The 1999 Antiracist Summer Camp
at the German-Polish-Czech borders in Saxony
The second time the campaign "No one is illegal" will move to the EU-frontier between Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. The campaign exists since 1997 and is run by numerous independent groupsof the antiracist spectre and some with a confessional or trade unionist background As we did last year we want to disturb the border populations' everydays life of denouncing refugees and migrants that come secretly across the border, of a high-tech armed border-police that has nearly powers like in a state of emergency, of a mainstream atmosphere inside the racist society in Germany and the upcoming of new and powerful groups of neofascists, that control many towns and cities in Eastern Germany. And we want to make a point against the everydays chase of "illegals" along the German and all EU- borders which costs many of them their lifes or health - since 1993 there died about 90 people at the German Eastern border and, according to the
UNITED documentation more than 1100 people along all Western-European borders; against a foreigners administration and the German legislation upon asylumseekers and foreigners, which is part of a system which is more and more becoming a means of keeping out any refugees and migrants or to freeze out those, who are already there.
We want to make publicity for a radical different way to treat people that come to Europe to find a life perspective or some refuge from wars, civil wars or political persecution and social or sexual harassments they experienced in their countries of origin or elsewhere. And we also disagree with those liberal pretenders who want to distinguish between the welcome asylumseekers for political reasons and the unwelcome majority of refugees and migrants for economic reasons. We assume that everybody has the right to life wherever and however he or she wishes to do.
We want all borders to disappear, we want freedom of movement and unrestricted admission for all especially to the so-called Fortress Europe.
Last year in Eastern Saxony we managed to get the commune officials, the state police and the Bundesgrenzschutz (the federal border-police) and great parts of the population confused or even moved them to thing over some of their positions. We were doing manifestations, demonstrations, a big 36-hour-rave, we opened some uncontrolled checkpoints at the German-Polish borders, we gave some free music and radio performances for some deportees detained in Goerlitz, we had a streetball event with a famous Berlin basketball player, we established an own little camp-radio, we attacked some Nazi-meeting-points, we we had a big "Antiracist Regatta" on the river Neisse and we have "won" a grand bicycle race in Goerlitz promoting the case of secret border crossing, helping people to do so and to live in dignity in Germany. And we distributed a camp newspaper with a high circulation to the border population to if not convince them to give them an idea of our demands, as a kind of letter claiming responsibility.
And we felt the sad obligation to protest spontaneously in Freiberg at the German-Czech border where some secretly bordercrossing people died in a small van that crashed after a chase with/by the Federal Border-Police: seven of the Kosovo-Albanians died, some of the remaining 21 were severely injured.
This years Camp, the "1999 Antiracist Summer Camp" will be in August and again at or near the border triangle between Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. We invite all interested groups and persons to come, to participate and to contribute to the camp. We want to have some more discussion in content this year and hope that some groups from other European countries, especially from Eastern Europe will be ready to give some reports or thesis upon the human rights and the situation of minorities, refugees and migrants in there country, but also artificial contributions, some public or clandestine actions andjust the presence in the camp are welcome.
We should all together knit an independent net of antiracist action groups and groups that provide support of any kind for refugees and migrant in Europe. By the way, there will probably be some parallel camps at th same time in the US/Mexico at their highly protected border, in Italy at the Adria coast next to Albania, in maybe also in Belgium and Austria. We want to establish some internet-video-conferences during that days. Inform your groups, cometo the camp, for further information upon the exact date and location,keep in touch with the organizators: e-mail: [email protected], or write a letter to:
"Kein Mensch ist illegal"
c/o Forschungsgesellschaft Flucht und Migration
- Sommercamp -
Gneisenaustr. 2a
FRG-10961 Berlin
Germany.
And you may visit our website: http://www.contrast.org/borders/
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