info night about campaign against the new family prison@ Kamp Zeist
Waar: De Overval , Prins Hendrikkade 138/139, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Wanneer: 27/05/2015 - 19:00
For those who missed it at the Pinksterlanddagen in Appelscha:
How do we break down the walls and fences of Fortress Europe?
Info night by the Anarchist Anti-deportation Group Utrecht (AAGU) about campaigning against the detention of migrants. The Dutch government
wants to build a new migrant family prison at Kamp Zeist. Join AAGU in the struggle against this new deportation center!
Return, return, return or deportation, deportation, deportation. That's all politics in the Netherlands knows to cough up when talking about
refugees and migrants. Stopping boat refugees in the Mediterranean this year 2015, which is still not even halfway, cost already about a 2000
lives. The political debate in the Netherlands about shelter for rejected refugees, also called 'illegals', turned shelter into nothing
more than intimidation to make people leave. The agreement between VVD and PvdA means only that there will be more 'freedom restricting
locations' like Ter Apel, but under a different name, where people can only go for a short time, and then only when they participate in their
return. What it comes down to is that refugees will as always be kicked on the street, where they are at risk to be arrested during a raid or
racist ID check and to be locked up for an indefinite long period of time.
The forced living on the streets and the border prisons are the culmination of anti-immigration policies of the EU and therefore the
Netherlands. For quite a few years now, the Anarchist Anti-deportation Group Utrecht has been taking action at one of those border prisons,
namely Kamp Zeist, located along the A28 in the woods between Soest, Soesterberg and Zeist.
On October 1, 2014, the then State Secretary Teeven took a temporary 'closed family location' in use. This would be so called 'child
friendly'. It was the political solution to the "problem" that children could no longer be locked in a cell. After all, this family location is composed of wooden houses without bars where people can walk in and out.
No prison at all!
During the occupation of the wall of Kamp Zeist on November 22, 2014 the activists could see it. The 'family location' within the wall is built on concrete slabs, and separately fenced with high prison fence with cameras and electric fencing. On the wall hung a huge picture of foliage to create the illusion of a green environment. During talks with the refugees detained there at that time they told the activists that they were about to be deported to Afghanistan. There were very young children among them. Detention and deportation are by definition not child friendly and not humane!
The temporary 'closed family location' within the walls of Kamp Zeist, is supposed to be replaced by a permanent one at the end of this year,
also within the wall, as is planned by the Dutch government. The design and construction of these are contracted and by the time you read this, the task is probably 'awarded' to a company that wishes to participate in the criminal apartheid politics called 'asylum policy'. In the period May-July they can start with the design, after which the construction will start by end of summer / early autumn, so it will be completed as scheduled by late December.
So what to do? AAGU has been thinking of an effective strategy, which will focus in part on the companies that make their hands dirty. During
this meeting, we want to show what AAGU and other groups have done in recent years around the border prisons and ask participants to think
about and to participate in the remainder of the campaign.
Close all border prisons! Freedom of movement! The right to exist for everyone!