All different. All equal. Call for the antiracist rally in Agrigento
Let us open the doors. Let us fight off racism!
For an open and solidary Sicily. No human being is illegal!
For decades, Sicily has been the southern border of the European fortress. With the reception and detention centers as well as the return of refugees from sea to Libyan camps, the island has become a testing ground of racial policies for migrants. For years, shameful campaigns have originated from Sicily and the European border and coast guard agency Frontex that criminalize humanitarian NGOs, confiscate their ships (e.g. the Iuventa, Sea Watch, Mediterranea, …) and lead to the interruption of their valuable aid programs, rescuing women, men and children shipwrecked at sea. Not to forget any of the worst global injustices, our island is becoming militarized further and further: the military airport Sigonella, the satellite ground station MUOS, drones, the port of Augusta in which nuclear powered ships lie, as well as depots of weapons, all of this has turned Sicily into an open air arsenal of war.
With their security decrees, the government of „change“ is demonstrably destroying the majority of the admission system for asylum seekers. Good practices in admission have become a rarity, and the few exceptions like Riace are being criminalized ever more often. Thus, around 50.000 migrants are coerced to add themselves to the dismal group of people without a permanent home. They are either forced into exploitative working conditions in the southern Italian agrarian and food industry by foremen, or enlisted as ancillary workers by local crime.
Contrary to Salvini’s propaganda that agitates Italians against migrants, we learn to say: „the exploited and the poor come first“. Fully in line with the motto „Italians first“, circa 15.000 workers are doomed to lose their jobs precisely due to the politics of closed borders. Each year, around €25 billion are being burnt on the military. This sea of money is extracted from social spending: health, schools, work. If the money was used sensibly, the dignity and rights of everyone would be guaranteed. While more than 4 million Italians are living abroad (600.000 Sicilians), immigrants in our country (including EU nationals and non-EU) constitute less than 8% of the total population. It is ridiculous as well as false to think that our problems are caused by their presence. The actual statistics tell us that immigrants are contributing each year more than 9% of GDP and about €12 billion in taxes, resulting in a positive balance in social services’ accounts. In this way, they are contributing to everyone’s retirement payments. Let us not become blinded by hate and propaganda: people are a resource, not a problem.
In connection with the countrywide initiative ‚Forum #indivisibili e solidali‘ (Forum Indivisible and Solidary) and with the Carovane Migranti, currently taking place in Spain and in August in Tunisia, we invite you to participate in the rally on Saturday, the 27th of July. It is being organized and supported by various initiatives and societies in Agrigento and aims to build a euro-mediterranean network of solidarity and resistance. To save lives, the following is necessary: establishing humanitarian corridors starting in North Africa and the Middle East, a general right of asylum and a European permit of residence.
We demand:
Release of the NGOs’ ships!
Revocation and Repeal of the security decrees!
The history of Sicily has taught us: emigration is not a crime!
Initiators: Rete Antirazzista Catanese, Borderline Sicilia, Campagna LasciateCIEntrare, Comitato NoMuos/NoSigonella-Ct
Information and signing up at catanianofrontex@gmail.com
Translated by Christian Lamp
