CALAIS - what's going on & how you can help

See the bottom of this email for how you can help.

Up to 1,500 migrants are to be forcibly evicted from their temporary
encampments in Calais over the coming days, leaving children as young as
seven without shelter this autumn. Under intense pressure from the British
government, the destruction of their squats is expected to start within 24
hours, and the work will be completed by the end of the week, according to
the Interior Ministry.

This is part of a wider Anglo-French deterrence strategy, by which the
authorities are attempting to drive away migrants altogether. These are
political dissidents, people caught in the crossfire of the ‘War on
Terror’, and those escaping poverty. They attempt entry to the UK every
night, and have been subject to beatings, arrests, and have their
communities raided & destroyed on a regular basis. This is finally
culminating in a promised full-scale destruction of all the squats.

HOWEVER, WE CAN RESIST THIS!

No Borders activists from France, the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium
and the Netherlands have been working with the migrants under the Calais
Migrant Solidarity banner since the early summer. We have been monitoring
raids, intervening and thwarting arrests, giving out legal information,
providing medical care, and so on.

In addition to direct resistance to police repression, we are currently
exploring various options for alternative accommodation. One of these is a
plan to source cheap tents for some of the migrants that want to remain in
Calais. We did this successfully when the Hazara (Afghan) camp was
destroyed in August.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We are encouraging people to donate cash, as many of the tents will have
to be newly bought. It’s going to be costly, so the suggested donation is
£5 or whatever you can afford. There is no Oxfam or UNHCR aid for these
people, only grassroots support groups. Our work has been sustained from
small donations and cash from our own pockets. Please donate! Cheers.

HOW TO DONATE

Please make a transfer to the Calais No Borders bank account.
Unfortunately, as this is an international bank account (IBAN), transfers
can only be made over the phone, and not over the internet.

Account Holder : ASS A L D I R

IBAN : FR76 1350 7001 4747 0335 7190 547

BIC : CCBPFRPPLIL

Bank: Banque Populaire du Nord

THANKS!

Any problems, please get in touch at calaisoldiarity (at) gmail.com

PS - Also, come & help in Calais if you want. No experience is necessary,
though see:
 http://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com/ for more info and click on the 'what you can do' category for practical info. Also you can leave a comment at the blog and it will ask for your email address - we can then get in touch and let you know where to go in Calais.

Other useful things:
* benefit gigs & info nights
* be on the end of a phone for a mate who's going over, keep in touch with them
* solidarity actions at french embassies and consulates AND THE UK BORDER AGENCY, they're the one's with the decision making powers on this one
* medics needed