Friday 25 April 2014

Still walking for our freedom


In the many countries we come from we could not practice freedom. We were forced to leave to seek safety, freedom and equality. We have walked many journeys to get to the UK. Many people lost their lives along the way, trying to cross in to Fortress Europe. Since 1990, 20,000 people have died in the Mediteranean region as a result of Border Controls. No human is illegal. No human should die.
Abolish Dublin III, Frontex, Eurosur and Fingerprinting
We made it. Luckier ones. But we have to continue walking. We are scared that we will be put in to detention prisons and deported. We feel sad for our friends who are already in detention centres or who have been deported. We are motivated by the migrant protest march in Europe and want to come together here in the UK with many people so we can also walk to seek freedom and dignity.
Stop Detention and Deportation of Refugees and Migrants
We are an advantage to the UK. We want to be allowed to contribute, to pay taxes. Instead, the Home Office is a nightmare to us. We have to wait long time, often many years, for an answer to our asylum claim. They put us through inhumane interviews and then wrongly refuse our asylum cases and our lives are stuck for years, prohibited from working or from claiming benefits. The government politices make many of us destitute. We are frustrated that we are scapegoated for problems we did not cause.
Freedom of Movement and Residency for All
We are the backbones of you here. Migrants do many jobs which keep this country going and contribute a lot in taxes. Also, many white British people have been in our countries: Congo, Eritrea, Iran, Syria, Zimbabwe. They went to our country to exploit us, to bring resources back here. Yet, when we come here, they treat us as non-entities. This is racist and injust.
Freedom and Dignity for all

Thursday 24 April 2014

Dignity March: Bristol to Cardiff 29th May – 2nd June


Dignity for Asylum Seekers are a group of asylum seekers, refugees and allies. Over the past 2 years we have organised big marches in Bristol to raise awareness of destitution and detention.
This year we are planning a solidarity walk at the same time as a bigger walk from Strasbourg to Brussels, to protest against the tightening of Borders across Europe, to resist the system of forced destitution and to raise awareness about issues facing asylum seekers in the UK and Bristol.
The Dignity March will leave Bristol on Thursday 29th May and march to Cardiff, arriving on the 2nd June. We will meet with groups along the way and learn from each other. We are planning a demonstration at UK Border Agency's offices on Newport Road, Cardiff on Monday 2nd June.   
We invite groups and individuals to join us and walk together against the violence of Fortress Europe.

Come and Join us!
Look at the Route

Lend or Donate us items
We need to borrow sleeping bags and mats, basic toiletries like toothbrushes and wetwipes and we are also trying to find a projector and a tablet we could borrow.
If you are interesting in helping to organise the March, please get in touch at asylumisnotacrime@mail.com.