Structural Violence
This year some activists have been in the Balkan talking to refugees who are trying to enter the EU for several months already, and all they face is violence.
They told them about the police violence in different countries they passed through, about the border violence at all borders which they tried to cross several times and the systematical push backs, about the state violence in places where they tried to get some rest like in Belgrade. In Belgrade they experienced segregation between them and local people in the way that they were totally ignored through the citizens of Belgrade. This was another form of violence, a mental violence; the feeling of not existing, having nothing to do all day for several months, just waiting for a next possibility to cross a border.
Life full of violence
Most people we have met in Belgrade have fled their countries because of violence. Two boys of 16 and 17 years told us about their experiences and lives in Afghanistan, in the provinces Pishawar and Baghlan. They told about different powers in this country: The Afghan government and army, the Taliban, American Forces and Dahesh (IS) to mention the most well-known. For these players, the country is just a place to demonstrate their power, a place were lives of other people don’t matter.
By telling the story of their lives, the two boys showed how inhuman live in Afghanistan is, always in fear of aggression, loss and death. Reports of the UN show that there were more than 1 million refugees in and outside of Afghanistan in 2016. These boys are still not safe and there is not much hope for them to get asylum and to have the opportunity to start their lives here, because Afghanistan is still classified as a safe country.
We need to stop this war,
we need to stop sending people back to this war,
we need to stop deportations!
Stop war, stop weapon trade, the enemy is capitalism!