frontex to ensure that people do not even reach EUrope but are stopped in other countries already. Below, some photos can be found of the action.

The action is a part of the International Abolish Frontex campaign. Abolish Frontex is a decentralized and autonomous network of at the moment some 130 groups and organizations from EU countries and beyond. The aim of Abolish Frontex is not to reform or improve EU border guard agency Frontex, or to replace it with more of the same. But rather to target the policies and system that keeps Frontex in place. Abolish Frontex is working towards ending the EU border regime, dismantling the border-industrial complex, and building a society where people are free to move and live.

We demand a world without borders, with freedom of movement for all and without organizations like the IND. Abolish the IND, Abolish Frontex!

 

4 August 2022 – From Monday 8 to Sunday 14 August the No Border Camp 2022 will take place in Rotterdam. Hundreds of international activists will gather for a week of actions, meetings, workshops, discussion and culture in the context of the struggle for a world without borders and freedom of movement for all. The international ‘Abolish Frontex’ campaign is an important spearhead of the camp.

The No Border Camp, including its actions and workshops, will call attention to the repressive and militarized Dutch and EU border and migration policies, at a time they reach new heights with walls, racism, violence and push-backs at and beyond the borders. From the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers in Ter Apel to EU cooperation with non-EU-countries to stop refugees before they can reach the EU external borders, and from the situation of LGTBQIA+-refugees in The Netherlands to the consequences of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Participants to the camp will also discuss issues such as movement building and strategy.

Abolish Frontex is a decentralized and autonomous network of at the moment some 130 groups and organizations from EU countries and beyond. The aim of Abolish Frontex is not to reform or improve EU border guard agency Frontex, or to replace it with more of the same. But rather to target the policies and system that keeps Frontex in place. Abolish Frontex is working towards ending the EU border regime, dismantling the border-industrial complex, and building a society where people are free to move and live.

The camp is organized by a coalition of activists from several groups in The Netherlands, and follows the previous No Border Camps in Rotterdam (2013) and Wassenaar (2019). The camp in 2019 ended with the occupation of the roof of the NATO Communications and Informations Agency in The Hague, to protest the role of NATO in forcing people to flee and its involvement in border security in the Mediterranean.

The exact location of the camp will be announced on Monday on its website.

Continue reading “Veroordelingen wegens blokkade KMar-kazerne Schiphol”

Friday 22 April – 2pm – Koekamp, Den Haag (next to Central Station)

On May 15 the Swiss population will vote in a referendum on ending its financial contribution to the EU border guard agency Frontex. We will use this hopeful development as an occasion to highlight and protest against the Dutch involvement in Frontex. Join us for a walk along and public actions at several locations connected to this involvment in The Hague. Continue reading “22 April: Demonstration ‘Abolish Frontex – end Dutch participation’ with actions”

Stop the War on Migrants joins the callout for the demonstration ‘Peace for Ukraine’ on Sunday, 3pm at the Dam in Amsterdam. We subscribe to the joint callout text:

‘We stand with the people of Ukraine. Lives are lost, people, houses and streets are bombed and people are fleeing. We urge the government of the Netherlands & the EU to hold Russia to account by imposing far-reaching sanctions on Putin’s regime, to do all you can to de-escalate and to prevent the loss of life. EU, commit yourself to peace and de-escalation. Protect human rights and lives, not money and power!
Together against war, for refugee support and for peace and freedom in Ukraine!’

We bring our own point of view to the demo:

We condemn the Russian attack on Ukraine and express our support and solidarity with the people in Ukraine. We join the calls for an end to the regime of Putin and express our support and solidarity with demonstration against the attack in Russia and denounce repression against them.
We call on people to support the anarchist grassroots initiative ‘Operation Solidarity’: https://operation-solidarity.org/

We also condemn the role of NATO, the EU and Western countries in fueling tensions in the last months and through its expansive policies of the last three decades. We see no role whatsoever for NATO, or other Western-led military coalitions, in mingling in this conflict. We reject both Russian and Western imperialism, which we have seen destroy countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
Continue reading “Join the demo ‘Peace for Ukraine’ – Sunday 27/2, 15pm, Dam (Amsterdam)”