Feedback and open discussion on Calais
Friday, July 3, 2009

On Wednesday 8th July, we will be hosting a public feedback and discussion event on the recent No Borders camp in Calais. People who went to the camp will tell their stories and share their experiences and we will reflect on the successes/limitations of the camp.

The situation in Calais continues to be pressing, with plans by the authorities to bulldoze more 'jungle' areas that are home to hundreds of people who are stuck at the British border, and a joint Franco-British project to build a Guantanamo-style detention centre in the port. We will thus also talk about how we can support the campaign in the future.

The meeting will be in the back room of the Jabez Clegg pub (Dover St. by the university), starting at 7.30pm on Wednesday 8th July. All welcome! Read more!

Posted byManchester No Borders at 8:44 AM  

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Calais: reports from the No Borders camp
Tuesday, June 30, 2009



The transnational No Borders camp at the British Border in Calais has ended. Everyone who travelled there from Manchester has come back safely.

We have had a lot of fascinating encounters and experiences at the camp in Calais, which was situated very close to some of the ‘Jungle’ areas that are temporary ‘home’ to hundreds of refugees, right next to the E15 motorway which is the main route connecting Calais port to mainland Europe, and on the edge of the housing estates of the Beau-Marais neighbourhood. Just to the east of the city, our camp was inhabited by hundreds of activists from France, the UK and across Europe, and we were joined everyday by many migrants and locals.

We are planning a public event in Manchester very soon, where we will give report-backs from the camp, tell our stories, show our photos and films and discuss with all those who are interested how we can build more long-term strategies towards ‘a world without borders’.



Some 1,500 people took part in a transnational demonstration for freedom of movement on the Saturday.

There are many good reports of the camp and the demonstration on the internet already, so for now we just refer you to the feature article on Indymedia and the blog post by the South Wales No Borders group. Read more!

Posted byManchester No Borders at 12:39 PM  

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News from Calais
Wednesday, June 17, 2009


After our info events in Manchester and Hebden Bridge, about 20 people from the Manchester area will travel to the No Borders Camp in Calais next week. A minibus will leave early on Monday 22 June (there are still seats available) and others will make their own way there.

The camp site has now been announced, situated in a public park to the east of Calais. We are intending to have some kind of ‘North West of England’ camping barrio to feed into the logistical and decision-making structures of the camp.

Local newspapers have already given a lot of coverage to the arrival of the No Borders camp, while here the Daily Mail has run one of its usual propaganda stories about violent anarchists invading Calais. It is possible that this could lead to some shops and supermarkets in the area to be shut during our presence there.

The Mayor of Calais and local authorities seem set on making the situation next week tense. Local civil society organisations have been pressured not to support the camp and migrants taking part in protests could be threatened with deportation. And there are indications that the nearby immigration detention centre ‘Coquelles’ could be evacuated for the duration of the camp.

Anti-riot police from all over Northern France are already being stationed in the Calais area. This comes after the recent arrival of organisations such as the IOM, the UNHCR and Medicins du Monde in the town. With all eyes on Calais, we now have a chance to make a real impact.

On Saturday 27 June, the camp participants will be holding a large demonstration for freedom of movement. The call for the demonstration has now also been signed by a wide range of anarchist, anti-fascist and anti-racist groups from the UK, France, Belgium and Germany.

We are hoping for this to be a truly transnational event, which could open spaces for significant political shifts in the public debate on migration to the UK.

More info here:
http://calaisnoborder.eu.org/
 Read more!

Posted byManchester No Borders at 1:55 PM  

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The UK No Borders tour: Manchester to Calais (via Hebden Bridge)
Monday, May 11, 2009


The UK No Borders Tour 2009 is visiting the North West of England from 23 May to 5 June and invites you to a series of events that aim to encourage discussion and build awareness of the injustices of the UK and EU Border Regime, as well as to call for action against them. The Tour will terminate in the French border town of Calais on 23-29th of June, an outpost of the UK border system, where it will meet activists and organizations from France and Europe to create a No Borders Camp that aims to highlight the brutal situation for migrants stuck at the UK-French Border. Confirmed events so far include a photo exhibition and workshops and films in Manchester and Hebden Bridge.

EVENTS IN MANCHESTER & HEBDEN

Longsight

NO LANDS MEN: THE STRUGGLE FOR CALAIS (Saturday 23rd to Thursday 28th May)
An exhibition of striking photographs from Calais by French photographer Julie Rebouillat, St. Lukes Art Project, Longsight

LAUNCH NIGHT (Tuesday 26th May, 6pm), with documentaries, tea and cake. To see Julie’s pictures from Calais online check out: contre-faits.org! , St. Lukes, Longsight

Northern Quarter

NO LANDS MEN: THE STRUGGLE FOR CALAIS (Monday 1st to Friday 5th June)
An exhibition of striking photographs from Calais by French photographer Julie Rebouillat, Nexus Art Cafe

WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO BORDERS?! (Monday 1st June, 7pm) workshop and open discussion, Nexus Art Cafe

Hebden Bridge

WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO BORDERS?! (Tuesday 2nd June, 6.30pm) digital exhibition, workshop and open discussion, The Trades Club, food served at 6.30


For opening times, and more info click on the flyer images. Look out for more events announced soon and do get in touch with us if you want to host the UK No Borders Tour in a place near you! Read more!

Posted byManchester No Borders at 9:08 AM  

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No Borders on Manchester May Day demo
Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Several hundred people were on the annual Mayday march in Manchester on Monday. The Evening News has an account and pictures of the demonstration under the banner of ‘The Right to Work for ALL’. Called by No Borders and the AF, a group of about 50 anti-authoritarians also joined the march.



The two lead banners of the autonomous bloc read ‘Fight Social Control’ and ‘We won’t pay for your crisis’, echoing our callout in solidarity with workers and communities who engage in direct action (successfully as the case of the Visteon workers shows).




Placards in the shape of speech bubbles also expressed anger at police brutality, not just at the G20, but with reference to the police killings of Carlos Giuliani at the 2001 G8, Charles de Menezes in London, the 15-year old anarchist Alexandros in Athens, and Ian Tomlinson.



For a Manchester demonstration that did not see much mobilisation this was a good turnout, both for the general demo and for the No Borders/AF bloc. [More pictures on indymedia] Thanks to everyone who came. Read more!

Posted byManchester No Borders at 3:04 AM  

Gaza day of action: BAE Systems targeted - TWICE
Wednesday, April 29, 2009

In response to a call by the UK No Borders network, it appears that the BAE Systems factory in Middleton/Greater Manchester had its entrances blockaded by two separate groups on the same day! Two unrelated posts on indymedia [2] take responsibility for actions that saw the gates to the factory locked with motorbike chains and bicycle D-locks in the morning of 27 April. BAE was also picketed by London No Borders.

Both groups refer to the No Borders call to 'break the siege of Gaza' by targeting those profiting from the border regime that prevents the free movement in and out of Gaza. No Borders had called for actions not in support of a supposed national collectivity, but simply in support of people's freedom of movement.



To hear it from those who took action:

People have a right to live without fear, racism and nationalism. Activists on the protest call for an end to border controls and act in solidarity with the international No Borders network.


The people driving the cars that will be delayed will almost certainly be grateful to have their jobs, anxious to keep them, even while they would probably have prefered to stay in bed. We are not attacking them. We are attacking the system that drives ordinary people to sell their time making the means to imprison and kill other ordinary people, in Palestine and around the world. Work or you're fucked: it's not a choice, it's a threat.


Well done!

No Borders UK called for action on the 27th April and an immediate opening
of Israeli and Egyptian borders with Gaza. Targets included those profiting
from the siege such as BAE, G4S, Caterpillar, EDO, Raytheon in solidarity
with groups in resistance on both sides of the border,Anarchists Against
the Wall, the "Sarvanim" Refuseniks of Israel, Free Gaza, and the
International Solidarity Movement. Freedom of movement for all!

On the 27th April BAE systems was the main target. The BAE factory in
Middleton, Manchester, was blockaded early on the morning of 27 April in
solidarity with the No Borders day of action to break the siege of Gaza...
a blockade that was later reinforced by another autonomous group! A
variety of locks and chains were used in order to seal off several
entrances to the plant and disrupt work.

The Israeli government is a customer of BAE, which makes border control
and surveillance systems as well as traditional weapons and the production
of military air 'solutions'. Gaza's borders have been closed since 5
February, 2009, following the Israeli attacks. These policies towards Gaza
are not only human rights violations, they are money-making opportunities
for companies like BAE.

In London No Borders activists also targeted BAE by conducting a picket
at the companies headquarters. The protest intended to draw attention to the British company’s profiting from the suffering and death of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, and especially from the recent Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s sustained and
brutal military attack on Gaza which killed 1400 Palestinians and wounded
over 7000.

BAE, part of which was formerly the national company British Aerospace, is
a weapons manufacturer, and supplies components for combat aircraft used
by the Israeli military in offensive actions, such as Apache bomber-helicopters and F-16 bomber-jets. Last week, Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary David Milliband officially admitted that Israeli weapons used in Gaza “almost certainly” contained UK-supplied components, and cited BAE’s involvement.

BAE receive subsidies from the UK government in the form of export credits
and promotion. Although British arms exports account for only 1.5% of UK
exports and 0.2% of British jobs, the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) has
more staff working on promoting the arms industry than all other
industries together, and BAE tops the list of British companies receiving
export credits, meaning the government guarantees arms payments to BAE in
case a foreign client defaults.

The siege continues.....freedom of movement for all!
Read more!

Posted byManchester No Borders at 11:43 AM  

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Mayday calling...
Friday, April 24, 2009

The G20 protests in the City of London were, in many ways, a massively mediatized spectacle. The real challenge is to show our opposition to the status quo at the local level of our everyday lives. This is why we are inviting you to join us on the Manchester Mayday demonstration, on Bank Holiday Monday 4th May.

With the Manchester Anarchist Federation, we will march together against redundancies and repossessions, against police brutality and cover-ups, and for a free and equal society beyond the logic of capital!



This will be a chance for those who experienced the police riot on 1st April to meet again, and for those who could not come to the G20 protests to voice their dissent closer to home. The violence that occurred at the G20 was not the result of a few individual “bad apples” within the Metropolitan Police but the systemic outcome of increasing systems of control. The repression we faced in London is a part of the same logic as that which attempts to impose ID cards, deport irregular migrants and enforce cut backs to our access to social welfare.

It will also be a chance to show solidarity with the Ford-Visteon workers who, faced with redundancy, occupied their factories in Belfast , Enfield and Basildon, or with the parents in Glasgow who seized control of the schools that were threatened with closure by the local council. Let’s continue to build a movement against capitalism and its crises.

We won’t pay for your crisis!
Fight social control!

Monday 4th May 09
Assemble 12noon @ All Saints Park to march to Castlefields.
 Read more!

Posted byManchester No Borders at 9:49 AM  

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