Retrospectives and perspectives of the antiracist movements

21st-23rd of February 2014 / Studierendenhaus/ KOZ, Universität Frankfurt-Bockenheim, Mertonstr. 26-28

Please take part in our survey to design the agenda for the conference – see below.
Two years ago, the last No Border Lasts Forever conference took place in Frankfurt. Two years of ongoing struggles and changes in the antiracist and the self-organized migrants movements. Amongst these – most notably – an uprising of refugees in form of many strong initiatives, transnationally – even outside Europe – as well as in Germany.
Refugees marched from Würzburg to Berlin. Berlin has seen an occupied Oranienplatz for more than one year, putting the living conditions of refugees in Germany back on the political agenda. Lampedusa in Hamburg not only bridged the distance between the Mediterranean island and the Northern port city, but also built a strong urban alliance with a strong claim to a right to stay. In Baden-Württemberg a group of Afghan refugees from Hungary reclaimed their mobility and questioned the Dublin regime in the process. The Refugee Tribunal in Berlin denounced the inhumane migration policies of the German state systematically. In Bavaria, an ongoing campaign of hunger strikes, marches and occupations mobilised many refugees and challenged both Residenzpflicht and Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz along a strong claim for the right to stay. In Lagers across Germany, self organised protests and tours aimed at breaking the isolation. The resistance against deportations is ongoing and intensifying. The new visibility of refugees‘ struggles is not confined to Germany, protest camps springing to life in the very centre of large European cities such as Amsterdam and Vienna. While a series of revolts and hunger strikes taking place in many prisons along the European border, we see „no fingerprint“ demonstrations in Lampedusa, sit-in-protests in Tunis and ongoing collective storms against the fences of Ceuta and Melilla. At the moment we experience a transnational perpetuation and condensing of the struggles for freedom of movement.

At the same time, we are faced with the continued cruelty of the European border regime, resulting in death and suffering. In spite of the public attention to the tragedy in Lampedusa in October 2013, initiatives such as a strengthening of Frontex and the establishment of the European Surveillance System EuroSUR are being pushed forward. Across Europe we witness a surge in racist and populist mobilisations, threatening to revert important victories and achievements of the last decades.

We, representing a variety of antiracist, self-organized refugee and migrant groups and transnational networks have met in November because we feel that given these developments, there is the need to re-construct a political space of communication, debate and solidarity in order to advance the antiracist struggles and gain the potential to give collective responses. We acknowledge the diversity of struggles and the blind spots that exist. We started productive discussions about unity in respect to our multiplicity. We felt a common intention to infect and to inspire each other and to deepen a critical exchange. And we met in the interest to improve the transnational cooperation in next future. It is from this perspective and in this spirit that we call for a conference of the antiracist and selforganized refugee and migrant movements as one step in re-constructing said space where we can discuss visions, victories, strategies, challenges and failures in a manner of solidarity.

We start with this call, and ask everybody who wants to be part of that process to sign it. In order to make the conference a true conference of the movements and by the movements, we want to initiate a dialogue about content, direction and form of the conference.

Survey

Therefore, we haven’t fixed the contents of the conference yet, since we want to work on the topics that are most important for you, the activists and potential participants.
Please help us to do so by answering the following two questions:
1. What do you expect from the conference? What outcomes for the antiracist and selforganized refugee and migrant movement would you wish to have?
2. What are the biggest challenges that you have experienced during the last two years in your own political practice? Where have you seen major problems in the antiracist and selforganized refugee and migrant movement during the last two years?
The more answers we get, the more input we have for creating an agenda that will fit the movements‘ interests. Feel free to answer as a group or as an individual person. Try to keep your answers short and limit it to maximum 300 characters per question.
Please spread the questions in your networks and answer them on the website survey.antira.info or send the answers to survey@antira.info.

Preperation meeting
If you want to take part in the preparation, you are invited to join the next preparation meeting. It will take place 11th of January 2014, 12-6 PM, in Hanau, Marktstraße 3 (Internationaler Bund, 3rd floor).

Initial signatures
Activists from Asylumstrike Berlin, Lampedusa in Hamburg, The Voice Refugee Forum, Caravan Munich, Welcome to Europe, Afrique Europe Interact, no one is illegal Hanau, Teachers on the street Mainz, Noborder Frankfurt, Action alliance against deportations Rhine-Main, NoLager Bremen

Sign the call
To sign the call and support the conference, send a mail to conference@w2eu.net.

For further information
Web: conference.w2eu.net
Contact: conference@w2eu.net