* MANIFEST * MANIFEST * MANIFEST * MANIFEST * MANIFEST
NO BORDER IS FOREVER
One's own freedom is self-evident, yet it should remain unattainable for others. They should stay where they are, not remind us why we can live the way we do or why we have to share, yet are so happy to look the other way. And still they dare to come to Europe!
"We are here because you are destroying our countries", is what refugees have been saying for years now.
In the face of the climate crisis and wars, nothing could be more obvious: Some are allowed to move freely, to emigrate, to visit family. Others should stay where they are, even if all hell breaks loose.
The right to freedom of movement, which is actually a matter of course, is developing into one of the most bizarre discussions of our time. A discussion that is perhaps threatening our democracy itself.
Nothing seems more important to Europe's politicians today than stopping the unwelcome. But no matter what means are used to try and do so, it is impossible to close off a continent from the world.
Terms such as "remigration" are used, even in public discourse, and right-wing rhetoric is becoming acceptable. The centrist parties are buying into right-wing narratives and adopting inhumane policies. They give room to cruelty: to dying of thirst in the desert, to torture in Libya, to drowning in the Mediterranean, to pushbacks, to prisons. Everyone knows about it. And many agree.
Europe has proclaimed itself a "place of freedom, security and justice". However, filled with fear of populists, it wants to deny people precisely that today.
And the right-wing fringe wants even more: to expel even those who have lived here for a long time or were born here. Those who supposedly don't belong here should disappear. It is an unworldly wish, selfish and ignorant.
It is identity, the familiar, that refugees, migrants and people with a migration background are said to be destroying today. In reality, the desire for isolation is more likely fuelled by the fantasy of a purportedly once pure nation that never existed. This nationalism is poisoning our society. Many people seek to blame strangers for their own insecurity. Many are afraid of the future. Today, "tipping points" are not only discussed in regard to the climate.
The following organizations have joined our manifesto:
Rights can only apply to everyone. The disenfranchisement of many will, therefore, fall back on everyone. If one person's dignity is not secure, neither is that of another.
None of this goes unchallenged. Hundreds of thousands of people are standing together against it today: At sea, at borders, in towns and villages.
"We are more" has long been said. Today, we can’t be certain. However, the possibility of becoming more again has to be fought for. At our kitchen tables. On the streets. In the parliaments.
No border is forever.
