AUTONOMOUS SPACE FOR MIGRANTS AND ACTIVISTS TO OPEN IN CALAIS

For Immediate Release : 29/01/10

Activists from the transnational No Borders network and the French
organisation, SôS Soutien aux Sans Papiers, are shortly to open a large
warehouse for migrants in Calais[1].

The building is to be an autonomous space for migrants and activists
struggling for the right to freedom of movement. It will be host to
information-sharing, debate and practical solidarity. The Kronstadt
building is located in the town that has become the symbol of Fortress
Europe, a place where arrests and beatings of migrants by the police
are a daily occurrence, and where night-time pursuits are relentless[2].

By this act, they stand in solidarity with those for whom border and
immigration control is a discriminatory, oppressive and unjust reality. In
a real democracy, every person enriches society in myriad ways, and no-one
is surplus to requirements ; neither the unemployed, the young, the old, or
the foreign.

The space, the activists emphasise, is NOT to be a new Sangatte. No
band-aid such as Sangatte could suffice to deal with the horrors undergone
by the thousands who seek protection or survival from authoritarianism, or
capitalist wars, while arbitrary national borders remain in place.

The first meeting with organisations and local residents to discuss
how they wish to support and participate in the project is to
take place today.

Contact in France : noborder-groupelocal-calais hotmail.fr
Contact in the UK : 077 949 661 556 or calaisolidarity gmail.com

http://london.noborders.org.uk

http://noborders.org.uk

http://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

[1]The No Borders Network use direct action and practical solidarity to
fight for freedom of movement for all. They form part of the Calais
Migrant Solidarity group which has maintained a continued presence in
Calais since last summer.

[2] For a summary of police activities in December, please see our report
here :
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/01/444188.html