<m2m-eng> M2M Webcast from Court on Schiphol Fire, Amsterdam August 10-14
Jo van der Spek M2M
jo at xs4all.nl
Sun Aug 9 12:37:58 CEST 2009
Announcement from M2M, Migrant to Migrant and All Included Amsterdam,
Holland:
Campaign FREE AHMED ISA:
Survivors of the Schiphol Fire demand freedom for Ahmed Issa
The trial of the Schiphol Fire is a test case for human rights in The
Netherlands
M2M Radio will be reporting live from the Court in Amsterdam (Prinsengracht
426)
Join the live stream from Monday 10th of August 9.30 a.m. till 5 p.m. every
day until Friday 14th
Go to: http://m2m.streamtime.org
Together with survivors and relatives of the Schiphol People, M2M and All
Included initiated a campaign to claim freedom for Ahmed Isa and justice for
all survivors of the fire.
Eleven migrants died during a fire in Block K of the detention complex
Schiphol East (on the Airport of Amsterdam) in the night of 26-27 October
2005. The inmates of Block K and J were transferred to other Dutch prisons,
most of the 300 detainees were deported after the fire. One of the victims
of the fire, Ahmed Issa, was sentenced to three years in prison by the Court
of Haarlem in 2007. From August 10 until 14 the High Court of Amsterdam
deals with his appeal.
The survivors of the fire will will express their solidarity with Ahmed Issa
("Everybody in Block K smoked, so we are all guilty") with a collective
statement to the judges by Mrs. Gladys Toekaja, mother of the deceased
Robert Arah on Wednesday 12th at 9.30 a.m.
The Dutch authorities are putting all the blame of Ahmed Issa claiming that
his cigarette started the fire. The Dutch government is responsible for
building this prison and is also responsible for the well being and safety
of the inmates. They try to evade their shame by using Ahmed Issa as their
scape goat. The disaster was not caused by a cigarette, but by a sustained
policy of criminalising irregular migrants, neglecting and violating safety
regulations.
The Security Board, an independent investigative body established the fact
the there would have been ¨no or less¨ casualties, if the authorities had
complied with their own safety regulations. The deportation and detention
complex Schiphol-East was built as expeditiously and cheaply as possible to
satisfy the political clamour to create a large number of low-cost cells at
the earliest possible notice. The complex was made of containers and meant
to keep drug swallowers in custody for only a few days. But up to this day,
irregular migrants are being held here, sometimes for more than a year.
Safety was not an issue: efficiency was key. The fire at Schiphol thus shows
the true face of Dutch immigration policies in all its horror.
The M2M Foundation promotes free communication of migrants and seeks to
demonstrate that there are better ways of approaching the realities of
global migration issues: Look with us, not at us. All included. No borders
between us!
If you want to support this campaign financially, please donate to:
ING Bank 4864527 All Included, Amsterdam, ref. Free Ahmed Issa
If you want to support M2M, Migrant to Migrant and empower the victims of
the Schiphol fire, please donate to:
39.02.71.918 Stichting M2M, Amsterdam
Triodos Bank, Postbus 55, 3700 AB Zeist
IBAN: NL03 TRIO 0390 2719 18
BIC: TRIONL2U
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