On 15 December 2021, about 20 people took to the streets in the west of Leipzig to attract attention to the situation of refugees.
Our focus was on the situation at the Polish EU border and in the Leipzig camp Mockau II. To make our message heard by neighbours and passers-by, we prepared several banners and a flyer. We distributed the flyers at the Leutzscher Arkaden, at the Lindenauer Markt and on Karl-Heine-Straße, and read them out in two languages over a megaphone. We formed a small spontaneous demo on Karl-Heine-Straße and walked up and down the street accompanied by loud chants such as “no nation, no border fight law and order / no one is illegal, right to stay everywhere…”.
We were on the road for about 2.5 hours, changing places, and were able to spread our message undisturbed by the cops and send a small sign of solidarity to our comrades in Poland, who had called for action. See you soon, your anarchist collective from the neighbourhood.
Treated as tools in this conflict, they bear its direct costs. They die at the border, are tortured, beaten, raped, and abused in every way possible. The situation they find themselves in is a direct result of the European Union’s anti-immigration policy, which is being used without scruples by the Lukashenka regime.
As part of a wide movement that shares the idea of a world without borders, we want to express our solidarity with all those travelers who are searching for a better life, as did thousand of Germans going to America, for instance, many generations ago.
We, as people living in Germany, also want to denounce the racist, colonialist, classist, and murderous politics of the EU._
We cannot look in the other direction when people are dying at our door, we need to take responsibility and act. Europe’s wealth is built on a mountain of corpses of non-Europeans. If we forget this, we won’t understand the management of death carried out by the countries we live in.
We are not responsible for the policies implemented by the government, but we are responsible for ignoring this issue, for not denouncing, for not pressuring, in short, for not acting against fortress Europe. The right to move is a basic human need. We reject the EU as a fortress, militarization of the borders is no solution.
It’s time to act!
What you can do:
· Inform yourself, spread the word and discuss what is happening.
· Organize yourself or get involved in groups already created to see how you can help.
· Fight everyday racism.
· Telegram channel with update from NoBorder crew: https://t.me/no_borders_team
· Financial support: https://www.firefund.net/borderofshame
From late summer 2021 a new “Big Camp” for asylum seekers was established in the north of Leipzig. It is situated at the ex-airport and consists of metal barracks with tent roofs. This camp is called Mockau III and it is planned to accommodate 600 people. Mockau III already existed some years ago and was closed because it was “impossible to live in”. There are also plans to open another Camp soon, Mockau II, with similar conditions directly in front of Mockau III – with the capacities to accommodate 1000 people.
Both camps are planned for the long-term accommodation of refugees, which means months or years. Living conditions are horrible. In autumn it was already too cold, and it will be worse in winter.
Mockau III is not compatible to the conditions of the pandemic. There are no ceilings to separate the rooms and people of the whole barrack share the same badly ventilated air. There is no proper ventilation, no toilet paper, and no soap. As far as the furniture is concerned, there are only beds and people have all their belongings – clean and dirty clothes, medicine, and food – on the floor. All this makes the hygienic situation inappropriate.
Additionally, Mockau III is not safe. The rooms can not be locked. Toilets (a hole in the floor) and showers are in an extra barrack outside and they can not be locked.
In October 2021, a couple of months after Mockau III started to be used as a long-term camp, some 20-30 people were in a hunger strike against living conditions in the camp. The responsible authorities came directly and promised several changes. After nearly 3 months, none of them were implemented.
In simple words, these are cold, unsafe camps with terrible living conditions. It is not possible for anyone to live a normal life here, neither people with kids or sick people nor for a healthy single person.
Stop the inhumane treatment of people! Shut down camp Mockau III!
Normal living conditions for asylum seekers!
Refugee camps should look like homes and not like prisons!
