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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 »
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 »
20th 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.
The 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 »
One 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 »
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 »
Despite 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 »
We’ve been very quiet on the blogging front since the end of the No Border Camp in Calais. The events on the ground in the region have got more intense, with French Authorities attempting to remove all migrant camps, however activists have been staying in the area doing Calais Migrant Solidarity. Some of us intend to return to Calais in the near future, if anyone is able to travel to Northern France to give support, get in touch.
Back here in Wales, the UK Border Agency have been very busy trying to (and often succeeding) ruin people’s lives. As usual the defence of their intrusive activities would be funny if it were not so tragic. The forcing apart of a married couple, was, in the words of their spokesperson “to protect young people” and to made sure they “receive the help and support they need”. At present the couple are legally entitled to live together anywhere in the EU, except the UK.
UK Border Agency staff routinely and systematically brand people liars when Read the rest of this entry »
The 1st of May has been celebrated across the world as International Workers Day since the execution of four anarchist migrant workers in Chicago in 1886 in the fight for the eight-hour working day. Since the late 19th century Mayday has been a focal point for workers of all countries to stand united against the repression of capitalism and the state. In the aftermath of the repressive policing of the G20 protests in London last month that led to the death of Ian Tomlinson, this year’s Mayday protests in Cardiff took place outside Cardiff Central Police Station to show the opposition to the increasing criminalisation of public protest.
No Borders South Wales activists were in attendance to Read the rest of this entry »
In the UK, on average, 50 people a day are forcibly removed from their homes and deported. In Cardiff, snatch squads leave from the UK Border Agency on 31-33 Newport Road in order to smash in peoples’ doors and drag them out of bed.
On Monday morning, UK Border Agency ‘Officers’ were at work early, busy at an address on Newport Road. The UKBA used dark blue anonymous unmarked vans, with blacked Read the rest of this entry »
Twelve months ago, 150 years after the term Libertarian was first used in a political context, the UK Libertarian Party came into existence, clearly taking their name and aesthetic from an American counterpart.
There has been great controversy over the ‘true’ definition of the term ‘Libertarian’, generally divided between the Capitalist (generally north American) and Socialist (generally European) schools of thought. As interesting as such debates are, what concerns us here is the specific issue of free migration. Here there is no debate, belief in free migration is a basic part of being a Libertarian.
Anyone who believes in freedom of action and thought could never advocate the right of governments to use violence against people for doing what people have always done: move. This basic tenet is core to the values and principles of every strand of Libertarian thought, transcending the Read the rest of this entry »
The financial crisis is setting in, more and more people are finding themselves crippled by debt, while the banks who caused the mess in the first place are bailed out with public money by the government. Things are likely to get worse as people find it harder to get a stable job and affordable housing. We live in a world built by the creativity and co-operation of working class people, run for the benefit of the rich. The media and politicians, like the new Minister for Borders and Immigration Phil Woolas, would have us blaming migrants and ethnic minorities for our problems. We are told that migrants come here and take British people’s jobs. We are told that they are given and easy ride and preferential treatment with respect to benefits and social housing.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Asylum applicants are only entitled to around seventy percent of the lowest form of income support and are not allowed to work. Migrant workers and families are usually only allowed into the UK if they will maintain and accommodate themselves without recourse to public funds. Refused refugees who agree to ‘voluntary’ return home do not receive any money but £35 worth of vouchers per week, only redeemable in certain supermarkets. Other refused asylum applicants will receive no welfare benefits, are not allowed to work and are unable to access social housing. Even some migrants who have been allowed to remain in the UK for a certain period will only be allowed to do so on the condition that they have ‘no recourse to public funds’.
The vast majority of refugees who seek asylum in the UK have their claims rejected, largely due to a culture of disbelief within the Home Office, who have explicitly stated that they aim to deport more people than claim asylum. Hardly a system that is likely to do all it can to make sure people’s applications are properly heard.
Many fear returning homes because of the persecution they would face, others are unable to because their countries are war zones and are too dangerous. Take Iraq for instance, where a US and UK led invasion has completely destabilised the country and even conservative estimates of civilian casualties have the death toll in the hundreds of thousands.
Unable to ‘legally’ work, with meagre benefits cut and housing provision taken away, thousands of refugees around the UK are forced into destitution every year.
It amounts to nothing more than trying to starve people out of the country.
Some turn to working ‘illegally’, where they risk being imprisoned and deported for doing nothing other than trying to keep their heads above water. Others get by through mutual aid and the support of community networks of friends and neighbours. Support is also provided by a number of voluntary organisations. As a means of making such support more visible, we have put together a list of organisations in the Cardiff area. If you know of any other similar organisations in south Wales please let us know and we’ll add them to the list.
It’s really good that some people care, cos the Home Office sure doesn’t! No Borders South Wales believes that access to welfare, health, social care, education and housing services should not be denied due to your immigration status. We call on such services to be provided according to need and they should not be used to enforce racist immigration laws.
The Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Keith Towler, has condemned the the removal process implimented by the UK Border Agency, whilst speaking to delegates from across the UK at the launch of the Shared Futures project in Cardiff on Wednesday 17th September.
He recounts a story which would be familiar to anyone who has looked into the way in which the UK Border Agency operates.
“I took a call recently from an incredibly distraught woman in Swansea who had watched two vans with people in uniforms come to a house in her street around 8am and remove a family. The mother of the family could speak little English and her eldest son was no older than 13. He had good English and was translating what was happening but things got emotional and the boy lost it. As I learned later, it was totally out of character but this child had been put under so much pressure that he could not cope.
In response, those in uniform took a punitive approach. They separated him from his family. He went in one van. The rest of his family was put in the other. It was not until later that night in Manchester airport where they had all been taken, that they were reunited for a flight out of the country.
“This action affected not just this family but it affected the children at the local primary who were left with nightmares over whether they would be taken away. It affected the community. These children who were taken away called Wales their home. They spoke with Welsh accents and had friends at the local primary.”
Immigration and inclusion in South Wales by Terry Threadgold, Sadie Clifford, Abdi Arwo, Vanessa Powell, Zahera Harb, Xinyi Jiang and John Jewell has recently been published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Well worth a read; it makes important points about how integration is much smoother for migrants who are allowed to work and points out that social class is a highly significant factor in determining life changes for everyone, migrant or otherwise.
The Trade Union Congress & Refugee Council Right to Work campaign aims to overturn the 2002 legislation that denies asylum applicants the ability to seek employment of any kind. The altering of the inequalities of social and economic hierarchy in the UK will require a class struggle of wider proportions.
in other news
There has been further coverage of Kemi and Taiwo’s case here, and here. Jean-Pierre has also been the subject of a news story featured on WalesOnline, which was picked up by Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. The National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns continue to cover all our anti-deportation campaigns in detail.
Meanwhile this blog has been featured by Aya’s Blog review and Our blog review you can review us for yourself on Blog Catalog . There is now also a facebook group, plus you can become a fan on technorati.
Winter in Calais
January 8, 2010 in Comment | Tags: Calais, Calais Migrant Solidarity | by No Borders South Wales | Leave a comment
A serene scene, sitting at night a migrant’s encampment, sipping tea and watching the dark sea from the sand dunes. Behind the gulls are wheeling against the orange sky. This peaceful snapshot hides the daily struggle, stranded up against the tall fences of the UK Border. It’s very cold. It’s very exposed. There’s no water and it’s a long walk from anywhere.