* MANIFESTO * MANIFESTO * MANIFESTO * MANIFEST
NO BORDER IS FOREVER
Our own freedom is self-evident, it should remain out of reach for others. Those others, they should stay where they are, not remind us why we can live as we do, why we have to share but are so happy to look the other way. And woe betide them if they dare to come to Europe anyway.
"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.
Their right to freedom of movement, which is intrinsic to life, has become one of the most damaging controversies of our time. It is a controversy that undermines democracy itself.
Nothing seems more important to Europe's politicians today than to stop those deemed unwelcome. But no matter what means are used to try and do so, it is impossible to close off a continent from the world.
Even in public discourse, we find terms such as "remigration" used, and right-wing rhetoric is becoming acceptable again. The centrist parties are buying into right-wing narratives and adopting inhumane policies. They give room to cruelty: dying of thirst in the desert; torture in Libya; drowning in the Mediterranean; pushbacks; imprisonment. Everyone knows about it. And many consent to it.
Europe proclaims itself a "place of freedom, security and justice." However, for fear of a populist takeover, it seeks to deny these things to so many people today.
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.
Refugees, migrants, and people with a migration background are said to be destroying our identity, our sense of the familiar. In truth, the desire for isolation is fueled more by the fantasy of a once “pure” nation that has in fact never existed. This nationalism poisons our society. Many people seek to scapegoat strangers for the insecurity they feel. Many are afraid of the future. Today, the discussion around "tipping points" does not only bear on the climate.
The following organizations have joined our manifesto:
Rights can only apply to all. The disenfranchisement of the many will, therefore, strike back at 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 in villages.
Long has it been said that "We are many!" Today, we can’t be certain of this. However, the possibility of becoming the many again has to be fought for. At our kitchen tables. In the streets. In the parliaments.
No border is forever.
