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.

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.

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.

Imageries

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.

World Refugee Day

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.

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.

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.

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.

‘Paper’ waste

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.

Artistic protest

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.

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.

The Forest Rights Act.

In 2006 the Indian parliament adopted the Forest Rights Act. This law was passed to protect the indigenous people of India against forced expropriation of forests and to compensate them for past injustices. However recently the Supreme Court of India has ruled in favor of wildlife organizations, who claim that the presence of indigenous people in the forests is harmful to the protected forests of India. This court ruling also has significant consequences for the indigenous people of other states in India. Due to this court order, indigenous communities of other states can also be forced to leave the forests where they have existed for centuries.

Unfounded

The claim of the Indian wildlife organizations, about the presence of indigenous communities supposedly threatening the Indian forests, is groundless. The biggest threat to the forests and wildlife in India are still the Indian government and companies, who are cutting the forests for their natural resources.

Protest

On 11 August, the group is organizing a cultural event where they will sing traditional songs to protest against the planned eviction of the Adivasi communities from the forests of Jharkhand.

By mid-2018, 123 social leaders had already been killed: the majority of them belonged to indigenous or campesino groups, and were engaged in the fight for natural resources and territories. The Tejuntas organization (Tejido Juvenil Nacional Transformando a la Sociedad) is taking action. Founded in 2011, the group is the result of a meeting of around 300 young people in Marinilla, all of whom wanted to fight for democracy and peace.

The aim of the action “La paz está en rojo” (Peace is colored red) is to raise awareness of this desperate situation, and demand that human rights be respected in the country. The conflict situation renders any democratic process of peace and social justice in Colombia impossible. The justice system makes no effort to adequately investigate the murders.

To generate media attention, the activists are taking direct action in the public space of Medellín, in a very creative way. They’re making dolls that are clearly recognizable as social leaders, and hanging them on traffic lights throughout the city. This way they reach the millions of people who pass these traffic lights every day.

This is part of a national campaign called “Ser Líder Social No Es un Delito” (It is not a crime to be a social leader). Taking action against these tragic crimes is desperately needed. According to a study conducted by the National Consulting Center and Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement, between January 2016 and June 2018 no fewer than 311 people were killed for their commitment to human rights and peace. Het Actiefonds supports Tejuntas, because social leaders and human rights defenders must be free and safe to do their important work!