Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support Us

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Oct7 Migrants March: London Timeline

imc-london | 07.10.2006 13:27 | Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls | Migration | London

In this article, we are collecting news on what happens in London during the "Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls".

13:00 Demo is assembling in a small park near the Imperial War Museum. Around 250 people have already turned up so far.

13:20 Demo starts moving. The main banner says "no one is illegal!, stop deportations". But more banners show that the crowed is very mixed: trade unions, the turkish kurdish campaign, the bolivia solidarity campaign, the Sri Lancan campaign, the "todas las voces todas" radio station, london noborders, an anti-authoritarian bloc, the argentinian campaign, bolivia solidarity campaign, the international organisation of iranian refugees, as well as various socialist parties, and "fight racism fight imperialism". A Sambaband just started playing.

13:35 Demo is well on its way, with at least 500 people now, many families amongst them. The police is very low-key. Reports emphasise the mixedness of the crowd. "Justice for cleaners" have brought a banner of the Transport and General Workers Union. The noborders london banner demands "freedom of movement for all". Barbed wire Britain calls to "end detention centers for immigrants". The no sweat campaign is there as well as the Black African Minorities group and many people with smaller placards saying "no one is illegal" or "open borders". Lots of Latin Americans are walking at the start of the march, there is a banner of the Latin American Workers Association. Socialist groups are shouting slogans. At the back is "the autonomous lot" with a pink noborders banner. The march ends with an anarchist banner stating "The state is the only terrorist."

14:30 The march has reached London Bridge, it is finally publicly visible. Lots of people on the pavement are receiving leaflets or engaging with those on the march. Many people are taking pictures. Someone has spotted the group "Southhall Black Sisters" with their banner.

14:40 They stopped to visit Becket House, an immigrant reporting center. The whole march flowed down to Becket House. A letter was handed in to the reporting center and received. Activists described in speeches what is happening there. Immigrants have to sign on regularly. Often, people who go in are not coming out and are deported instead. This was compared to the situation in a police state. A manifesto was read out and translated into spanish, as the Latin American group was probably the largest on the march.

14:55 The only sign of policing so far was at London Bridge, where the "Forward Intelligence Team" (FIT) turned up with their big cameras and took pictures of specific people. At the end of the march, the noborders and anarchist groups are chanting "no borders - no nations - stop deportations".

15:32 The march is winding up in Tenner Park now. There are more speeches, each group has 5 minutes to say something. A band from Bolivia is playing. It is a picnic atmosphere, people are hanging out, talking and chatting. Most speakers refer to the fact that this march probably signals the starting point of a new movement here in the UK, for the rights of migrant people, for the freedom of movement and against deportations. Many have also pointed out in a very positive way the diversity of people and groups participating in the march.

imc-london

Additions

quick picture report

07.10.2006 17:22

Back entrance of Beckett House...
Back entrance of Beckett House...

...yes, it's a wee detention center.
...yes, it's a wee detention center.



These photos were taken as the march made it's way from Beckett House to Tower Bridge Road.

IMCista


Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
UK
11th October, London, meet 1pm, New Scotland Yard: Freedom Not Fear - Anti-surveillance Day
11th October, London, meet 12 noon, Shell House, SE1 7NA: 100 days to stop Bush and Cheney
15th October, Brighton, Meet opposite Falmer Station at 12 noon: Smash EDO, Shut ITT - Mass Demo Against the Arms Trade
18th October, London, Queen Mary College 10am to 7pm: Anarchist Bookfair 2008
Ongoing UK
Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Iraq Occupation: Electronic Iraq
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Climate Change: Climate Indymedia
United Kollectives
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Leeds Bradford
Liverpool
London
Manchester
Nottinghamshire
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Scotland
York
Projects
Indymedia Projects

iMobile Page
Photo Page
Indymedia Cinema
Video Page
Radio Page
Offline Newsheet

Other Media Projects

Schnews
Riseup Radio
Dissident Island Radio
Topics
All Topics
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Unencrypted Page
We suggest you use an encrypted connection for browsing this site.
Please install the CAcert root certificate to verify the authenticity of the site, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa
ambazonia
canarias
estrecho / madiaq
kenya
nigeria
south africa

Canada
hamilton
london, ontario
maritimes
montreal
ontario
ottawa
quebec
thunder bay
vancouver
victoria
windsor
winnipeg

East Asia
burma
jakarta
japan
manila
qc

Europe
abruzzo
alacant
andorra
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
bristol
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
euskal herria
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
lille
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
nice
norway
oost-vlaanderen
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
saint-petersburg
scotland
sverige
switzerland
thessaloniki
torun
toscana
toulouse
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
brasil
chiapas
chile
chile sur
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
adelaide
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
oceania
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india
mumbai

United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
austin
baltimore
big muddy
binghamton
boston
buffalo
charlottesville
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
tennessee
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
armenia
beirut
israel
palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech
volunteer