[Squat!net]

Update from August 20, 2024:

This morning, No Border Camp 2024 started with the occupation of a terrain in Utrecht (a meadow on the Mercatorlaan (directly opposite P&R Papendorp), next to the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal at the Prins Claus Bridge). Until Sunday, several hundred people from the Netherlands and abroad will gather on this terrain to resist the current migration policy through actions, workshops and culture.
Saturday 24 August, there will be a demonstration, starting at the No Border Camp towards the city centre of Utrecht.
Tomorrow afternoon, from 5 p.m., a noise demonstration against the detention and deportation of refugees will take place from the camp at the Judicial Complex Zeist (Kamp Zeist, Richelleweg 13, Soesterberg), where refugee families with children, among others, are locked up.

Kamp Zeist has been a location for many years where refugees are locked up, awaiting deportation or being thrown back on the streets. The site includes a special prison for families with minor children. This is where children such as the recently in the news Mikael (11 years old) and his mother Gohar, who are at risk of being deported to Armenia, are locked up. “Kamp Zeist has been the target of actions against the inhumane refugee policy for years,” says Sasha, spokesperson for the No Border Camp organization, “and tomorrow we will be there again to support imprisoned people and to make a clear voice for the abolition of borders and for freedom of movement for everyone.”

The No Border Camp targets both the increasingly repressive Dutch migration policy and developments at European level, where militarization of borders, pushbacks and other human rights violations are the order of the day. The new Schoof cabinet is adding plans to lock up more refugees, deport more people, make asylum applications more difficult and severely restrict the right to legal assistance.
MiGreat, the Bond Precaire Woonvormen, SOS Humanity, the Transnational Institute (TNI) and Stop Wapenhandel are among those contributing to the camp with workshops. Connections with climate change, racism and women’s and trans struggles are also on the programme.

Previous No Border Camps were held in Rotterdam (2013 and 2022), Wassenaar (2019) and Groningen (2023).

Call out No Border Camp 2024

With the PVV winning the elections in the Netherlands and the rise of extreme right-wing parties all over Europe, the anti-migration policies are becoming more strict, less humane, more violent, and dangerous. People are governed through fear and heatred, lashing out to others. Especially others who are labled as ‘outsiders’, ‘foreigners’, and ‘wealth-seekers’. Stopping immigration is on the top of every politician’s wish list.

The European Union is trying to keep people outside of its borders by militarising borders, having Frontex execute illegal push-backs on the Mediterranean, weaponise countries like Libya to drag people back (pull-backs), lock them up and torture them. On top of all of that, the EU is working on plans to lock up refugees and asylum seekers right at the European borders.

Militarisation is increasing world-wide: the Russian invasion into Ukraine, the genocide in Palestine, and large scale European plans to weaponise the Union. Thereby increasing the amount of weapons and the risk to violent conflict that forces people to flee. All these topics touch upon areas of struggle, among which the continuing emissions of fossil fuels, the greenwashing of the fossil fuel industry, exploitation of people and lands in Congo and elsewhere, human rights violations in Palestine, Libya and the Mediterranean.

We need to work together to build a world without borders and for freedom of movement for all, and a world where people are not forced to flee their homes. Stop the spread of fear and hatred!

The camp starts on Tuesday 20 August in Utrecht, Netherlands. Volunteers build up the large tents and facilities. Arriving participants can select a spot in the camping area of the terrain. Because the kitchen also needs to be set up, no lunch will be provided to arriving participants, so either have lunch before you come or bring your own lunchbox. Later in the day everyone should gather in the circus tent for the first general assembly of the Camp. As on all days (except for the last day, Sunday 25 August) dinner will be served at 19:00 and the cultural programme starts at 21:00.

The No Border Camp is an ACTION camp, meaning that we also ask you to come well prepared to join actions (if you want). Next to the actions we have a workshop schedule (see below) and a cultural program in the evenings.

WEDNESDAY 21 AUGUST

Wednesday 21 August – 11:00 am – Border industrial complex in Utrecht – By No Border Camp organisation
Several companies, government agencies and institutions in Utrecht and the surrounding region are involved in repressive border and migration policies. In Soesterberg there is also the detention center for refugee families and unaccompanied minors at Kamp Zeist (Justitieel Complex Zeist). In this workshop we’ll present an overview of the entities which are complicit in the Dutch and EU’s practices of detention, deportations and border violence.

Wednesday 21 August – 11:00 am – Brandalism
Workshop on how to use available advertisement to spread your opinion; vandalising advertisement you disagree with is also an option.

Wednesday 21 August – 2:00 pm – 20 years of Frontex are 20 years too many – Abolish Frontex workshop on Frontex’s 20th anniversary – By: Abolish Frontex
6 October 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the EU border guard agency Frontex. For these 20 long years it has spread death and insecurity. We count and mourn more than 60,620 deaths caused by the EU border regime since 1993. Frontex is a key actor in the war against people on the move and a symbol for its certain failure. This workshop will start with a quick introduction to Frontex, its histories and why it needs to be abolished. This will be followed by a collective postcard writing session as part of our action days against Frontex.

Wednesday 21 August – 2:00 pm – Being Trans In All The Wrong Places – By: Trans Rescue
Being trans is tough anywhere. Being trans in Saudi Arabia is deadly. A discussion of how we help transgender people in some of the world’s toughest places find safety.

Wednesday 21 August – 5:00 pm – Solidarity noise demo family prison Kamp Zeist
Bike with us from the No Border Camp or to meet us at 5pm, at Kamp Zeist, Richelleweg 13, Soesterberg

THURSDAY 22 AUGUST

Thursday 22 August – 11:00 am – Aid distribution in street settings – By: MiGreat
From Ter Apel to Greece, borders force hundreds to thousands of people onto the streets and into informal camps. Grassroot aid is often crucial to make sure people have basic necessities. But how to distribute fairly, safely and nicely in a street setting? How to deal with the authorities and the NGOs, and how not to become like them?

Thursday 22 August – 11:00 am – Open action meeting NEDS arms fair – By: DRAMA (Directe Radicale Anti-Militaristische Actie)
On November 21, the annual arms fair of the Dutch and international arms industry will take place in Ahoy Rotterdam. Dozens of arms companies will present their deadly offerings, while speakers from government and industry will network about arms purchases, exports, more cooperation and higher military budgets. In this workshop we want to hold a brainstorm and provide the first impetus for organizing actions against this fair. Arms fairs like these play a crucial role in the expansion of the Western military-industrial complex.

Thursday 22 August – 11:00 am – Mindfulness for activists – By: deeez mindfulness
Many activists at some point become action-weary or develop burn-out symptoms. The question is, how can you as an activist not become exhausted and maintain contact with yourself, others and the earth? Through practical exercises you will receive a number of tools on how to take good care of yourself and therefore also of your fellow activists and the earth.

Thursday 22 August – 2:00 pm – Strategizing against the migration plans of the new government – By: migration lawyer and Stroomversnellers
Just before the summer the new, far right, Dutch government published its coalition agreement. New measures to make border and migration policies stricter and repressive, take away rights of people on the move and increase detention and deportations are a central focus of this agreement.

Thursday 22 August – 2:00 pm – The externalisation of EU borders – By: Transnational Institute
Border externalisation is a strategy through which the EU tries to outsource the control of its borders to third countries. This has accelerated in the past decade, with the most recent examples being deals with countries such as Tunisia, Mauritania and Egypt which see the EU paying those countries to stop people on the move from reaching EU borders in the first place. This workshop will provide an overview of this externalisation strategy, look into the role that Frontex plays, and highlight a case study from the Balkans region.

Thursday 22 August – 2:00 pm – Open Assembly NOBORDERint
Open Assembly of the new media we are developing to gather and spread information on struggles at borders in and leading to Europe. We will quickly explain how we aim to organise, answer questions and think together of how to run this long-time from a distance! If you have skills in social media, graphic design, translation, or the project just speaks to you in any way, come to get in touch.

Thursday 22 August – 4:00 pm – Support for political prisoners in Palestine and all over the world – By: Sam, a Palestinian international queer activist and artist
Talk in support for political refugees and queer refugees.

Thursday 22 August – 4:00 pm – Helpfordunkirk – By: help4dunkerque
Lecture about French association Help4dunkerque and their work in Northern France around Dunkirk people on the move encampments.

Thursday 22 August – 5:00 pm – Housing Advice Hour at No Border Camp – By: Bond Precaire Woonvormen
The right wing wants to blaim migration for the shortage of housing. Aside from the fact that only a small part of housing goes to this demographic, everyone has the right to adequate housing. Instead of falling for scapegoating tactics we should take the fight to where the real problem lies: investors, landlords and government policy. Here we see that migrants and refugees are among the most exploited people. Often landlords will assume they do not know the law and thus act illegally or discriminate against them. While many renters have precarious circumstances due to short term contracts or intimidation, this is often multiplied by the precarious circumstance of migration.

Thursday 22 August – 5:00 pm – Mapping connections of the military and border industrial complex and beyond – By: Stop the War on Migrants
Interactive workshop about mapping out activities and partnerships of companies and institutions – using the example of arms company Damen – as a base for strategic and tactical discussions on how to target them.

Thursday 22 August – 5:00 pm – Mobi-talk Geef Tegengas – By: Geef Tegengas action camp
Huge ships, filled with liquid gas (LNG) from all over the world dock in the Rotterdam harbour. Gas imports escalate the raging climate crisis, make people sick and reinforce authoritarian regimes and warmongers. In this talk we will cover how fossil fuel dependence makes our government forgiving towards regimes in cases of war crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide – and, maybe even more important: what we can do about it.

FRIDAY 23 AUGUST

Friday 23 August – 2:00 pm – Universities and the border industrial complex – By: Stop Wapenhandel, Solid Sustainability Research and European Legal Support Center
The ties between universities and Israeli partners has been a focal campaigning issue for the movement against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, in the Netherlands as well as in many other countries. With encampments, occupations and other actions student and staff activists demand that their universities break these ties to end their complicity. Similarly, there have been many actions against the ties between universities and the fossil fuel industry. While university boards haven’t met the demands to break all ties, policies have been shifting.

Friday 23 August – 2:00 pm – Wheelchair use in activism – By: wonko / anarcho capableism
Informative talk about wheelchair use in activism and how we can use prejudices to our advantage: the police are there to ‘help’ you and as a wheelchair user you are absolutely dependent so you cannot do illegal things independently.

Friday 23 August – 3:30 pm – Border & Policing tech in Europe – digital migration control infrastructure and organising – By: Justice, Equity and Technology Project
Session to unpack the use of border tech to criminalise and police racialised people, and share strategies to push back.

Friday 23 August – 3:30 pm – ¡No pasarán! – organise ourselves to protect our communities – By: a group of antifascists
Due to increasing violence and normalisation of hate-montering by the far-right and a government rather encouraging than condoning it, we must organise ourselves to protect our communities. With this meet-up we aim to get together to talk about how we want to do this. One thing the facilitators of this meet-up have come up with is to set up an emergency mobilisation list with the aim of facilitating fast mobilisation when people and/or locations are under direct threat/attack by the far-right.
We propose to (also) build (local) networks to share information and alarm quickly.

Friday 23 August – 3:30 pm – Civil Search and Rescue in the central Mediterranean and the challenges posed by current political developments – By: SOS Humanity
This talk will focus on the work of SOS Humanity, a civilian search and rescue organisation, and the political challenges currently affecting their work. A former crew member and human rights observer will share firsthand experiences from two rotations on board, detailing the direct impacts of these challenges on rescue efforts and the people in distress.

Friday 23 August – 5:00 pm – Stop deportations – By: MiGreat
In this workshop you will learn how you can resist a deportation on passenger flights, by standing up and hindering the departure from within the plane.

Friday 23 August – 5:00 pm – Abortion solidarity network / Laws aren’t real – By: Abortion without Borders / Abortion Network Amsterdam / S.A.F.E.
Join us for an empowering workshop on abortion solidarity networks, where we explore the growing grassroots movements dedicated to ensuring access to safe abortions worldwide. Despite increasing restrictions in some regions, these networks are thriving, with activists tirelessly working to improve abortion access and support. We will talk about collaborative efforts driving this progress, share experiences and lessons learned from the ongoing fight for equitable abortion access.

SATURDAY 24 AUGUST

Saturday 24 August – 11:00 am – Chanting in groups – By: Pieternel
Chanting is fun, let’s talk about how to make it more interesting
and dynamic, with zine with examples.

Saturday 24 August – demonstration, starting at the No Border Camp towards the city centre of Utrecht.

Get in touch for more information about the camp via nbc-2024 [at] riseup [dot] net and https://nobordercamps.eu/