ABOUT THE DAY ON THE BORDER. FOR THE EMILIO’S FREEDOM!

Last Friday, Emilio was extradited. After being questioned by the cops, he was immediately locked up in prison in Aix-Luynes (Aix-En-Provence), 300 km from home. Yesterday, in one of the opening days of the winter tourist season, a demonstration moved from Claviere towards Montgenèvre in response to this arrest and against all borders.

Upon arrival Claviere, at about 1pm, the snow was falling hard. There were already around twenty people of passage who were hanging out in the public bathroom at the side of the church having found no other warm place or shelter. The tourists in the streets of the village were very few, but the deployment of cops committed to protect their tranquility was unreasonable . As per script, the square in front of the church was occupied by police and carabinieri trucks and cars of DIGOS (political police) who were filming. Together with those who were waiting for the right moment to cross the border on foot, with bags and suitcases, we shared a lunch under the improvised shelter of the tourist office roof.

Around 3pm we headed back to the road in the direction of the french border police (PAF). French gendarmes in riot gear soon blocked the road a few hundred yards across the border. On the trails and golf course below us, other teams in black stationed in the snow. Tear gas firing began almost immediately as the demonstration came to a halt blocking the road. A long queue of cars soon formed along the entire Claviere road. The border was thus closed for over an hour and a half to those who are accustomed to crossing it on the road, in cars with full papers.

During the blockade, a Resalp bus arriving from Briancon and heading to Oulx for the connection with the TGV Paris-Milan, was stopped. The driver initially forced the blockade and continued to drive in an attempt to overtake a dozen people who resisted with their bodies, almost running over them. After a series of protests, the side door opened and, once it was clear that the bus would not continue, the passengers heading for the TGV got off with their trolleys to walk towards Claviere. The driver was persuaded to return with the now empty bus towards Montgenèvre and reversed through the line of the gendarmerie and then stopped behind.

Resalp buses have been crossing this border for years. The company’s drivers have repeatedly shown their cooperation with the border guards. For example, they inform the French border guards about the number of apparently undocumented persons who have arrived at Claviere.
Since October 1 of this year, Resalp has cancelled the bus stops of Cesana and Claviere and limited access to the bus to people with online reservation, until December 15.
Now that the bus stops have been removed, people passing through are forced to walk on the road between Cesana and Claviere, making their trip even longer.

Resalp selects its passengers. With its exclusive rides for people with documents, health pass and maybe even online booking linked to the TGV ticket, it is an accomplice of this border. Resalp and all the tourism business that exploits these territories are accomplices.
If undocumented people cannot pass, then neither tourists will.

RACIST AND MURDEROUS BORDER, COMPLICIT TOURISM