Interimsreport from Tunis actiondays for freedom of movement...‏

dear all,
following a first  short interim-report from Tunis, where we started  
last weekend with a series of meetings and workshops for the common- 
actiondays (as announced some weeks ago as you can see again in the  
call attached).
 
today we had a first protest in front of the eu-delegation building  
in Berges du Lac/Tunis to support the group of refugees from Choucha,  
who are accepted by UNHCR but without resettlement slots. they  
started their sit-in in front of the UNHCR building already end of  
march, and they continue this outdoor-protest since more than 5 (!)  
month. a delegation talk today with an UNHCR representative brought  
no news, they simply refer to the end of the resettlement program and  
that they cannot push eu-countries to provide more places.
it is true insofar, that a lot of eu-countries did not provide any  
places for Choucha refugees, or UK offered only three and France even  
only one (!) single place. Against this background we – about 20  
people and in a mixture of Choucha refugees and european activists –  
went to the eu-office today, presenting our critics and demands with  
banners and speeches, and insisting on a resettlement solution in a  
delegation-talk inside the building as well.
 
since last weekend we started in Tunis with meetings and workshops to  
draft and update our program as the general situation in Tunesia - 
after the second killing of an oppositional leader (Mohammed Brahimi)  
in July and a subsequent new wave of protests – is in limbo between  
the government and the opposition. a strong polarisation and a lot of  
tensions crisscross the tunesian society (although an escalation as  
in Egypt seems to be far away). tomorrow it is exactly 40 days ago  
that Brahimi was assassinated, and according the tradition a second  
commemoration will take place.
 
thus the conditions for activities for freedom of movement are much  
more difficult than exspected in June, when we started to plan and  
our call for common actions was sent out. but nevertheless the  
families of disappeared boatpeople, whom we met last days for an  
exchange, intend to organize a protest on 6th of September, which is  
the anniversary of an heavy incidence, when a boat with 135 harragas  
capsized very close to the rocks of Lampione near Lampedusa and  
finally 79 men, women and children died or disappeared...
 
we will see tomorrow, if such a protest is tolerated (or attacked) by  
police, and on saturday we plan for a cultural evening for freedom of  
movement as an indoor-event in a bigger cafe. with a concert and a  
theater-play, through an exhibition, photos and in short speeches we  
plan to represent the different aspects of the struggles against the  
borderregime. how to contribute to watch the med (the monitoring  
project with a main focus on human rights violations and death at sea  
in the central mediterranean) was the leading question in a workshop  
within activists last tuesday and this project will be briefly  
presented on saturday as well. in general we hope for an interesting  
composition of guests for the final cultural event including not only  
some familiy members of the disappeared and their selforganisation  
„la terre pour tous“ but also Choucha-refugees and moreover some  
subsaharian migrants living in Tunis and trying to get a better  
selforganisation.
 
so far for now, a final report will follow...
best,
hagen
 
  Call for action-days in Tunis from 5th to 7th  
> of September
>
> The border is the problem ...
> Action-days for Freedom of movement in Tunis between 5th and 7th of  
> September 2013
>
> At 6th of September 2012 a boat with 135 harragas capsized very  
> close to the rocks of Lampione near Lampedusa. Although observed  
> and known by tunesian and italian borderguards and although SOS was  
> sended, the resuce-operations started only with much delay. Finally  
> 79 men, women and children died or disappeared.
>
> The incident is the consequence of a borderregime, which caused  
> thousands of death and disapperaence within last years all around  
> the European Union because of its restrictive and exclusive Visa- 
> System. The EU-migration policy is characterized by militarized  
> controls, by (illegal) push-backs, by detention and deportation of  
> refugees and migrants. Searching for a secure life and a better  
> income is criminalized by the goverments of the same richer  
> countries, which are responsible for an injust world and which  
> profit by the permanent exploitation, by cheap raw-materials and by  
> very low wages in the global south.
>
> For the anniversary of the death and disappearance of the 79  
> boatpeople at Lampione we call for a transnational protest in Tunis  
> around the 6th of September 2013.
> We are sad. We are angry. We want change!
>
> The border is the problem... and we demand the immediate  
> abolishment of the deathly Visa-regime of the European Union. To  
> the tunesian government we demand to cancel all agreements with EU  
> to become a new watchdog of migration-control. We are struggling  
> for a world without borders and for freedom of movement for  
> everybody. In particular we support all boatpeople, all Harragas,  
> who try to take their right. The revolution in Tunesia was made for  
> dignity and freedom, including the freedom to travel. The earth is  
> for all!
>
> We call and invite to come to Tunis between 5th and 7th of  
> September for transnational activities. The three days of actions  
> will include protests in front of european embassies and a  
> commemoration. We plan for public interventions and a stage in the  
> city center for a political and cultural program for freedom of  
> movement.
>
> Join us, contact us: tunis-common-action@kein.org
>
> Initiated by Activists from Article 13, from Afrique-Europe- 
> Interact and from Welcome to Europe;
>
> Supported by La Terre pour Tous and LeVenticinqueundici
> With Participation of Blech Hess and Watch The Med