Freedom 4 the Harmanli21! Color Attack of Bulgarian Embassy/Vienna
Yesterday, on the 11th of September, the Bulgarian Embassy in Vienna was marked by people with the message, `Freedom for Harmanli 21`. On the same day the court case against 21 people continued in the city of Harmanli, Bulgaria. The 21 migrants are accused of participating in a riot in a detention camp for migrants in Harmanli in November 2016. For us it is not important if they were really part of the riot or not. We are in solidarity with them because they are used in order to stage another example of criminalization of migrants resistance. Two weeks after the riot, the police went into the camp and attacked the people living there. One boy was seriously injured and had to be hospitalized. In this police operation they arrested 10 of the accused of the Harmanli 21. Very little is known by people in solidarity about their situation and state of mind. They are now imprisoned for almost 2 years and are still awaiting their court decision. The other eleven of them remain missing and will hopefully never be caught!
The Harmanli detention camp for migrants is another prison that is financed by the EU to fence people off from Western European countries keeping them in miserable conditions. Their torture should push them to either voluntarily leave the EU or cause at least severe traumas, that would encourage others as well from travelling to the EU countries. The conditions inside are reportedly very bad, while the security and police officers are very brutal, as in all the other camps inside and outside of Europe. However, people are continously fighting in dignity against these racist, sexist and classist degradations that they are facing in the border regime and in the European prison and asylum system. The riot of Harmanli in November 2016 is one of the countless riots and revolts in camps and prisons where migrants are forced to stay. People come because the places they used to live are messed up. The guilt is on, among other factors, the politics and economics of European countries.
The global neocolonial order with Western supremacy is maintained through racism that legitimizes travelling restrictions. Bulgaria can therefore not be blamed individually, but Austria and other Western European countries are the driving forces behind the situation that migrants are facing. Goods and money can travel very easily through the borders, while only the people with priviledges can do the same. The camp system of the European Union is an important factor for keeping up the capitalist normality and wealth for Western European countries. The division of work in the EU is quite clear - the countries on the periphery are who have to do the obviously brutal work of closing the borders and scaring off people with physical and psychological brutality. This is the reality of the EU, this is what we are fighting against.
With the photos we want to send our solidarity and strength to the imprisoned and all other migrants resisting against Fortress EUrope!
Let`s break the silence of Western Europe and continue to struggle against the injust system of nation states and global capitalism!
Smash the European camp system, smash all borders! Respect and dignity for all!
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