Interview with No Border Camp Participant

Photo by Panda at Indybay see more here

What is the No Borders Camp?

No Borders Camps are action camps and temporary autonomous zones meant to challenge neo-liberal capitalism, border militarization, and migration controls. The first No Border Camp took place in Europe in the late 1990s, and there have been many No Borders Camps since in Europe, Oceania and elsewhere. In 2007 there were No Border Camps in Ukraine in August and in the UK in September. There is a No Borders Camp planned for the 5th – 11th of November in Calexico, California and Mexicali, Mexico. This will be the first No Borders Camp in North America, and the first one to take place simultaneoulsy on both sides of an international border.

What is the goal of the No Borders Camp?

The goals of the camp are multiple. This is an experiment, a spectacular intervention in a discourse that at times ignores and at other times justifies the systematic violence and exploitation experienced by migrant and indigenous peoples the world over. The No Borders Camp is not just about the U.S. / Mexico border, but all borders that divide and control people. It is about a regime that allows the free flow of capital while dividing families, forcing people underground and limiting their movement.

At the No Borders Camp we intend to manifest our resistance to this regime, as well as share and develop strategies for the long haul. We intend to learn from one another, from the struggles that are already underway and the ways these can be supported and expanded. We intend to have fun, to develop alliances and friendships. We intend to dream together, and transform our ideas about what is possible. We intend to create a world without repression, without exploitation, and without borders.