Is anyone here even aware of what is happening in Italy right now?

For about two months, Italy has been governed by a new right-wing government. The right-wing alliance together won 44% – led by the current prime minister and neo-fascist Giorgia Meloni. Meloni is quite open about her ties to the far right.

As one of its first official acts, Italy closed its ports to civilian rescue ships two weeks ago. At that time, several large ships were already operating in the Mediterranean and had many hundreds of rescued people on board, some for two weeks. We know the stories of how high the psychological strain is for people on board, some of whom have been severely traumatized: the more people are rescued, the more cramped the space on deck becomes, the more stories and experiences come together, and over everything hangs the constant fear of being taken back to Libya after all. Nevertheless, Italy began its sick game, played out on the backs of the rescued, allowed the ships into its ports to let the sick and children disembark, but sent the rest back to the open sea. Fortunately, the ship’s leaders showed great courage and refused.

In Germany, almost no one was interested in all this and there was hardly any news coverage. Where is the feminist foreign policy of Annalena Baerbock, who supposedly opposes violence and discrimination?

Meanwhile, last week another sea rescue organization successfully asked to be allowed to land in France to bypass Italy. The right-wing government in Italy promptly presented this as its success in getting rid of the first sea rescue ship in just a few weeks of government. France often claims to be a great ally state that likes to put the fascists in Italy in their place, but it directly stated that this action will remain a one-time exception, that it will not accept any more refugees from Italy for now and that it will strengthen its border controls to Italy. This morning we heard the first reports from the French-Italian border that every single car was controlled despite kilometer-long traffic jams. That escalated quickly.

Over the weekend, the Mediterranean states of Malta, Greece and Cyprus, already known for pushbacks, other violence and inhumane practices at the borders, drafted a joint letter under Italy’s leadership against civilian sea rescue – which, however, is only used as a symbol for the migration policy of the richer EU states, with which it is falsely thrown into the same pot by the fascists. This power struggle will soon have the same effect on flight movements and aid organizations on land.

The fight here is not about the rights of people fleeing, but about who is allowed (first) to seal themselves off against immigration and who is not. The border between France and Italy is thus becoming increasingly impassable for people who actually have a right to flee from war, poverty or injustice. We await the reports of the coming weeks from our comrades from Squat Yallah and the group Kesha Niya with great concern.

We are collecting donations for the conversion of our second car: the No Nation Transit! This car is to become an all-rounder. It can act as a supporter for our truck or be used independently. It is more flexible and maneuverable than our truck, 6-seater with space for transporting people and material, small device for charging phones via car battery, optional two sleeping places and field kitchen equipment are planned. Just like our truck, we want to lend the NNTransit to other groups for their missions. Help us to cover the costs under https://www.betterplace.me/no-nation-truck-pkw-umbau?fbclid=IwAR1KLAD59af8oK-cPfg0fpfAxGPfzDHLf4Ez5d80MsHbYBvx2asZDiDNhV0

After the situation in Ukraine finally escalated on February 24, we as the No Nation Truck collective decided to take action. The truck itself is currently on its way to Greece with the ROSA collective, so we have allied ourselves with another collective: The Solibus. Together we drove overnight on Friday, February 25 to the Ukrainian border in Przemyśl, Poland. Trains from Lviv arrive here, but the Medyka border crossing is also not far, where people on foot and in cars wait to be let through drop by drop.

A bus station has developed in a parking lot on the outskirts of the small town. Dozens of people, mostly Pol:innen, hold signs in the air offering rides. Those who are not picked up by friends or family come here to continue their journey. Many have stood for up to a day in the cold outside the border, others have waited for hours in the dark on a crowded train during a bombing raid. Many have a cold, are overtired, have neither money nor cell phone network.

It was noticeable that hardly any people wanted to go directly to Germany, but mainly further to countries like France, Belgium or the Netherlands, where they have relatives. Many people with Ukrainian passports wanted to stay in Poland and were looking for rides to the nearest big cities. We noticed that especially Black people and People of Color were stranded here and didn’t know where to go: International students, people with asylum status, people with international work visas. Reports piled up that these people had already had a particularly hard time getting through at the borders. Many of these people wanted to continue on to Western Europe, to relatives or acquaintances – very few had contacts in Poland.

Barely four hours later, the Solibus with 48 passengers set off again for Germany. Among them was a mother with a child, whose husband had driven them to the border but remained in the country himself. In the meantime, men between the ages of 18 and 60 who are fit for military service are forbidden to leave the country. A family from Mali who fled war in the north of the country and sought asylum in Ukraine. Two students from Algeria who had spent a semester abroad in Kyiv. Two men from Afghanistan who had recently fled the Taliban. A woman from the Berlin area who was in Kyiv for a conference. All of these 48 stories are individual, yet they have one thing in common: they are all looking for a safe place to stay. At four o’clock in the morning on Sunday, February 26, we arrived at the ZOB in Berlin, where a team of the No Nation Truck took care of the travelers and organized the rest of the journey.

The same bus with which we were traveling here was turned away at the Polish-Belarusian border just a few months ago and had to drive back empty while people froze to death as a political pawn at the gates of the EU. The solidarity with the refugees of Ukraine is important and right – but it also shows where the priorities of a majority white and Christian society lie when it comes to compassion for refugees. As of this writing, the German and Polish railroads are also only talking about free rides for Ukrainian citizens. At the border it is more difficult to let them through, at some border points not at all. Of all people, those who are often seeking protection for the second time, fleeing from war or who have been displaced before, have a particularly hard time.

There have also been situations at train stations where people of color have been pushed off trains or prevented from boarding by force. At some borders there are separate queues for Europeans and non-Europeans. Also in the public reporting formulations and narratives circulate which are so openly racist that we do not even want to repeat them. This unequal treatment is unbearable and cannot be justified by anything.

Even still in the face of war and violence, Europe shows their disgusting racism.

We demand that ALL people on the run are treated equally in solidarity and will continue to work for ALL to get to where they want to live in safety and peace!