CHIOS HOTSPOT PROTEST

Action Statement

On the morning of the 20th of February, we installed a symbolic cage on the main square of Chios, to raise awareness for the imprisonment of people fleeing from suffering. There are activists locked up in the cage for the following days, being dependent on people outside of the cage bringing them food, dry clothes if it rains, or medical support and toilet paper.      
As a group of local and international activists, we are protesting against the "Refugee hotspot" in Vial, on the Greek island of Chios. We stand in solidarity with people fleeing war, persecution or poverty.

The new hotspot is a place in the hillside, far from the touristical defined shore, where all those coming to Europe to seek shelter are obligated to get registered and meant to stay after arriving on the island. It is obvious, that this new registration camp will fail to respond to the immigration in a humanitarian way. All chances for self-sufficiency of the migrants will be restricted, due to the lack of privacy and the location far from shops and public.  Furthermore, a big part of the camp is already fenced in. We believe that certain people who looked for ­shelter­­­ will be imprisoned, held as criminals and deported from there. This represents the racist downgrading of migrants as people of second class.

No one leaves home without a severe reason! We see the immigration movement as a consequence of western imperialism and the globalization of capitalist exploitation. This is why we see our duty in welcoming those people, who suffer from poverty and war. Clearly we say:

Flight is not a crime!
Solidarity, no prison!

Everyone is invited to come by and discuss the immigration situation on Chios.