Lesvos Coordination Movement for the Support of Refugee and Immigrants
Saturday November 25th at 12:00 at Sappho Square
you are all invited to join the protest in
Their
just fight has been taking place on site at Sappho Square for over a
month now and is a direct result of the inhumane living conditions that
the government of SYRIZA-ANEL have been imposing on over 8000 refugees
and immigrants that are currently trapped on Lesvos island.
Their
life is in fact a living hell and they have every right to demand the
opening of the borders so that they may continue their journey to their
initially intended destinations. They state that they are refugees and
not criminals and that they are only fighting for their self-evident right to freely leave this island.
Their
struggle for life and liberty comes up against the wall of anti-refugee
policies of the EU and of the Greek government, as well as, the
EU-Turkey deal that have resulted in the entrapment of thousands of
refugees on the eastern Aegean islands.
Apart
from all else, this anti-refugee governmental policy of determent has
cultivated fertile land for all kinds of fascists and self-proclaimed
patriotic saviors.
The “protest public assembly” that was organized on the Square by the Mayor on Monday the 20th of
November has given spark to the unprovoked attacks that were directed
towards both the Sappho Square refugees and all standing in solidarity
by them in the following to this event days.
Those
that have been downplaying or even worse, have been covering up for the
criminal character of several far right wing constructions (Golden Dawn
among them) are surely to blame. Police and government have been
keeping them under their wing. The Prefecture Head of East Aegean,
Christiana Kalogirou, the Mayor of Lesvos, Spyros Galinos, the elected
Parliament Member of New Democracy Party, Charalambos Athanasiou, in
collaboration with the government of SYRIZA-ANEL are directly
responsible for the fascistic attacks against the protesting refugees
and against the solidarity movement as they have been facilitating and
working hand in hand with all state mechanisms, choosing to “caress” the
fascists of the Golden Dawn leaving them room to breath, move and act
across the town of Mytilini. The neonazis of the criminal gang of the
Golden Dawn in collaboration with other far right elements, are
currently trying to resurface and take their place under the spotlight
spreading their racist venom and hateful preachings on our island. Their
attempts will not bear fruit. They will receive the response they
deserve from us.
And all this while the Greek people are under the fiercest of attacks after the implementation of the most reactionary
laws regarding work, education and health. It has been a conscious
attempt to disorient the public about who is in fact behind this deep
financial crisis. The neonazis and their followers are using the
refugees as scapegoats so the Bankers, the Shipowners and the Capital
will be left unscathed to continue increasing their profits despite the
financial crisis. They purposely spread their racist poison against the
refugees who are in fact victims so the attention of the public will
deviate from those that should in fact be held accountable for poverty
and impoverishment in our lives.
The actions of the Police are Unacceptable, Illegal and Condemnable. They have turned Sappho Square into a strange sanitary
zone where any type of peaceful demonstration is forbidden and is
denied access to. The recent backdrop of conflict of the past few days
that is being established on Lesvos will not find support among the
people of Lesvos.
We explicitly condemn the fascist/racist attack that was directed yesterday Wednesday the 22nd of
November towards a reporter that was covering the events as well as
towards all acting in solidarity to the refugees that were being
attacked.
We
the people of Lesvos have proven all these past years that we have only
unconditional solidarity and humanity to exhibit and we will not allow a
handful of nostalgic followers of Hitler to use the island as base of
operations for racist attacks. Lesvos is and will remain an anti-fascist
island, an island of solidarity for all refugees! Public squares belong
to all struggling people, irregardless of nationality, color and religion and not to the forces of repression.
We invite all democratic citizens of the island to isolate
all sorts of fascistoids and to join us in our struggle to cease the
imprisonment of any and all refugees at Hotspots, to raise our voices so
that the hellish detention center of Moria is forever closed, that
necessary documentation be facilitated and granted to all that wish to
continue their journey and last not least, to demand the immediate
removal of NATO and FRONTEX from our peaceful island.
We are organizing a protest on Saturday the 25th of November at noon at Sappho Square to fight for the following:
• Immediate satisfaction of all demands of the protesting refugees of Sappho Square
• The shutdown of Moria detention center
• Cancellation of EU-Turkey deal
• Truly humane living conditions for all refugees and immigrants
• Granting of all travel and identification documents necessary for the refugees freedom of movement
• Stop of all deportations to Turkey
• Stop all imperialist interventions in Asia and Africa that continue to beget thousands of refugees.
• To stop any and all anti-refugee and anti-immigrant policy of the EU