Open Rotterdam item #
Via openrotterdam.nl:
A demonstration was held at Schouwburgplein against the decision of the House
of Representatives to criminalize helping undocumented people. About five
hundred people gathered to make their voices heard. Wim Wiegman was there and
filmed speakers Michelle van Tongerloo and Mustapha Eaisaouiyen.Mustapha Eaisaouiyen from BuurToren says: “BuurToren, our collective of
volunteers and various organizations, works together on housing for people in
vulnerable positions. We do this from the conviction that every person has
the right to dignity, warmth and a place to catch their breath. We are
gathered here today out of love for humanity.” During the protest, slogans
rang out such as: “010 must see us” and “No borders, no nation, no
deportation” and “No human is illegal”.Want to know more about the demonstration? Read about it at
Rijnmond.
Speech Mustapha #
Good afternoon everyone, my name is Mustapha Eaisaouiyen and I am here on
behalf of BuurToren. BuurToren is a collective of volunteers and institutions
who work together on housing for people in vulnerable positions.
We do this from the conviction that every person has the right to dignity,
warmth and a place to catch their breath. BuurToren was born after the protest
against the abolition of the Bed-Bath-Bread scheme. We are committed
Rotterdammers who take matters into our own hands and will not wait for the
government to do something meaningful for people who have been made vulnerable.
Our goal is to eventually house homeless and undocumented people. We don’t just
want to offer them coffee, soup or a warm meal, but above all also attention,
humanity and space to find peace. Because every person must be seen and
treated as a human being. And that brings me to the title of our story.
No human is illegal.
We are gathered here today, not out of fear, not out of hate, but out of love
for humanity.
Because let’s be clear: criminalizing illegality, criminalizing people who out
of solidarity offer help to our fellow citizens, is a violation of everything
it means to be human.
We see dangerous diversionary maneuvers here. They want to pull votes on the
backs of people in the most vulnerable position. They hunt people who already
have no voice, people who have been afraid for years, people who live in
uncertainty, people who can’t go anywhere, people who had to flee, people who
are exploited, people who are robbed of their fundamental rights, people who
had the courage to dream of a dignified existence.
They want to conquer seats on the backs of those who have nothing, and they
dare to sell it as ‘order and safety’.
But I tell you: It is not order if it is based on dehumanization. It is not
safety if it is based on hate, xenophobia and exclusion.
So where is civilization?
Where is civilization when we label people, who only want to breathe, who only
want to live, who only want to lead a dignified existence, as criminals purely
because they don’t have the right papers? Where is civilization when we
prosecute a parent who gives a child food, when we prosecute a friend who
offers shelter, a teacher who teaches, when we prosecute these humanitarian
helpers as criminals? Where is civilization when family reunification is made
impossible, when families are torn apart, when children grow up without
parents, because a cold and inhuman policy says: “You are not allowed to be
here”?
No human is illegal
We know what happens then: people are made even more vulnerable, they are
driven into the hands of human traffickers, of exploiters, who see profit in
their despair. And soon, yes soon, then we get an underground network of people
who help others flee from the injustice, from the dehumanization that this law
itself causes, because we prefer to put people behind bars rather than be human
ourselves and see other people as human. Where and when have we seen this
dehumanization before? Why does history keep repeating itself?
And I ask you: what kind of society is that?
Because no human is illegal.
Because the earth knows no borders. Humanity is greater than any national
border. We need courageous people. Not just politicians, but also you, here,
today, and tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and every day. We need people
who say: “I am not afraid to be in solidarity. I am not afraid to be humane. I
am not afraid to help those who need help.” We need people who refuse to watch
how others are criminalized because they give them bread, give them a bed, give
them a hand, give them a voice.
We must be their voice.
They have a voice, but don’t get space to let it be heard. They are afraid that
a word, a glance, a question, can lead to imprisonment and deportation.
So we must speak.
We must tell the truth: that we welcome people, that we treat people with
respect. That we treat people with dignity simply because they are human.
No human is illegal.
No person deserves to live in fear. No person deserves to be separated from
their child. No person deserves to disappear behind bars due to the lack of
papers, without anyone standing up for their existence.
Where is the decency? Where is the honesty? Where is the solidarity? I will
tell you where: Here. Here in this beautiful city. Here in our actions. Here in
our choices to stand up and say: “Enough is enough.”
We must show that we are more numerous. That there is no place for hate and
destruction, no place for dehumanization and exclusion, no place for policies
that scapegoat people who are only trying to live.
We choose love, dignity and justice. We choose truth over lies. We choose
solidarity over fear.
And we don’t just do this today. We do this tomorrow. And the day after
tomorrow. Next week, next month. As long as it is necessary.
Because as long as there are people who live in fear, as long as there are
people who don’t dare to speak, as long as there are people who are afraid to
go to a doctor because they are undocumented, as long as it is up to us to
stand up and say:
No human is illegal.
And helping, showing love, being in solidarity, may and will never, ever, be
a crime.
Stand up, speak out, and let us together put a stop to this dehumanization.
Because we, we are the ones who build civilization by holding each other, by
protecting each other, by never forgetting that every person is a human being.
No human is illegal
Thank you all.