In 2023, at least 8,565 people died on migratory routes. The journalist
Émilien Bernard and his associates tell us "certain fragments, certain
sections of these existences subscribed to the crazy pinball of
borders". ---- The writing is simple, but sophisticated, mixing stories
of life, survival and literary references. They take us willy-nilly
towards these areas of lawlessness. As Émilien Bernard explains with
humility, this story is a narration located on "the good side of the
insane, the one who locks himself in his palace of Western opulence.»
The author lets us virtually share these existences which collide with
the sharp angles of Fortress Europe. Without pathos, he describes these
survivals at the border and within the border, in these border
relegation zones that are Morocco, Serbia, Hungary... in these harsh and
hostile places where barbed wire reigns supreme at dizzying heights. He
describes to us these towers of hatred, these kilometers of impassable
barbed wire, these thermal sensors, these sound cannons, these ditches.
But his story doubles, multiplies infinitely with the cold and hard
testimonies of these people, thrown there, of these broken lives, of
these shattered journeys where time is divided between indefinite
waiting and sudden acceleration of departure, of passing test. The
absurdity is there.
From 315 kilometers of borders marked with barbed wire in 2014, the
work reached them in 2022, 2035. In just one year, it had pushed its
progress by two hundred more kilometers. It must be said that the market
is juicy. The cynicism of the situation is terrifying. The security
jackpot has reached 63 to 68 billion dollars. The European grilling and
concreting market shows an expected annual growth of 15%. Cutting-edge
technologies are not left out. Frontex, this sinister pharmacy, saw its
budget increase from 94 million euros in 2014 to 758 million. The
absurdity is there...
In this excessive communication of the fall of the Berlin Wall or even
in this supposedly free Europe of the Schengen area, in these openings
which sealed the closure, lock it in the fortress. Everything is just
lying artifice. Émilien Bernard does not forget this indecency of
agreements between countries for the extra-territorialization of
poverty, of the inhuman treatment that Europe, draped in its hypocrisies
of universal rights. Here too it is a financial windfall for these
careless states which surround Europe.
Between all-powerful mafias killing each other, police over-equipped
with the latest technology; the horror is there. Murders, thefts, rapes,
physical and psychological violence, this is the summary of what is
addressed with restraint in this book which we can only recommend for
anyone wishing to get an idea of our European inhumanity. The absurd,
the senseless... the artificialization of intelligence. Oppose a
fortress to individuals... who only have a few things like a worn-out
bundle and a smartphone serving as a compass.
Dominique Sureau (UCL Angers)
Émilien Bernard, Forteresse Europe, investigation into the other side of
our borders, Lux editions, February 2024, 300 pages, 20 euros.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Lire-Emilien-Bernard-Forteresse-Europe-enquete-sur-l-envers-de-nos-frontieres
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Émilien Bernard and his associates tell us "certain fragments, certain
sections of these existences subscribed to the crazy pinball of
borders". ---- The writing is simple, but sophisticated, mixing stories
of life, survival and literary references. They take us willy-nilly
towards these areas of lawlessness. As Émilien Bernard explains with
humility, this story is a narration located on "the good side of the
insane, the one who locks himself in his palace of Western opulence.»
The author lets us virtually share these existences which collide with
the sharp angles of Fortress Europe. Without pathos, he describes these
survivals at the border and within the border, in these border
relegation zones that are Morocco, Serbia, Hungary... in these harsh and
hostile places where barbed wire reigns supreme at dizzying heights. He
describes to us these towers of hatred, these kilometers of impassable
barbed wire, these thermal sensors, these sound cannons, these ditches.
But his story doubles, multiplies infinitely with the cold and hard
testimonies of these people, thrown there, of these broken lives, of
these shattered journeys where time is divided between indefinite
waiting and sudden acceleration of departure, of passing test. The
absurdity is there.
From 315 kilometers of borders marked with barbed wire in 2014, the
work reached them in 2022, 2035. In just one year, it had pushed its
progress by two hundred more kilometers. It must be said that the market
is juicy. The cynicism of the situation is terrifying. The security
jackpot has reached 63 to 68 billion dollars. The European grilling and
concreting market shows an expected annual growth of 15%. Cutting-edge
technologies are not left out. Frontex, this sinister pharmacy, saw its
budget increase from 94 million euros in 2014 to 758 million. The
absurdity is there...
In this excessive communication of the fall of the Berlin Wall or even
in this supposedly free Europe of the Schengen area, in these openings
which sealed the closure, lock it in the fortress. Everything is just
lying artifice. Émilien Bernard does not forget this indecency of
agreements between countries for the extra-territorialization of
poverty, of the inhuman treatment that Europe, draped in its hypocrisies
of universal rights. Here too it is a financial windfall for these
careless states which surround Europe.
Between all-powerful mafias killing each other, police over-equipped
with the latest technology; the horror is there. Murders, thefts, rapes,
physical and psychological violence, this is the summary of what is
addressed with restraint in this book which we can only recommend for
anyone wishing to get an idea of our European inhumanity. The absurd,
the senseless... the artificialization of intelligence. Oppose a
fortress to individuals... who only have a few things like a worn-out
bundle and a smartphone serving as a compass.
Dominique Sureau (UCL Angers)
Émilien Bernard, Forteresse Europe, investigation into the other side of
our borders, Lux editions, February 2024, 300 pages, 20 euros.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Lire-Emilien-Bernard-Forteresse-Europe-enquete-sur-l-envers-de-nos-frontieres
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten