Initiatives from France, the UK and Belgium organised the transnational Noborder Camp in Calais, France, a week of convergence, discussions and protest, which took place from 23-29th of June 2009, including a transnational demonstration for Freedom of Movement on June 27th 2009.

Transnational Demonstration (Photos): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Articles on Indymedia UK: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
Articles on Lille Indymedia (en): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

Radio Interview (10min, en)
Daily Camp Newspaper: June 23rd | June 24th
Microblogging: on identi.ca | NoBorders South Wales on Twitter
See also: Camp Info Website | Directions to the camp | Callout [en]| Video call out | Transnational demo in Calais | Travel Info | First aid call out | Breaking the Law of the Jungle (background article) | Repression against Refugees and Supporters in Northern France (again) | more articles

According to a report of "The Times" today, a joint Anglo-French detention centre is being planned for Calais to hold hundreds of migrants gathering near the Channel port.

As the report continues, "Phil Woolas, the Immigration Minister, disclosed proposals to tackle the surge of migrants, many from Afghanistan and Iraq, at Channel ports hoping for a new life in Britain. "

Camp No Border à Calais – Juin 2009

Invitation à une réunion d'organisation à Calais les 7 et 8 mars.

Ces derniers mois, des militants de France et du Royaume-Uni se sont
rencontrés pour discuter de quelle manière il serait possible de renforcer la solidarité transfrontalière avec les migrants le long de la côte Nord de la France. Nous avons décidé de monter un camp de protestation transnational à la fin du mois de juin à Calais. Le camp a pour but de mettre en lumière la situation des migrants à la frontière et d'établir un réseau de solidarité efficace.

Le camp s'organisera en collaboration avec les groupes et individus déjà actifs sur place et dans les environs. Nous appelons à une réunion d'organisation les 7 et 8 mars à Calais pour discuter des aspects pratiques et politiques du camp et de la mobilisation pour celui-ci. La réunion est ouverte à tous les individus et groupes qui apportent leur solidarité aux migrants et à leur lutte pour la liberté de circulation. Nous considérons que les contrôles migratoires sont au service des besoins du capitalisme et ne font qu'engendrer la souffrance et les divisions parmi nous. C'est pourquoi nous appelons à l'abolition de tous les contrôles migratoires : A
bas les frontières, A bas les nations!

Alors que l'Europe a renforcé le contrôle de ses frontières externes,
notamment en Afrique du Nord, la situation sur l'une de ses frontières
internes est souvent négligée. De nombreux réfugiés qui viennent en Europe continentale ont pour but d'atteindre le Royaume-Uni. Depuis un accord passé en 2002 entre les gouvernements français et britanniques qui a amené à la fermeture du centre de la Croix-Rouge de Sangatte/Calais, les migrants sont contraints de coucher à la dure dans la "jungle" qui se situe autour du port, où ils sont sujets à un harcèlement constant des autorités et courent le risque d'une rétention arbitraire et d'une déportation. Parallèlement, la
répression s'accentue contre les individus et les groupes qui soutiennent les migrants sur place. En repoussant la frontière britannique sur le territoire français, le gouvernement britannique a rendu les demandes d'asile au Royaume-Uni impossibles pour beaucoup de gens.

Le régime des frontières doit être compris dans son contexte politique et économique :

Nous pensons que la lutte pour l'égalité des droits pour les travailleurs immigrés et que la lutte contre le système européen d'asile et de rétention sont étroitement liés. Nous pensons également qu'il faut intensifier la co-opération transnationale entre les initiatives organisées des deux côtés de la frontière par ceux qui trouvent la situation actuelle insupportable.

Noborder Camp in Calais, June 2009

Invitation to an organising meeting in Calais, March 7th-8th

In the last few months activists from France and the UK have met to discuss ways to increase transnational solidarity with migrants along the coast of northern France. We have decided to hold a transnational protest camp in Calais at the end of June. The camp aims to highlight the situation of the migrants on the border and establish a strong network of solidarity.

The camp will work in conjunction with those groups and individuals already active in the area. We are calling for an organising meeting on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th March in Calais to discuss the political and practical aspects of the camp and its mobilisation. The meeting is open to any individuals or groups who act in solidarity with migrants and their struggle for freedom of movement. We see migration controls as serving the needs of capitalism whilst causing only suffering and divisions amongst us. Therefore we call for the abolition of all migration controls: No Borders, No Nations!

While Europe has tightened its external border controls, especially with Northern Africa, one of its internal borders is often overseen. Many refugees who come to continental Europe aim to reach the UK. Following an agreement between the French and British governments in 2002 which led to the closure of the Red Cross centre in Sangatte/Calais, people are forced to sleep rough in the "jungle" around the harbour, where they are subject to constant harassment by authorities, and are at risk of arbitrary detention and deportation. Meanwhile there is increasing repression against those
individuals and groups in the area who offer support to the migrants. By pushing the UK border onto French territory, the British government has made it impossible for many people to claim asylum in the UK.

The border regime must be understood in its political and economic context:

We think that the struggle for equal rights for migrant workers and the struggle against the European detention and asylum system are closely connected. We also believe that we need to intensify the transnational co-operation between initiatives made by people on both sides of the border who find the current situation unbearable.

Christmas is a time for giving but not it seems in Calais. Where refugees lives continue to be a living hell.. The following is the first of a couple of reports, and thoughts about how we might build solidarity for some of the most serious and vulnerable ,yet resourceful and intelligent victims of war,globalisation more war and the war on terror.They have one final hurdle to surmount; British /French collabarative immigration policies which are destroying their basic refugee protection.

PRESS RELEASE
for immediate release

Friday 14 November 2008

Activists protest at the French Tourist Board in Holborn, London.

Activists from London NoBorders and other initiatives protested the
repression of refugees in the Calais area today with a picket at the
French Tourist Board in Holborn this afternoon.

In the last few weeks there has been an increasingly brutal repression
of migrants in Calais and the surrounding areas. Since the closure of
the Sangatte refugee camp in 2002, more then 1000 refugees are sleeping
rough in the woods and houses around the port of Calais with no chance
to get housing or anywhere to go.

On Wednesday 22nd October police and 250 armed riot squad officers
smashed a camp that was home to 350 Eritreans. There were hundreds
of arrests and around 80 of the migrants were imprisoned in a detention
centre.

Then on Thursday 6th November police conducted a manhunt of Afghans in
the area. Journalists and activists on the scene were encircled by
police for a number of hours to prevent them from documenting what
was happening, and intervening. During a solidarity demo the following
evening a prominent local activist was arrested.

We understand that the arrest of Afghans is in preparation for a charter
flight to Kabul in the next weeks that is being organised jointly by the
French and British authorities.

These deportations - to a country in which both the United Kingdom and
France have troups involved in war - are now planned only days after the
newly elected US President Barack Obama announced that Afghanistan will
soon become the most important focus for military action.

The protestors at the French Tourist Board demanded an immediate stop
to the repression against the refugees in Calais, a stop of the planned
deportations to Afghanistan, and the relaese of all refugees from
immigration detention!

About London NoBorders

London NoBorders support all those in struggle against borders, against
their incarceration in detention centres, against their deportation,
against their super-exploitation as ‘illegal’ workers. London NoBorders
campaigns for freedom of movement and the right to remain for all.

contact: noborderslondon@riseup.net
web: http://noborderslondon.blogspot.com