In 2017, in the rural forest in Brazil, the collective Agentes Agroflorestais Quilombolas (AAQ) was born. As a unity of young quilombolas, they are following in the footsteps of their older leaders who preceded them in the fight for land and territory. They take actions to resist the human rights and environmental violations committed against them by the public authorities and governments.
The National Department of Transport Infrastructure (DNIT) of the Brazilian government has attempted to extend a highway passing through the lands of the quilombolas, a population of black men and women kidnapped in Guinea Bissau in the 18th and 19th centuries and enslaved in Maranhão by Irish invaders. This highway invaded their lands in 1940, and now the Brazilian government wants to extend it to increase the flow of soy and ore production to Europe, Japan and China. The construction work began without the quilombolas being consulted. Trees were felled, streams were silted, houses were damaged and people were threatened by government agents.
Through direct action, the AAQ stopped the machines in 2017, and through justice, they suspended building permits in 2018. Now, with the election of the fascist president Jair Bolsonaro, DNIT wants to complete the extension of the highway. If that happens, we will face the destruction of the quilombola culture. Over 2.000 people will be expelled from their lands, and their centennial way of life will be destroyed to feed transnational capital with their bodies and natural resources.
In order to stop this, the AAQ took direct political action by taking 200 young black quilombola to camp for three days at a public agency in the city of São Luís, capital of the state of Maranhão. The purpose of the camp was to draw national and international attention to the threat of environmental and institutional racism and to prevent extension of the highway through political pressure.
Het Actiefonds supports AAQ in their fight for their rights! Stay informed and follow their actions through their website and follow their Instagram page for updates and videos on the matter.
The LGBTQIA+ community in Kenya faces extreme violence. The government does not know how to handle the situation. Activists take to the streets to protect the community.
Homophobia
In June 2019, Nairobi police lifted a group of 76 LGBTQIA+ refugees from their beds in the middle of the night. The refugees were put on a bus and taken with a police escort to refugee camps miles away from the city. The police had failed to guarantee the safety of the refugees and had therefore decided to move them elsewhere. But the camps where the refugees were taken were the same ones they had fled a few months earlier. After a few extremely violent incidents, the organization had indicated once again that they could not guarantee their safety. However, the police did not care about that.
“Everywhere we have lived we have faced homophobia. We no longer know where we can flee, ”said one of the members of the group in an interview with the BBC.
Petition
Unfortunately, this powerlessness and violence are not unknown to the LGBTQIA+ community in Kenya. There doesn’t seem to be a safe place for them anywhere. The government responds to this as in the example above: by means of forced relocations to other camps. But as said, the LGBTQIA+ community is not safe there either.
The Community Support Initiative for Refugees (COSIR) takes action against this. They will hold a petition and have it signed by various social organizations. Through two different marches, they will offer the petition to the responsible government agencies in the hope that the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community will be better guaranteed. They do all this with the support of Het Actiefonds.
Photo: United Nations Photo at https://bit.ly/37NyrBZ from Flickr / CC BY-SA
Het Actiefonds supports Sounds of Silence in their protest to show solidarity with the ongoing revolution in Sudan.
A silent protest will be held to raise awareness for the current situation in Sudan. Actiongroup Sounds of Silence invites everyone to gather at Vredenburgplein this afternoon to protest against the inhumane circumstances for Sudanese refugees. They are kept in temporary custody in The Netherlands, awaiting their eviction to unsafe territories.
Even though the Sudanese political situation has changed in the past year, no actual improvements were made for the living conditions of the civilians. Violence and corruption are still thriving and anti-government protesters find themselves in life-threatening situations. This afternoon at Vredenburgplein we will show solidarity with the ongoing revolution in Sudan.
Please wear your facemask to the protest and dress in white to make a strong visual statement.
On June 19th 2020, action groups We Promise, Building the Baileo and Dekolonisatie Netwerk voormalig Nederlands Indië organised a peaceful demonstration for the removal of the statue of Jan Pieterszoon Coen in Hoorn. Het Actiefonds supported this demonstration.
J.P. Coen is one of the many controversial VOC leaders and is falsely revered as a national hero. Since 1607 he established a violent trade monopoly in the Indonesian Banda Islands and is responsible for the murder of about 14,000 Bandanese. His nickname “The Slaughterer of Banda” illustrates a painful picture of these atrocities. The city of Hoorn has been campaigning for decades to have this statue removed, but the Municipality of Hoorn continues to maintain it. This demonstration is therefore a continuation of a long struggle against colonial glorification and racism.
Hundreds of protesters gathered last Friday to speak up and request the Municipality of Hoorn to remove this image. Despite some uproar caused by rioters who had nothing to do with the demonstration, the protest has been widely covered in the media. Hopefully this will lead to the eventual realisation of the removal of this statue.
The protests against the statues of controversial ‘heroes’ are an extension of the worldwide Black Lives Matter movement. In the fight against systematic racism, the question arises why Dutch colonialists are still glorified on a pedestal in public space. The fact that the protesters are dealing with so much resistance, proves how the glorification of the Dutch colonial past is still deeply rooted in our society.
Het Actiefonds urges everybody to continue to speak up against racism. This battle is not over yet.
In The Netherlands shelters are over-capacity, asylum procedures are temporarily stopped, and there is a shortage of protective means against the corona virus. In other European countries the situation is often worse. Also before the outbreak of the coronavirus was the oppression of refugees and migrants a daily reality. On World Refugee Day (20 June) a protest was organised in Amsterdam for solidary and humane asylum policies.
The spread of the coronavirus has put refugees under pressure in The Netherlands. Since March 19th the Dutch borders have officially been closed for non-necessary travels for people outside of the EU. At the same time, asylum procedures were stopped and shelters were closed. Refugees that needed a place to stay could move in emergency shelters, although they were not allowed to leave the premises nor to welcome visitors (read: detention).
Aside from organising emergency shelters, the Dutch government barely took action to guarantee a safe living environment for refugees. There has been a shortage of protective means in shelters, and people are living closely together. The Dutch immigration office started only recently with testing telephonic procedures with asylum seekers.
From the onset of the coronavirus, the Dutch government pushed inhumane asylum policies. There is a widespread fear that the recent measurements will only be partially reversed in the future. Meanwhile asylum policies have been under scrutiny for years, due to major budget cuts in 2017. At the beginning of March this year almost nine thousand refugees were waiting to start their asylum procedure for longer than allowed, which on top costs the government tens of millions of Euros (source: Trouw). Moreover, there has been controversy on topics of unfair asylum procedures and inhumane living conditions in shelters.
The deteriorating asylum governance is symptomatic for the systemic oppression of migrants and refugees in the postcolonial world orde. This oppression is partially legitimised by representation. Since the “refugee crisis” of 2015, the public discussion around asylum procedures and refugees heightened. In newspapers, rapports, books and party lines, specific images, symbols and words led to an increased “de-humanisation” of refugees.
Illustratively, the word “crisis” suggests an abnormal situation in which the government is legitimised in unlawful practices, in the interest of public safety. In a similar vein, an expression such as “a wave of refugees” that “floods the country” suggest that the nation-state is being threatened by an uncontrollable, non-human force of nature; a natural disaster. Such imaginaries caused asylum policies throughout Europe to focus on decreasing the risk of migration as much as possible, creating a European Fortress. Guaranteeing human rights was something that got shoved to the back.
De-humanising imaginaries played an important part in shaping asylum policies and procedures in The Netherlands. They legitimised indirectly both the budget cuts of the Dutch immigration service as well as the recent measurements taken during the spread of the coronavirus. In other European countries refugees often face even more criminalisation and violence, in impoverished and harsh environments.
On World Refugee Day (20-06-’20) a demonstration took place for truly humane asylum procedures, on Museumplein in Amsterdam. Het Actiefonds supported the organisation, so that flyers could be distributed. Especially not that refugees are put under increased pressure due to the coronavirus, we call to replace the violence against migrants with solidarity.
Since the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis, there has been a surge in public outrage in the US. For weeks protesters have been rising up against institutional racism. Also in The Netherlands a number of demonstrations took place. Black Lives Matter Wageningen organised one on the 14th of June in solidarity with the global movement, and to attract attention to the necessity of truly inclusive municipal policies.
The organisation of Black Lives Matter Wageningen points out that, despite differences between the US and The Netherlands, institutional racism is also a Dutch problem. It is manifested in a tax-related affair where Dutch people with a double nationality (read: non-white citizens) were subject to additional checks. Moreover, ethnic profiling causes non-white citizens to be systematically discriminated against on the labour market.
At the same time, extreme right-wing views have gained momentum in recent years, also gaining popularity within conventional political institutions. Therefore, Black Lives Matter Wageningen is also protesting against the normalisation of extreme right-wing ideals, for truly inclusive policies for the society as a whole.
More than a thousand people attended the demonstration in Skatepark Noordwest. The organisation marked the grass so that people could follow the COVID-19 guidelines. Het Actiefonds supported hiring first-aid support, walkie-talkies, transport and sound equipment.
A day after the protest the municipal office of Wageningen announced to give in to some of the demands made, by abolishing blackface practices during the parade of the national holiday of St Nicholas.
Black Lives Matter Wageningen will continue to be active by joining ThuisWageningen, a community of organisations and individuals that promote a sustainable, inclusive city. Regularly workshops, concerts and lectures are organised, to bring together people and promote progressive voices in Wageningen.
The COVID-19 pandemic shows that fundamental change is necessary. But it depends on the actions that are taken now if we will be able to create a better society. Activism is now more important than ever.
Although the virus is a natural disaster, it is global capitalism that undermines our health and makes us extremely vulnerable to economic crises. We must put people before profits again, during and after this crisis.
The exploitation of nature causes enormous harm to the planet and to ourselves. To prevent this situation from getting even worse, we need urgent climate action now.
Everywhere in the world authoritarian leaders are misusing the state of emergency to crush democracy. We need to keep on fighting for everybody’s right to health but also to freedom.
Poor people and refugees were already vulnerable, but they are even more so in this pandemic. Any real solution to this crisis is unthinkable without true international solidarity.
In this moment we need activism more than ever. We have to make sure that the world after corona will be better than before. But how to change the world in times of crisis?
In the coming weeks we will present new activist perspectives on the COVID-19 crisis – and what we should do about it. For now please read our statement on this matter here.
Brandalism is a collective of artists that fights against the dominance of commercial propaganda in public spaces. Smart advertising campaigns of corporations are seducing consumers to consume more and more. This while over-consumption, especially in the west, is one of the biggest contributors to climate change and the destruction of our planet. The Brandalism group takes creative action against the advertising campaigns of big corporations.
With the financial support of Het Actiefonds, Brandalism is launching a new creative campaign in September. The car industry is one of the biggest advertisers and it is also one of the biggest polluters. Despite the enormous CO2 emissions of car manufacturers, carmakers still have access to all public spaces to advertise their products. Due to the smart advertising campaigns of the automotive industry, their products are still seen as a status symbol. The creative subvertising campaign of Brandalism must change that.
In five different cities in the United Kingdom, the artists of Brandalism are going to tell the true story of the car industry, the story the car industry is conveniently trying to conceal for its consumers: namely that the products they produce are extremely harmful to humans, animals, and the environment. Starting in September the work of Brandalism will be displayed in public spaces in Bristol, Cardiff, Manchester, London, and Sheffield.
In 1996, a group of activists and ecologists started the collective Ecoton, out of their concerns about the pollution of Indonesian rivers. The group is involved in research and develops educational programs to educate a wider audience about the dangers of polluted rivers in Indonesia. The primary focus of Ecoton is the river Brantas in East Java.
The Indonesian government imports paper waste from the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Since 2014, the import of paper from the United States has increased by 550%. However, research of Ecoton has shown that the imported bales of paper contain 30 to 40 percent of plastic waste.
Despite the fact that the Indonesian government has adopted a law that prohibits importing plastic waste, the Indonesian state continues to import ‘paper’ bales from rich countries. Most of the imported plastic waste that is imported is either burned or dumped. As a result of this illegal dumping most – if not all – rivers in Indonesia are polluted with plastic. Research of Ecoton shows that 80% of the fish in the Brantas River have plastic in their stomachs.
To demonstrate against the plastic waste import and the dumping of plastic Ecoton is building a big fish statue from the plastic found in the Brantas River. They will use this creative construction at their demonstrations at the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry. Furthermore, Ecoton is planning to make a film about their project to display at universities and other public spaces to educate a wider audience about the contamination of rivers in Indonesia.
Since the summer of 2018 locals of two small villages Jermuk and Gndevaz in Armenia have blocked all the access roads to the Amulsar goldmine, preventing the owners of the mine, Lydian International, from exploiting it. Het Actiefonds supports the activists in their effort to prevent Lydian International from exploitation of the Amulsar goldmine.
Nearby the village Jermuk, gold was discovered 12 years ago. The plans of Lydian International to start exploiting the Amulsar goldmine have led to much protest of local communities. Locals fear that the exploitation of the goldmine will have negative consequences for their food and water supply, the wildlife of this region and tourism. These concerns are justified. Armenia has a long history of controversial incidents in the mining industry. The mining industry is one of the most corrupt sectors of Armenia and in the past, many projects of mining companies have heavily damaged the environment.
The inhabitants of Jermuk and Gndevaz demand from the Armenian government to reconsider the permission granted by the previous administration to the mining company.
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