MINELRES: UNITED: International Refugee Day 20 June
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Fri May 9 12:05:39 2008
Original sender: UNITED for Intercultural Action
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*****please distribute this call for action to your contacts*****
ORDER FREE POSTERS!
INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE DAY - 20 JUNE 2008
CAMPAIGNING in SUPPORT of REFUGEES!
PROTESTING against the FATAL REALITIES of FORTRESS EUROPE!
Already more than 10.000 documented deaths as a result of Europe's
immigration policies!
Can we keep our eyes wide shut towards this brutal fact, or is it our
human responsibility to raise awareness about the war against refugees
on European borders?
What you will find in this e-mail:
* International Refugee Day campaigning info
* Campaigning and lobbying tips, ideas...
* Background information on "The Fatal Realities of Fortress Europe"
* Protest-letter against the inhumane immigration policies in
"protecting" Fortress Europe
* link to the updated version of the list of refugee deaths with details
on 11.000 refugee deaths
* Link to ORDER FORM to get up to 2 kilos campaigning material (posters,
stickers, leaflets, postcards etc) for free
INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE DAY, 20th June 2008
Since 1993 the UNITED secretariat documented 11.105 cases of migrants
and asylum seekers, who died in their attempt to enter "Fortress
Europe".
Hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers all over Europe search for
refuge from persecution, war, injustice and for a better economic
security. In recent years European immigration routes have become a dead
end. "Improving" the immigration policy aimed up to now to improve the
wall that pretends to protect us against the unwanted ones. These
"illegals" are found day by day drowned, in Spanish, Italian or Greek
fishnet, starved in locked trucks or suffocated in sealed containers.
Even reaching Europe doesn't mean a save haven to them, as there are
constantly reports about death cases within state custody or suicides
due to misery conditions in refugee centers.
Join the European-wide Campaign on 20 June 2008!
The 20th June symbolises the UN "International Refugee Day" and marks a
common date when people all over Europe stand up together for an
important cause: Refugees are welcome !
Every year UNITED co-ordinates a European-wide campaign around the
"International Refugee Day". In this campaign actions of migrant
-refugee-, asylum seeker groups and anti-discrimination organisations
raise awareness about the situation on European borders and lobby on
local and national level for the rights and the protection of refugees
across the continent. What makes it so unique is not only its European
scale, but also the variety of divers NGOs that are willing to create
one European voice to claim more reasonable and humane immigration
policies.
Also this year we call for united actions on 20th June to protest
against carrying on with building up a Fortress Europe.
The policies adopted are dangerously promoting xenophobic ideas within
Europe and directly or indirectly against migration and moreover,
instead to discourage refugees from entering Europe it leads them into
death.
We depend on your participation to reach out to policy makers and
general public with a strong campaign. Therefore your commitment,
despite if you have little time or budget, is vital to give a voice to
the victims of Schengen. UNITED has developed campaigning and networking
tools for self-use and will support you in any action you plan...
More background information about this campaign you find under:
http://www.unitedagainstracism.org/pages/camprfc.htm
HOW TO GET ACTIVE!
Please find below how your organisation can also be part of the
campaign, join the movement and take advantage of the possibilities
UNITED offers to whomever shows interest into the campaign.
One Campaign - Hundreds of Activities all over Europe
Please, inform us as soon as your organisation start planning an
activity. Tell us via e-mail where and when the activity will take
place, who will be involved and what is going to happen! We will include
your activity into a comprehensive list of Europe-wide activities. Many
people will have the chance to know about your activity!!!
It is not needed to create a huge activity - already small actions will
give visibility to the issues addressed. A poster exhibition in your
school, university or at your working place may not cause immediate
changes, but raises awareness and will strengthen the European refugee
campaign. Please feel free to contact the UNITED secretariat if you need
support in setting up an action - we are happy to help you!!!
Free campaign material
UNITED has recently produced new material, in particularly, the new
poster "Fatal Realities of Fortress Europe" (link to pdf 4 Mb) with more
than 10.000 documented deaths by European migration policies. The
backside contains extensive information.
UNITED provides free info- and campaign material for the refugee
campaign up to 2 kilos.
You can order the campaigning material (posters, postcard, stickers...)
by downloading the ORDER FORM (rtf 8kb) and returning this by email to
[email protected] or fax +31-20-6834582
Send a letter of protest and give your own action a stronger meaning!
You can write a letter of protest to the policy-makers of your choice,
you can also use the example letter and addresses below. There is
strength in numbers, so send the protest letter to all your contacts in
politics. Include a copy of the poster and a print of the list of
refugee deaths in your protest. If you need more copies, let us know.
Adopt a refugee case! Give the campaign a human face...
The impact of the list of refugee deaths is caused by the high number of
over 10.000 deaths. Behind that number, though, there are human beings.
In order to make our point and spread the message of the campaign across
Europe, it is necessary to give the list a human dimension. As a matter
of fact, the list is a powerful tool for campaigning both as a whole,
and also as a series of single cases.
Here are some sample cases of refugees that died during the last months.
Of course you can ask us for more detailed information on these or other
cases!!!
Great Britain: Deportee's cancer death "on Britain's conscience"
Ama Sumani, 39, was a Ghanaian woman who was expelled from the United
Kingdom to Ghana while she suffering from a terminal form of cancer and
receiving dialysis treatment. After her visa expired she was deported to
her motherland without a drug that could have prolonged her life, the
drug is not available in Ghana. She died after two months of her
deportation.
(The Independent, 21 March 2008)
Spain: around 40 sub-saharian die during a clandestine journey to the
Canary Islands
On 2nd December 2007, the Senegalese authorities reported that a vessel
had run aground in North Dakar, after having being at sea for around 12
days.
On the boat there were around 130 migrants but during the journey, from
Senegal to Canary Islands, 40 of them died of thirst and hunger and
their body were thrown overboard.
(Migration News Sheet, January 2008)
Italy: migrant thrown overboard, boat's captain arrested
On the 10th January 2008 the captain of an Italian fishing boat, Mario
Ruggiero, has been taken into custody by the Carabinieri at Lampedusa
(Agrigento) of murdering an illegal migrant. A dinghy with around 60
migrants on board which was making the crossing from North Africa to
Italy was in difficulty. One immigrant, from Somalia, dived into the
water and managed to reach the fishing boat, but the captain of the
craft prevented him from staying on board, throwing him back into the
sea. The event was reported by the other migrants on their arrival to
Lampedusa's reception centre.
(La Repubblica, 11 January 2008)
Grain Britain: a man detained under immigration powers was found hanged
at Pentoville prison
Alfredo Castano-Fuentes, 24 years old, was found hanged in his cell
during a routine cell inspection.
He had served a one-year sentence for possessing a false passport and
was being held on an immigration powers at the overcrowded Pentoville
prison (the prison had certified normal accommodation for 799 people but
was actually holding
1,138 people)
(BBC News, 31 March 08)
******
EXAMPLE LETTER OF PROTEST
To the responsible political body in the matter of immigration and
asylum
Attn Mr X / Ms X
Date
Dear Sir, Madam,
Re: Death of more than 10.000 refugees at the borders of "Fortress
Europe"
We would like to share with you the horror we felt at the news of over
10.000 deaths of refugees.
Since 1993 UNITED for Intercultural Action, the European network against
racism has monitored the deadly results of the policies building a
"Fortress Europe". These deaths can be put down to border
militarisations, asylum laws, detention policies, deportations and
carrier sanctions. They are not singular incidents, but symptoms of
policies that no longer see the humanity of those fleeing their
homeland.
We protest, together with UNITED with its more than 560 supporting
organisations, against these policies.
Borders cannot be shut to those seeking refuge. We have to see people as
individuals, as possible victims of global conflicts. If we do not take
care that the global political and socio-economic situation gets better,
we cannot realistically expect people to stay in situations that we
ourselves
would find unbearable.
We expect from you that you will do your utmost to make sure that
policies change and more tragic deaths are prevented.
Yours sincerely,
xxx
President
Enclosed: Publication with the list of documented refugee deaths, Poster
******
You can address your protest to:
* The European Parliament
Committee on Human Rights
list of members
email: [email protected]
and/or
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
list of members
email: [email protected]
+32 2 284 49 41 (Brussels)
+33 3 88 17 90 40 (Strasbourg)
address:
Rue Wiertz
B-1047 Brussels
Belgium
or directly to any member of the European Parliament, at the same
address
* Council of the European Union, General Secretariat / Justice and Home
Affairs
Rue de la Loi
175 B-1048 Brussels
Belgium
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/showPage.ASP?lang=en
or
* Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Committee on
Migration, Refugees and Population
Avenue de l'Europe
67075 Strasbourg Cedex
http://www.coe.int/
or to
* National Parliaments
Please find out the addresses of your national Parliament and the
appropriate Members and Commissions from the public relations desk,
check your library or consult this web site where you can find the
information about your National Parliaments addresses.
***********************************************************
We depend on YOUR help in 2008!
UNITED is not rich and has no stable income !
Though far most of the work at the UNITED secretariat is done voluntary
- still money is needed to keep the network functioning in 2008 and to
secure the cooperation and information flow throughout Europe.
Your donation is most welcome:
- in cash to UNITED Postbus 413 NL-1000 AK Amsterdam
- by bank (preferable) to:
UNITED, Postbus 413 NL-1000 AK Amsterdam
Account: IBAN NL77PSTB0002343715, BIC: PSTB NL2A - Bank: Postbank,
Postbus 1800, NL-1000 BV Amsterdam
(From NL: postbank 2343715)
***********************************************************
UNITED is the pan-European network against nationalism, racism, fascism
and in support of migrants and refugees, supported by over 560
organisations in 46 European countries.
How to join the network: see http://www.unitedagainstracism.org 'joining
the network'
UNITED E-NEWS is an irregular email service to over 9000 organisations
and contact persons active in the working fields: anti-racism, refugee
support, anti-fascism, against antisemitism, migration, minority issues,
intercultural youth work, against nationalism etc.
Regular postal mailings, containing publications such as Addressbook
Against Racism, Calendar of Internationalism, Campaign reports, Posters
etc. are sent to over 2400 European organisations. If you also would
like to receive this mailing: see http://www.unitedagainstracism.org
'joining the network'
----
UNITED for Intercultural Action
European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of
migrants and refugees
Postbus 413 - NL 1000 AK Amsterdam - phone +31-20-6834778 - fax
+31-20-6834582 - [email protected] -
http://www.unitedagainstracism.org
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