We have been alerted, we have been warned: three significant outbursts of indignation and information from an overlooked flashpoint in Fortress Europe’s worsening border crisis: the Bosnian-Croatian border.
Traversing the Balkanroute is much more daunting now: double layered electrified fences, vigilante guards, virtually no state support for migrants. The biggest winners from the militarization of borders appear to be smugglers and corrupt government officials.
“It’s really clear that the states and the big NGOs are failing, so there have been lots of people who have decided to do something–and often very strong, direct actions.”
Joey is from Lebanon; Aida is from Bosnia. They found opportunity to make many interesting comparisons between Lebanon and Bosnia looking at the ongoing impacts of the Taif Agreement and the Dayton Accords through a feminist lens.
The plan of the Serbian government to evict the squats and move people to remote areas is happening in line with overall EU practices pushing people out of sight and detaining them in isolation with no possibility to organize.
Long read: Observations from years of improvised refugee solidarity on the Greek frontier island of Samos
Each day rolls into the next, and SNAFU remains the reality. We must all pull together.
A year after Aylan Kurdi made the EU border crisis famous, a film to remind us of the intense times that followed (and, though mutilated, continue).
We need to stop saying “Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse…” Who seriously thinks it can’t get any worse? Still, there are things we can do–or rather, not do.
Without foregoing for a moment our basic demand for open borders, we feel the need to gather our forces toward the creation of decent living conditions for refugees in our neighborhoods.
