________________________________________________________________________________ ================================================================================ subject: Migrants: The Wall kills again from: Antti Rautiainen date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 11:10:03 +0200 ================================================================================ DEATH AND HOPE BY THE WALL OF FORTRESS EUROPE "The symbol of World War IV is an enormous wall going from the Rio Grande to Gibraltar, then Turkey and then up cutting out Eastern Europe, to end up dividing Japan and Australia from the rest of South-Eastern Asia" (Zapatist association "Ya Basta!" - presentation for the Action Day Against Fortress Europe). One of the most murderous parts of the Wall in these last years is surely the part dividing Italy from Albania and Montenegro, 40 miles of sea which became a real battlefield between wealth and starvation, a training field for new weapons and control systems, a test room for new ways to silence the press and people consciousness. MISTERIOUS ACCIDENTS Worthless to say, the recent history of these 40 miles of sea, named "Otranto channel", sees an incredible number of "misterious" accidents which caused hundreds of casualties among the refugees trying to cross it. Here are some of them. "The Government of Montenegro confirms: about 100 Rom gypsies drowned in the Otranto Channel in the night between August 15 and 16, 1999. The new was given by the Montenegro newspaper "Vijesti". According to the Montenegro police, the ship onto which the refugees were crammed sank 28 miles in front of the Montenegro port of Bar. The reasons of the tragedy are unknown. Up to now, 41 corpses were recovered on the Montenegro shores.However, the new was not confirmed by the Italian government. The ministry of Foreign Affairs knows nothing about it, and the Italian Consulate in Bar seems to have learned the new by the press. "We can't confirm anything, we have no sure data and the Montenegro police did not inform us," said the cancellor of the Consulate, mr. Giuseppe Ferrara. "This could be the worse tragedy ever happened in the Adriatic sea, even worse than another misterious tragedy: the collision between the old Albanian torpedo-boat "Kater I Rades" with 78 refugees on board, and the Italian corvette "Sibilla" on march 28, 1997, which caused the dead of all the occupants of the Albanian ship." So much for the newspapers (Corriere della Sera, Aug. 25; La Repubblica, Aug. 25). About the a.m. collision, after a fast investigation which implied the recovery of the sunken Albanian ship, the blame was given (of course) to the (dead) Albanian helmsmen which apparently tried, with hazardus manoevres, to bypass the Italian navy blockade. Pity that, at a close examination, the wreck of the Albanian ship showed a large crack right in the middle, as if the much larger Italian corvette run straight into it with full-force motors. But this was not confirmed, nobody was prosecuted, a compensation was offered to the Albanian relatives of the victims, and the case could happily be closed and filed as "accident". Just to give you an idea of how many "accidents" happen every night in the Otranto Channel, here's another one from yesterday (I'm not reporting these things anymore, they are so "common"!!!!) "Death in the seas of a young Chinese woman" "They throwed her outboard like a lump of rags, so the Italian coast guard thought about a manoevre to unburden the small people-smuggler boat and gain speed to escape the blockade of the Italian navy. Too late the terrible truth was discovered: it was not a load of smuggled cigarettes or some kilos of Albanian marijuana: it was an asiatic woman, apparent age 25, most likely terrified by the battle going on around her and therefore unreliable, maybe hysterical: a reason good enough, in the smuggler's minds, to get rid of her as soon as possible. Later the same thing was done with all the other 11 refugees (7 men, 4 women): they where threatened and pushed outboard to stop the Italian ships tackling the smugglers. Those 11 were rescued, but for the girl there was nothing to do: when she was recovered, she was already dead." (Il Manifesto, Aug. 27). Another victim of the Wall: taken in between the smugglers' game and the Navy's, nobody gave her even a look. So she paid 3000 DM (that's the fare to cross the Wall) to run straight into her dead. EUROPEAN HYPOCRISY These are all unknown victims of the most tipical European hypocrisy. Every square mile of the Otranto channel is kept under control with satellites and infra-red systems installed on the Italian Army helicopters and airplanes. The new radar systems adopted by the Italian Navy allow the discovery of the small, fast ships of the Albanian mafia loaded with refugees as soon as they leave the docks of Valona, the Albanian city which became the world capital of the refugees trade. The Italians even imposed to Albania the presence of a navy base on a small island just ashore Valona, in fact taking it. Nothing can move in the Otranto channel without the Navy knowing it. But still, the only effect of this inhuman and enormously expensive military effort is a huge raise in casualties and "misterious accidents". Note that most refugees are cought as soon as they set foot on the Italian coast: lately, about 1,500 persons every day are taken into the concentration camps spreaded mostly in South Italy, to be later deported somewhere in the Balkans where they just disappear into nothing. Now, just a very naive question: and if this people could reach Italy by ferry boat? Apart the cost (70 DM for the ferry; 3000 DM for an unforgettable night on the Otranto Channel), this would save the life of many refugees. But for Schengen sake, this can't happen: if the refugees could come by ferry, they would not be illegal immigrants. Therefore the Albanian and Montenegro police does not allow anybody on the ferries without a visa for Italy, and that's impossible to obtain for a refugee. And the will to keep enforcing this deadly policy is clearly showed by yesterday decision of the Italian (left) government: 45 billions lire (45 millions DM) were allocated to buy "optic and infra-red cameras to be installed on the Italian shores of the Otranto Channel". Nothing to say: Europe is really well defended. Giuliano ================================================================================ subject: Message from Frankfurt - Airport blockade from: Florian Schneider date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 14:03:18 +0200 ================================================================================ Message from Frankfurt - Airport blockade In the early morning of 15 October 1999, we blocked the Frankfurt airport by hanging large bunches of air balloons, wrapped in aluminum foil, all around the airport. With these 150-meter high ëagitatorsí hanging in the entry and exit ports of the runways, we protest against the everyday reality of deportations at the Frankfurt airport. With our action, we associate ourselves to the Europe-wide, anti-racist action day against the EU Summit in Finland, which specifically deals with the EU migration and asylum politics and is taking place in Tampere on 15-16 October. At this Summit, heads of government and foreign ministers will develop and institutionalise ëFortress Europeí. Frankfurt airport is a central part of the deportation machinery of the Federal Republic of Germany. More than 10,000 refugees and migrants are deported here every year. Kola Bankole (died in 1994) and Aamir Ageeb (died in 1999) had to pay their resistance against deportation with their lives; none of their murderers were brought to justice! Solidarity with those under threat of deportation and the illegalised refugees and migrants! Immediate abolition of the internment prison in Frankfurt airport! Nobody is illegal! Open borders for everybody! ================================================================================ subject: eurovision from: Florian Schneider date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 20:59:43 +0200 ================================================================================ EUROPEAN ACTION MAP v. 0.1 This morning we had the honor of receiving a phone call from the head of the Finnish Foreign Ministry's Department for Press and Culture and responsible for the press department for the EU summit in Tampere. Apparently, EU representatives do not enjoy our which they may feel infringes on their lack of humor. We were kindly asked to replace the appropriated frameset of our site. http://www.contrast.org/borders Today, with the start of the official EU summit in Tampere, various actions are going on all over Europe and specifically in Tampere: more about the Counter summit and the demonstration in Tampere from tomorrow on and almost in real time on our site. Our aim is to collect and publish on the net all available informations about the ongoing activities against Fortress Europe and for the freedom of movement. Here some spotlights: - In Frankfurt, early morning today activists blocked the Frankfurt airport by hanging large bunches of air balloons, wrapped in aluminum foil, all around the airport. With these 150-meter high ‘agitators’ hanging in the entry and exit ports of the runways, they protested against the everyday reality of deportations at the Frankfurt airport. - In Poland, an action against the headquarters of the Polish border police for the Western region took place in Krasna Ojanskya near Zielona Gora. Demonstrators shouted anti-repression slogans and put up posters throughout the town. A small group made a small attack on the border police headquarters with tear gas grenades. - In Berlin a few dozen activists held a rallye in front of the departure gate of the airport Berlin Schoenefeld. Simultaneously a 15 meter long banner was fixed on the roof for more than one hour. - In Koblenz (Germany) around two hundred activists demonstrated in front of the headquarters of the german border police (BGS). - In Paris 120 people invaded the international zone of the airport Paris Roissy. Other actions were planned all over France. - In Switzerland rallies were held in seven different cities. - In Italy there were actions at least in in Milano, Firenze and Caserta. This is only a very preliminary overview. We expect much more actions to have happened all across Europe. Please send to us reports, pictures and all material about the different actions. Cross the border is an international group of activists - actually from Finland, Bulgaria, FR Yugoslavia, Britain, Italy and Germany. Our european action map is a project, which means basically a first attempt, in order to represent the europe-wide grassroots activities in a decentralised, but nevertheless effective and coordinated way. Of course, we have to struggle with a lot of difficulties and all the problems of synchronisation, but we hope it might reveal a new dimension of networking, activism and concrete media work. ================================================================================ subject: European asylum policy (Press Release) from: Autonoom Centrum date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999 19:08:53 +0200 ================================================================================ Press release 15 October 1999 Autonomous Dutch-Austrian Friendship Association congratulates Cohen with the Dutch effort for the European asylum policy On monday, October 11th 1999, the state-secretary of the ministry of Justice J. Cohen held a speech on the European asylum policy in the auditorium of the University of Amsterdam. The Autonomous Dutch-Austrian Friendship Association (ANOV) welcomed Cohen warm-heartidly for his contribution to the European asylum policy. We congratulated, dressed in Tiroler outfit, state-secretary Cohen with the Dutch contribution to the European Summit this weekend in Tampere, Finland. In Austria politicians have taken the same stand for many years and have accompished that refugees and immigrants are rightfuly neglected. Needless to say the extreme-right J–rg Haider scored a huge increase in votes at the last elections. The greeting banner said: "Haider gruesst Cohen". Last year, Cohen stood at the craddle of the High Level Working Group, a working group for civil servants in the European Union. This High Level Working Group was established in order to dam in the number of refugees and immigrants that come to Europe. The plans of the group correspond well with the Austrian strategy document that was the first attempt to plot a European asylum and immigration policy, published exactly one year ago. Austria proposed to place a number of concentric circles around the EU. Each circle would have a role in stopping the attempts of refugees and immigrants to reach te EU. Furthermore, everyone without valid travel documents would be rejected for refugee status or any other status. And last but not least, the Geneva Treaty would no longer apply to the refugees of this era: since they flee civil wars, wars of seccesion, ethnic violence or violence of rivaling powergroups in failed states. There was much criticism to the Austrian plans. Not only from refugee groups, the UNHCR and the Dutch Refugee Council, members of Parliament and the Euro-parliament also exercised stiff criticism to these plans. Yet Cohen forces through what the Austrians put on paper. The founding declaration of the High Level Working Group that was published by the Netherlands openly mentions that the Dutch contribution is inspired by the Austrian strategy document concerning asylum and immigration. The High Level Working Group wants to reduce the number of refugees and immigrants by using the Foreign- and Development Aid-policy. Countries that do not cooperate fully will have to suffer the harsh financial consequences or wil be pressured in a diplomatic way. In Tampere Cohen will set up an 'Austrian' vision that turns refugees into illegal aliens. The Autonomous Dutch-Austrian Frienship Association, Autonoom Centrum 0031-206126172 ================================================================================ subject: Report from countersummit against Fortress-Europe from: Geert Lovink date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999 19:08:30 +0200 ================================================================================ From: finlandia@ecn.org Press Release Sunday 17.10.1999 For pictures and more text: http://www.contrast.org/borders About eight hundred conserned citizens protested yesterday against the development of Euro-Fortress in Tampere, Finland. The event, coinciding with the extra summit of the European Union, wanted to bring about a clear message: "Against Euro-Fortress and for European solidarity and freedom of movement". The demonstration was part of the international Counter-Summit held in Tampere this weekend, which aimed at creating more co-operation between non-governmental grassroot organisations in Europe. There were participants from at least twelve countries, including representatives from solidarity-, human rights-, and immigrant organisations. During the Counter-Summit also other events were organised: On Friday there was a "Rock Against Racism" -concert, Saturday started with workshops about the aspects of militarisation, immigration and social welfare in the European Union. On Sunday the workshops continued. The demonstration went well and was actually quite big in Finnish scale, ´cause here the political culture is not very encouraging for demonstrating. The implemented plan was to march from the center of Tampere to as close to the building of the EU-Summit as possible, which - as could be foreseen - was not really close at all. The manifestation was accompanied by a van with a sound system playing politically oriented music and making shouting slogans in an organized way easier. The general atmosphere at the place was also very encouraging. Both, the protestors and the police acted well, and bigger conflicts were avoided. During the demonstration one protestor was arrested. Police claimed he had kicked the police car leading the march. Also in the end of the protest one demonstrator was arrested for trying to improve one of the EU-flags that can these days be seen all over Finland in almost all possible locations. Sunday's newspapers told that police had also arrested two skinheads looking for confrontation with the demonstrators. In the manifestation the concept of Fortress-Europe was visualised with chickenwire fence. In the end of the demonstration the fence was opened in front of the mass of demonstrators and people broke free, some of them burning fake passports and identity cards. This was meant to symbolize counter-summits aim to "cut the Euro-fence" (in finnish language fence means also net) by our counter-net. With the Counter-Summit grassroot organizations expressed their concern for creation of a world where the capital moves freely while immigration and emmigration of people is more and more restricted. The politics made by EU-memberstates in Tampere EU-Summit can be clearly seen as a step toward a closed Fortress-Europe, into which immigrants and refugees from non-union countries are not welcome. By fighting the "illegal immigration" EU is actually making immigration more and more difficult for everyone. The demonstrators wanted to show that they don´t accept deportations, internation camps and other inhumane and discriminating measures directed towards immigrants. The demonstration was also against the increased control-systems within European Union, which are heavily targeted against immigrants and radical grassroot movements. Increased power and new measures quaranteed to police form a serious threat to democrazy. Tampere Counter-Summit e-mail: tampere99@hotmail.com ---- Multimedia material available >From a separate media-section of the website you'll find up-to-date reports, images and shortly some audio material and summary of the video (mini-DV) footage shot from the events. All the material is available for non-profit information distribution without a charge, as long as the source is mentioned. Other outlets are expected to pay standard freelancer rates of the medium conserned. Get in touch or check the website for further details; WWW: http://www.contrast.org/borders/media e-mail: laajakulma@tao.ca phone: +358-40-5677 188 ________________________________________________________________________________ no copyright 1999 rolux.org - no commercial use without permission. is a moderated mailing list for the advancement of minor criticism. more information: mail to: majordomo@rolux.org, subject line: , message body: info. further questions: mail to: rolux-owner@rolux.org. archive: http://www.rolux.org