No Border network

Demonstration during the No Borders Camp in Crawley, United Kingdom, 2007^[1]

The No Border Network (In the United Kingdom also called "No Borders Network" or "Noborders Network") refers to loose associations of autonomous organisations, groups, and individuals in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and beyond. They support freedom of movement and resist human migration control by coordinating international border camps, demonstrations, direct actions, and anti-deportation campaigns.

The Western European network opposes what they see as increasingly restrictive harmonisation of asylum and immigration policy in Europe, working to build alliances among migrant laborers and refugees. Common slogans within the Network include, "No Border, No Nation, Stop Deportations!" "Freedom of Movement, Freedom of Residence: Right to Come, Right to Go, Right to Stay!", "No one is illegal" and "Papers for All or No Papers at All!"

No Border Network has existed since 1999, and its website since 2000. The No Borders Network in the United Kingdom exists since 2006,^[2] with local groups in 11 cities.^[3]

No Border Camps

Groups from the No Border network have been involved in organising a number of protest camps (called "No Border Camps" or sometimes "Border Camps"), e.g. in Strasbourg,^[4][5] France (2002), in Frassanito, Italy (2003), Gatwick Airport (2007), United Kingdom,^[6][7] at Patras, Greece,^[8] in Calais, France (2009),^[9] Lesvos, Greece (2009)^[10] and Brussels in September 2010.^[11]

Activities

In the month of April 2006, the network held several protests^[12] notably outside the Detention centres at Harmondsworth and Colnbrook.

On 7 October 2006, an internationally co-ordinated 'Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls'^[13] of which the No Border Network was the central part, saw protests across the world.

On 18 December 2007, to coincide with the UN International Migrants Day, the network carried out a co-ordinated blockade of Border and Immigration Agency (now UK Border Agency) offices^[14] in Bristol, Portsmouth, Newcastle^[15] and Glasgow^[16] to prevent dawn raids by immigration officers from taking place. This form of action has been repeated across the UK by the network several times since.^[17][18]

On 24 October 2008, Phil Woolas, UK Minister of State for Borders and Immigration was subject to a pieing by No Borders activists^[19] following his controversial comments on population control.

The Network has also held demonstrations against ID cards,^[20] the International Organisation for Migration,^[21] and against arms companies,^[22] linking conflict and refugees.

In February 2010 No Borders groups from the UK and France opened a large centre for refugees sleeping rough in Calais, France, under the name "Kronstadt Hangar".^[23]

See also

• Glasgow Girls (activists)
• UNITY (asylum seekers organisation)
• No person is illegal

External links

• No Border Network
• No Borders Network UK
• Indymedia UK Migration Newswire

Notes

1. ^ "Two arrested on immigration march". BBC News. 22 September 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/sussex/7008471.stm. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 
2. ^ http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/03/335248.html
3. ^ http://noborders.org.uk/Static/Contacts
4. ^ http://noborder.org/strasbourg/index.php
5. ^ Shuddhabrata Sengupta: No Border Camp Strasbourg : A Report, 29 Jul 2002: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2002-July/001673.html
6. ^ "Protest camp starts near Gatwick". BBC News. 20 September 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7004617.stm. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 
7. ^ "Protesters blame police over camp". BBC News. 18 September 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7001629.stm. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 
8. ^ http://www.noborderpatras.org/en/
9. ^ Allen, Peter (28 June 2009). "Police arrest 47 anarchists threatening to lead swarms of illegal migrants through Channel tunnel to Britain". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1194767/Calais-riot-alert-protesters-flood-town-bid-end-border-controls.html. 
10. ^ http://lesvos09.antira.info/2009/08/25/noborder-lesvos-09-welcomes-you/
11. ^ http://noborderbxl.eu.org
12. ^ http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/actions/2006/noborders/
13. ^ http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/actions/2006/oct7/
14. ^ Bridge, Sarah (18 December 2007). "Protesters blockade immigration depots". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/dec/18/immigration.politics. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 
15. ^ "Activists hold dawn raid protests". BBC News. 18 December 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7149560.stm. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 
16. ^ "Dawn raid demonstrators arrested". BBC News. 18 December 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7149334.stm. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 
17. ^ "Protest at deportation dawn raids". BBC News. 12 February 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/7240374.stm. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 
18. ^ http://www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news6301.htm
19. ^ "Migrant row minister hit by pie". BBC News. 24 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7690324.stm. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 
20. ^ http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/11/413545.html
21. ^ http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/07/403735.html
22. ^ http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/12/414200.html
23. ^ Gupta, Rahila (4 February 2010). "Solidarity is not an offence". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/feb/04/asylum-seekers-calais-uk-france. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 

References

• Cohen, Steve, Deportation Is Freedom! The Orwellian World of Immigration Controls .
• Cohen, Steve, No One is Illegal: Asylum and Immigration Control, Past and Present, http://books.google.com/books?id=XWFooiFon24C&dq=no+one+is+illegal+steve+cohen&printsec=frontcover .
• Hamm, Marion (2002), A r/c tivism in Physical and Virtual Spaces, http://www.eipcp.net/transversal/1203/hamm/en .
• Schneider, Florian (2002), Knocking Holes In Fortress Europe, http://subsol.c3.hu/subsol_2/contributors2/schneidertext.html .
• Sengupta, Shuddhabrata (2002), No Border Camp Strasbourg : A Report, http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2002-July/001673.html .
• Hauptfleisch, Wolfgang (2002), "Come Together – Das erste europäische Grenzcamp in Straßbourg vom 19.-28. Juli 2002", Graswurzelrevolution 271/2002 (Muenster) .