15 June 2023 – On World Refugee Day, Tuesday 20 June, and the days around it, activists in more than eight countries in Europe and Africa will come together for an international action day to Abolish Frontex and end the EU border regime. Less than two weeks after the latest attempt by EU policy makers to bolster Fortress Europe through the EU Council’s adoption of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) and by enlisting non-EU countries, such as Libya and Tunisia, as outpost border guards, the organisations and groups united in the Abolish Frontex network will take to the streets and call upon decision makers to ‘Stop the war on migrants!’
Actions announced by the network include demonstrations in Berlin (against a new deportation centre) and in Mainz (Germany), an action and info stand in Calais (France), an anti-racism festival in Chios and demonstration in Athens (Greece), a demonstration for refugees and migrants rights and a picketline against deportation airline Corendon in Amsterdam (Netherlands), a protest against a detention centre in Rome (Italy) and workshops and presentations in Oujda (Morocco), as well as other actions in Belgium and Senegal.
With these actions the network denounces the violent and racist EU border policies, which have taken turns for the worse in recent weeks. The CEAS (Common European Asylum system) proposal as agreed upon by the Council will result in mandatory detention of numerous people on the move – including families with children – in detention centres and camps at the EU’s external borders. Negotiations on a new migration deal with Tunisia will increase the risks for people trying to reach the EU while reinforcing anti-black racism and the autoritarian rule of president Saied. In Italy the ultra right wing and fascist government passes one racist law after the other to criminalise migration and solidarity with people on the move, aiming to “produce” illegal immigrants (by revoking their right to protection) so as to then expel them. Greece continues to illegally deport thousands of people every month with the silent approval of other Member States. Meanwhile, the EU border guard agency Frontex is taking on a lead role in deportations, having aided in forcibly removing 25,000 people from the EU last year, and is expanding its operational area into more and more non-EU countries.
Yesterday, at least 79 persons on the move drowned off the Greek coast, underscoring its sad record of being the world’s deadliest border and adding to the list of over 50,000 documented deaths due to the EU’s anti-immigration policies since 1993, of which over 1200 in the Mediterranean this year.
Charlie, spokesperson for Abolish Frontex, comments: “Fortifying borders, expanding surveillance infrastructure, conducting systematic push and pull backs, and financing third countries to torture and kill people on the EU’s behalf: On World Refugee Day, we want to remind everyone that the EU and its leaders have blood on their hands. Today’s border policies reflect Europe’s long continuous history of racism, colonialism, exploitation and violence.”
The Abolish Frontex network was launched in June 2021 to connect and strengthen protests against the EU’s deadly border regime. Over 130 organisations and groups in EU countries and beyond have joined the informal network that strives for freedom of movement for everyone.