Antiracism/Migration

Yearbook

    The Left and Immigration
  • After the latest drama in Lampedusa, where more than 350 immigrants, mostly Eritreans, perished 600 metres from the Italian coast, the immigration policies of the European Union and its member states are more than ever under scrutiny.
    Immigration Policies in Italy – Rights, Movements and Imprisonment
  • This brief article proposes to do three things: first, to delineate the main features of immigration policies in Italy; second, to evaluate the effects of these features; and third, to outline a concise balance sheet of the political choices made and possible developments   Part one: Entrance...
    European Migration Policy – Too Much of the Same
  • When in a European context immigration is talked about it usually does not take long before the name FRONTEX pops up. Migration is mostly mentioned in the same breath as “illegal” and “illegal immigration” – the term is unambiguous – must be fought. That is the point at which FRONTEX, the agency for...

Focus

Blog

    EU-Tunisia Deal: The Spirit of 1951
  • Tunisia and the EU signed a memorandum of understanding for a "strategic partnership" on renewables, economic development, and — for all — migration in July. The ongoing EU ’s asylum reform and this long-sought deal with Tunisia aiming at externalising borders are the latest steps in its war on migrants. The author calls for new counter-strategies.
    The Gradual Abolition of the Individual’s Right to Asylum
  • The Pact on Migration and Asylum presented by the EU commission in 2020 focuses on deterrence, isolation, a toughening of the European border, and the fast-tracking of decisions at the expense of asylum seekers’ rights. New steps are now being taken by the European Parliament and the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council. Where is Europe heading?
    Fortress Austria: Keeping Refugees Out, Even in Times of Crisis
  • Austria’s right-wing and authoritarian parties are trying to weaponise border control and immigration and declare certain groups that they themselves have marginalised a threat to national security, all while blocking and sabotaging pan-European efforts to relocate refugees across the continent.
    A Geopolitical EU to What End?
  • Axel Ruppert of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Foundation reflects on the EU's geopolitical ambitions, examines what has changed in the EU's geopolitical orientation since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, criticises the increasing militarisation of the EU and provides an impulse for a different understanding of security.
    Europe’s Migration Pact, Its Consequences and the War in Ukraine
  • Cornelia Ernst, Member of the European Parliament (DIE LINKE), believes that the sharp criticism levelled by NGOs and left-wing groups at Europe's migration and asylum policy is justified - as for many years this policy has stood for a practice of cooperation with undemocratic third countries.
    Sconfinate frontier – Riace, l’eccezione che ha rifiutato la regola
  • The particular experience of democratic self-management of migration developed in Riace, Calabria, is an interesting case study of the possible evolution of the migration phenomenon in the context of three particular aspects of the policies of the last governments that succeeded each other in Italy, all of European and international relevance.
    The Victims on Europe’s Eastern Borders
  • A humanitarian emergency is once again developing on the European Union’s borders: Refugees find themselves trapped between Poland and Belarus as Polish government takes increasingly aggressive action and even declared the state of emergency in two of its regions.
    Solidarity with Afghanistan
  • Read the statement of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) on the current situation in Afghanistan, in which it condemns the military intervention as it serves to strengthen reactionary nationalist positions and calls for any foreign policy to be based on respect for human rights and the sovereignty of all states.
    Finally Some Visibility for Illegal Austrian Pushbacks!
  • In a groundbreaking court ruling earlier this month, exclusively translated on behalf of transform! europe, the Regional Administrative Court of Styria (Southeast Austria) upheld the complaint by a young Moroccan man who was pushed back by the Austrian border police and declared this practice illegal and inhumane.
    The living ashes of Portuguese colonialism
  • Lisbon, November 2017: Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa speaks at the 9th edition of the Web Summit, the world's largest tech event that, every year, welcomes thousands of participants. At the opening session, Costa recalled Fernão de Magalhães (Ferdinand Magellan), the Portuguese explorer...
    Call for the Immediate Evacuation of Moria
  • In the face of the terrible and life-threatening situation of the 12,500 refugees and asylum seekers on Lesbos, transform! europe, together with various NGOs and intellectuals throughout Europe and worldwide, supports this call for an immediate evacuation of Moria.
    Moria Is On Fire: Evacuate Refugee Camps Now!
  • Fire has destroyed Greece's largest migrant camp, the overcrowded Moria facility on the island of Lesbos. The Party of the European Left (EL) demands a removal of the Dublin Regulations and the establishment of legal and safe humanitarian corridors.
    FRONTEX's Unchecked Power Grab Endagers Human Rights
  • A vote that gives the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) unprecedented powers overwhelmingly recently passed in the European Parliament – giving this opaque EU body unrivalled powers and unchecked accountability.
    The Migration World Pact: Wishes and Realities
  • Numerous political leaders from all over the world are gathered these days in Marrakech, under the auspices of the UN, to sign a new migration agreement: the Global Compact for Migration. Migration has become one of the political priorities at a global scale and the richest areas of the world are all adopting similar xenophobic measures.
    In Saving Migrants We Save Ourselves
  • The migrant issue has become a decisive test for all those on the Left who campaign for the emancipation of the people and equal rights for all. Far from protecting existing rights, any concession to to the favouring of one nationality over others or to policies based onborders and identity, will simply help the cause of the extreme right.
    Manifesto for the Welcoming of Migrants
  • The editorial boards of Regards, Politis and Mediapart are joining forces to launch the "Pour l’accueil des migrants" manifesto to welcome migrants. It has been initially signed by 150 intellectuals, artists, activists, unionists and prominent members of civil society - tenth of thousands followed.
    The Transit Migration Situation in Serbia
  • Marta Stojić Mitrović, speaker at this year’s Summer University of EL and transform! europe on the transit migration in Serbia, the Serbian migration politics and the connection to the EU migration regime.
    Strengthening Migrant Rights in Post-Brexit Britain
  • Post financial crisis, the most persistent scapegoats for many parts of society has been migrants and refugees. Used by mass media, politicians and common people alike, the problems of Europe have been condensed in the spiteful image of the ‘others’.
    Launching “Colours of a Journey”
  • A new cultural and memory project on migration was launched on 20 June. The platform was designed to collect and exhibit paintings and illustrations – or “stories” – of refugee and migrant children who are now living in different countries of Europe.
    Racist state propaganda, migration policy and authoritarianism
  • On 2 October, a national referendum was held on the EU’s refugee quota system and Hungarian migration policy, in a climate dominated by racist state propaganda. While an overwhelming majority of voters rejected the EU's migrant quotas (98%), turnout was too low (43%) to render the poll valid. The government is still calling the referendum a success and wants to amend the Constitution accordingly.
    “Beyond the Refugee Crisis – Studying in Europe”
  • The summer school “Beyond the Refugee Crisis – Studying in Europe” was held in Olympia on 18-28 August and saw Greek university students and young refugees come together. The initiative was supported by Sia Anagnostopoulou, Greek deputy minister for education, in partnership with the European Council and with the support of the Faculty of Philosophy of Athens University.
    2nd Sabir Festival of Mediterranean Culture // Pozzallo 2016
  • The International Sabir Festival of Mediterranean Culture took place for the first time in Lampedusa in October 2014. The idea was to create a space that explores the potential social, economic and cultural dynamics around the Mediterranean, promotes a new identity for the region by combining local culture, innovative practices of hospitality and development and shifts the focus of discussion to the periphery.
    The Best Hotel in Europe
  • The City Plaza is a hotel located in the heart of Athens. It was a symbol of the Greek crisis. For years it was closed because the owner could no longer pay out wages. Today, City Plaza is open again and fully occupied. The new guests come from around the world: from Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan.
    The Renationalisation of Politics
  • An interview about the refugee crisis with Sandro Mezzadra, an expert on migration and Associate Professor of Political Theory at the University of Bologna.
    The Refugee Crisis Is Not Gender Neutral
  • Independently of the concrete threats, women are facing if they have to flee (internal displacement as well as seeking refuge in neighbouring countries or in the EU), the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is protesting against the root causes of war and violence which force them to flee.
    A left-wing refugee policy for the EU
  • Thesis 1: Century of Refugees The 21st century will be the Century of Refugees. Today, 91 percent of the migrants arriving in Greece are war refugees from countries like Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Due to civil wars and climate catastrophes many more people will be forced to leave their homes...
    Political discourses and key elements of the refugee crisis
  • The so called refugee crisis and related discursive strategies have at least four key elements, namely the conflicts of the regions from where refugees come; change in the migratory position of Europe; overall structures of European identity and related political manoeuvring, and  the direct debates over modes of handling the refugee waves.
    We need to talk about Cologne
  • Following the events that took place in Germany lately, the Greek Forum of Refugees in cooperation with ECRE and the Greek Forum of Migrants prepared a statement the following statement which we support.
    Language Matters
  • How we can be more conscious of our language on refugees and migration.
    #ausnahmslos | #noexcuses
  • Petition against sexualised violence and racism, launched by feminist bloggers, authors and activists from Germany after attacks against women in Cologne on New Years eve
    Open The Doors, No To Walls
  • After the Paris attacks, Europe is closing its borders. The volunteers of the Balkans migrants route react by proposing a European day of action on 18 December to "open the doors".
    “Europe, please act!”
  • Refugee supporting volunteer groups all over Europe demand in an open letter action of the European governments urgently.
    Back to the East?
  • The refugee crisis and immigration has opened up old divisions and created new ones between “the West” and “the East” within the European Union. How can this be understood beyond superficial media-ascribed labels?
    Europe does not have a ‘migration problem’: it has a xenophobia problem
  • This year, Europe has experienced a growing influx of people who are fleeing from civil wars and failed states. According to the International Organization for Migration, approximately 350,000 people arrived in Europe by sea between January and August 2015 (compared to 219,000 for the whole of 2014): nearly 235,000 in crisis-ridden Greece, 114,000 in Italy and little over 2,000 in Spain.
    Refugee crisis and Hungary
  • Before the current refugee crisis Hungary’s immigration policy focused on the fight against illegal migration, but an explicit overall migration strategy was blatantly lacking.
    Freedom Not Frontex
  • The “March for Freedom” marched for one month against the EU’s migration and border regime from Strasbourg to Brussels, where 400 activists have met in an Action Camp. There are protests in many countries, the refugee movement is transnational.
    Lampedusa: Stop fighting refugees!
  • The European Left Party (EL) is horrified and deeply concerned by the tragic deaths of at least 300 refugees in the Mediterranean close to the island of Lampedusa.
    Fires at the Periphery of Stockholm
  • Mid May, Stockholm suburbs have been ablaze with fires. Cars have been torched in suburbs around the city and when the fire-fighters and police arrive they have been met by youths throwing stones. Why this? Why now? How come in Sweden?
    Strawberry Fields in Greece: Exploitation and Racism
  • At least 28 strawberry field workers from Bangladesh were transferred to hospital with injuries on 17 May after being shot by the “foremen” of their employer. The incident occurred at 6 p.m. on the 41st kilometer of the highway between Patras and Pyrgos in Peloponnese.
    Regarding "The Return Directive"
  • Letter from Evo Morales regarding proposed new European Union Immigration policies: Until the end of the Second World War, Europe was a continent of emigrants. Tens of millions of Europeans came to the Americas to colonize, escape hunger, financial crisis, wars, European totalitarianisms and the...

Publication

    At the Heart of Fortress Europe
  • The study provides a broad mapping of Austrian-based multilateral cooperation, actors, and or­ganisations that are heavily involved in EU border externalisation policies far beyond Austrian borders – and therefore in the violent and sometimes lethal approach to people on the move.
    The Militarisation of the European Union
  • Since the Brexit decision, the only political project that the neoliberal elites in the EU and its member states are pursuing is the multidimensional militarisation of the EU. In this situation, transform! europe has gathered a collective of authors to stimulate discussion among European left parties and movements about this daring development.
    For a New Approach to Migration
  • There is a need to construct a new narrative for the issue of migration in order to move away from the populist and right-wing discourse which is being spread across Europe, by placing migration in its correct historical and geographical context so as to remove the negative portrayal of migration which feeds people’s fears.

Calendar

    2021 MICAR
  • This year’s edition of the anti-racist international film festival MICAR focuses on decolonisation and memory, to make visible the voices and bodies of those whose memories and visions have been kept in the fringes.
    The Horizon of Black Lives Matter
  • Co-organised by transform! europe, this webinar is dedicated to the question on how Black Lives Matter (BLM) can connect with Marxist Feminism in a global perspective. Watch the full video.
    Greek Refugee Camps and the Covid-19 Crisis
  • Κaterina Anastasiou, transform! europe, discussed with the Director of Amnesty International Greece and the activist of the civil society rescue mission Mediterranea:saving humans, on the current life-threatening situation for refugees and migrants in Greece. Watch the full webinar.

Webinars

    Pushbacks at the EU Borders. Legal Litigation as Activism
  • This is the first edition of the webinar series “Resisting the normalization of Pushbacks”. We will discuss different cases of legal litigation against documented pushbacks all across Europe and explore the strategic importance of documentation and legal mitigation for stopping these inhumane practices.
    Othering the Other: Migration and Media Disinformation
  • In this webinar we will discuss the nexus between fake news, misinformation and migration. We will explore the impact of fake news in the migration discourse, and also give insights on the mechanics of fake news and how they are weaponized by far right and fascist groups.
    The Horizon of Black Lives Matter
  • Co-organised by transform! europe, this webinar is dedicated to the question on how Black Lives Matter (BLM) can connect with Marxist Feminism in a global perspective. Watch the full video.
    Greek Refugee Camps and the Covid-19 Crisis
  • Κaterina Anastasiou, transform! europe, discussed with the Director of Amnesty International Greece and the activist of the civil society rescue mission Mediterranea:saving humans, on the current life-threatening situation for refugees and migrants in Greece. Watch the full webinar.