“Detention Center Schiphol East, Sunday 26th of October, 7 p.m.

“Some communication is going on there”“There’s some communicacation going onsays Martin.

Night has fallen over Schiphol Airport. The landscape is dominated by all sorts of electric lightning, securing the vision of the pilots landing their planes, securing the vision of the prison personnel guarding their prisoners.  All migrants waiting to be deported. A group of activists that had been sharing the feeling all day in the commemoration and the making of the tree, had decided to walk along the fence to greet the prisoners. Finally, after the rain had stopped, the inmates came out into the cage. Some 35 men were waiting for  us, a distance of some 30 meters and two high fences keeping us apart.
“No borders, no nations, stop deportation”, the favorite yell for these occasions. But this time the yelling and shouting turned into a real conversation.

We declared:

We are here.
We love you.

And we want to help you to break out and to break down this bloody prison,
because we know as well as you do that you don’t belong in this prison.
You maybe made a mistake to come here, but that is no reason to lock you up.

We listened to our brothers speak one by one, please…

My name is Mohamed Omar Cheikh, I am from Somalia, problem place. I am here one year now. They say they not take me back, they keep me one year. Somalia problem, fight, everything. I stay here. No free, no nothing”, and then he cried.
Mamadou from Chad.
Ali, also from Somalia. Also inside the prison for one year. They keep me for nothing.
Karimian, from Baghdad. Shlonek?
Mamadou, I do 7 months, I am from Chad
Imrad Khan, from Pakistan
My name is Sayed Hassan, I am from India, I am coming here before 9 months. “The motherfuckers say, you say you want asylum? I’m coming here, I want asylum. He keeping me here in prison. After he say you are not from India.”

What is the worst that happened to you in this prison?

Mamadou from Chad asked if he could speak French. Yes of course you can!

“Ma chambre sentait pas bien.” My room didn’t smell right. he moved to another cell, but he received no mattrass. So he slept on the ground for one month. He lost his hair.
“We were put in isolation for talking with you.” another brother told us.

And then Jo told them again what we had been doing outside the fence all day.
I want to tell you, we were all day here in action to make a monument for the people who dies here three years ago. And we want you to know that you have to fight for your rights to prevent another disaster. Good luck and we want you to be free!

We love you.

Solidarite avec les sans-papiers.

Freedom for all.

Een wereld voor iedereen.