POLAND. ABOUT THE DEMONSTRATION IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE INMATES IN THE DETENTION CENTER AND FUNDRAISING FOR LEGAL EXPENSES

PRESS RELEASE ABOUT THE DEMONSTRATION OF 12 FEBRUARY AGAINST THE DETENTION CENTERS, IN SOLIDARITY WITH PEOPLE IMPRISONED

From – https://www.facebook.com/nobordersteam

On Saturday, February 12, a spontaneous demonstration in solidarity with people imprisoned in concentration centers took place in Krosno Odrzańskie.

We gathered in large numbers (200-300 people) in front of the gate of the local Border Guard unit to protest against a system that takes away people’s freedom and is a telling example of Europe’s attitude towards the issue of migration.

The protest was a response to the series of strikes that continue to break out in the so-called “centers for foreigners”. At that time, there was a strike, among others, in the notorious center in Wędrzyn.

Strikes, hunger strikes, and suicides – people deprived of their rights are forced to use radical means of resistance. Overcrowded cells, no contact with family and loved ones, no information about their asylum procedure, fear of deportation and the uncertainty that comes from the fact that no one knows the date of their release.

We will not consent to the criminalization of migration, depriving people of their freedom, punishing them for their descent and violating their human rights.

We cannot remain silent. It is our duty to shout loudly and demand justice.

Speeches and testimonies of people imprisoned or with migration experiences were read in front of the gate of the Border Guard building. We think this is crucial because certain groups are still talked about without being allowed to speak. Discussions about the situation of women without the participation of women are not unusual in the Polish media. Similarly, the topic of migration – the narrative is built solely on the statements of border guards, police, and military.

The speeches were punctuated by samba performances and chanting of anti-border slogans.

We talked about the protest against migrant prisons and the criminalization of migration taking place in Lyon on the same day, pointing out that this is an international issue and what is happening now in Poland is only part of the global puzzle.

Then we all went for a walk around the center so that we could get to the windows of the building where the incarcerated are being held. Even though we were only moving on freely accessible and public land, the police started pushing us around. The armed arm of the state sought to escalate as usual. Batons and tear gas were used against the protesters. After several minutes, seeing the increasing aggression of the services we withdrew from the center, to the road where the police cordoned us off. Even though the people confined there posed no danger they were still beaten and sprayed with gas. The police randomly picked individuals from the crowd, knocked them to the ground, and dragged them to their cars. A squad of border guards appeared, also in riot gear.

Eleven people have been detained, nine of whom are currently charged by the prosecutor with assaulting an officer of the law. As a reminder, these were people who were randomly dragged out of the cordon just because they were holding a banner or megaphone.

At the moment we are in the process of organizing legal aid for the trials that await them in the future.

Now it’s time for all of us to support them. We will keep you posted on how you can help. Let us remember that our greatest weapon is solidarity!

This is what the day looked like. Although undoubtedly the Polish police crave attention so much that they dream of obscuring the essence and goals of the demonstration with their silly performances, we will not allow it.

As a reminder, in addition to giving encouragement to incarcerated fellow humans, we demanded specific changes.

We call on the European Union authorities to abolish migrant prisons and to stop repressing people on the basis of their place of origin. To put pressure on its member and neighboring countries committing human rights violations.

Enough of paying neighbors to kill migrants, enough of the politics of hypocrisy.

We call on the Polish authorities to abolish the closed “centers for foreigners” and allow everyone to participate in their asylum procedure and await the outcome while not incarcerated.

We call for a serious migration policy that is based on a rational approach to this issue and offers realistic solutions that put people’s lives and health first.

We call for asylum for all who ask for it.

It’s time to lift the illegal state of emergency on the border and abandon the crazy idea of building a wall on the border with Belarus. This monument of disgrace that targets people will also cause irreversible damage to nature.

We are not calling on the Belarusian authorities to do anything. We know very well that human rights and democracy do not exist in that country. Therefore, may Lukashenko and all the officials who commit torture and rape rot in hell, which we wish them with all our hearts.

We call on the media, which have already lost so much of their mission to reach the truth and provide reliable information that they are content with announcements from the services. Having a public debate about someone without their input is a total travesty of pluralism and democracy.

Both during and after the demonstration, you continually asked us questions – who are we, why this form, how can we contact the organizers, who, by the way, did not exist.

Are you people fucking deaf? It’s time to get your shit together!

The whole demonstration was one big shout and demand to finally give a voice to people with migration experiences. When a finger points to the sky, only a fool looks at the finger.

If you are interested in this topic then go to the prison called a “foreigner center”. There are many of them in Poland. Demand to see the incarcerated and talk to them about their situation.

For your programs, instead of Bosak, Tusk, and Cejrowski, invite people who were forced to risk the lives and health of their families on the road to a Europe that prides itself on respect for human rights. We guarantee they will tell much more interesting things than those mentioned above.

Finally, give a voice to those who are beaten, imprisoned, and deprived of their rights.

That’s what you exist for

FUNDRAISING FOR LEGAL EXPENSES

On 12 February 2022, during a demonstration in solidarity with detainees at the Guarded Detention Center for Foreigners in Krosno Odrzańskie, an armed arm of the state responded to the protest with force. One person was hospitalized and many others were subjected togas and beaten. 11 people were detained. They have been charged with an active attack on an officer, and therefore the participants of the demonstrations may be imprisoned for one to 10 years. Many people were also written down. Today, demonstrators face legal consequences. We raise money for legal and medical assistance, so that no one is left with their problem alone. They had the courage to oppose punishing people for their descent, now it is time for us to take care of them. Solidarity is our strength.

To donate – https://pomagam.pl/7w7eph?fbclid=IwAR3qdXPER5K6dU_JtdRk2LGjchxU8bD0AdezIpq7MzTagjIFQj9jWjXQvwU

Detention centers for foreigners are a specific institution designed to punish people for their descent. People deprived of their freedom, by virtue of their passport, have essentially no rights. They do not know how long they will be confined, they are deprived of contact with family and loved ones, and they are deprived of proper medical and psychological care. They experience violence and contempt from service members. They don’t have access to lawyers. They don’t know what stage of the asylum process they are at. They can be deported any day. They are forced to stay in overcrowded cells, lacking any activities.

Treating people this way is torture. We will never consent to this!

THE CALL FOR THE DEMONSTRATION

https://nobordersteam.noblogs.org

Migration is not a crime

Enough of criminalizing migration

We want to express our solidarity with all those imprisoned in closed retention centers. Officially they are called centers for foreigners, but we prefer to speak of retention centers, because the conditions in which people live there have nothing to do with what legally should be a center for foreigners.

We will not forget about these people, even though the authorities are trying to do everything in their power to erase their existence from public awareness.

Migrating is not a crime. Everyone have the right to change their place of residence, wherever it is because they are seeking for a better life or not. However, despite the fact that they did not commit any crime, migrants are all over Europe prosecuted and imprisoned.

This is unacceptable! To show our solidarity we decided that we want to pay one of the retention centers a visit.

Saturday 12.02.22: International Demonstration against all retention centres
Meeting point 13:30 in Krosno Odrzańskie, Poland
Bring your banners and friends!

Freedom of movement is one of the basic human rights. For centuries, rulers and governments have tried to keep it under control. Today it seems to us that we live in a world where human rights are respected. But a brutal segregation of people is taking place in front of our eyes, between those who are “legal” and those who are “illegal”. The “illegal” ones are deprived of basic rights; the right to freedom – indefinitely imprisoned in the so-called “detention centers”, and the right to life – people detained after crossing the border, often on the verge of exhaustion, are taken back to the forest and abandoned there. We know about a dozen people murdered in this way, we have heard about several dozen from people rescued in the forest. Nobody knows how many lives have already been consumed by the border regime in Poland and Europe.

People who managed to fill asylum applications and those who, thanks to the efforts of many people and aid groups, were not taken to the forest, end up in closed retention centers. They do not know how much time they will spend there, they do not know at what stage their procedure is, they have no contact with their relatives or the outside world, they are held in overcrowded cells, and often do not even know where they are. The lack of information given to these people about their own case – supposedly there by administrative decree -, and the absence of a real legal framework makes the living conditions inside these centers even worse than in prisons. Weeks and months spent in these conditions, fearing deportation or more months in isolation, increases frustration, depression and bad health conditions. Completely deprived of the power to decide for themselves, they have little choice of means of protest. Hunger strike and revolt. These are the last resort measures. No one who is not brought to extremes chooses to risk their lives by starving themselves or by risking brutal pacification.

Anti-immigration propaganda makes it possible to arouse an irrational fear of “strangers” in society, which enables the introduction of further states of emergency and restriction of freedom not only for migrants, but for all society. Outwardly, entrepreneurs and politicians show concern through generously subsidized charities while in the background, in politics, they do everything to maintain the status quo – namely the dependency of the so-called ‘countries of the global south’. They ignore the fact that this dependency leads to war, inequality in the distribution of resources, flight and migration. Underpinned by media reports, we are becoming more and more accustomed to the fact that a life is worth different amounts depending on which side of the border we stand.

We do not agree to such objectification of people.

We demand:

• no longer treating people with a migration experience as criminals

• liquidation of the retention centers

• admission by the European Union and Poland of all people who want to stay on its territory

• suspension of ALL deportations

• implementation of programs enabling adaptation in new countriesjointly creating a new policy and completely changing a system that is not adapted to the challenges of the present world, such as e.g. global warming and its consequences

• suspension of the construction of a wall on the Polish-Belarusian border, aimed directly at migrants and bringing the irretrievable destruction of the Białowieża Forest

We want nothing less than to destroy the Fortress Europe and an end to the global system of borders.

Thus we make this open-call for an international demo in Krosno Odrzańskie, not far from where one of the most brutal retention center, Wędrzyn, is located.

On February 12th we call all organisations and individuals in solidarity to come and gather in Krosno Odrzańskie!

Bring your banners and friends! Take care of each other. Come prepared and autonomous.
Make sure to wear a mask. There will be food.