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.
We call for deescalating steps, including the withdrawal of NATO troops from the borders with Russia, the resumption of diplomacy to settle tensions between Russia and NATO, and quick negotiations about mutual (nuclear) disarmament.
We demand that the Dutch government does not provide arms or other forms of military support to the Ukraine. This will not only fuel violence and lead to more suffering, it would also be supporting a regime that itself is responsible for repression and human rights violations, not in the least against refugees. The EU has given tens of millions of euros to the Ukraine over the last two decades to strengthen border security, to keep refugees away from the EU, and to build detention centres. There have been many reports of the inhumane circumstances in these EU-funded prisons and the state violence refugees are routinely confronted with.
We call for support for refugees resulting from this conflict, in the context of our general call for no borders and an end to the EU border regime (‘Abolish Frontex’). The mere existence of nation states and borders serves as a constant driver of war, violence, repression, and hostilities. We reject suggestions by the EU and its member states of, for propaganda reasons, providing a special status solely to refugees from this attack while keeping its destructive and inhumane border policies the same for others.
We feel this best sums up our point of view, coming from a position as people living in the Netherlands (also as a part of NATO). We realise and appreciate that others may have other priorities or ideas about what needs to be done now. Our resounding belief is that violence and war are never the solution, and we will continue to organise against the military-industrial complex and its consequences.