Horgoš, Serbia: Banner Drop in Support of Prison Strike

Submitted to It’s Going Down

In the northern plains of Serbia, at the gates of Europe, stands a fortress wall equipped with heat cameras, towers, attack dogs, concertina wire (the bastards), drones, police, military and racist militias. In the shadow of this wall are informal camps made up of people desiring to reach safer places but unable to do so. They must wait months for the Hungarian government to process their application at the border in “transit zones”. Here, applicants are held captive in shipping containers for up to 28 days, being occasionally questioned and otherwise unable to leave. The only interaction with the outside world consists of few acts of solidarity from people who are on the other side, also waiting for their chance to enter the containers. Those wishing to legally enter Europe must follow this procedure. For those who refuse this as their only option, they can turn to smugglers or find other ways through the fence. Once in Hungary, the fastest runner does not always succeed: pepper spray, dogs and man hunters leave few unscathed. In the face of all of this repression, self organization is still sprouting up in the most unexpected  manners, especially in informal camps.

A march from Belgrade, a hunger strike and a refusal to rely on the inadequate handouts of NGOs; the struggle against closed borders continues. The system that keeps people apart profits politically and economically from this exclusion but the will to move freely is stronger than their walls and cannot be stopped. The hypocrisy of the European border regime manifests itself in places where its rhetoric full of promises about a freer world is put to test with a reality where only certain sections of society can afford this freedom, especially those who possess documents or capital. This is a struggle against oppression and inequality that connects people regardless of nationality and status. We stand in solidarity with those striking against the profiteers of slave labor, against the European border regime, for a future without walls, without prisons!

Love and solidarity from Serbia!