During Christmas, when despite the pandemic, still people will be inside their warm homes with some family present ,finding solace in eachother’s company. The thousands trapped in Moria 2.0 will not. In fact, people will not all be allowed to leave the camp. It will be closed for the holidays. The contrast is striking and the contempt is sickening.

Because the shops are not open, people would supposedly not have a reason to leave the camp. It might have more to do with the fact that the authorities do not want people to go to the city and disturb the already locked down streets of Mitillini. The clarity that this contrast provides, is rare. Mostly we see the disregard and dehumanisation of the people through subtle acts of administrative sabotage by bureaucrats, or the racial profiling and violence of the police. We see it in the way politicians continually use migrants as paws for their geopolitical and financial games. However this closing of the camp for the holiday period is a very visual and fixed example. The gate is literally closed and the camp is surrounded by fences. Fences maintained by the greek state and financed by eu money, and divised by the united nations.

We didn’t write this text to play into the familiar christmas capitalist scheme and ask people to buy off their guilt regarding relative privilege with donations. We wrote this, to make sure that this inhuman and disgusting way of treating people that are looking for safety and security is never normalised. Imprisoning people, no matter the lenght of time, be it years, months, days or even hours should never be normalized, or it’s use diminished and subsequently tolerated or even accepted in public or political discourse and practice.

This heavy and challenging year is almost at it’s end. The covid-19 situation has forced many of us to change tactics and made repression against marginalised groups evermore apperent and common. What waits in the new year will most likely not be any better for people trapped around the world. We will continue the struggle in 2021, despite the repression, as best we can. For a 2021 without borders, prisons, racism,classes, sexism or capitalism.

As always,

Get Angy. Get Organised.