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!