Kompass-newsletter No. 107 - 09/2022
1-4.9. in Naples: A Bordo - Festival of Mediterranea +++ 3-6.9. in Zarzis/Tunisia: CommemorAction +++ 8-11.9. in Sofia: Transnational Social Strike Conference +++ 30.9./1.10: in Brussels: March for "Rights, no Death!" +++ 1-3.10. in Frankfurt: Symposium on Cosmopolitanism from Below - Approaches to Global Democracy +++ Dortmund: On the death of Mouhamed Lamin Dramé +++ On the racist massacre in Melilla: Report by Ca-minando Fronteras +++ Aegean: Alarm Phone and Forensic Architecture on Push Backs +++ Central Med: Echoes, Alarm Phone Analysis and from the Taz on the current situation +++ Reviews: Transborder Summer Camp, Munich Remember, 30 Years of Rostock Lichtenhagen
Dear friends,
Naples, Zarzis, Sofia: Three important meetings are scheduled for the beginning of September on the "transborder calendar", which will also be updated for future transnational events: www.trans-border.net. On the same page there is a first assessment of the Transborder Summer Camp (TSC) II, which took place in July near Nantes with more than 700 activists from so many different cities in Europe as well as from North and West Africa. The practical networking atmosphere was at least as productive and respectful as at the first TSC in 2019.
The exchange on "solidarity on the routes" - defined also as infrastructures for the struggle for freedom of movement and equal rights - was more than satisfactory. The Welcome to Europe network - to give a first example - received important new reinforcement with several workshops at the camp.
Example 2: "Civil Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (CMRCC): this is not a future idea or a long-term vision. No, it is already a daily practice!" These lines begin the new publication "Echoes from the Central Med", which will be published bimonthly in future and was distributed for the first time in the TSC. In addition to current reports on the fight against the EU push and pull back strategies, a kind of diary describes the countless rescue operations in cooperation with Civilfleet.
In a few weeks, on 25 September, early elections will be held in Italy. Polls show a far-right coalition in the lead. Salvini could again become Minister of the Interior, this time under a proto-fascist Prime Minister Meloni. Friends of Italy say: „Undoubtedly, the elections in Italy on 25th September will open up new political scenarios, with impactful consequences on the management of maritime borders in the Mediterranean. These consequences are part of long-term strategies. Both can and must be effectively countered by a broadening of social and political alliances and a strengthening of the common infrastructure of solidarity, at sea as well as on land.“
In this spirit: with solidarity greetings,
The Compass Crew