On the 28th of June we held a workshop together with Kerem Schamberger & Valeria Hänsel from Medico International at ConTent at Fusion Festival on the deadly EU isolation policy & the fight for freedom of movement.
We discussed the criminalization of migration, the EU’s fight against “smugglers,” the 50+ Sudanese youths in Greek prisons, the so-called GEAS reform, and the situation at the Polish-Belarusian border, where people continue to be actively pushed into swamps by the Polish government with the backing of the EU.
We also presented the “Fund for Freedom of Movement,” which we have jointly established to provide concrete support to people affected by criminalization.
It was particularly moving that not only interested festival visitors were in the audience, but also people who approached us after the talk and who had experienced the “fight against smugglers” firsthand – for example, when trying to bring their families from the war in Syria to Germany and saw no other option than to pay smugglers and, for some routes, to take on the smuggling activity themselves. They, too, were shocked to be considered “criminals” for this action and to risk harsher penalties than those who actually harm other people.
One person said that it was the first time they had experienced that there was another narrative and solidarity support for this experience, and that it had moved them deeply. This in turn greatly encourages us in what we do!
Immediately afterwards, Moctar Dan Yayé and Leonie Jantzer from Alarmphone Sahara reported on the deadly consequences of EU border policy on the African continent – such as pushbacks into the desert from Algeria, Libya, or Niger – and their work on this issue.
Together we fight!