The next Tuesday Night Project barbecue is on Tuesday 21st July from 6pm at Nottingham and Notts Refugee Forum (Square Centre). This month we have a Zimbabwean theme to the night as our friends from Nottingham Zimbabwean Community Network are helping to prepare and cook the food. There will be plenty of good food and music and lots to do. Any donations of cash, food or refreshments are welcome.
The barbecue is followed by a meeting organised by members of the Tuesday Night Project and No Borders Nottingham. The meeting will give a report back from Calais No Borders Camp and give an opportunity for members of the Zimbabwean community to talk about the current situation in Zimbabwe. Everyone is welcome. Hope to see you there.
To kick off Refugee Week a Public Debate ‘Speak up for refugees in Nottingham’ will take place at Speakers Corner in the Old Market Square (next to Brian Clough statue). A range of speakers from both refugee and host communities will be making their contributions to the debate. Come and join in. Venue: Speakers Corner, Old Market Square. Time: 10.30am
Latest news, 20th May, 2009: We have just heard that Sima Valand’s removal directions have been cancelled!
Sima now has a decent solicitor working on her case and the solicitor’s intervention stopped today’s removal. She has submitted fresh evidence which the Home Office are considering so hopefully, Sima won’t be at risk of removal now and can apply for bail. But if you’re poised over the fax machine about to send an appeal on Sima’s behalf to Smith, don’t let this stop you from carrying on! Sima Valand is desperately fighting to stop the Home Office sending her to India where she is at risk of murder at the hands of her in-laws. She was not flown on Fri 8th May or Wed 20th May. She remains in an immigration prison until she is bailed, to fight and hopefully win her case. More info: http://www.nottsrefugeeforum.org.uk/
International workers’ day event for 2009 will take place, Saturday May 2nd, Brewhouse Yard by Nottingham Castle. 12 noon till 4 pm, Gates open for setting up at 10 am. There will be a march around Nottingham City Centre starting in the yard plus Stalls, Speakers & Music. Bring Placards, Flags & Union Banners. As usual migrant and asylum seeker issues will be integral to Mayday because the working class has no country.
Small World Cinema event @ Sumac on Wednesday 25th March
The next Small World Cinema event at the Sumac Centre is on Wednesday 25th March which is a few days after Kurdish New Year (‘Nawroz’, which means New Day). A Kurdish refugee will show a film and provide Kurdish Vegan Food (he’s a very good cook!). Gather for food and bar from 7pm; presentation and films from 7.30.
Details on Veggies/Sumac events diary
This comes from a detainee we have come to know and who anti-deportation activists in Nottingham are supporting. Like many desperate Zimbabweans she came to the UK on Malawian passport. This is not illegal in international law if you are fleeing persecution. She narrowly escaped being removed last week due to a Home Office cock-up, but we can’t rely on another one of those. Please watch this space for more news of how to support her. We don’t want to give her name, but here is her experience? Continue reading Letter received from Zimbabwean detainee in Yarl’s Wood→
‘Full circle – from weapons to war to refugees’, the well-attended joint action of No Borders Nottingham with Shut Down Heckler & Koch in Nottingham’s Market Square has already inspired a cover story in the Brighton-based Schnews bulletin. Now it has been picked up by an anti-arms-trade organisation called the RüstungsInformationsBüro (RIB) who are based in the German city of Freiburg. The Full Circle diagram is being displayed in the RIB shop-front as a poster with title ?Tödlicher Kreislauf?, translated as ?Deadly Circle? (click on photos for full size images). The RIB asked if other peace movements and migrant support organisations can also use the Full Circle diagram. We said yes of course.
As part of his 2002 television series, comedian and activist Mark Thomas showed just how easy it is to get HK arms shipped to Zimbabwe during the supposed embargo, a grim example of the reality of Full Circle, since there are many refugees and asylum seekers from there who are seeking sanctuary in Nottingham but are under continual threat of removal. Zimbabwean protesters were amongst those who demonstrated in Nottingham Market Square, and a letter of thanks was also received from the Nottingham Zimbabwe Community Network who related the Full Circle protest to action taken by South African workers who had refused to offload a Chinese arms cache that was destined for Zimbabwe earlier this year.
So, like the global arms industry, our opposition to their ‘making a living out of killing’ is transnational. The question is, whilst anti-H&K demonstrations continue outside offices and depot on Lenton Lane, listed online as NSAF Ltd – Nottingham Small Arms Factory/Facility, when will the city and local press (who seem to be under the thumb of the police by not reporting protests apart from this paltry effort) respond properly to Nottingham’s hosting of a death-dealing company like Heckler and Koch? Continue reading ‘Full Circle’ goes international→
For freedom of movement, Against nationhood and prevention of migration by nation states, Welcoming asylum seekers and migrant workers, Against capitalist exploitation
Small World Cinema event @ Sumac on Wednesday 25th March
