Integration starts (and ends) in the camp

To the symposium “It’s all National”, at Skuespilhuset, December 3rd, Copenhagen, 2009

by Jens Pfeifer

Integration just gives meaning when talking about integration into rights. “Real” integration should and can never be integration into a culture. Every attempt to integrate people into a “leading” culture is not integration but assimilation, and assimilation is racism. Talking about integration in Denmark,

Borsons kirke

and not just in Denmark,

Napoli / Italy

means talking about assimilation. Nation states are excluding, deporting and in the best case assimilating, but never integrating. The camps and the logic of camps includes people into the nation by excluding them and excludes them by including them.

After the camp there is just one possibility left: deportation or a forced integration into an existance as foreign assimilated citizen.

From the moment people migrate they are trapped in an insuperable jungle of rules, interests, rights and especially the lack of rights. People are located in crossfire between nation states, politics, economy, human rights, - between the individual right to free movement and the nation states’ right to control the movement. All together a system that produces and divides migrants and constructs difference between so-called legal and illegal migrants. Talking about migrants means always talking about legal and illegal migrants - as if these were two naturally ontological sizes. By naturalising terms as legal and illegal migrants we are consoling the machinery that underlies this distinction. Attributes as legal and illegal are a direct result of a long row of juridical and administrative processes. To say it directly and short, we have to understand illegality as a product of immigration laws, where illegality just determines the final result of a continuum of different legal positions. Regarding Europe the Schengen-agreement is the first normative step producing legal and potentially illegal migrants. (More to that -> Frontex). I want to point out that the Schengen borders are the place, where Europe for the first time directly and seriously shows its lethal face. (According to Fortress Europe almost 12.000t people died trying to cross the border Europe between 1998 and 2007) Illegality is an effect and/or the direct result of a row of conscious strategic decisions and not a per natura given category. Illegality is constructed. The nation state is excluding certain migrants by depriving them of their rights and depriving them of any rights has to be understood some the central moment in this process. Illegalised migration and illegalised migrants will exist as long as there exist nation states and nation states demand to decide on immigration and residence. Migrants are a danger for every nation state as migration is treating the fundamental principles on which nation states back up. The movement of immigrants confronts nation states demand on disposing over its territory with a reality, which attacks and destabilises this demand on an everyday basis.

What happens to migrants declared illegal is as said before, that they are deprived of any kind of rights. People have no rights or to say it with Agambens words, they are made to what he by referring to the ancient Rome regime calls “Homini sacri”. People that are outlawed, people that cannot be judged (because they are not part of a society) but at the same time can be killed by everyone without consequences. And there is just one place where “homini sacri” are supposed to live: in a camp. The camp as the place where the state of exception is materialized in its clearest form. Agamben states, that the camp is the absolute “bio politic” room par excellence and that its inhabitants are what he calls for “naked live”. The inhabitants of the camp are deprived of any kind of political status, and thereby directly under subjection of state power. If the situation of people is compared to the situation of “homini sacri” we are in a difficult situation. It’s difficult to see the possibilities of acting for people without rights, without any political status. That does not mean at all, that people forced into this situation are paralyzed. People are and will always be autonomous individuals that are stronger then everything else.

Lampedusa

People who are detained under inhuman conditions, deprived of everything and whose forced situation can be compared to the position of outlawed persons or to say it with Agambens words “homini sacri” are nevertheless resisting both on an every day basis and sometimes by trying to break out, burning down, destroying, fighting - revolting. A life that is declared illegal is a life where every day means resisting. Resisting to the forced life in a camp, surviving on the informal job market, or just resisting by surviving without having any rights

One example for an outbreak, a revolt against the inhuman racist system which destroys people without mercy is Thursday the 18th of February 2009:

Lampedusa / Camp

On the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, known as a gate to Europe, or better known as a place where every year thousands of people die on their way to Europe, a revolt was started by migrants who were detained in an overcrowded camp. Approximately 300 migrants were starting with a hunger strike in solidarity with 107 migrants who were to be deported. The Italian police, both military police known as Carabinieri together with the state police tried to put things in an order by using violence. The migrants reaction was an open and forceful attack on the police, an attack that was answered by the police with teargas and by using their truncheons. Mattresses, tables and everything else people could reach was set on fire. Some where able to escape from the camp by forcing the hedge and dozens of policemen where injured. (definitely not just policemen but even migrants by themselves). After this dramatically hours at least half of the buildings were destroyed, and the camp was out of use. Witnesses reported about up to ten meters high pillars of black smoke.

None of the migrants succeeded in escaping from the island. Though was the government forced to move most of the migrants to camps located on the Italian mainland due to simple fact, that Lampedusas camp was out of use. On the other hand the government started immediately deporting people back to where they are supposed to come from.

There was definitely an significant difference to other revolts in an around camps, The situation in Lampedusa was and is that severe, that even Lampedusas population who every day sees the effects of the governments rigid line against migrants is and was taking actions against these policies. Lampedusas population demonstrating for the migrants’ right to move from the island is not without ulterior motive. They want the island to be overrun by rich tourists rather than migrants. They even have a clear opinion about where the migrants should move to: as announced on a manifesto hanging in front of the town hall: “to the jails in northern Italy – there are plenty of places to be used”

Lesvos (Greece)

Another significant and perhaps even more successful attempt to fight against the inhuman reality of camps is Lesvos in August 2009.

Lesvos / Pagani

The months up to August were marked by a row of small revolts in Lesvos camp Pagani. Pagani is the name of the “reception center” of Levos. The “detention centre with a capacity of 250 people was filled with up to around 1.000 occupants. A video made in the camp by migrants with a camera smuggled into the centre showed the horrible conditions people were living under. (I’m gonna show you the video) VIDEO 2 min

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP2y...

At the same time a No Border camp took place on Levos, focusing on what was taking place on the island of Levos. The No Border camps target was to scandalise the culture of camps as such with Pagani as one of the most horrible examples. Together with Lampedusa, Levos is one of the hotspots concerning migration to Europe. Due to the fact, that the ways to Europe with help by the European agency Frontex are almost “closed”, Greece is one of the few places, people still see a possibility to come to Europe. Useless to say, that even Greece is trying to get help from Frontex, and in fact is getting help by Frontex. Back to Pagani. The revolts initiated by migrants together with actions by the No Border camp lead to some positive results. After a hunger strike 38 migrants were released from the centre. The No Border camp opened an alternative “welcome centre” for migrants who reached Levos, - An action day against Frontex took place and due to pressure from activists a representative of UNHCR in Greece visited Pagani and concluded his visit with the words “it’s totally unacceptable”. Short after the visit the UNHCR central in Geneva asked the Greek government to close the camp. The revolts started by migrants together with pressure from activists , the UNHCR and other organisations forced the Greek government to close the camp. Around 500 migrants were released from the centre with papers granting a 30 days habitation in Greece.

In this time migrants are expected to organize their return to their native country. It goes without saying, that many use their time to organize their journey to their goal destinations in Europe. A group of migrants together with No border activists stated the following demands after their release from the camp: What we want is simple. We want the right to travel in safety. (…) The normal state of arrival and travel instead of a constant state of exception. So that everyone can arrive, unpack their suitcase in peace and become a citizen of Europe, if they so desire”

As stated in the beginning: Illegalised migration and illegalised migrants will exist as long as there exist nation states and nation states demand to decide on immigration and residence. But the solution can not be to create a conglomerates of nation states, as a project as Europe does. Europe as we know it today, is a Europe of nation states. A Europe of nation states, or Europe as a nation state enlarged is dangerous and nothing more then a mirror of the lethal logic ruling today’s policies of nation states.

I just want to show a short clip about what a Europe of nation states means, and leads to: Frontex as a symptom of nationalism enlarged.

Watch the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOuF...