Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 10:10:13 -0700
From: mnovick@laedu.lalc.k12.ca.us (Michael Novick)
Subject: FRA: ONE YEAR OF STRUGGLE FOR THE SANS-PAPIERS
Sender: owner-antiracism-eur-l@mail.comlink.apc.org
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## author : a-infos-request@tao.ca
## date : 24.03.97
One year of struggle for the sans-papiers
From Coordination Nationale des ‘Sans-Papiers’ on the Antiracism-Eur-L list, 14 March 1997
National Coordination of ‘Sans-papiers’
22, rue Pajol, 75018 Paris, France
fax :++ (331) 46 07 16 19
http://bok.net/pajol
E-mail : pajol@bok.net
MARCH 18th 1996–MARCH 18th 1997
ONE YEAR OF STRUGGLE FOR THE SANS-PAPIERS
Hommage to Saint Bernard
On March 18th, 1996, one year ago today, 300 foreign families took
refuge in the Church of St. Ambroise in Paris, determined to stand
together and bring their cause into the open. The struggle that we
started then and continue to this day poses France some fundamental
questions that have still not met with any substantial
answer. Brutality, recourse to ruse, subterfuge and stalling have
revealed their limitations in the violent eviction from the Church of
St. Bernard and have brought no fundamental solution to an underlying
crisis that highlights the incoherence of French State policy with
regard to immigrant populations. For one year now, the
sans-papiers
(paperless
undocumented migrants in France)
have run the gamut of the State's panoply of repressive measures
and have had to adopt original forms of struggle to enforce respect,
thereby demonstrating responsibility, courage, determination and
lucidity in their hard-won autonomy. The conditions of the struggle
are hard, because, on the other side, the French government is not
respecting any of the moral rules that have been the foundation of
France's established reputation in the world. Everything has been
used against us, from deportation campaigns unworthy of a democracy,
using special chartered flights with people rounded up, drugged, stuck
to their seats with adhesive tape and handcuffed, to detention under
inhuman conditions next to dogs being trained. These procedures are
unworthy of a democracy and reinforce the most xenophobic elements of
public opinion, inciting these elements to demand even tougher
measures against foreigners.
This treatment is in complete breach of individual human rights and
international conventions. The victims are people who find themselves
in illegal or irregular legal situations due to the actions of the
French State itself, which has voted laws with the specific aim of
stealing the fire (and votes) of the the extreme right. As a result, a
regression of the rights of all people and of democracy is under way
in France, due to the inability of those in positions of political
power to answer the real concerns of the French people. The struggle
of those who first sought refuge in the Church of St. Ambroise has
opened the door to a vast movement in the struggle for dignity,
sharing the same roots as the industrial action and protest movements
of November-December 1995 and as the other struggles against
restrictions of rights and against the trend towards systematic
precariousness of employment and social conditions. Beyond the
immediate objective of legitimate papers and permits for the
sans-papiers
, this movement raises the question of the free
movement of people and highlights the problem of North-South relations
in a context where ultra-liberalism is sweeping all before it, leaving
only profit as the foundation of all strategy. The St Ambroise
movement also shows us that the people from the countries of the South
demand to be taken fully into account in a new social order that
respects the fundamental values without which our societies would sink
into barbarism. One year already, but the struggle goes on to obtain:
-
REGULAR PAPERS FOR ALL THE
SANS-PAPIERS
- THE IMMEDIATE ABROGATION OF THE DEBRE LAW ON IMMIGRATION
- A HALT TO DEPORTATIONS AND THE RETURN OF ALL DEPORTEES
- FREEDOM FOR ALL FOREIGNERS DETAINED FOR NOT HAVING THE RIGHT PAPERS
CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY
We urge you to send a letter of protest to the French government and to the president. A draft letter outlining our concerns follows.
Dear ....
We are very concerned about the way your government is treating the ‘Sans Papiers’ in France. Despite the actions they have taken which include life-threatening hunger strikes, numerous protests and demonstrations of solidarity, your government continues to refuse them the basic right to reside and work in France.
We admire their courage and determination. Despite their imprisonment, shameful deportations, general repression and harrassment, they continue to struggle for dignity and freedom. They are fighting for our freedom too.
We therefore demand:
- Resident permits for all of the ‘Sans Papiers’
- The immediate release of those currently imprisoned
- To immediately suspend all deportations
- The return of those who have been deported
- A repeal of anti-immigrant legislation
Yours faithfully,
Send your protest urgently to:-
M. le Premier Ministre
58, rue de Varenne, 75007 Paris
fax:++ (331) 45 44 15 72
M. le President de la Republique
55, rue du fbg. St. Honore, 75008 Paris
fax: ++ (331) 47 42 24 65