Press release:
- AUTONOMOUS SPACE FOR MIGRANTS AND ACTIVISTS OPENS IN CALAIS -

Activists from the transnational No Borders network and the French
organisation, SôS Soutien aux Sans Papiers, have opened a large warehouse
for migrants in Calais[1].

The building is to be an autonomous space for migrants and activists
struggling for the right to freedom of movement. It will be host to
information-sharing, debate and practical solidarity. The Kronstadt
building is located in the town that has become the symbol of Fortress
Europe, a place where police arrests and beatings of migrants are a daily
occurrence, and where night-time pursuits are relentless[2].

By this act, they stand in solidarity with those for whom border and
immigration control is a discriminatory, oppressive and unjust reality. In
a real democracy, every person enriches society in myriad ways, and no-one
is surplus to requirements; neither the unemployed, the young, the old, or
the foreign.

The space, the activists emphasise, is NOT to be a new Sangatte. No
band-aid such as Sangatte could suffice to deal with the horrors undergone
by the thousands who seek protection or survival from authoritarianism or
capitalist wars while arbitrary national borders remain in place.

Plans are afoot to hold meetings with organisations and local residents to
define how they wish to support and to participate in the project.

NOTES TO EDITORS

[1]The No Borders Network use direct action and practical solidarity to
fight for freedom of movement for all. They form part of the Calais
Migrant Solidarity group which has maintained a continued presence in
Calais since the Spring

[2] For a summary of police activities in December, please see our report
here:
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/01/444188.html