Three weeks ago, many of us gathered at the Markt under the slogan “Welcome Refugees, stop racism!” to protest against fortress Europe, the severe violence against refugees at the Greek-Turkish border and the inhumane conditions in refugee camps. Today, this feels far away, as our timelines and newsflashes are bombarded with Corona-Updates and public life seems to stand still.
This humanitarian catastrophe might have disappeared from our minds, but it continues for those seeking refuge at Europe’s external borders and in fact, it only got worse. On Lesbos’s Camp Moria alone, over 20,000 people live in a camp built to accommodate only 3,000. Quarantine, hand-washing or social-distancing are essential at this moment, but if you live in Moria, none of this is possible. These people are threatened with infection, faced with a lack of humanitarian care, and left to their fate. If the virus breaks out in such a camp, it will be almost impossible to stop it from spreading. The virus does not differentiate according to skin colour, religion or gender. COVID-19 affects us all.
We can only fight this crisis with solidarity. In Maastricht, people go shopping for the elderly and offer help to their neighbours, because we know that this virus will hit especially hard for the weakest of our society. It’s time to extend that solidarity to an international level – because you can’t stay home, if there is no home. This goes for homeless people in Maastricht as much as for refugees.
If our governments are able to mobilise billions of Euros to save corporations in times of crisis, it is undeniable that they have the resources to evacuate 42,000 refugees from overcrowded camps into safe accommodations.
CALL FOR ACTION:
To show our solidarity and demand governments to act, let’s organise the first city-wide banner drop in Maastricht’s history! This Sunday, get together with your roomies or cats, paint a beautiful banner with a slogan of your choice (inspiration below) and the campaign hashtag #leavenoonebehind and hang it out of your window at 15:00. Please share pictures of your banner in this event!
Together, we can show once more that #RefugeesAreWelcomeHere and that the fate of refugees all over the planet is not forgotten in times of quarantine.
Stay healthy and stay politically active, now more than ever!
PLEASE ALSO SIGN AND SHARE THE PETITION: https://www.change.org/p/leavenoonebehind-prevent-the-corona-catastrophe-now-also-at-the-external-borders