2006-09-07
Hi,
as most of you probably know the Anti-G8-Camp “Campinski” has taken place from 4th to 13th of August in a little village 1 hour from Rostock. The main aim of the camp was the preparation or developement of the resistance against the G8 which is going to be hold next year in Heiligendamm close to Rostock (6th 8th of June 2007). Altogether about 1000 people have participated in the camp. And: Flight and migration was one of the central topics. In this respect we would like to let you briefly know about the discussions, actions and (self-)organisations which took place during the camp in this very field with particular emphasis on further meetings and actions in the next weeks or months. A more general evaluation of the camp will be sent around soon as well.
1. G8 2007
At our first meeting (Sunday) we discussed about the question with which kind of political message we would like to come out next year. Especially we discussed the issue how to bring together the different ‘realities’ of racism in a common action-concept. We started with this question because at our previous meetings in Berlin (January), Rostock (March) and Berlin/BUKO (May) some people missed a deeper reflection of this question. The protocol of this meeting will follow soon. Our next meeting is going to take place on 14th/15th of October in Göttingen. Everybody is invited to come to this meeting. The intention is to develop a concrete action-proposal for 2007 (which can be presented at the Anti-G8-“Aktionskonferenz” in Rostock in November). In a second ‘round’ we discussed about contacts between European and African activists who are involved in migrationrelated issues. In particular in recent times several contacts have been established. We discussed therefore why it would be reasonable to develop those contacts and in which way this could happen. One of the most concrete ideas is right at the moment to form a mixed delegation from Europe which is going to attend the World Social Forum in Nairobi in January 2007 in order to establish stronger links and to invite some activists to join the anti-G8-protests in June 2007 in Germany (with particular focus on common events).
2. Actions (including further actions in the next months)
a) On Tuesday 8th of August an anti-G8-Demonstration with special focus on antiracist issues took place in Rostock. During the demonstration mainly Togolese refugee activists spoke, not only about the present “Stop of deportations” to Togo (which is going to end probably at 10th of October) but about the general exclusion of refugees in Germany and Europe as well. In addition several short-statements through the loudspeaker car were made concerning particular institutions and places which we passed with the demonstration such as employment exchange (“Arbeitsamt”), a extreme right wing student organisation (”Burschenschaft”) or the office of an neoliberal orientated association of (big) companies in Germany. Although the demonstration was organized by NoLager-activists it was both a general Anti-G8-action and an antiracist action. From our point of view this was an important experience. Because it shows that it is absolutely possible to become involved in the anti-G8-activities without being carried away from ‘our’ daily fights as it has been expressed as serious concern by quite a few antiracist activists in the last months. On the contrary: We think that antiracist issues are seen by almost everybody within the anti-g8-resistance as an important dimension.
b) further actions: we discussed on the camp about future actions as well. First of all we agreed to participate in the big demonstration which is going to take place on the occasion of the european-african-action day for “European unconditional legalisation and equal rights for all migrants etc.” at 7th of October in Hamburg (a call for this demonstration beyond the general european-african call will be sent around in the beginning of September) . Secondly we agreed to organize a demonstration at 10th of November in Rostock on the occasion of the Anti-G8-Conference in Rostock from 10th 12th of November. With this second demonstration we want to focus in particular on the next Conference of the German ministers of Interior (“Innenministerkonferenz”) which is going to take place at 16/17th of November in Nuremberg. Because at this conference it will be decided about a so called “Bleiberecht” for some of those refugees who have lived now for many years in Germany without having gained an proper status. In general we agreed that both demonstrations in Hamburg and in Rostock are important steps in the development of a strong antiracist resistance for next year’s anti-G8-activities.
3. Selforganisation of refugees In the camp itself about 30 refugee-activists have participated, most of them from various places in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Several ideas were discussed, among others the idea came up that a central office for selforganized refugees should be established in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. 4. Further informations All the calls, protocols, invitations etc. concerning G8, flight and migration will be documented soon on www.nolager.de (latest in the end of August.).
Best wishes,
NoLager Bremen