The summer of 2015 has come and gone. That summer, through the work of thousands of people claiming their right to safety, and of the thousands supporting them, EU borders have shaken. But as the winter sets in, fleeing conditions on all routes have degraded. Borders have regained power – through barbwires, criminalisation and militarisation.The
The summer of 2015 has come and gone. That summer, through the work of thousands of people claiming their right to safety, and of the thousands supporting them, EU borders have shaken. But as the winter sets in, fleeing conditions on all routes have degraded. Borders have regained power – through barbwires, criminalisation and militarisation.The events and decisions of this summer, and those of the winter upon us, will bear consequences for the decades to come.
It has never been more important, more urgent, for our networks, grassroot organisations, activists, and a NGOs to come and work closely together. In November, a meeting hosted in Thessaloniki, Greece, gathered over 60 people, representing grassroots groups, NGOs, legal aid centers and european networks – from the Balkans to Calais and Melilla via Italy and Brussels.
Call for action on December 18th
Faced simultaneously with the closing of borders in the Balkans to most nationalities, and the war-hungry reactions to the attacks in Paris, our assembly choose the 18th December (global day of migrants) as a first step towards what we hope can become a visible and influencial, transnational & politicised network to oppose the current border and migration policies agenda, as well as call out the role played by EU and global north countries in the propagation of war and misery and sent out this call:
“Activists from Greece, the Western Balkans and the rest of Europe that work with people on the move met in Thessaloniki.
They propose to everyone – individuals, movements, social organisations, trade unions – who don’t want to live in a dark, unjust and undemocratic Europe and world
to mobilize and take action on December 18th.
No to walls, open the doors
Peace, democracy, social justice, dignity for all.“
#stateofsolidarity
In response to the shock strategy and the abuses of a ‘state of emergency’, some of us produced a longer argumentation on the european political climate and a call for a #stateofsolidarity. The text is available in french, english and greek on this platform and is open to signatures of individuals and organisations – please use the contact form on this site to sign it. If you translate it to another language, please let us know and we will add it here.
With these calls, we want to motivate different groups and individuals to find ways for political actions. December 18th can only be a beginning and the goal must be to gather strength. Demonstrations are far from being the only option. Discussion rounds, especially involving refugees themselves, and/or to develop new stategies and broader networks, could be a perfect first step. As well as symbolic actions which, mainly in the week before Christmas, could bring people of our communities to think about the the injustices suffered by an enormous number of human beings.
Visibility of our actions and our collaboration is crucial – therefore we invite you to start using, for December 18th, a common platform that advertises your events and actions as part of a transnational and broad coalition: this can be done through the form on this page.
It has never been more important, more urgent, for our networks, grassroot organisations, activists, and a NGOs to come and work closely together. In November, a meeting hosted in Thessaloniki, Greece, gathered over 60 people, representing grassroots groups, NGOs, legal aid centers and european networks – from the Balkans to Calais and Melilla via Italy and Brussels.
Call for action on December 18th
Faced simultaneously with the closing of borders in the Balkans to most nationalities, and the war-hungry reactions to the attacks in Paris, our assembly choose the 18th December (global day of migrants) as a first step towards what we hope can become a visible and influencial, transnational & politicised network to oppose the current border and migration policies agenda, as well as call out the role played by EU and global north countries in the propagation of war and misery and sent out this call:
“Activists from Greece, the Western Balkans and the rest of Europe that work with people on the move met in Thessaloniki.
They propose to everyone – individuals, movements, social organisations, trade unions – who don’t want to live in a dark, unjust and undemocratic Europe and world
to mobilize and take action on December 18th.
No to walls, open the doors
Peace, democracy, social justice, dignity for all.“
#stateofsolidarity
In response to the shock strategy and the abuses of a ‘state of emergency’, some of us produced a longer argumentation on the european political climate and a call for a #stateofsolidarity. The text is available in french, english and greek on this platform and is open to signatures of individuals and organisations – please use the contact form on this site to sign it. If you translate it to another language, please let us know and we will add it here.
With these calls, we want to motivate different groups and individuals to find ways for political actions. December 18th can only be a beginning and the goal must be to gather strength. Demonstrations are far from being the only option. Discussion rounds, especially involving refugees themselves, and/or to develop new stategies and broader networks, could be a perfect first step. As well as symbolic actions which, mainly in the week before Christmas, could bring people of our communities to think about the the injustices suffered by an enormous number of human beings.
Visibility of our actions and our collaboration is crucial – therefore we invite you to start using, for December 18th, a common platform that advertises your events and actions as part of a transnational and broad coalition: this can be done through the form on this page.
We hope to hear from you – encouragements, feedback, constructive criticism and ideas are warmly welcome.
The call from Thessaloniki was sent by:
- Change4all
- SOSKonvoy (Austria)
- Transform! Europe
- Altersummit
- Migreurop (France, Calais)
- Prodein (Spain, Melilla)
- Center for Peace Studies (Croatia)
- Network of Antifascists of Zagreb
- No border Zagreb group
- Welcome to Denmark
- European Civic Forum
- Bündnis gegen Lager Berlin/Brandenburg (Germany)
- Solidar
- Euromed Rights Network
- Human Rights League
- European Alternatives
- Blockupy
- Dresden Balkan Convoy (Germany)
- Welcome2Europe
- Borderline Europe
- Solidarity for All (Greece)
- Athens Solidarity Clinics (Greece)
- Greek Forum of Refugees (Greece)
- Antiracist Initiative Thessaloniki (Greece)
- DIKTYO (Greece)
- KIA (Greece)
- ARSIS (Greece, Idomeni)
- let’s help the refugees togherer in Hungary
- ARCI (Italy)
- Legis (Macedonia
- FOSM (Macedonia)
- Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia (MHC)
- IDC (Serbia)
- Edukacioni Centar (Serbia)
- PresenceCounts-OccupyLjubljana (Slovenia)
- Antiracistic front without borders
- Multicider (Turkey)
- OSIFE
- Macedonian Young Lawyers Association(MYLA)
- UDI Unione Donne in Italia
- Comitato Verità e Giustizia per i Nuovi Desaparecidos
- RETE ANTIRAZZISTA FIORENTINA
http://stateofsolidarity.net/solidarity-beyond-borders/