Since 19/09/12 a group of migrants have been camping in the centre of The Hague, demanding that the government gives them the right to stay in the Netherlands. The camp has coincided with the opening of the parliament for 2012-13.
Tomorrow 22/09/12 there will be a march in the city under the slogan “Geen mens is illegaal” “(“No one is illegal”).
On Sunday 16th September 16th there will be a noise protest at Rotterdam/The Hague Airport detention centre in solidarity with the 608 migrants imprisoned there. the refugees who are imprisoned simply because they don’t have the right papers.
The protest is being called by AFA Den Haag (Anti Fascist Action The Hague).
Yesterday activists protested at Zaventum airport near Brussels against the deportation of Fouad, a member of the Collectif Sans Papiers à Bruxelles. Thanks to this and Fouad’s resistance, the deportation attempt was unsucessful. Fouad remains in detention however.
On 1st September there was a fire at Canet CRA (detention centre) in Marsailles.Tension had been high for a few days with detainees complaining about the food and several detainees resisting deportation. Around 9pm, mattresses were set on fire on the first floor and the CCTV cameras blew up. Detainees from other floors started to join in but the protest was quickly quashed by the police.
On 4th September. one of the detainees who was identified as being involved in the distrubance was sentenced to 8 months imprisonment and given a €1600 fine. Another detainee who was put in segregation after the fire and who has since been released has signs of being beaten on his body.
There will be a solidarity demonstration outside the CRA today (8th September) at 6pm.
Today Thursday 6th September about 40 ‘failed’ asylum seekers from Iraq and Iran marched from an authorised protest camp in Sellingen, in the east of the Netherlands, to the offices of the IND (Immigration and Nationality Directorate) in Ter Apel. The protesters say that they cannot be returned to their countries of origin and they are demanding that the government help them.
Meanwhile another protest camp of ‘failed’ asylum seekers has been set up in the grounds of a church in central Amsterdam.
According to nu.nl, last night around 25 Somalis began a new protest camp in Ter Apel in the east of the Netherlands. The previous protest camp there was evicted by the authorities in May.
Apparently if the Somalis do not erect tents their camp cannot be evicted. The local authority Vlagtwedde are monitoring the situation.
On 21/08/12 Amnesty released a statement condemning the threat of eviction hanging over around 40 African sans-papiers living in a squat in Calais. According to the statement, if the migrants “are forcibly evicted, they would be left homeless and at risk of facing other human rights violations, and of being placed in detention, if they are found not to have regular immigration status, or being forcibly returned to their home country.” You can read the full statement in English here.
Around 16 sans-papiers are currently camping outside the town hall in Brest, following their eviction yesterday from the town hall’s foyer which they had occupied since 10th August.
A spokeman for local collective Casss-papiers told Le Telegramme newspaper that they have had had no contact with the municipality about emergency accommodation. The protestors include families from Serbian, Kosovo and Albania.
Local supporters are concerned for the safety of the protestors and yesterday evening helped them to camp inside nearby disused school.
Yesterday evening (20/08/12) a group around 70 “failed” asylum seekers from Iraq began a protest outside the offices of the IND (Immigration and Nataionality Directorate) in Zwolle in the Netherlands. The protesters are refusing to go back to Iraq.
A body of a woman of Asian origin, approximately 35 years of, was found on Sunday evening on the beach at Wimereux (Pas-de-Calais) near Boulogne-sur-Me, dressed in a swimsuit.
The cause of death is unknown, but is suspected to be either drowning or a fall from the cliffs, report Liberation. An investigation is underway.
Less than two months ago a migrant died in Calais after allegedly drowning in a canal. Friends and activists doubt the official version and have demanded that his death been investigated.