Overview of actions & events
22.Mar.05 - The list of activities below has been copiled for many sources. it does neither claim to be acurate nore to be complete. if you have additions or corrections please contact us at frassainfo@kein.org.
United Kingdom
in the UK a number of different local and networked groups have begun working on iniatives ranging from decentralised protests outside detention centres (NCADC), to actions based in local communities (Hackney), to large traditional marches ( a coalition of groups in Manchester). For up to date practical information about the events in the uk see www.april2.org.uk
London
In London a demonstration-cum-carnival is being organised for April 2nd. This already has the support of a range of migrant organizations, activist networks and migrant support groups. The demo will start in Clerkenwell Green WC1 (nearest tube: Farringdon) at 12.00 and will end in London Fields in Hackney E9.
Manchester
In Manchester the demonstration on April 2nd starts at 12.30 at Whitworth Park
Canterbury - Detained, Deported, Disappeared - Hands of Our Mates
A Vigil to Support and remember those who have been stolen from us by an unjust immigration system, organised by Kent Campaign to Defend Asylum seekers on Sunday the 3rd of April at 1200h at the Canterbury Cathedral Entrance on Butter Market in Canterbury.
The Vigil was agreed at the successful "Coming of Age" Conference as a follow up action to continue to highlight the situation of young asylum seekers facing deportation. Bring stories and visual images of loved ones currently detained or wrenched away by the process of deportation.
Nottingham - Noise Protest
Bring banners and all manner of musical instruments - everything from trombones to dustbin lids - to the Market Square at noon
A Noise Protest in wil take place on Saturday 2nd April 2005 on Market Square in Nottingham from 1200 - 1400h. Bring banners and all manner of musical instruments - everything from trombones to dustbin lids.
Glasgow
There will be a demonstration on the 2nd of april, called by the Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees, at the Immigration Offices at 200 Brand Street, (Govan), Glasgow at 1100h. The nearest underground is Cessnock.
Oxford
In Oxford on the 2nd of april there willl be Street Stall in Cornmarket with music, literature and street theatre. the event runs from 1200h to 1400h and is supported by Close Campsfield Campaign and Bicester Refugee Support
Greece
Athens
on Saturday the 2nd of april a demostration of migrants and antiracist organisations is going to be held in Athens. At 13:00 o'clock in the central square of Athens a concert is going to take place where groups of migrants mostly are going to participate. At 15;00 o'clock the demostration will take place, with basic the claim of legalisation for the migrants in greece, as a new law is going to be let out soon. The Greek Social Forum and the Migrants Forum have sent out the call. We think it is going to be one of the bigest migrant demostrations in Athens, as it is organised for a very long time now and it seems everyone knows about it.
Also On Friday the 16th of april, the no border group is planning to go to a refugee camp near Athens were only women and children are held under bad circumnstances.
Thessaloniki
Wednesday 23 march: info-evening with films and material about refugee camps, immigrants, previous actions etc. 2000h at Immigrants' Place (Filippou 51)
Wednesday 30 march: Discussion "Greek Immigration Policy and the new legislation - Freedom of Movement and right to stay" with the participation of immigrants' associations and groups of lawyers 1930h at the Municipal Library
Saturday 2 April: Demonstration at 1200h on aristotelous Square - Statue of Venizelos. Starting from the city centre, we will walk "upwards" to the neighbourhoods where the immigrants live. We will fill the streets of the city with voices and music, distribute leaflets in all the languages of the people of this city, continuing our struggle for real legalisation, for asylum, for equal rights.
After the demo, videos and party at the Immigrants' Place (Filippou 51)
Wednesday 6 April: Discussion "The city and the migrants: social equality and the right to vote" with the participation of regional groups (participating in the local municical and prefectural elections - 1930h at the Municipal Library
these events are organized by the antiracist Initiative of Thessaloniki
France
Paris
the sans papiers collective of Paris 19eme arrdt organizes a march departing at 1400h on the 2nd of april from Place de Stalingrad (19ème)
Calais
on the 2nd of april there will be a march between Calais and Coquelles retention center. Meeting point is at 1400h on quai de la Gendarmerie the march is supported by : CNT Littoral, Collectif Interluttes de Calais, Sud éducation, CSP59, Comité de Défense des Droits des Sans Papiers, collectif "passons nous des frontières", C'sur, Salam, and refugees (with a text in arabic by sans papiers from Lille collective)
Limoges
on the 2nd of april the sans papiers collective of Limoges organizes a demonstration at 1400h from Place de la République supported by : ADS, ATTAC 87, CGT CNASEA, GISTI, Inter 87 FSU, USD Santé Social CGT, LCR, MDH, MRAP, PCF, Ras L'Front, Sud Etudiants, Sud Santé Sociaux, Les Verts
Germany
Lindau
In Lindau there will be a NoBorder-info-evening with films and speeches about NoBorder, NoBorder-Camps, Fortress EUrope, Lager system and the repression against the online-demo against Lufthansa and their deportation business an April 6 at 2000h in Club Vaudeville, Lindau.
Berlin
On tuesday 29 march at 1900h there will be a discussion/talk with representatives of plataforma für migrantInnen und flüchtlinge berlin, flüchtlingsinitiative Brandenburg, kanak attak/gesellschaft für legalisierung hamburg. The event takes place in at the Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (Veranstaltungsraum, VH, 1. OG), Oranienstr. 25
2nd European day of action for freedom of movement and the right to stay May 1st, 2005: EuroMayday on Precarity and Right to Rights in Hamburg
The two european-wide days of action reject the tendencies of institutionalized precarity and the deprivation of rights which go along with the consolidation of a „new Europe" and claim freedom of movement and the right to stay. From the beginning of the European constitutional process migrants have been confronted with deportation, detention camps and illegalization. Keeping refugees and migrants out of Europe is not the only aim of the homogenisation of European migration politics, but rather promoting a process of selective inclusion and the production of a hierarchy of rights for those who don t have a European citizenship. The cutback of social welfare and employment rights, increasing flexibility of labour and postulated mobility extend the process of precarization, which migrants have been the first to experience, partly on the living conditions of EU citizens.
Activists of different Groups involved in the organisation of both days of action (plataforma für migrantInnen und flüchtlinge berlin, flüchtlingsinitiative brandenburg, kanak attak/gesellschaft für legalisierung hamburg) will give information on actions and discussions from their different perspectives.
Brandenburg
On Saturday April 2 a Mini-Anti-Lager-Tour against inhuman asylum camps will go to Brandenburg. This action will be linked to the nation-wide mobilisation for Euromayday in Hamburg on May 1 st.
we are planning to go to the detention centre in Barnsdorf in the state of Brandenburg in eastern germany. Public awareness shall be created. In addition we want to make (among other activities) a demonstration (after we have gathered at the detention camp in Barnsdorf) together with the inmates of the detention camps to Senftenberg where the office of the authorities for migrants/refugees ("ausländerbehörde") is placed.
at the 1st of april the refugee initiative of Brandenburg (self organized refugee group) is organizing a one-day-information-seminar in berlin for refugees who are living in the state of Brandenburg. This seminar is supposed to mobilize refugees also for the 2nd of april.
Nürnberg
In Nuremberg there will be an Action on April 1st: We will make a manifestation in front of the foreigers office, together with lots of refugees from Ethiopia and Eritrea, Nepal and Butan, who have to face the fact that the foreigners office cut their working permissions although they had been working partly for years. Reason is a new immigration law, which chaged responsibilities for working pemissions from Arbeitsamt (Working office) to Ausländeramt (foreigners office) It will tak place on the first of April, because the office will be closed on Saturday and because a lot of antifacist people will go to the Antinazi Action to Munich on April 2nd.
München:
In Munich there will be a protest action against the very bad living conditions of the refugees in the camps. The camps are not closed detention camps, but the refugees live in these camps under very oppressive conditions. In Bavaria the refugees get only food packages instead of money, they have to live in the camps even if they have the permission to work and could afford an own flat and they are permanently controlled by police or security.
The action is organised by a coalition composed of the Munich caravan group, the Bavarian refugee council and the human rights organisation res publica. It will take place on Friday, april, 1st, in front of the "Regierung von Oberabayern", the authority, which is responsible for the running of the camps.
On April, 2nd the mentioned groups will take part in the mobilisation against a fascist manifestation, which is annonced by a neo-nazi group for the same day.
more information can be found at: www.carava.net.
Hanau/Frankfurt
in hanau/frankfurt an exhibition against detention will take place in the two weeks before the 2nd of april, with films, an information event and a migrants assembly. moreover we think for protests against deportations.
Düsseldorf
On Saturday 2 April there will be a demonstration in Düsseldorf for free movement and the right to stay and against a decree of the government of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia concerning the new German law on immigration (refusing refugees who have a so called "tolerance" (Duldung) the possibility to get a residence permit). The demonstration will start at Düsseldorf main station at 1300h. More information can be found at: thecaravan.org and also the call for the demonstration can be downloaded from there. There will also be an information evening in Dortmund at 31 March giving information on the new law on immigration and for mobilisation to the demonstration.
Münster:
In Münster there will be an information evening with film screening on wednesday april 6th. we hope to show fotos and videos from the action day as well. people from here and from THE VOICE will introduce and discuss.
there might be also action on 2nd april, but if there is, rather spontanously, not fixed yet.
the Netherlands
Rotterdam - Close the Prison Ships!
in rotterdam there will be an enormous protest against the detention of Sans-Papier's close to two prisonships that are moored in the Merwe Port since 6 months. The demonstration will start at 1200h on the 2nd of april in Marconi Straat 123, Merwe Haven in Rotterdam. There are buses leaving for the demo from Amsterdam and Nijmegen
Moored in the Merwe Port Rotterdam since 6 months are two prisonships for asylumseekers at end of procedure and for people without permission to stay. In these huge square floating boxes of three floors high, 760 people are being detained under inhumane conditions whilst awaiting their likely removal.
They are allowed out of their cells only five hours per day. They are held four per cell. There are no recreational activities, there is neither a library nor a shop. Minister Roemer praises the low cost of these prison vessels; the cost per day is two-thirds that of a regular prison stay.
We demand the immediate closure of this form of humiliating detention which breaches Human Rights. We are strongly against this political strategy of intimidation which is creating many victims. We stand for a society which is open/receptive to migration and to the world around us.
In MerweHaven we want to show our manifest solidarity with the people imprisoned inside with noise and colour. Participants , among others: Samba Band Rhythms of Resistance, Fanfare of Lovenight (probably), rap, street theatre... for more information write to stopdebajesboot@care2.com.
Italy
In Italy, we call to the mobilisation in two politically crucial places, the two Italian "doors" to Europe:
Ragusa (Sicily)
Sustaining the initiatives promoted by the Sicily Antiracist Network, which will take place in city of Ragusa. In the detention centre of this city, everyday are closed those who survive to the Mediterranean passage. The demonstration is starting at 1600h on the 2nd of april at Piazza Cappuccini and ends with a final assembly in front of the detention centre in via Colajanni.
Napoli
There will be a demonstartion on the 2md of april at 1000h. The meeting point is Piazza Garibaldi.
Gradisca d’Isonzo (Gorizia)
Friuli, the region in which the wire netting which signs the border dividing the city of Gorizia is everyday crossed by hundreds migrants. In the near of Gorizia, in the city of Gradisca d'Isonzo, is going to be open one of the bigger Italian detention centres. the demonstartion starts at 1500h from the train Station of Sagrado. At 1600h there will be a human chain in front of Gradisca detention centre.
an additional call to the actionday with more information about the situation in italy can be found here.
Radio Broadcast
Together with GlobalRadio, Melting Pot Europa is going to broadcast on saturday the 2nd of April a special radio program completely dedicated to European initiatives held during or around the 2nd of april. We'll be on air all day long with correspondencies from all countries in action. We ask to give us a mobile phone in order to call you during your initiative. As we already did during last 1st of may, we'd like to portray a real EU map of rebellion against repressive and racist laws which approve the exclusion, the detention and the deportation of men en women (mass deportations are going on in south of Italy right now).
You can listen to Global Radio via streaming web from www.globalproject.info English website here
Spain
for the latest information form spain check out www.moviments.net.
Huelva,
April 1st at 1830h Concentration - rally in front of Subdelegación del Gobierno Avda. Martín Alonso Pinzón Call by: Mesa del Temporero de Huelva
Valencia
On April 2nd at 1130 h: Demonstration - Departure: From below the Bridge by the "Nuevo Centro", end of Gran Vía Fernando el Católico Call by: Foro Alternativo de la Inmigración [more info]
Sevilla
On April 1st at 2000h: Centro Vecinal Casa del Pumarejo / Projection of "Paralelo 36" (On migration in the Straits of Gibraltar) Organizer: Oficina de Derechos Sociales
Málaga
On April 2nd at 1700h: Basta Ya! Derechos para Todos! Regularización para Todos! Plaza de la Marina / Concentration - rally, information stands, world music. Call by: Coordinadora de Inmigrantes de Málaga [more info]
Almería
On April 2nd at 1200h at the Port of Almería: Demonstration Call by: FEDERACIÓN DE ASOCIACIONES DE INMIGRANTES EN ALMERIA (Adesean, Aema, Arag, Ataesro,AIMA, Mandinga Cafo, Aila, Fulbé, Ghana, Aiba, Cañob) PLATAFORMA IGUALES EN DERECHOS DE ALMERIA (SOC, USTEA, CGT, JCA, ATTAC) ALMERIA ACOGE, ATIME, APDH ALMERIA. [more info]
Jaen
On April 2nd at 1930h: Plaza de las Batallas / Concentration - rally Organizers: CGT, Foro Social de Jaén, IU, Jaén-Acoge, SOC, USTEA [more info]
Barcelona
On april 2nd at 1800h: "Flexibilización para normalizar. Ningún Inmigrante Sin Derechos" Plaza Universitat / demonstration Call by: Taula Permanent pels Drets dels Inmigrants. CTAF - Casa de los Trabajadores Africanos; CASC – Coordinadora de Asociaciones Senegalesas en Cataluña; NAHDA – Asociación Sociocultural del Colectivo Marroquí en Cataluña; TAIBI – Asociación de los Comerciantes Marroquíes en Cataluña; CASAL ARGENTÍ A BARCELONA; MOUSSA MOLO – Asociación de Gambia-Senegaleses de Maresme [more info]
Madrid
ON April 2nd at 1800h: Papeles para todas! "Nativa o extranjera, la misma clase obrera" Atocha Legazpi Call by: ATRAIE (Asociación de Trabajadores/as Inmigrantes en España) [more info]
Badajoz (Extremadura)
On April 2nd at 1900h: "Por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes. Regularización sin Condiciones" Subdelegación del Gobierno de Badajoz Call by: Foro de la Inmigración en Extremadura [more info]
Austria:
Vienna
In Vienna there weill be a demonstration against detention and deportation on the 2nd april 2005 at 1400h: the meeting point is in front of the deportation prison (hernalser guertel 8-10, 1080 vienna) it should be noisy demonstration. More details are available form no-racism.net
on the 7th of april a of the video "no lager! nowhere!" will take place in vienna. hopefully there will also be first pics from the actionday. More details and the location will be available form no-racism.net
Finland:
Helsinki
On the 2nd of April the finnish No Border-network is organizing a demonstration for freedom of movement and the right to choose the place to live in, starting at Kiasma at 3pm.
Sweden
there are ongoing campaigns in Sweden about the right to asylum and refugees in general. (see the background informations below) The campaign will involve activities on the Day of Action, 2nd of April, in at least the three largest cities of Sweden (Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmo).
Malmö
There will be a big demonstration on Saturday the 2nd of April, when we will walk toward Förvaret filled with great fury yet with a far greater hope. Fury over the despicable lack of respect for humanity that stings one’s eyes at the sight of Förvaret’s dirt-yellow facade. Hope because we trust that the people living behind this facade will continue struggling for a different Sweden and a different Europe simply through their presence and their, however muted, indignation.
Slovenia
In Slovenia there will be two actions concerning the second day of action. On Friday, 1st of April, there will be manifestation in Ljubljana under the slogan. "Not tolerance – rights for everyone" This is going to be wider manifestation, composed of different movements (gay/lesbian, youth hendicaped deprivileged, students aginst new taxation, migrants, erased, precarious) The claim for freedom of movement and right to stay is going to have considerable visibility inside it.
On the second of April there will be communicative direct action against the detention center in Veliki otok near Postojna.