#WORLD #WORLDWIDE #POLAND #ANARCHISM #News #Journal #Update - (en) #Poland, FA: A year at the border - (anti) NBT report (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Our text is by no means a strict summary! So many things have happened in the

last year that it's hard to include them in any text other than short points. We
are not interested in this. ---- We are witnessing a certain historical and
political process. It is much more important to become aware of these processes
and try to discuss what actions can bring real benefits and changes. Working
blindly within the framework of the scheme will only lead to further burnouts and
disappointments. ---- Let us not get caught up in the narrative that the people
on the move are the problem and let us not be opportunistic enough to believe
that "safe returns" to their countries will solve the situation. We don't mean
not to see suffering in our backyard!
We should be grateful and grateful that we have them before our eyes. The worst
part is that when people are suffering far away, it's easier for us to forget it
and pretend we didn't know ...
We encourage you to read
-------------------
   The border in the political game
A year has passed since the whole of Poland began to live the topic of migration
again. A year in which so many important events took place as many, until
recently, we had not had the opportunity to experience in a decade. Along with
the anniversary, we can also follow the rash of summaries of all organizations
and entities, to some extent related to the situation on the border or simply
using a high-profile topic for the sole purpose of being public.
They summarize services, large foundations, NGOs, government and opposition media
as well as those that declare themselves independent. Based on this, can you
compile a picture of what happened last year? You can probably. Can you better
understand what is happening in the world and why? Unfortunately, this is much worse.
The border, like any other aspect of our reality, is appropriated, digested and
spewed out in the form of propaganda by the two dominant narratives that have
ruled the political discourse for several years. Both of these visions are in
fact two sides of the same coin, and they both lead us into the abyss.
On the one hand, a government that pushes society the most disgusting, racist
beliefs through primitive social engineering tools. On the other hand, the
opposition, cultivating the cult of the European Union and stubbornly pressing us
stale neoliberal recipes by Sachs and Balcerowcz, which Poles know from the 1990s
and which marked the first two decades of the Third Polish Republic - the
privatization of all resources, the liquidation of the social program, the cult
of capitalism and the complete deconstruction of social ties .
Both these narratives have completely dominated the politics of recent years,
leaving no room for any radical perspective.
Until we go beyond this self-propelling wheel, we will not be able to answer the
question of what is happening now and what our future will look like.
    War against people on the way
As for the government side, we are not going to discuss here whether their
approach is correct or not. It is doubtful that anyone reading this text would
believe any word spoken by Anna Michalska. In the further part of the text, we
will follow how the government has responded to the changing situation and how it
has shaped it over the last year.
Law and Justice's policy on migration has been roughly similar since 2015, when
the first campaign against people on the way was unleashed. We remember well the
racist attacks by the government media, which replicated the racist clichés alive
from the history of the Third Reich, so we did not expect the authorities to
react differently this time.
The situation in Usnarz Górny, despite its terror, showed, however, what decision
paralysis prevailed due to a group of a dozen weakened people on the brink of
life and death. Dozens of days in mud and rain, without the possibility of
delivering food or drink. No people who could make a decision and take
responsibility for it. Asking the ministry to ask if a bottle of water can be
given to a thirsty person. On the one hand, soldiers jittery during their inhuman
work, and on the other, soldiers pouring out water in front of those who have not
had a drink for several hours. A full fan. But we were aware that this was just
the beginning. When you face such suffering for the first time, you cannot pass
by it indifferently, it must make an impression on you. It was time for human
reflexes. Then comes something else - normalization of suffering, death,
segregation of people. What many and many of us have seen before, on the
Greek-Macedonian, Serbo-Hungarian or Calais border. After that, no one asks the
question "how is this possible?", The services kill and look at death without
emotion. Indifference is a normal reaction of our body. And if we add to it
power, the possibility of using violence and impunity, we get the perfect wetboy
from the perspective of power. No one who was at the border will think about how
the extermination camps were created and how genocide could have happened in the
past. After that, no one asks the question "how is this possible?", The services
kill and look at death without emotion. Indifference is a normal reaction of our
body. And if we add to it power, the possibility of using violence and impunity,
we get the perfect wetboy from the perspective of power. No one who was at the
border will think about how the extermination camps were created and how genocide
could have happened in the past. After that, no one asks the question "how is
this possible?", The services kill and look at death without emotion.
Indifference is a normal reaction of our body. And if we add to it power, the
possibility of using violence and impunity, we get the perfect wetboy from the
perspective of power. No one who was at the border will think about how the
extermination camps were created and how genocide could have happened in the past.
The introduction of the state of emergency was a reaction to Usnarz's media
coverage. Women and children lying in the mud, guarded by soldiers with long
weapons. Such images do not favor the popularity of the authorities. A zone has
been introduced. The maximum period provided for in Polish law is three months.
It lasted for ten months, during which the people in the forest had to rely only
on themselves.
They were hunted - soldiers, fascists from the territorial defense forces, dogs,
drones, thermal imaging devices. The Hunger Games, safe war game for boys and
girls in uniform. Dogs barking from the police loudspeakers to scare the children
in the dark woods even more. In between, people from the surrounding villages and
those who came from very far, trying to reach those in the forest before the
worst happens.
All the big organizations, turning in the millions and aiming to protect human
rights, turned out to be just shells. It is enough to draw a line on the map and
human life ceases to count.
There are grassroots actions. We were there together and together we experienced
the next pushbacks of our new friends whom we met in the forest. We were together
when we got information about the next found deceased people. We were there with
terrified children, raped women, tortured men and people who, in order to make
this journey, were sometimes forced to sell their own organs. We were together
when the government decided to simply put a wall along the entire border -
because what else could such a government think of? When it turned out how much
this wall will cost and that companies related to the authorities will earn from
it. We were together in Krosno Odrzanskie, protesting against the imprisonment of
people in overcrowded cells, just because of their passport. That's where the
power hating and afraid of any sign of solidarity, she used violence against us -
several people were hospitalized. Did any of the officers suffer the
consequences? Of course not. Instead, ten of us have accusations of assaulting a
policeman - standard procedure in the Third Republic of Poland 1.
We were together in all these situations, sharing this great responsibility and
getting closer to each other, because such experiences make us get to know each
other from a completely different angle. Great site.
That is why we want to thank you wholeheartedly to all of you with whom we have
worked and worked over the past year. Whether in the woods or in detention camps,
looking for missing people or fighting this bloody system in the courts.
Grassroots organization and independence were our strength and we managed in
practice what for many seemed unattainable until recently.
The zone has been abolished, the wall built. The number of people crossing the
border goes up at times, and at other times it goes down. The media has forgotten
the topic, there is war in Ukraine, there is inflation, finally there are
celebrities and their problems. Meanwhile, it is worth knowing that the eastern
corridor will always be open. By bringing people from the Middle East and Africa,
Lukashenka was certainly implementing Putin's plan to destabilize Poland in the
context of the invasion of Ukraine to some extent. However, this is not the only
reason for his actions. Being a direct neighbor of the European Union, he wished
to have other safeguards for his absolute power than just Russian guarantees,
which were uncertain in the perspective of war. Like other dictatorships at the
gates of the Union, he used the same trick - he showed that if he wished he could
unseal his border,
The same policy is pursued by other dictatorships on the fringes of the Union.
Turkey under Erdogan, NATO's second-largest army, can perpetrate the genocide of
Kurds and torture oppositionists while remaining a respected partner for European
leaders. All this because the Union needs to control its borders. Morocco's
dictatorship may pursue a policy of purges and discrimination of the occupied
population of Western Sahara with impunity on the same grounds.
By supporting regimes that violate human rights, the European Union shifts a
large part of the burden of maintaining a European fortress to other countries.
And these can be much more effective in stopping people on the way because they
are not bound by the "limits" that EU members have.

Turkey
In 2014, millions of people requiring immediate humanitarian aid appeared in
Turkey as a result of the military operations in Syria. A system was adopted
there on the basis of a special act, i.e. similar to the one we now have in
Poland after the start of the war in Ukraine. However, after the fall of Aleppo
in 2016, the situation changed dramatically, with many new people in Turkey who
did not want to stay there. In this way, the so-called A "bloody deal",
euphemistically called the agreement between Turkey and the European Union to
stop boats coming by sea to the Greek islands. There have already been numerous
reports, books and publications on what is happening on the Turkish side. When
boats carrying people with a refugee experience sink in the Mediterranean, no one
reacts. This is starting to resemble a premeditated political murder. The tragedy
of people is the result of the actions of smugglers, corrupt police, European
Union politicians, lawyers and courts. How many people never reach the Greek
shores? Nobody keeps a missing list. Grassroots investigations indicate that
there are many unanswered questions. Who identifies the victims? Where do the
bodies go? Who decides where they are buried? How do relatives find out about the
death of their relatives and are they able to find their graves later? People
who, however, managed to reach by sea, were granted a stay in the largest
open-air prison in Europe, i.e. the so-called Moria hot spot, and after it burned
completely in September 2021 - Moria 2.0. lawyers and courts. How many people
never reach the Greek shores? Nobody keeps a missing list. Grassroots
investigations indicate that there are many unanswered questions. Who identifies
the victims? Where do the bodies go? Who decides where they are buried? How do
relatives find out about the death of their relatives and are they able to find
their graves later? People who, however, managed to reach by sea, were granted a
stay in the largest open-air prison in Europe, i.e. the so-called Moria hot spot,
and after it burned completely in September 2021 - Moria 2.0. lawyers and courts.
How many people never reach the Greek shores? Nobody keeps a missing list.
Grassroots investigations indicate that there are many unanswered questions. Who
identifies the victims? Where do the bodies go? Who decides where they are
buried? How do relatives find out about the death of their relatives and are they
able to find their graves later? People who, however, managed to reach by sea,
were granted a stay in the largest open-air prison in Europe, i.e. the so-called
Moria hot spot, and after it burned completely in September 2021 - Moria 2.0.
where are they buried? How do relatives find out about the death of their
relatives and are they able to find their graves later? People who, however,
managed to reach by sea, were granted a stay in the largest open-air prison in
Europe, i.e. the so-called Moria hot spot, and after it burned completely in
September 2021 - Moria 2.0. where are they buried? How do relatives find out
about the death of their relatives and are they able to find their graves later?
People who, however, managed to reach by sea, were granted a stay in the largest
open-air prison in Europe, i.e. the so-called Moria hot spot, and after it burned
completely in September 2021 - Moria 2.0.
Border outsscoring has done unimaginable harm to thousands of people on the way
who, after a war trauma or experiencing other forms of PTSD, were forced, and
still are, to live in conditions that offend human dignity, and certainly do not
comply with any convention on human rights. Tent camps on the Greek islands are a
black spot on the pages of our modern history and nothing will erase this disgrace.
Libya
Another gloomy example of the regime's migration policy of the European Union is
the so-called reception centers in Libya. It is from there that boats depart
towards Italy and Malta, the chances of reaching the mainland are usually one big
question mark. The biggest tragedy that happened on the coast of the Italian
island of Lampedusa, which for decades has been called the Door to Europe,
claimed 366 victims and became a symbol of helplessness in an instant, and at the
same time forced the European Union to provide aid. The mission was supposed to
help people, but it became another oppressive system of control and suffering. In
response to the regime's migration policy, lifeboats from grassroots initiatives
sailed out to sea. Activists and activists have been declared a real war, often
stopping their ships in ports and arresting people there, which ultimately
prevents them from carrying out rescue operations. The European Union entered
into another (after that with Turkey) financial agreement with Libya, sending
so-called the Libyan coast guard, at the sight of which some prefer to jump into
the sea and drown. Why? The so-called reception centers in Libya are unimaginable
places where torture, rape, murder, slavery and any kind of oppression we can
imagine take place. Libyan law states that you can become a prisoner of a
detention center both when you arrive there and when you want to leave the
country. These camps are "run" by official authorities as well as human
traffickers, gangs and smugglers of all kinds. Doesn't that remind you of the
situation in which were the people on the way crossing the Belarusian-Polish
border? Arbitrary detention in Guarded Centers for Foreigners has an equally
strong negative effect on people imprisoned in Libya. Everyone knows about the
situation of the people in the Libyan camps, but nobody does anything about it.
The rescuers at sea know this, literally tearing people from the hands of
Libyans. They themselves are victims of criminalization and many and many of them
on missions face allegations and await lawsuits, and their only fault is a strong
need for help and rescue from death. There is no official European coastguard on
this episode, as the European Union has once again bought peace of mind and used
the border outscoring scheme. Testimonies of survivors from the Libyan camps
after their dangerous journey,

Spain
In Spain, in turn, we have two important places of increased migration movements,
i.e. the Melilla and Ceuta enclaves located on the northern coast of Africa. The
fence there is 6 meters high and it is regularly forced. In June this year, while
a larger group tried to cross the fence together, the Spanish and Moroccan police
used weapons. It is estimated that up to 45 people could have been killed (the
data is indicative, because it is not known what was the condition of the wounded
who were immediately taken to Morocco by the local services). This border is one
of the places where large-scale migration is brutalized. Spain as a colonizer
does not feel to settle with the past, thus being a key element of the project,
the so-called Fortress Europe. In the Canary Islands, there are also "shadow
people" among thousands of tourists. These are people on their way who get there
from West Africa. It happens that local fishermen find empty boats. This is a
sign that someone has failed. Sometimes there are dead people in the boats. This
is the price for trying to reach Europe. Why people shadows? Because when they
arrive on the island, they become invisible. For the system, for the world. They
are trapped and cannot get out. They wait on the islands for months to move
ashore to Spain.
  Freedom not Frontex
Unfortunately, we have heard many times from people who are favorable to our
actions, and even from people operating on the Polish-Belarusian border, that the
Polish border guard is violating human rights, and that Frontex could stop it.
For people from the no border traffic operating in the Mediterranean Sea and the
Balkan route, such words would seem like a gloomy joke. Unfortunately, in Poland,
still few people are aware of what this organization does.
Frontex was established in 2004 with the aim of "helping EU Member States and
Schengen associated countries to protect the external borders of the EU's area of
free movement of persons". Since 2016, the agency's tasks have included border
management in addition to migration control. As we read on the official website,
"Frontex is now recognized as one of the pillars of the EU area of freedom,
security and justice". Let's take a closer look at it.
In Greece and the Balkans, Frontex is present and works together with border
guards and the police.
The European Coast Guard Agency is dealing with serious allegations, including
the cover-up of illegal returns of boats with migrants in the Mediterranean Sea.
As a result of the initiated investigation, it was discovered that several people
from Frontex management were deliberately concealing that the Greek border guards
were turning people back, and this practice, called pushback, is contrary to
international law. The head of Fabrice Leggeri resigned. Therefore, independent
organizations that monitor events at sea are all the more necessary. This is how
Aegan Boat Reports was born, which has been issuing detailed reports on illegal
push-offs at sea and on land since 2015. Monitoring the situation is possible
thanks to the fact that they receive direct messages from people setting off by
sea or road or upon arrival. In 2021, Aegan Boat Reports recorded 629 cases of
push-outs in the Aegean Sea involving 15,803 children, women and men who wanted
to reach a safe Europe. One-third of them, 5,220 people, have already arrived in
the Greek Islands (Lesvos, Kos, Chios, Leros) arrested by the police, forced to
return to sea and left drifting on liferafts, illegally deported by the Hellenic
Coast Guard (HCG) cooperating with Frontex 2.
Almost 60% of all boats intercepted by the Turkish Coast Guard in 2021 were
pushed back by the Greek authorities. In addition, there is a significant number
of pushbacks on the land border between Turkey and Greece near Evros. There, and
on most of the Union's external borders, Frontex officials accompany the border
guards.
This is called hotspot and buffer zone where multiple bursts take place.
The pushbacks procedure in this area is similar to the one we know from Poland -
refusal to accept applications for international protection, confiscation of
telephones, documents, deprivation of food and drink, numerous acts of violence
and beatings. None of the people are registered. Usually they are packed on
trucks and transported to the border, some people are transferred to the beach,
others are thrown into the river and forced to swim over it.
Detailed reports of violence at the external borders are also carried out by the
Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN). So far, thanks to the help of
grassroots or formalized workers, at the external borders of the European Union,
Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Turkey and Slovenia; since 2016,
they have recorded 1,558 testimonies of victims of brutal treatment by border
guards3. Some reports contain such drastic moments that it is hard to believe how
depraved the uniformed services are.
Another area of Frontex's operation is the Libyan coast, which we wrote about
above, where the Agency cooperates with the coast guard, the effects of which are
often fatal. If you are interested, we refer to Sea-Watch reports, for example
the one from May 2021 4.
In addition to the borders themselves, Frontex is also a key coordinator of
deportations across the Union. In addition, it "acts as an EU" return agency ",
coordinating joint deportation flights from EU countries, initiating
deportations, helping with so-called "Voluntary" returns and putting pressure on
countries outside the EU to re-accept deported refugees "5.
The belief that Frontex and the European Union can be the guarantor of human
rights is without any foundation. The above examples, when tens of thousands of
people are condemned to death, should be a sufficient warning against any
border-related activities of these institutions. Human rights are granted only to
citizens of the Union and the countries of the Global North.
At the border, we watched the change that was taking place in people. Confidence
in the services, initially high, melted with each person found in the forest,
subsequent pushbacks threatening with death and inhuman treatment of people on
the way. No words would produce such an effect, many people have had to see it
with their own eyes. Frontex works on the same principle - it builds its image as
an organization that protects us against the threat of uncontrolled migration and
combats trafficking in human beings, when it interacts with those who make money
on it outside the EU.
  Poland - eastern border of Fortress Europe
The situation at the EU's external borders is not the result of Lukashenka's
political plan. He only cynically exploited the situations of millions of people
seeking refuge in Europe. If it were not for the eastern corridor, many of them
would have tried to reach Europe via other routes. In this situation, Lukashenka
is not very different from the authorities of Turkey and other countries, who use
human tragedies for their political gain. What he is doing is also no more
blameworthy than the actions of EU decision-makers who finance anti-democratic
regimes in exchange for guarding their borders.
The assumption that the Polish state does not implement EU policy is also
completely wrong. There are many areas in which the Polish government actually
opposed the Brussels guidelines - for example cutting down primeval forests or
the fight against homophobia and transphobia. It is a veil thanks to which the
rulers can present themselves as defenders of the tradition and independence of
the country. Especially on the right-wing electorate such tricks work very
strongly. However, when it comes to military and border policy, the PiS
government is obedient, although it still tries to present itself as a party
imposing conditions. Theatrical statements about not allowing Frontex to enter
Poland are one of such smoke screens. Frontex is responsible for the entire EU
border and the fact that we did not meet any lower level officers at the border
does not mean that he did not participate in the coordination of the activities
of the Polish border guard. The repertoire of measures against people en route is
similar to that at other borders - pushbacks, refusal to initiate asylum
procedures, physical violence and intimidation.
Artificially induced The "migration crisis" therefore served all parties.
Lukashenka managed to intimidate Poland and the EU so much that he gained another
security and negotiating position. Poland mobilized a huge number of soldiers and
volunteers from the Territorial Defense Forces, built 180 km of a wall in the
most valuable primeval forest. Nobody is able to estimate how much last year cost
us all, it is much easier to guess where this money went (you can find a report
on the companies building the wall and their connections with the authorities on
our blog). 6. More millions flowed from Brussels.
The Union has sealed its eastern border. All at the expense of people who are
looking for a better life in Europe, because they believed that their rights will
not be violated here.
For the sake of clarity, we do not believe that the European Union is an
organization unique among world powers. We realize that the quality of life in
Europe is the highest in the world, much better than in the USA, Russia or China.
However, this does not change the fact that it is not available to everyone who
lives here, and that this comfort comes with daily sacrifices.
    Epilogue
During a recent conversation with an activist who deals with the protection of
trees against logging, he said that he is not involved in saving nature, but
saving people. The destroyed ecosystem will consume us first, and then be reborn
just as quickly, but without us. By caring for our ecosystem, we extend our
existence on Earth. It is hard not to find an analogy to migration here. We are
not trying to save migrants, we want to save ourselves.
Global warming and the changes that are taking place across the planet will lead
to an increase in the number of people migrating. What we can experience now is
just a fraction of what lies ahead. It is not possible to maintain the current
pace of production. We will have to seriously change our attitude towards the
future, and maintaining our current standard of living will be unrealistic. The
migrations of millions will change this world forever. Perhaps tomorrow we
ourselves will be refugees chased by border guards.
The only hope of avoiding a catastrophe is to initiate processes that will allow
us to coexist side by side, initiate a fairer distribution of goods and end the
colonization robbery policy. It is related to deeper political and social
changes. This clearly shows the need for intersectionality, that is, to combine
different struggles.
In the long run, it is impossible to separate helping people on their way from
the situation in the world and the capitalist system. Many places are already
unsuitable for life due to drought, soil depletion, poisoning 7. There are still
millions of people living in these areas. We have no right to require them to
stay "at home" with no prospects for themselves and their children. "Safe home
return" very often means condemning people to hunger, poverty, violence, disease,
political repression and sometimes simply to death directly.
It seems unrealistic to end the current system, based on the unlimited
exploitation of people and raw materials (for capitalists, people can be the same
raw material as anyone else). It will certainly not be a smooth transition into a
new era where we will all live in peace. It is a painful process, especially for
those born in the countries of the Global North who have never been short of food
and who did not have to worry about their lives every day. We will lose many of
this comfort and privileges that we have long considered due to us and which we
hardly notice anymore.
However, we are in a situation where we have no other choice - the alternative is
war, the development of totalitarianisms, the enslavement of society and the
struggle for survival.
So yes - departing from this system seems unrealistic, but this is our only
chance. Any activities carried out in isolation from the overall problem cannot
bring any long-term results. Therefore, unlike many other people and
organizations, we are not afraid to say it, although it is not a message that
generates reach in social media. We often hear that society is not ready for
change, it is not even ready to discuss it. In this way, the action is narrowed
down to just responding to symptoms, and thus the system is further strengthened.
People are treated like fools in this way. This is what charity and charity are
in their essence. Leaving aside the moral issues involved, such actions will
never bring real results. This is not their goal.
We do not propose simple solutions to anyone, because these are not simple
problems. The post-capitalist world has accustomed us to think that all
adversities can be overcome if we do our best. To the fact that everything can be
solved in a simple way.
We don't have prescriptions ready. We have to work out these together, but it is
only possible if we do not close ourselves to the broader perspective and actions
that perhaps seem unimaginable to a large part of society. However, this is not a
reason not to talk about it. We don't treat people as someone who needs to be
protected from the truth and kept in a bubble of ignorance, because people
deserve something more.
Our text is by no means a strict summary. So many things have happened in the
last year that it is difficult to include them in any text other than in the form
of short points. We are not interested in this. We are witnessing a certain
historical and political process. It is much more important to become aware of
these processes and try to discuss what actions can bring real benefits and
changes. Working blindly within the framework of the scheme will only lead to
further burnouts and disappointments.
Let us not get caught up in the narrative that the people on the move are the
problem and let us not be opportunistic enough to believe that "safe returns" to
their countries will solve the situation. We don't mean not to see suffering in
our backyard. We should be grateful and grateful that we have them before our
eyes. The worst part is that when people are suffering far away, it's easier for
us to forget it and pretend we didn't know.
1 https://nobordersteam.noblogs.org/.../against.../
2 https://aegeanboatreport.com/monthly-reports/
3
https://www.borderviolence.eu/
4
https://sea-watch.org/frontex_crimes/
5
https://abolishfrontex.org/frontex/
6 https://nobordersteam.noblogs.org/.../kto-buduje-mur-na.../
7 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00585-7/

https://federacja-anarchistyczna.pl/2022/09/23/rok-na-granicy-antysprawozdanie-nbt/
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