end of our first mission

5. November 2021

End of our first mission – the truck is back in Germany for now
After the eviction of the occupied „Refugio“ on August 5, the solidarity support structures had to leave the mountain village of Claviere, which is located directly on the French-Italian border, due to the increased pressure of repression. Since the border camp next to it, to which our truck belonged, was also a target of repression, we also had to look for a new location. We found it in the Italian village of Oulx, 16 km from the border and about 1000 meters lower in altitude. From there, the team was able to resume the support work, but was not left without police controls.
Also during the time in Oulx, the authorities developed numerous new methods to further worsen the situation for people without papers:

Force to leave the Schengen area: One practice was new even to the local lawyer – in case of refusal to file an asylum application in Italy, the apprehended persons are now issued letters in which the Italian authorities demand that they leave the Schengen area within a 10-day period. Otherwise, the persons would face deportation to their country of origin. Until then, only the demand to leave Italy was known, but not all of Europe.
Controls on public bus transport: In addition, we observed for the first time access controls to buses traveling from Oulx towards the French border. Here, people without papers were denied access to the buses. That this happens without legal basis is shown by the fact that these controls were mostly ended or not even started by the presence of people in solidarity.
Making the route more difficult: From October 1, the number of buses to the French border has been reduced to 2 per day because the French bus company ZOU has cancelled the stops between Oulx and the border. Thus, the company’s lines are no longer usable for people without papers. According to the company, this will remain so until the beginning of 2022. This means that in particular in winter, people are left out in the cold for many hours longer, as they have to walk a significantly(!) longer distance through the mountains. The border has now become an even more difficult obstacle to overcome.

In order to at least counter this development to some extent, the „Casa Cantoniera“, which has been empty for years, was occupied by solidarity groups on October 3 in the immediate neighborhood of the border.
Since then the infrastructure of the truck was less needed and further staying became impossible due to the breakdown of the heating system and the beginning of winter, it was time for us to leave Oulx in order to carry out important repairs in Germany.

The Struggle at the European internal and external borders continues: Shortly after our arrival in Germany we received the news of the eviction of the previously occupied house – the situation could hardly be worse for people without papers in the icy mountain region in the coming winter months.

We call on you to continue to inform yourself about the developments in the region at https://www.passamontagna.info/?lang=en and to think about how you can help!

Update // Eviction of the „Refugio“ after only one week // Solidarity is not a crime

9. August 2021

A week ago, solidarity networks in Claviere occupied a former customs station to provide a safe haven from the repression in the border region. For so long, this place was a symbol of control, repression and an insane border regime – now, for a short time, it has served the opposite purpose.

But just a week later, on August 5, the newly constructed „Refugio“ was evicted by Italian police early in the morning. The No Nation truck was located in the close neighborhood of the former customs station and also became a target of the repression. A brief summary of the events:

What happened?
The crew of the truck was woken up by police knocking at 6 in the morning. Our crew tried to stay calm. The crew members were brought out of the truck and their identity was taken. In the process, they were filmed while the cops raided the truck. The crew then locked the truck. So far it is unclear under what false claim our crew will face charges. Afterwards, our crew was taken away and detained in the squat with other activists. For hours, the process of recording people continued. The outside cases of the truck were broken and the cops filmed everything in the truck with cameras. Our international comrades* were also pressured with further charges and treated with identification procedures. In other cars, for example, roof windows were smashed in order to gain access. Afterwards, everyone was able to drive away from the old camp in convoy.

What can we expect now?
In the past, European authorities have repeatedly tried to terrorize and prosecute solidary and self-determined groups that oppose the border regime (see Iuventa10, El Hiblu, etc.).

Such a procedure can take a long time, but is useless – because solidarity is not a crime!
Solidarity networks will exist as long as they are needed and only grow closer with each attack.

UPDATE FROM THE MONGENEVRE BORDER

3. August 2021

The border camp in Claviere, of which the No Nation Truck is a part, has been resisting for almost three months! The border and its deadly dynamics continue to change, and from here we continue to observe the violence that states use against those who want to cross the border and those who are determined to resist and act against it.

At the border, as well as in the CPRs (detention centers) and prisons, the violence of the state is palpable thanks to the operational arm provided by the humanitarian organizations in consultation with the prefecture and in direct collaboration with the police. The Red Cross goes to Claviere every evening to receive the bus coming from Oulx. The employees are often absent after 10 p.m., even though their supposed mission is to provide medical care to people crossing the mountains or injured while fleeing from the gendarmerie, PAF (Police Aux Frontiéres – French border police) and military.In fact, the Red Cross participates in push-backs in agreement with the Italian and French police. In many cases, the ambulance itself is responsible for transporting people turned away by the PAF to the shelter in Oulx. For months, Red Cross operators have been distributing a leaflet warning people not to put themselves in danger given the risks in the mountains. We know that mountains can be dangerous, especially if you hike at night, in the cold and without local knowledge. But it is the presence of the police that makes them deadly. Borders kill, both in the Mediterranean and in Ventimiglia and in these mountains, where four people have died in recent years and countless others have been victims of theft, beatings and assaults. Also in these last weeks we saw people who suffered injuries and wounds when they fled from the police in order to escape their control and violence. Likewise, a pregnant woman suffered a miscarriage after crossing the border on foot at night.

Repression has also increased against us: Every day we are under observation. They want to intimidate and threaten us because our presence is unpleasant, especially with the arrival of the summer season and tourism.

From the reports of people who have been pushed back, we know that the Italian police are more and more involved in pushbacks. We were told that a few days ago the Italian police entered the Talitha Kum shelter in Oulx to take the fingerprints of four people who had previously been pushed back.A few days ago, it was also announced that the prefecture was providing 180,000 euros to the shelter.

In recent weeks, the Italian police came to the French border police station (PAF) to take on the spot the fingerprints of people arrested during the night. Such collaborations between Italian and French police are not a surprise, but a clear example of how Fortress Europe violently enforces its racist and oppressive policies to manage and control the lives of undocumented people and to protect its internal and external borders. It is now common practice that people who have been pushed back are given a piece of paper that obliges them to report to the Turin police station. The piece of paper, the umpteenth intimidation, represents a coercive attempt to integrate people on the move into the system of a state in which they obviously do not want to stay.

Against states, borders and all their accomplices we should organize and act. The resistant, cross-border camp continues, join us!

New mission location Oulx (Northern Italy)

9. July 2021

During our last days on the English Channel, we stopped again at the so-called BMX – a Jungle in Calais. We met there a community from Eritrea, whose people communicated with us mainly in German, as they had spent several years in Germany before coming to France. It is always shocking for us that people are shown so little appreciation and are pushed out of their adopted country again by the racist structural conditions/requirements here. As we left for Oulx (Northern Italy) in the following days, we said goodbye to the communities there in Calais as well as at Grant Circle/Puthouck in Dunkirk and started full of enthusiasm to our new location in Northern Italy. In Oulx, since 2018, there was the autonomously organized center “Casa Cantoniera”, which provided temporary shelter and many other support services to people who wanted to cross the Italian-French border. This center was subject to a great repressive pressure from the authorities there, who finally found ways and means to shut down the center this year. Against this background, the Italian structures of the former “Casa Cantoniera” made a call for support, as they were deprived of any infrastructure and any independent support on the very dangerous escape route across the Alps was made impossible.

Besides the Italian activists, there are only a few other organizations that take care of this catastrophic situation. For example, one can find a more or less improvised “tent station” in the form of a single plastic tent from the Red Cross. According to reports, however, this station is no real help for People on the Move, since they are only superficially cared for and treated almost paternalistically. Thus, the No Nation Truck was more than welcome to be part of the structures on the ground that want to provide undogmatic and direct support without having to yield to an institutional top-down gradient. The prelude of our arrival was a so-called “Unlock the border Camp” on May 14/15/16, 2021, where our truck provided part of the infrastructure. The weekend was characterized by a demonstration that crossed the Italian-French border and was attended by supporters from several cities and communities. In addition to the demonstration, a large structural plenary was held, in which, among other things, future infrastructure plans were discussed. Unfortunately, this weekend was also accompanied by police violence, with French cops in particular standing out and harassing the peaceful demonstration. In conclusion, we can definitely speak of a successful weekend through the camp. This lasted longer than expected until 19.05. In addition, a structure could be established through the camp, which secured the basic needs of People on the Move. However, again the repressive organs of the local border police have to be mentioned, who actively participated in push backs in the woods. Our truck will now stay at the Italian-French border for the time being and will be a local contact point for electricity and food supply as well as for medical first aid.

Calais Final Report

27. June 2021

The last days in Northern France have begun for the NoNationTruck and its crew. We have been asked by a collective in Italy if we can support them. We will announce our exact destination in the coming days.

Looking back, the truck’s first tour took us to an area that became known as a refugee hotspot in 2015/2016 due to the large “Jungle” camp with up to 10,000 residents, but which has been steadily growing as a point of arrival for people trying to get to England since the 90s. As old as the routes via the port cities of Calais, Caen and Dunkerquerke are, support structures have also existed there for a long time. These structures are made up of various actors who are well organised to support fleeing people with food, clothing, information and medical care, among other things. While in the beginning it was mainly local groups, pensioners and church representatives, international organisations grew strongly with the development of the “Jungle” and also had more and more financial possibilities. The support – according to our impression – became institutionalised, got its routines and the public also “got used” to the misery that is going on there. At the same time, the state’s treatment of refugees is becoming more and more repressive. With financial support from Great Britain, the police force in the region is getting bigger and bigger, people fleeing are being pushed out of the centres of the cities. Laws have also been tightened for the region and jurisdiction is adapting. People are to be demoralised in order to be deterred and to stay as short a time as possible. We have already reported on the regular evictions to be mentioned in this context.

In this situation, in which the organised support of the fleeing people cannot change the fact that their situation is becoming more and more difficult, we did not find it easy to figure out our own role. The infrastructure that the truck gives us – mainly for electricity, first aid and food – is already very well covered in Calais. What is needed there, however, are people who play this infrastructure, but also keep an eye on the political situation. People who show solidarity with refugees and fight together with them instead of seeing themselves as helpers for incapable subjects.

We want to continue to draw attention to this common struggle and support it. For example, through media attention or supporters. We can all learn a lot from places like Calais. Whether it is how much European states do everything to make safe places inaccessible, how much they don’t care about people who don’t have the “right” nationality. But also how all these efforts cannot stop people on the move, how they continue to fight to shape their own lives, even if that means being on the move for years, getting back into a rubber dinghy and risking their own lives. This fight cannot be stopped and needs the solidarity of all of us. You can find information about the situation on the ground at

https://calais.bordermonitoring.eu/.

So, stay informed and stand in solidarity! Help – no, fight together – yes!

Update Dunkerque/Calais

19. April 2021

Since the truck arrived at the beginning of March, we have been driving several times a week to the camp in the “Puythouck” park, which is more like a wasteland and is only called the “playground” by everyone because of the small playground on site. Between 150 and 300 people live in the informal camp, this number varies greatly due to the high fluctuation. Fortunately, a lot of people still make it to Great Britain.Even if a few other groups on site already cover many basic needs, our charging station, at which around 80 devices can charge at the same time, is very well received. After setting up the station together, there will be plenty of time to chat and drink tea. The individual experiences and fates are diverse. Many of the people have already lived in Germany for a number of years, but due to the lack of perspectives and systematic exclusion, many are looking for a more humane life and are therefore trying to get to Great Britain.In addition, we have already cooked for around 100-150 people on some Friday evenings, as dinner is not covered by other groups on this day. Even if, significantly less than in Calais, the people at the “Playground” are also exposed to immense police repression and evictions are carried out regularly and at unpredictable intervals from the chicane. Even in the short time that we are here, we have been able to observe how people on the move are pushed further and further into the forests of the park, their tents are destroyed and they have to find their way around anew every time.Last Friday the camp was cleared again. Only this time, the tents were not simply destroyed, but “removed” with excavators and brought to a new location approx. 5 km from the “Playground”, where they were rebuilt. This new camp is remote from the city and the road, in the middle of a wooded wasteland next to train tracks and a chemical plant. The residents of the old camp were threatened with repression by the police and persuaded them to move with the rest of their belongings to the new camp. There, even an extra area for the work of the NGOs was heaped up with gravel and an additional water point was installed, which is obviously way too small for the large number of people. Later that day it looked like the camp had existed forever. The aim was to build this out of the sight of the local population, true to the motto “out of sight, out of the senses”.That this is not an improvement of the fundamentally shitty situation, but simply a relocation of the humanitarian catastrophe to another place, is probably obvious here.

Solidarity instead of charity!

current status report from Calais/Dunkerque

18. March 2021

current status report from Calais/Dunkerque

Since there was no more urgency for us and the truck in Caen (see previous post), we looked around for other places in the north of France. In this regard, we got in touch with activists from Calais and the surrounding area. A region that has been a geographical crossing point for migration movements in Europe for several years. Calais and its surroundings are harboring a large number of refugees, who are also exposed to immense state repression. Because of this, we have decided to move our work there for now. The city of Calais is certainly known to many, because its geographical location at the narrowest point of the English Channel (34 kilometers), in the middle of which is the Franco-British state border, has always been characterized by mobility and migration. Since the evacuation of the large “jungle” (explain the term?) in autumn 2016, the situation of people on the move has become more and more precarious. Access to medical care, electricity and food is made more difficult and the authorities try to prevent a renewed urbanization of the camps by all means. Around 900 people currently live in smaller informal camps, which are usually located on property owned by the city (parks, green spaces, parking lots, etc.) and can therefore be evicted without an eviction permit. From this the perfidious routine has developed that the camps are cleared every two days by the cops, only to be set up exactly there again a few hours later. Since the police destroy all personal belongings, tents and fire pits, the camp residents pack their things themselves, take them away and wait for the police to leave. Much of it is already very well documented. [1] Despite repressive state tactics and more difficult conditions due to the corona pandemic, there are still many organizations on site that guarantee the supply of food, clothing, first aid and firewood. That is why we have shifted our focus to the Dunkerque area which is just 40 km east of Calais and is the second busiest ferry connection between the mainland and the UK. Accordingly, there have also been small informal camps in the Dunkerque area since the early 2000s, for example in Téteghem and the small town of Grande-Synthe, from which both the ferry port and the high way can be easily reached. [2], [1, p. 102] The largest camp there is located in a recreation and nature reserve called Puythouk in Grande-Synthe, where a largely Kurdish community from Iraq, Iran and Syria is staying. There are also quite some groups there taking care of the essential needs and after networking and consulting with them, we have decided to regularly set up a charging station with the truck there and occasionally cook. More on this in the next article. [1] https://bordermonitoring.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/bm.eu-report-2018-calais-web.pdf) [2] https://calais.bordermonitoring.eu/2020/03/25/vorgeschichte-teil-2-grande-synthe/#more-38)

FIRST MISSION. NORTHERN FRANCE

18. February 2021

Overview:

Since mid-January, our spotting crew for the No Nation Truck has been on the road in northern France, providing us with an overview of the situation of refugees in the region. Along the coast there are several ports with daily ferry connections to the UK or Ireland. The Brexit created another external border of the EU here this year (2021).

The goal of this crew is to find out the needs of the refugees, to find out how the relationship of the people to the residents, local support structures and the so-called security authorities is and finally to prepare the arrival of our truck.

For various reasons, some of the people are trying to cross over to the UK or Ireland by ferries. On the one hand, due to the colonial history, there are larger migrant communities of people from some regions (e.g. Sudan). Also, with English as the official language, people hope to have easier access to work and social participation. Brexit is now causing big questions for everyone and we can already see that routes are shifting to Ireland, for example. We know of several wild camps in the area and have already visited some of them to get a picture of the situation and assess the needs. Due to the current Corona situation and the new mutation of the virus in the UK, there are much fewer trucks driving, there are tougher controls with dogs and there is a technical upgrade taking place. Border facilities at ports are being reinforced, more cops are being hired, and high-tech scanners and other surveillance technology are being installed.

At the end of last summer, two people from our collective were already here, gaining first experiences in this region and networking with some local structures. In the past weeks we have been in contact with many people and groups, who have welcomed us very warmly and actively and supported us in many ways.

Current Situation:

The situation here has, compared to last summer, unexpectedly (but fortunately) improved: First, many local groups are regularly with the people in the wild camps. They distribute cold and hot food there, bring water and watch the cops when they come with a city cleaning service to demonstrate their power.
Second, some people have been relocated to hostels (though there is a lack of cooking facilities), and French law hardly allows evictions of squatters during the winter. However, local groups expect tougher laws and an increase in repression against squatters in the upcoming period.
On the other hand, we fear that the situation could quickly worsen again with the onset of spring and falling Corona numbers, as people are put back on the streets as soon as the state no longer fears ugly images of cold and Corona deaths.

What needs to be observed in addition, as in many other border regions, is systematic racist violence by local authorities such as Frontex, the gendarmerie and the police. We have heard stories of police violence where people were kidnapped by the cops 30 km away and left without shoes and phone in the night and had to find their way back on foot. Borderviolence monitoring would be very useful here to show systematic border violence.

Overall, we notice that there are a lot of refugees stuck in France with different destinations, usually coming together in groups of 20-50 people to support each other and move forward on their way or to survive the long waiting periods for the asylum processes. According to statements of active locals, repression in form of evictions, controls, new laws and violence is increasing significantly. With the No Nation Truck it would be possible to offer first aid and warm food, in order to react mobile and flexible to the intensification of violence.

On The Way:

At the moment, we are dealing with the task of reacting appropriately to the changed situation. It is important for us to deal with our supporters in a responsible and transparent way.
Therefore, we have decided that the No Nation truck will start rolling towards Normandy in a few days. We will change our focus to work with already existing structures in solidarity with everything the truck has to offer. We want to strengthen the connection of the local scene to the european wide No Border network, to document and publish border violence.

Our goal remains to bring the truck as soon as possible to the Balkans, because the circumstances for refugees in this region of Europe are certainly the most catastrophic and our vehicle was designed to meet the needs of the people there.
Until we are able to make our way to the Balkans with the truck, the truck and crew will be on mission in Normandy, France to support the people who have been abandoned here by the EU and to make visible and denounce the blind spots of the European policy of foreclosure.

P.S.: We continue to keep our ears open to react quickly when we hear of new wild camps that have a greater need for mobile infrastructure (electricity, water, kitchen, first aid).
So be sure to let us know if you know of any such places in Europe!

In Solidarity, NNT.

ANNUAL REVIEW 2020

1. January 2021

Dear supporters and readers, dear community,

We look back on an action-packed year 2020. For almost a year now, the Corona pandemic and the associated restrictions have followed us into almost all areas of life, work and politics. Even our political activities and original plans have been partially affected by it. However, we can and could somehow flexibly arrange ourselves, adapt various projects and develop alternative ideas together. For people on the move, who were forced to stay in the camps and forests of Europe’s external borders, the corona pandemic has added another factor that only exacerbates the humanitarian catastrophe. In the camps of the Aegean islands of Lesbos, Samos and Chios, for example, it has not been possible for months to maintain the necessary distances or to acquire hygiene items for all residents, nor are there enough masks available to protect themselves and others from infection. The disastrous isolation conditions for infected persons and their contacts as well as the general medical conditions in times of the pandemic once again point out for whom the EU health protection applies and for whom not [1],[2].

However, inhumane conditions are also manifesting themselves in other EU hotspots, such as the french northwest coast or the so-called Balkan route. For example, provisional camps in the coastal regions of the English Channel in France have been brutally evicted by local repressive authorities for months. Human rights observers recently documented how the cops destroyed tents and tarpaulins with knives and destroyed other personal belongings such as clothes, bags and cell phones. Through such repressive strategies, over 984 evictions have been carried out in and around Calais as of December 8. In the process, the work of human rights observers was regularly disturbed and attacked by the authorities, sometimes under the pretext of Corona regulations [3]. The situation is similar on the so-called Balkan route. The Border Violence Report, for example, monitors monthly on continuous (illegal) pushbacks from Croatia or even neighboring states, such as Slovenia. The Croatian cops, however, stand out with their torture practices and physical abuse [4]. For years, there has been documentation on how refugees are illegally pushed back to Bosnia or Serbia. This is accompanied by deliberate, strategically planned, wanton and collectively organized bodily harm to the refugees, as well as the destruction of all their personal belongings [5],[6]. Moreover, this year, cases were published in the international press in which Croatian police marked refugees with paint before the illegal pushback to Bosnia was completed [7].

We as No Nation Truck want to counter these continuities. For more than a year we have been organizing our first mission, which will not lead to a radical transformation of Europe’s border racism, but will bring the necessary practical solidarity to respond to these conditions. At the moment, the last construction measures are being taken on our truck, so that our operation can start soon. As we have announced since the beginning of the project, we will be able to cook a lot of hot meals in our 7.5t box, provide medical first aid and provide a strong power system to charge about 50 terminals at once. Despite some delays, we are finally very proud that our original plans could be successfully implemented and that the practical work at the external border can finally begin. After spending a lot of time in the past months discussing crewing, current tasks as well as internal structures and exploring future strategies and scope of action together, we start the new year with a high motivation. Besides providing the basic needs mentioned above, we will focus on documenting and publishing border violence together with other networks. We welcome the founding of other grassroots networks alongside or together with us, which also contribute to ensure that the racist injustices of European migration policy are not accepted without comment or action. Ruling political actors have to be put under pressure and people in emergency situations simply cant be left behind.
We would also like to emphasize that it is possible and necessary to launch political projects and to make oneself capable of acting through self-organization, autonomy and collective structures and to initiate processes of self-empowerment.

We would like to thank the many supporters, all the energetic and solidary hands, who organize soliparties and platforms, through which we can finance and promote our project. A big part of our (still not perfectly developed) current professionalism results from the great support we have received on many different levels.

Stay tuned, stay rebel – you will hear from us! In Solidarity, your No Nation Truck!

[1] – https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/corona-migrantencamps-moria-hilfsorganisationen-100.html

[2] – https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/camps-fuer-fluechtlinge-in-griechenland-hier-koennen-wir-nicht-leben-a-b13c66e2-fc41-4ec3-b639-e496e470ed43

[3] – https://calais.bordermonitoring.eu/2020/12/09/auf-dem-weg-zur-tausendsten-raeumung/?fbclid=IwAR1rNADiuekEEP1Nb2FQtiKp6UTvtiMBOIfJbmxkFGq_83kKrYw5oaryzDk

[4] – https://www.dw.com/de/kroatien-pushbacks-im-interesse-der-eu/a-55702940

[5] – https://www.borderviolence.eu/background/

[6] – https://www.borderviolence.eu/category/monthly-report/

[7] – https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/may/12/croatian-police-accused-of-shaving-and-spray-painting-heads-of-asylum-seekers

A MESSAGE FROM LESVOS – BETWEEN ISOLATION AND RESISTANCE

7. April 2020

Currently our thoughts are preoccupied by two political themes that are constantly present in the news, Corvid -19 and the border politics of europe. In these confusing times these are giving us an ever present insecure and exeptional feeling. Social media is being overwhelmed with new hashtags, first and foremost #stayhome and #washyourfuckinghands. The absurdity is, how do people on the move, especially in a place like Moria, stay at home or wash their hands? We are two independent activists that have been regurlarly travelling to the Island of Lesvos for aproximatly two and a half years to support the migrant struggle. As members of the No Nation Trucks collective we where active on multiple European borders. With this article we want to bring together multiple aspects: the effects of the Corona crisis and the social relations on Lesvos. And by bringing these together illustrate the global move to the right of the political spectrum.

/ THE SITUATION IN MORIA FACILITATES THE OUTBREAK OF DISEASE RATHER THAN CONTAINING THEM

Moria, the lockdown prison on Lesvos and at the same time the biggest refugee camp in Europe. Former military base, that is used since 2015 as facility to house migrants on the Island. The facilities are meant for 2.800 people. In april of 2020 there are aproximatly 24.000 people of whom 40% are children. The degradring circumstanes regarding the medical and sanitary situation has made numerous headlines in the past years. Corona has dramatically increased the tensions and threatens the camp with a humantiarian disaster for wich no one seems prepared. Running water is available in the camp for around five hours a day. This means that washing your hands all day long is not an option. 1300 People share one sink. There are long lines at the showers, toilets and for food. To keep the one and a half meter distance guidelines during these moments is not possible. 250 People share one toilet. When you see the images it is clear that the toilets are constantly filthy and are rarely being cleaned. The tents and huts that people live are wall to wall. In most cases there are only small inroads to the tents. Here the prescribed social distancing is defacto not an option. There is no water drainage system, and bacteria procreate in the tent flaps. Spreading of disease is inevitable under these circumstances.

/ EUROPE IS WATCHING INSTEAD OF HELPING

Behind these grievances is a system. Refugees must be deterred from coming to Europe or to continue their journey into Europe from Lesvos. These last weeks we have been working on constructing the Corona station in Moria. This includeds 20 houses, where 4 sick people can be isolated per house. —-But 20 houses for 80 people are a drop in the ocean in a camp of 24.000. It seems like a mockery to claim something is being done against Corona in this camp. In the whole of Europe it is possible to facilite toilets, showers and running water at big events for thousands of people. For example, at Rock am Ring 87.000 attendees have access to these facilities. These are numbers that are much larger then those in Moria.

/ LESVOS AS CROSSROADS OF EUROPE’S FAR RIGHT

After more and more messages reached us of the violence perpurtrated against migrants, volunteers, and supporting structures, we decided to come to Lesvos. Rocks being thrown at oncoming boats, checkpointsoccupied by fascists and the burning of the School of Freedom, located in the building of OHF. This situation has calmed down a bit, probably because of the limits placed on movement that are in place since march twenty third. Here we have a very interesting difference with Germany. Since the beginning of the corona crisis no other theme has been prevelant. If we take into account the facist attacks in Hanau and Halle or the facist attacks on Lesvos, we notice that these event seems to be forgtten very fast. We also notice that in the last months in Germany there is more discussion about the motiviations of the people that commmited these attacks in Halle and Hanau. In the current situation we better hope that this doesn’t have any consequenses further south. We have already seen the results of this fusion on this Island. The above mentioned deeds have been claimed by the ultra-right and nationalists. These actions are validated by international fascists and are targeted directly at refugees and their supporters. This proves the increased scale of the networking between europeans who share these ideas. Also they are able to capitalise on the international potential and claim the socio-political space for themselves. Members of the German and French identitarian movements traveled to the supposed open borders in the Evros region of Turkey and the connected unrest, or traveled to the Island of Lesvos. The local antifa reacted fast to let the self proclaimed “protectors of europe” know that they are not welcome on Lesvos. Already since the last EU parliamentary elections, it is clear that the the right in Europe are organised across borders. The coming together of the right on Levos is not arranged by the EU parliament or any specific party. The shared image of the migrant as enemy and their nationalist tendencies connects fascists of all nations. Through the agitations in Greece they reached a new level in the global pull to the right.

/ NOW IT IS IMPORTANT TO ACT ON THE ISLANDS

All these thoughts and impressions brings us as a collective closer together with our comrades. We, as part of the No Nation Truck, feel even more responsible in view of the situation. We have not forgotten that the Greek Islands are only the first station for people on the way to Europe. Overflowing camps means that also on the balkan route there will be more people tryig to make their way up. In 2019 we met two friends in Bosnia that we met only a couple of months before on Lesvos. They managed to get to the mainland and travelled further on the balkan route. Therefore this will be the future focus of No Nation Truck.

Get organized, build relationships and show solidarity.

NoNationTruck, April 2020.