Act against the migrant hunting agency of the European Union!

Call by the Transnational Campaign against Frontex

30.Sep.09 - On the 29th of August 2009 activists from the Noborder camp on the island of Lesvos/Greece protested in the port of Mytilini, sieging and blocking the border guard post. Every night the Frontex boat leaves the harbour together with the Greek coastal guards for night patrols in the sea between Lesvos and Turkey. Lesvos is - concerning the 'irregular' entries to Europe - one of the hotspots like Lampedusa and Malta. The migrants who arrive daily on the island are mainly refugees from Somalia, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Pakistan and Irak looking for a better future. The Frontex patrols put the lives of the migrants in danger by forcing them to cross at night and in bad weather with small dinghies and by scaring them with their powerful boats. More than one thousand migrants are known to have died in the Aegean sea over the last twenty years.

We, activists of 'transit' countries beyond the eastern and southern EU border like the Ukraine, Turkey, Morocco, Mali and Mauritania who participated in the noborder camp, we are denouncing Frontex and its European partners for creating a Fortress Europe, for migrant hunting and for de-stablizing our local societies. We are witnessing refugees and migrants risking and losing their lives at sea, in deserts and in mountains. We are witnessing the collective deportation by Frontex of migrants, refugees included, to our countries. We are witnessing the building of a network of detention centres with European development funds in our countries. We are witnessing raids against migrants in our cities. We are witnessing that our states are not protecting refugee nor migrant rights. We are witnessing the closure of our borders with all countries in order to stop migrants approaching the European Union. Our countries are acting as watch dogs for the EU. The influence of Europe in our internal affairs is advancing in a strong way. The borders of the EU are being externalized to other continents: Frontex is operating three thousand kilometres from Europe in the Senegalese coastal waters.

The EU and national European governments are escalating the border regime into a real social war. Frontex is a strategic European security instrument working parallel with the readmission treaties, development aid and economical deals. Europe is coöperating with states - also concerning deportation - that have not implemented fundamental human rights conventions like Libya (that has never ratified the Geneva convention for the protection of refugees).

The transnational campaign against Frontex started in June 2008 with a strong protest outside the Frontex headquarters in Warsaw. The action in Mytilini harbour august 2009 is another step in the campaign.

We want to invite people and groups from outside and inside Europe to join the campaign against Frontex. Organise actions, events, debates. Monitor Frontex trainings and operations ashore, at sea and at airports, and to share the information. Act locally, regionally, transnationally.

Support the campaign!
Denounce Frontex!
Access and equal rights for all!

Lesvos Nobordercamp, August 2009

more information: Contact the transnational campaign against Frontex | Appel Shut Down Frontex