Migration related initiaves during the ESF

27.Oct.03 - The upcoming European Social Forum (from 12 to 15 november in St.Denis, France) will again see a number of Seminars and other activities that refelct on the struggles against migrantion controls and for the the rights of migrants. While the offical programme is still not available at the ESF website we have collected some informations on these initiatives for the noborder website.

Call for participation

In the last few years, everywhere in Europe, migrants' struggles have asserted themselves as a central element in the Global Movement's action. The struggles of the sans papiers in France, of the agricultural workers in Spain, of the refugees in Germany, of the migrants in Italy against the Bossi-Fini immigration law, have been a basic trait of the European politics in the last two years.

European networks fighting against racism, against the fortress Europe built up by Schengen agreements, against migrant work exploitation, have met in a big meeting, during the first European Social Forum in Florence. On that occasion, many experiences have been confronted, difficulties estimated, links established.

Now, on the occasion of the Saint Denis European Social Forum, we call for a new meeting to build up a European network of migrant and antiracist associations to develop an agenda which includes a European action day against migrants detention centres that, everywhere in Europe and "thanks" to Union directives, represent one of the strongholds of the fortress Europe.

In order to place at the centre of the Global Movements agenda the opposition to the Europe of Schengen (as it was before to the Europe of Maastricht), we call for a great participation in Saint Denis.

Tavolo Migranti dei Social Forum Italiani
Kanak Attak
Kein Mensch ist Illegal
Act Up
Vacarme

Seminar on migrant work

The seminary on migrant work will be organize in collaboration with the Transnational Institute in the Netherlands which presented a similar proposal in name of other organizations (RESPECT Europwide Network Migrant Domestic Workers, Commission for Filipino Migrant Workers, Kalayaan UK Campaign for Migrants Rights, Dawn Development Alternatives for Women in a New Era). We were obliged to merge our proposals. The resulting title of the seminar will be Migrants - Transnational Workers and social Organizations

European network of migrants, sans-papiers and refugees at the European Social Forum

The ESF organizing committee has accepted the proposal of a seminar entitled "Migrants, Sans-Papiers, Refugees : against exploitation and repression, for freedom of movement and residency." We have agreed upon the following two main themes for the seminar :

- immigration - labour - exploitation
- deportation - repression (deportation campaigns)