Migration-Related Activities during the Anti-G8 Mobilisation in Germany

Migration is one of the main issues of the counter mobilisation with a special 'Migration' action day on Monday the 4th of June. This article does only give an overview of the (planned) activities. For more details and up-to date information please refer to the links given in the article.

1. Activities in the leading up to the G8 summit / within the next weeks
2. An overview about the general anti-G8-choreography in the week of June and the migration-related focal points
3. The migration-related networking-meeting and "cross-over"-events on 3rd of June and our participation in the alternative summit
4. The migration-related action-day on 4th of June and the big evening event at the same day

Activities in the leading up to the G8 summit / within the next weeks

Particular importance will be given to the caravan/NoLager-tour, which will start at 19th of May in Neuburg/Bavaria and which will stop in various cities (Neuburg, Nürnberg, Jena, Freienbessingen, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Büren, Bramsche, Bremen, Oldenburg, Hamburg, Horst, Schwerin, Berlin, Rostock), before it arrives in Rostock for the big demonstration on 2nd of June. Find more detailled informations at :: thecaravan.org

Additionally should be mentioned, that this caravan/NoLager-tour will "unite" with the western part of Euromarch on 28th of May in Oldenburg. These marches against precariousness will take place between 26th of May and 2nd of June, and they move from 3 directions to Rostock in order to join the big demonstration too. Find more informations and the call also in english, french, russian at :: euromarsch2007.labournet.de.

An overview about the general anti-G8-choreography in the week of June and the migration-related topics

The above choreography, offers a structured overview about the whole action-week in June. The actionweek will start with a hopefully huge demonstration on 2nd of June in Rostock. You will find the call for this demonstration :: here, and it includes also some of our main migration-related demands. At 3rd of June a demonstration and a rally will happen about "global agriculture", moreover - as on the evening before - a concert and more cultural events are under preparation. Beside this the 3rd of June (sunday) should be used for networking-meetings and further discussion-events (find more below at item 3).

Concerning 4th of June, the migration-related action-day, find more at item 4. At 5th of June - with a main reference against militarisation and war- the blockades will start around the small airport in Rostock-Laage, which is also used as military base. At this airport the arrival of the presidents is expected in the afternoon of this tuesday! At the same evening the alternative summit will start and continues until 7th of June.

Mass-blockades as well as flexible, decentralized blockades can be expected in the early morning of 6th of June around Heiligendamm (the place of the summit). And on 7th of June the blockades will be combined with demonstrations, which should lead to the fences of the red zone. So far a rough overview and you can find more detailled informations mainly on these two websites: :: www.heiligendamm2007.de and :: gipfelsoli.org.

The migration-related networking-meeting and "cross-over"-events on 3rd of June and our participation in the alternative summit

Opening event

The sunday (3rd of June) will start with a big opening event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It will be organised as a debate "about perspectives in and beyond Europe". A first input will be presented by a german unionist, followed by critical comments and remarks from other social movements (anti-war-network, precarity-network ...). And Lucille Daumas from attac in Marocco and very much involved in the activities against the externalisation of EU-migration-control to North-Africa, will represent the migration-related networks on this podium.

The debate should work as a "cross-over" event, leading together the various social movements, and in the same time it should introduce into the respective networking meetings and forums, which will follow at sunday afternoon.

Migration-related networking meeting

The migration-related networking meeting will start at 2 p.m., probably in a school in Rostock, which is already now used as convergence center. We want to start with a very brief plenary (maximum for one hour until 3 p.m.), where we want to present the respective workshops and the aims and expectations of this networking meeting. Our main interest is to meet in really "horizontal discussions" with very brief inputs (and not long presentations!), with a main focus on common discussions in a hopefully transnational composition. Until now about 10 migration-related workshops are under preparation, for example: legalisation; racist police violence; "lager" and border-regime; deportations and readmission programs; precariousness and migration; remittances and development ... Various groups or persons took the responsibilities to coordinate and prepare the respective topics. The main intention at least in some of the workshops is to overcome a mere information-exchange, rather to discuss about transnational campaigns and concrete interventions. Of course more time is needed in such a perspective, so these workshops will be organised as double slots until the evening.

And we just think for a final common plenary about transnational campaigns and communication in the evening of the sunday, where we want to bring together the concrete results of some of the workshops. We want to stress again, that we see this meeting in the continuation of transnational gatherings during last two years in the frame of european and world social forums, the conference in Rabat and the action-day at 7th of October 2006. So the workshops should offer first of all the opportunity to strengthen and to deepen the networking processes by identifying focal campaigns on a transnational level.

Alternative summit

Additionally the option is given to continue a few workshops in the frame of the alternative summit. This counter-conference will start on the evening of 5th of June, and Madjiguene Cisse, a famous former sans papier activist in France and engaged in women-projects in Senegal now, will be a main speaker in the opening plenary. Moreover a so-called "middle-podium" (8 bigger events about various topics during wednesday, 6th of June, are planned) is under preparation, which will focus to the structural background of flight and migration in Africa and East-Europe. Some guests from various African and East-European countries will take part in it.

The migration-related action-day on 4th of June and the big evening event at the same day

For 4th of June, day of migration, we plan decentralized activities in the morning, first of all a siege or blockade of the local foreign office in Rostock (where just in moment - as an example- a lot of deportations toter mobilisation with a special 'Migration' action day on Monday the 4th of June. This article does only give an overview of the (planned) activities. Togo are organized). Secondly a remembrance-action will take place in Lichtenhagen, a quarter of Rostock, where 15 years ago one of the most significant racist pogrom took place. And simultaneously at the main public place in the inner city of Rostock we want to be present with exhibitions, information-stands, street-theater and installations (of border-fences and walls for example).

At 1 p.m. we want to start our main demonstration! Starting point will be the local refugee-camp in Rostock, and then we will march with as much people and as loud and colourful as possible to the inner city. The demonstration will end in a manifestation with a concert on another public place.

For the evening a big discussion-event is proposed, under the title: freedom of movement against global apartheid! Migration-related activists from different continents should be brought into a common talk.

The call for the 4th of June can be found :: here.