Jumble Sale: 21st November!

November 19, 2009 in Comment | Tags: , , , , , , | by No Borders South Wales | Leave a comment

On 21st November from 1pm No Borders South Wales will be hosting a jumble sale at Trinity methodist church (map). The money we raise will be going towards ongoing projects in Calais, where the situation for migrants is getting increasingly more difficult.

There will be clothes, books, CD’s, bric-a-brac, cakes and other goodies up for grabs. We encourage all those who want to come and grab a bargain or two to put it in your diary and join us there!

We welcome any donations of Read the rest of this entry »

New Newsletter! – Movement #1

November 7, 2009 in Media | Tags: , , , , , | by No Borders South Wales | 3 comments

advert The No Borders UK Newsletter has been rotated around local No Borders  groups for the last few years. Last month’s  network gathering in London, signalled that it is now our turn to produce the publication. We  intend to create a more regular and broad based periodical, drawing in others that work to end the inhuman cycle of detention, deportation and death through the abolition of migration control. As a statement of intent we are re-naming and re-launching!

cover1

click to download the .pdf

SO… (drum roll…) we proudly present the first issue of ‘Movement’, a monthly newsletter covering the latest updates from the No Borders Network and beyond. This début issue is packed with articles on (follow the links find the original unedited versions);

Help us make this Movement:

  1. print, photocopy and distribute copies in your local area.
  2. share this link online, forward it to anyone who might be interested or better still publish your own article promoting the newsletter.
  3. join our e-mail list and encourage others to do the same.
  4. contact the editorial collective and Read the rest of this entry »

Calais Update

November 6, 2009 in No Border Camp | Tags: , | by No Borders South Wales | Leave a comment

small Eritean squat

small Eritean squat

A carload of activists from No Borders South Wales are in Calais with the group Calais Migrant Solidarity.

The weather was awful at the beginning of the week, cold with heavy sudden rain showers; dangerous weather for people forced to live on the streets. We set out on Tuesday morning to deliver warm clean clothes to the ‘bridges’ area – a collection of railway and road bridges across the ‘Basin de la Battellinne’ – where many Afghans and Iranians are struggling to stay dry and warm.

Despite the incessant rain we received a friendly welcome, sharing cigarettes and watching the rain. Meanwhile, during that morning the CRS (Companie Republican de Securité) had invaded the Ethiopian squat and arrested most of the people living there. Read the rest of this entry »

Urgent Calais appeal

October 25, 2009 in No Border Camp | Tags: , , | by No Borders South Wales | Leave a comment

Urgently needed: Blankets, Sleeping bags , warm clothes (especially winter jackets and water proofs), mens shoes, tents, money, tarpaulin, rope, tools

calais police migrantsHundreds of refugees and migrants, many of whom are under 18 are sleeping out in the cold weather in Calais; with no shelter, no blankets, nothing. This is the result of the French Immigration minister Besson’s policy of destroying the migrants camps together with the peoples few possessions. New shelters are being destroyed as well as squats being evicted. People sleeping under bridges have had their blankets confiscated or sprayed with chemicals so they cannot be used any more.

The associations and charities cannot cope with Read the rest of this entry »

Update on Baghdad charter flight

October 16, 2009 in Anti-Deportation Campaigns, Comment | Tags: , , | by No Borders South Wales | 1 comment

Yesterday’s charter flight to Iraq was returned to the UK with the majority of the Iraqi deportees returning to UK immigration detention centres. Sadly 10 of those on board were left in Baghdad.

The Stop Deportation Network together with The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees have issued a  press release with the following statements from those who have been returned to Brook House detention centre, Gatwick:

“when we landed in Baghdad an Iraqi man got on dressed in army uniform, with seven other guards with Kalashnikovs.  He asked the immigration officers why they brought us here then asked us if we wanted to come back.  He said those of you who want to come back you get off, the rest of you stay where you are.

He told the immigration officers to go away and not try to send people back by force again.

So they took us back to Italy and we had to change planes there.  About three people refused to move plane and they were beaten by security guards.  They’ve got injuries from that.  There were 130 security guards on the plane.  Why did they need so many?  There were even some arguments between the British and Italian securities.”

‘K’, who did get off in Baghdad, said this morning he did not do go voluntarily and did not Read the rest of this entry »

Charter flight to Baghdad

October 16, 2009 in Anti-Deportation Campaigns, Protest | Tags: , , , | by No Borders South Wales | 1 comment

On the morning of 15th October, 39 people who had sought asylum in the UK were deported to Baghdad, Iraq on a chartered flight.

The Air Italy flight left from Stansted Airport, named “Operation Rangat” by the UK Border Agency. This was the first forced mass expulsion of people to southern Iraq from the UK.

no-deportations-to-iraq (2)An eyewitness told the International Federation for Iraqi Refugees “When my friends started shouting they couldn’t go back these big security guards handcuffed them and strong-armed them out of the bus onto the plane.  They were treated like prisoners: it was like watching the footage from Guantanamo“

Violence and bloodshed continue in Iraq, which saw 1,891 civilian deaths in the first six months of this year. There are also widespread food shortages and lack of access to clean drinking water in many areas of Iraq.

Prior to such charter flights, deportees and any legal representatives are not told the date or flight on which they are being deported. This frustrates migrants’ opportunities for legally challenging a deportation and makes it Read the rest of this entry »

Calais information and Film night-Oct 20th

October 12, 2009 in Comment | by No Borders South Wales | Leave a comment

calais night 20-10-0920th October 2009, 7pm
Upstairs at O’Neills, Trinity Street, Cardiff

Free event

Calais film and info night

Reports, footage and films direct from Calais; a front line in the UK’s Border War against migrants.

The recent clearance of migrant camps in the port town of  Calais, northern France,  briefly caught the attention of the mainstream media in the UK and beyond. However, the destruction by the state of migrant camps and squats in Calais continues with increased brutality, using bulldozers to flatten homes and to destroy belongings. Migrants are still there, left homeless, left without food, without money, facing another winter.

On October 20th,  south Wales activists who have recently been in Calais will be talking about their experiences and we will be showing some short films about recent events.

For updates from activists in Calais and to find out what you can do, see Calais Migrant Solidarity.

Extreme right-wing racists to invade south Wales

September 30, 2009 in Protest | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | by No Borders South Wales | 5 comments

n158100673713_6073This October, in a bid to stir up racial tension and increase religious intolerance, a group calling itself the ‘English Defence League‘ (EDL) intend to hold two protests in south Wales with a “march against muslim extremists” in Swansea on Saturday 17th October and an ‘anti-mosque demo’ in Newport on Saturday 24th October.

It seems that the EDL, which has close links with the British National Party (BNP), have reached out to the fantasist Jeff Marsh of Barry who has cultivated a shady reputation through authoring a number of Cardiff City Soul Crew football hooligan books. Marsh, along with a handful of impressionable young racists raised on a diet of boastful hooligan memoirs and hate-filled extremist internet forums, have formed a “Welsh Defence League” which is acting as a front for both the south Wales protests.

We will be joining the call out by Newport Communities Against Racism to fill John Frost Square before the fascists arrive and show them that their bigotry is not welcome here! There is an event page on both Facebook and Myspace, as well as a page on  Twitter, please invite your online friends and Read the rest of this entry »

Picket in solidarity with migrants in Calais

September 23, 2009 in Picket Cardiff UKBA | Tags: , , | by No Borders South Wales | 1 comment

UK BA Picket 23/09/0912 activists picketed the Cardiff offices of the UK Border Agency for an hour between 4-5pm today, catching a lot of post-work traffic along a busy Newport Road.

The picket was held in response to a call out for protests outside UKBA offices in solidarity with activists and migrants in Calais, where French authorities have been attempting to make the port town a “migrant free zone”  by subjecting migrants there to intimidation and violence and by destroying their living spaces and belongings.

Solidarity actions  were also held in Brighton,  Scotland and Manchester.

Yesterday early morning, French authorities bulldozed the Pashtun Afghan camp, detaining around 300 migrants including a reported 182 children. Hundreds of French riot police were involved in the ‘operation’. A Channel 4 news report on the raid can be found here.

Activists in Calais have called for more activists to join them in Calais and for donations. Details of how you can help can be found here.

Migration controls seriously damage your health!

September 11, 2009 in Comment | Tags: , , , , , , | by No Borders South Wales | Leave a comment

hospital_ward__empty1The UK Government’s increasingly punitive stance towards people who migrant to Britain has led to a severe shortage of doctors in hospitals throughout Wales.

As far back as this May Dr. Hamish Meldrum, chairperson of the British Medical Association Council expressed concerns at the impact that ‘tougher’ border controls could have on health services, stating that new rules would bar many migrant doctors born outside the EU that the NHS relies on from working in the UK. These concerns were unheeded, as the project to tighten borders, intensify social control and enlarge the surveillance state has taken precedence over people’s health.

In a very short period of time the BMA’s concerns have become reality, with recruitment problems for Read the rest of this entry »

Rugby players to be deported

August 23, 2009 in Comment | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | by No Borders South Wales | Leave a comment

CelticCrusaders_2034654One of the more recent targeting of ‘undesirable foreigners’by the UK Border Agency  has hit the Celtic Crusaders rugby league club. The UKBA has ordered six players and their families out of the country by 7th September and banned them from the UK for 10 years.

The players in question; team captain Jace Van Dijk, club record try scorer Tony Duggan, last year’s League One Player of the Year Damien Quinn, ex-Queensland State of Origin player Josh Hannay, as well as Darren Mapp and Mark Dalle Cort, are guilty of playing rugby football without the right paperwork.

It’s been alleged that the six players did not reveal their intention to play professional or semi-professional sport when applying for working holiday and student visas. This is hardly surprising given that Read the rest of this entry »

Jumble Sale: 5th September

August 16, 2009 in Comment | Tags: , , , , , , , | by No Borders South Wales | Leave a comment

On Saturday 5th September at 2pm-5pm we will be hosting a Jumble Sale fund-raiser at the The Wyndham Street Centre in Riverside (map)‎.

There will be clothes, books, CD’s, bric-a-brac, cakes and other goodies up for grabs. We might even get some live music for the afternoon!

We encourage all those who want to come and grab a bargain or two to put it in your diary and join us there!

We welcome any donations of Read the rest of this entry »

Migration and Ecology at Climate Camp Cymru

August 12, 2009 in Protest | Tags: , , , , , , | by No Borders South Wales | Leave a comment

This week the first ever Climate Camp Cymru begins near Merthyr Tydfil. The first Climate Camp took place in the north of England in 2006 and now take place around the world.

There is a full programme of workshops, with a quite interesting talks, discussions and debates scheduled. As well as sessions like “Composting the capitalist state – how we can, why we must”, “The history of Non-Violent Direct Action in Wales” and “Start a group and take action in 4 weeks” there is a number of workshops dealing specifically with migration:

Climate change is the single greatest threat to the world in modern times and increased levels of forced migration is Read the rest of this entry »

Shirly and Evelyn: Banned from the UK?

August 11, 2009 in Comment | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | by No Borders South Wales | 2 comments

Shirley & EvelynDespite the widespread recognition that the expulsion of Shirley Edwards and Evelyn Calcabrini, two Welsh-Argentines attempting to visit Wales, by the UK Border Agency at Heathrow must have been some sort of mistake, both have once again been refused entry by the UKBA.

When this story first appeared in the press it was reported as an act of ignorance by a clueless UK Border Agent, unaware of the Welsh speaking region of Patagonia. With questions in the House of Commons, protests at Whitehall, (giving out leaflet calling for the resignation of Phil Woolas) a campaign from Plaid Cymru, a petition and even a strongly worded editorial in the Daily Telegraph(!) it seemed the entire event was about to be glossed over and written off as a cock up. Following a benefit gig in Gwynedd raising enough money for two return flights, Shirly and Eveyln applied for visas to enter the UK as students. They were refused.

There are reports that these cases are not unique and that other Patagonian travellers to Wales have also been through the highly stressful experience of being turned away by the Border Agency. It appears that rather than Read the rest of this entry »

Calais: A journey in basic healthcare

August 7, 2009 in No Border Camp | Tags: , , , , , , , , | by No Borders South Wales | 1 comment

This is the personal recollection of one of our group (a street medic) at the Calais No Border Camp.

FranceCalais090423_432The port town of Calais in Northern France represents the final point of the journey in a migrants struggle to gain entry into the United Kingdom. Much has already been documented about the plight of those stuck in this hellish purgatory, of the violence, the poverty and the invisable situation punctuated only by media scare stories of ‘waves, hordes’ of scrougers and bogus asylum seekers.

However my story is about the less exposed side of the struggle, of the health and well being of these desperate people. I spent my time at the No Borders camp at the port and the jungle, visiting and bringing minimal releif in the form of First Aid.

My first encounter of the migrant health care system was a hurried car journey to the Eritrean squat in the Ferry Port. A team of medics gathered together having heard a scare that the squat was being raided, but after three or four stop and searches by the CRS we decided that we would be more useful Read the rest of this entry »

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