GAULING BEHAVIOUR

AS THOUSANDS OF ROMA SUFFER MASS EXPULSIONS IN FRANCE..

Weak to begin with, France’s attempts to deny that recent mass expulsions of Roma people were racist have been dealt a blow after a Ministry of Interior circular ordering evacuation of camps of Roma, as “a matter of priority” was leaked.

From mid-August to early September this year, approximately 1000 Roma were deported from France and 128 Roma camps dismantled. In many cases the deportations were carried out with rough policing, destruction of Roma homes and the confiscation of identity papers. It is believed that the policy could effect up to 365,000 Roma. This is not the first time - France has closed down illegal Roma camps and sent their inhabitants home for years. Last year 10,000 Roma were sent back to Romania and Bulgaria.

Only a couple of days ago, the EU’s Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding drew comparisons between France’s actions and the Nazis who persecuted the Roma during the Holocaust saying, “This is a situation I had thought Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War.”

In spite of ample information proving that France has been targeting the Roma, including previous expulsions, a piece of paper was required – apparently- to add clout. Reding has now called for the EU to take a legal case against France.

So far Jose Manuel Barroso President of the European Commission has kept quiet, so it remains to be seen if the Commission will act against this gross human rights violation.
Doing so could have implications across Europe, as France is far from the only EU nation that has treated the Roma like they are second class.

LIFE THROUGH A CLEANSE

The incident which officially triggered this wave of expulsions (or ethnic cleansing) was a clash between Roma and police in the Loire valley in July.

Some Roma set upon a police station after one of their own, 22-year-old Roma Luigi Duquenet was shot dead. According to French police the shooting occured after he knocked a police officer down driving through a check-point.

As a result Mr Sarkozy ordered the expulsion of all Roma immigrants, calling for 300 illegal camps and squats to be dismantled within three months.
By suggesting that all Roma are criminals, France is using security as the reason to justify their actions.

The french authorities are trying to excuse themselves on the grounds that they are only enforcing conditions imposed on migration from Eastern European countries that have recently joined the EU. However, by targeting one ethnic group, France is in fact breaking international human rights law.

UNFINISHED ARTICLE

Article 18 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union enshrines the right to non-discrimination, and the undisputable fact is the vast majority of immigrants that have been returned home over the past months are Roma. Singling one ethnic group out for less favourable treatment constitutes a clear case of race discrimination.

In a press release from Tuesday 14th September, the Romani Union (a Roma-led NGO based in Spain) stated that it has taken steps to execute a lawsuit of its own saying, “Collective expulsions are prohibited under European law, including in cases where such measures are targeted solely against those who have overstayed the three month residency period allowed under the Freedom of Movement Directive and have failed to register with local authorities.”

According to the Equal Rights Trust, “The cash incentive of 300 Euro for each adult and 100 Euro for each child deported “voluntarily” does not change the fact due process was not followed.

* See www.errc.org

TESCO CHECK-OUT

In a fantastic victory for local Brighton campaigners, Tesco have withdrawn their involvement from development plans for the Lewes Road Community Garden.

The ongoing campaign has been trying to protect the garden from corporate invasion for the last 18 months, and after eviction at 2am last week (See SchNEWS 738) when the bulldozers flattened the site, things looked bleak.

Then, unexpectedly, in a meeting on Thursday (16th) with Green MP Caroline Lucas and council representatives, Tesco decided to pull out of the project saying, “We believe the future of the community garden should be resolved locally, by the community and by its representatives. We do not think it is helpful for us to become the unintended focus of this debate, nor do we want to become an obstacle to it being resolved by the local community.”

One local told SchNEWS he was ‘absolutely delighted’ with the news and are now hoping that ‘no developer in their right mind’ would try to move onto the site after first a betting shop, then Tesco, have been told ‘where to stick it’. The site will now go back to the planning department and development will undergo a further consultation with the community.

Some of the options that have the support of the residents are a small trader’s market with social housing and gardens, something to promote local businesses where the local community will see the benefits of profit, rather than faceless private shareholders. With the Brighton Connexions service’s funding being cut this year some are hoping for a community centre for the teenagers in the area who currently have no real social service provision.

The campaigners were keen to stress that although this battle has been won, they are still fighting the war and will continue to be involved with the consultation process, as well as following up on the illegal eviction of last week.

See http://lewesroadcommunitygarden.webs.com

CUT TO THE CHASE: ANTI-AUSTERITY COALITION LAUNCHED

The bankers and their millionaire mates have never had it better. During the last two years the government has rescued big financial institutions and has spent lots of public money in an attempt to ‘stimulate’ the economy. Now the masses are being asked to pay the bill: on 20 October the Con-Dem government will publish a budget which is going to make huge cuts in public services and benefits. Among other savage cuts, a proposed cut in the levels of all housing allowances is going to affect millions of tenants, whether they are ‘hard workers’ or not. It has already been estimated that 700,000 families will lose their homes.

Too busy playing with their giant financial scissors perhaps, the government has conveniently ignored calculations that show that it is perfectly possible to cover the deficit by raising taxes for the rich and the bankers, who caused the crisis in the first instance, and tackling tax avoidance and tax evasion. Only this month it was revealed that the business-friendly government have done a cosy deal that effectively lets Vodafone off entirely for offshore tax dodging that’s cost around £6bn in revenue – just about the same amount as the Con-Dem’s said needed cutting from public budgets immediately.

On Thursday (9th) more than 200 people attended the launch of the Stop the Cuts Coalition (STCC), formed by unionised workers, anti-privatisation campaigners such as Keep our NHS Public and Keep the Post Public, representatives of the voluntary sector, and Brighton Benefits Campaign. Coalitions like these are mushrooming all over the country, while the police warns the government that their own budget cannot be cut, or they won’t be able to restrain a coming waves of strikes and social unrest.

STCC is now working hard to turn those fears into reality.

* Wednesday 29th of September is the European Day of Action against cuts – a day when Greece or Spain will be paralysed by mass actions. Meanwhile in Brighton a demo will start at King’s House, Grand Avenue, at 4.00 and will march to Brighton Town Hall for a rally at 5.00pm.

* On October 20th, the Spending Review will be announced to Parliament. There’ll be a mass street action in the evening. Wait for announcement of the assembly, place and time.

* Public meeting on benefit cuts: next Thursday, 23 September, 7.00pm, Friend Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton.

FIRE TO THE PRISONS

Detention centres in Italy and Belgium have become the latest in Europe to see revolts and rioting from detained immigrants, no longer willing to withstand inhumane conditions and mistreatment.

On Sunday (12th), the via Corelli centre in Milan was set on fire by detainees. It is reported that a boy broke his leg playing football in the centre, and, rather than treat the injury, the Red Cross called in the police - who beat him up. This sparked an evening of uprising for many of the migrants, who managed to chase the police from the cells. The fire, which caused massive damage to the centre, was only put out by police several hours later. In response, five detainees were arrested and detained, with a further two released later in the evening.

On the same day, prisoners and immigrants from Merksplas in Belgium rioted in institutions across the road from each other. After the police dealt with the prison riot - said to be in demand of water and toilet facilities - another broke out in the detention centre. Belgium’s Office des Etrangers has refused to talk about the issue or the motives. But given that Belgium has come under harsh criticism for its treatment of migrants - even by European standards - spontaneous resistance is not surprising. Many of the detainees were already on hunger strike to protest the conditions in the centre and the police have been called to quash four revolts there in the last month.

The 2010 NoBorders camp will take place on the 25th September- 3rd October in Brussels, Belgium. The camp will have a variety of anti-migration control activites, action workshops and direct action.

http://www.noborderbxl.eu.org/?lang=en

CALAIS: CHANNEL HOPING

A SCHNEWS correspondent reports fresh back from a Calais Migration Soldidarity visit ...

Despite on-going police repression, last week saw activists helping to create safe spaces and a range of festivities for all. Music, art, shared food and solidarity successfully transformed what is usually a place of misery and brutality into a scene of life and celebration, if only briefly.

With Dutch activist kitchen Rampenplan providing delicious vegan food, musicians came from across Europe to perform in parks and at squats, all under the watchful eye of the French security forces. Undocumented migrants shared their rich musical traditions, with Pashtun dances and singing in Kurdish, Dari, Arabic amongst other languages. Throughout the week the CRS (French riot police) illegally raided squats, arresting and mistreating activists and migrants.

Nonetheless, through it all, some welcome spirit-nourishing fun was had. Given the state of repression in this town, just being able to go out and make music together can be a remarkable act of struggle here. People said, “This week I thought I wasn’t in Calais”.

Then, on Monday, as if to quash any uplift, Africa house - Calais’ largest squat - was raided by CRS and the PAF (French Border Police) with unusual violence. Cops even attacked activists in the police station.

Such repression has only served to bring activists and migrants closer; some recorded musical collaborations are expected on the CMS website soon.

But still the madness continues; many people are arrested every night at the Kurdish jungle and driven several hours away from Calais before then having to walk all the way back.

See http://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com
 

SCOTTISH OPEN CAST MINING: WHAT'S HAPPENDON?

Early on Sunday (12th) evening, a group of activists descended on Happendon wood, in South Lanarkshire, to occupy an area that is likely to be mined by Scottish Coal. Around 30 activists have spent a busy week setting up camp and preparing infrastructure for what could be a long-term occupation. The camp already boasts a two-storey communal building and kitchen, shelters and defences.

Campers say the atmosphere is positive and energetic. They report that the daily visits of police have so far been chilled. Scottish Coal and land-leasers Douglas & Amgus Estates (Lord Home) have yet to make an appearance. Given that last year’s Mainshill camp just down the road survived for seven months and took a five day eviction and 45 arrests to clear (see SchNEWS 708), there must be a lot of head scratching going on at Scottish Coal HQ.

The Happendon Wood Action Camp is part of the longer campaigns of Coal Action Scotland, and the local community, who resist coal mining expansion in the Douglas Valley area - already one of the most heavily mined in Europe. Scottish Coal has not yet publicly declared plans to mine the area. However, planning permission for mixed use development on the land has been applied for by the Scottish Resources Group. As there is recoverable coal on site, the area will have to be mined before development - not doing so would be illegally ‘sterilising the nations assets’.

The camp is not only focussed on protecting the woodland from development through direct action, but also on acting as a base for community and activist resistance against new fossil fuel production in the region.

Happendon Wood is 30 miles south of Glasgow. The camp encourages visitors, helpers and material/financial donations. See http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?page_id=1974

FASH MOBS

Following the let down of the Bradford not-so-Big One (SchNEWS 737), the EDL seems rife with divisions over the movement’s direction. While the leaders are looking to build international links by courting Geert Wilder and showing their mugs at “No Ground Zero Mosque” protests, the frustrated cannon fodder seem torn between going down the political route and more direct, less controlled street demos.

The first sign of this change in tactics appeared last weekend when EDLers from around the country staged flash mob demos. On Saturday (12th), around 120 EDL members marched into Oldham city centre, laying a wreath at a war memorial before brawling with the police. Eight were arrested, many more had their heads cracked by batons. On Sunday (13th) another flash mob converged on Nuneaton, with around 50 showing up to wave at homecoming troops. They were forced into a pub by the police and quickly surrounded by a crowd from the local community.

Also this week, the EDL got to catch a rare glimpse of the tiny minority group they have apparently sworn to defend us from, coming face to face with Islamic nutjobs Muslims Against Crusades as both groups marched to mark the anniversary of 9/11. In the beard vs beergut battle that ensued there were minor scuffles, heated chanting and lots of burning of symbolic items.

AND FINALLY

So his Nazi-nonce-ness the Pope played his first big gig in Britain this week, in front of the assembled Catholic mass-ive in Edinburgh. But what does the God Squad top man have for breakfast?

Well, he could do worse than pick up a new ‘Jesus’ toaster which burns the image of the son of God into each righteous slice. And all for only $39.99 (well it doesn’t claim to make one loaf feed thousands).

Spread with ‘I Can’t believe it’s not Buddha’, topped with eggs benedictum all smothered in holy-days sauce and you’ve got a dish fit for a pontiff.

Sadly, we’ve heard however that he’s too busy spreading his evil message to waste time in the morning, and barely stops for couple of Pope-tarts...

* Order yours (they also do hemp leaves and Peace signs) at www.jesustoasters.com – and chuck it at the Pope.