‘Refugees Welcome’
Designed by Roger Peet
Seán and Sarah have now been in custody for 15 days. They have been arrested because of their work with refugees on Lesvos, Greece.
For Seán, this mainly includes search and rescue of and shoreline response to migrant boats arriving from Turkey – essentially ensuring that people do not die or come to serious harm on this crossing. Sarah also played a large role in Search and Rescue on Lesvos, but she is also a very important spokesperson for this issue and has raised a lot of money through public speaking, including, for example at TedX and Harvard University. Sarah is a refugee herself, and gained a lot of public attention when, during her own crossing from Turkey in 2015, the boat broke down and she, along with three other people, jumped into the water and helped bring it to shore, saving the lives of 20 people. She sustained an injury that ended her professional swimming career, but she was still able to qualify as a lifeguard and came back to Lesvos in 2016 to help other refugees doing this crossing.
Seán has also been here since summer 2017, having chosen to volunteer in this field after finishing his Masters degree.
Their charges, most of which relate to their work in sea rescue, include the enabling of irregular migration, human trafficking, spying, criminal organisation, and others. Despite there being very little evidence against Seán and Sarah, they are currently going to be kept in jail until their trials, which could take up to 18 months. These two people, besides being absolutely lovely personally, have really given themselves to saving lives and to leading a team of volunteers doing this important work, and now find themselves arrested and prosecuted, essentially for trying to help people.
Originally published by Ioanna Schuppert Facebook profile.
After the first wave of protests against drownings, border closures and criminalization of life-savers, there will be a second wave of protests in the coming days. The Seebruecke initiative is growing rapidly.
Today (July 12) there will be a gathering in Berlin to commemorate Jamal Nasser Mahmoudi, the 23 year old Afghan refugee that was deported on July 4 (from Munich airport) and commited suicide earlier this week. He was one of 69 refugees that were deported on the birthday of German federal minister of interior Horst Seehofer (CSU). During a press conference Seehofer said: “It just so happens that on my 69th birthday, without any orders from me, 69 people were sent back to Afghanistan.” Seehofer was smiling when he said that. Now one of the refugees comitted suicide. Todays gathering will start at 05:00pm (17:00) in front of the ministry of interior in Berlin.
On their Facebook page the Seebruecke initiative wrote: “For the coming weekend soooo many demos and other actions are planned. Go on the streets! Show that we are many! Spread content on your channels. (…) Today, it’s time to go to the Ministry of the Interior in Berlin with a vigil for Jamal – the deported refugee who committed suicide yesterday.”
The list of demonstrations, vigils and other protests in the coming days is long:
Berlin | 12.07. | 17.00 | ministry of interior Magdeburg | 13.07. | 15.00 | Hasselbachplatz Reutlingen | 13.07. | 16.30 | Unter den Linden Essen | 13.07. | 18.00 | Willy-Brandt-Platz Hamburg | 13.07. | 18.00 | Neuer Pferdemarkt Köln | 13.07. | 18.00| Bahnhofsvorplatz Würzburg | 13.07. | 18.30 | Bahnhofsplatz Münster | 13.07. | 19.30 | Stadtbücherei Münster Freiburg | 14.07. | 12.00 | Platz Der Alten Synagoge Freiberg | 14.07. | 13.00 | Bahnhof Mainz | 14.07. | 13:00 | Bahnhofsvorplatz Offenbach | 14.07. | 14:00 | Rathaus Zürich | 14.07. | 14 :00| Limmatplatz Mannheim | 15.07. | 19.00 | ASV Berlin | 17.07. | 19:00 Uhr | Auditorium Friedrichstraße Saarbrücken | 19.07. | 17.30 | EUROPA Galerie Sulzbach-Rosenberg | 20.07. | 16:00| Sparkassenplatz Kaiserslautern | 28.07. | 16.30 | Bahnhofsvorplatz
Click here for a high resolution: PDF
Until only debris remains of the concentration camps
More walls and detention centres, police and volunteers on the borders, new agreements on migrants’ forced deportation between the states, raids in the streets hunting for ‘irregular persons’ and militarization of the territory are redesigning the face of Europe. A Europe that continues to entrench itself behind its borders excluding the undesirables while at the same time hiding behind a hypocritical approach to the welcoming of migrants. An integration that exploits migrants with the blackmail of a stay permit, and uses them as underpaid or ‘voluntary’ workers.
The CIE, detention centres for undocumented migrants awaiting deportation, are among the instruments used by states to control and repress. Following the imprisoned migrants’ revolts that destroyed a number of centres and put them out of use, only 4 out of the 13 that were built in Italy are functioning: Turin, Rome-Ponte Galeria, Brindisi-Restinco, Pian del Lago-Caltanissetta.
In spite of the exacerbation of restrictive measures even in the remaining centres the revolt continues. In the month of August, as living conditions inside these prisons were deteriorating, there was prisoners’ resistance, both individual and collective.
In Brindisi, as a solidarity demo was taking place outside the CIE on 8th August, some prisoners set mattresses and bedsheets alight to the cry of ‘Freedom’, putting three dormitories out of use. After the revolt the migrants, forced to sleep on the floor in the yard or in corridors, went on hunger strike.
On 4th August in Turin, two migrants cut themselves to resist deportation; on 9th August a prisoner was taken to the Vallette prison after attempting to set the cell on fire. Back in the CIE a few days later, he completed the work of destruction. Still in Turin another migrant sewed his lips together demanding a hearing over his asylum claim and a date was eventually fixed. Moreover in the hotspot of Lampedusa, after a big revolt in May which resulted in the destruction of one of the three units, another fire caused damage to the underage migrants’ area in the evening of 24th August.
In Rome the CIE’s male unit is still closed following the revolt of last December. In the female unit, the only one in Italy, about 40 women are locked up, but the number of prisoners reaches 120-130 in the days before a mass deportation.
In the attempt to break up solidarity with migrants, repression is also intensifying against those who try to support the struggle of the prisoners in these concentration camps from the outside. We know that the constant checks at stations and on trains and an ever massive and aggressive presence of the forces of order outside the CIE are meant to intimidate all the people in solidarity.
The migrants’ courage and strength as they continue to rebel in these prisons in order to regain their freedom pushes us to return to outside those walls and to join their struggle with our voices.
For this reason on 17th September we’ll be outside the walls of the Ponte Galeria CIE in great number in support of the women still locked up there and to tell them they’re not alone.
Meeting point at 1pm, from where we’ll board the train together (we decided to set an earlier time for the demo so as to allow everyone to participate in the event in memory of Fabrizio Ceruso, which will take place in San Basilio at 5pm).
Enemies of borders
Malcom Turnbull, Australia’s obscenely rich Prime Minister, and staunch defender of offshore concentration camps for asylum seekers.