Stolwijk, December 18, 2015 - Since seven o'clock this morning Activists of the Anarchist Anti-deportation Group Utrecht hold the roof of construction company De Vries & Verburg in Stolwijk (The Vaartland 8-10) occupied. A large banner ("De Vries en Verburg, Blood Money, Kampzeist.nl") has been suspended on the wall, which is easily visible from the nearby N207. The action is a protest against the construction by the company of a family prison for refugees at Kamp Zeist in Soesterberg and takes place in the framework of the International Day of Action for the Rights of Migrants and Refugees.
The action is part of a campaign of AAGU against the construction of the so-called Closed Family Facility (GGV), a prison for refugee families and unaccompanied minor refugees. It is currently being built on the grounds of detention center Kamp Zeist in Soesterberg. At the moment a temporary GGV is in use, where during the first year 128 children have been locked up. 72 of them are deported.
The government presents the GGV as 'child-friendly', but rather does not want to mention that it is indeed a prison, surrounded by fences within five meter high walls, which will be surrounded again by prison fence with livewire and camera surveillance. The detention of children, under whatever circumstances, causes great damage to them in any case, as several studies have found.
A spokesman for AAGU says: "We have unsuccessfully approached construction company De Vries en Verburg in many ways to tell them to stop the construction of this prison. Thursday last week it was approached from all sides again digitally to call for them to stop the construction, but even then there was no response. With this action we expose the social and sustainable image of the company and show the true, only profit-oriented nature to the many passers-by. "
For AAGU it is paramount that refugees should not be locked up. People who leave their homes, fleeing war, violence, hunger, poverty, exploitation and / or suppression should be able to count on a warm reception. The international day of action today emphasizes that every human being should have the right to freedom of movement and that no human being is illegal.
Activists of AAGU will continue to oppose borders and states and work for an end to capitalism, which is at the basis of so much misery in the world that forces people to flee.
