March 14, Nijmegen – Nijmegen solidair met migranten/in solidarity with migrants
On Saturday 14th March at 2pm we come together to speak up for the free movement of people and against racism. We will march through Nijmegen and there will be speeches at the end. Nijmegen stands in solidarity with migrants!
Location: Plein 1944.
On the Greek-Turkish border, thousands of people have become pawns in a political chess game between Turkey and the EU. Now Turkey has decided not to contain people any longer, and the EU has ordered Greece to police the outer borders of Europe. That means using brute force to keep people out and denying them access to legal asylum procedures.
Decades of austerity and cuts have led to understandable feelings of fear and uncertainty. Groups on the extreme right channel this sentiment by employing scapegoat politics and feeding xenophobia. Their central argument is the racist premise that your origin determines where you can and cannot go. This is a sentiment widely accepted in the mainstream, but rooted in a rightwing extremist vision.
The result is that the EU allows itself to be manipulated by the extreme right’s hatred of migrants. Politicians’ fear of negative electoral consequences makes them easy to blackmail. Meanwhile, migrants flee their homes to escape wars sanctioned by Europe. For many, hunger, poverty and climate change made life unliveable in their countries of origin. Things go from bad to bad, or maybe worse when they reach the European mainland, where they are kept at bay with brute force. Dingies are being prevented from reaching the shore, while the people on board have no access to basic provisions, including water. Two deaths have been confirmed in the past few days. One of them was a child who drowned when a dingy capsized.
In the meantime, volunteers and organisations trying to offer help are being attacked by racist groups, forcing many organisations to leave the Greek islands.
This is why it is so important that we raise our voices as one against xenophobia and for freedom of movement for everyone. Nijmegen stands in solidarity with migrants!
REFUGEES WELCOME IN NIJMEGEN – AGAINST FORTRESS EUROPE – – NIJMEGEN AGAINST RACISM
