> Pressgroup Bordercamp 99
>
> Zittau, 08.08.1999 - 11 am
> Start of Anti-racist Bordercamp near Zittau, site problem now resolved
>
> The summer camp with around 500 activists of the campaign "No one is
> illegal" was launched on Saturday, 8 August, with a music parade and a
> concert. After discussions between the organisers of the camp and the
> local authorities, an old NVA (National People's Army) site was agreed
> upon as a temporary location. Today, on Sunday, the Border Camp will
> relocate from there to a field along the Goerlitzer Strasse at the
> entrance of Zittau. The camp organisers have thus imposed themselves
> against the will of the mayor of Zittau in the dispute about getting a
> site. During the concert on the town square of Zittau, a spokesperson
of
> the Campaign emphasised that the argument about the location of the
camp
> site was over now. "We have come to discuss how the system of
exclusion
> and border control increasingly forces people who are trying to get
into
> Europe into illegality."
>
> Whilst the bands musically tackled the themes of power, borders and
> communication, a Camp newspaper was distributed amongst interested
> passers-by. Participants in the camp include anti-racist and
> anti-fascist groups as well as musicians, internet activists, DJs and
> artists from Germany, the Czech Republic, France, the United Kingdom,
> Bulgaria, from the Ukraine and Russia as well as the organisation of
> African refugees "The Voice".
>
> A group of Polish activists was greeted at the border in the
afternoon.
> They reported on their action days at the Ukrainian-Polish border,
from
> where they had just come. During one week, the participants in the
camp
> will be present in the area where the borders between Poland, the
Czech
> Republic and Germany meet, in order to oppose their resistance to the
> border policies and to undermine a certain racist frame of mind.
> We will gladly provide interested media people with more information.
>
> Call ++49-170-953 07 83.
>