Civil disobedience, migrant struggles and the lessons for

the social work profession.

Sans Papiers: From ambassadors of injustice to ambassadors of social change ? (or both).

Examining the case study of a 44 day hunger strike of 300 sans papiers in Greece.

-Work in Progress--some preliminary thoughts-

Maria Pentaraki, Ph.D. Senior Lecturer, Social Work, Care and Justice.

Liverpool Hope University,UKpentarm@hope.ac.uk

Social Work Social Development 2012: Action and Impact conference, Stockholm 8-12 July, 2012.

Introductory comments

One of the historical legacies of the social work profession has been the attempt to challenge inequalities. This focus stems from the profession’s commitment to principles of social justice leading to planned interventions and scholarly research addressing inequalities. Thus, oppressed groups of people have been a focus for the sw profession. Within this context undocumented migrants, ie., the sans papiers, have been a focus of the social work profession as one of the most oppressed groups that needs our solidarity and our

interventions to challenge oppression but sans papiers are not only oppressed but are also agents of social change. They are both ambassadors of injustice and ambassadors of social change.

Introductory comments

Additionally, the social work profession engages on normative grounds of claiming rights. I suggest that directing our attention away from the quest for normative grounds to emancipatory practices of claiming rights is not only more helpful for understanding contemporary rights struggles but also is more in line with the emancipatory project of social work as emanates from the international definition of social work.

Introductory comments: the theoretical tradition I draw from: Ettienne Ballibar: “What we own to sans

papiers”. Ranciere: “What professional intellectuals

said about workers, and what workers said about themselves were often different things”. Founder of the journal Les Revoltes Logiques, 1975.

Federicci, Sylvia: Struggles of the dispossed Jim Ife: “Whose knowledge is to count?

Social work practice if it truly takes place in solidarity with the oppressed “ also must value their knowledge

Underlying points of reflection Need to reconsider the sw scholarly thought about migrants

to align it more with the emancipatory project of social work. Study how equality is realized through history.

Sans papiers not only ambassadors of injustice but also ambassadors of social change, not only objects of solidarity and support but also allies.

Need to encourage reflection and action aimed at deepening and realizing the emancipatory project.

What do we learn from the struggles of sans papiers? How is the sw profession enriched? Since the social democratic phase of capitalism is over in

most western countries shall we reconsider our strategies and include acts of civil disobedience?

Beginning of the hunger strike

https://hungerstrike300.espivblogs.net/

Points of reflections Even though most of us operate through a strong adherence of

values of respect of self determination. We end up through our work replicating hierarchical relationships among professional and service users. Are we (at least the critical social workers) professionals and service users or are we all allies in the same struggles for social justice. A lot of times we replicate hierarchical relationships by assuming that we are the experts who will liberate oppressed people from existing oppressive conditions. Social workers, especially radical social workers we all have an oppressed group of people that is our calling, be it women survivors of violence, asylum seekers etc. How do we engage with the oppressed group? Do we realize that we are all oppressed? Do we realize that they are experts? I chose to engage with this piece of scholarly work out of my belief that we learn from the undocumented people’s struggles under the context of rising inequalities.

Underlining Questions for Reflection What can we learn? Can the social work profession engage in

political acts of civil disobedience? How can we enrich the social work academic

body of literature? Barriers and opportunities.

Content Summary of the hunger strike Undocumented migrants of EU Greece and undocumented migrants Context

Neoliberal global displacement History of migrant struggles in Greece Historical anti-racist solidarity context of Chania Crete

Hunger strike History Demands Solidarity network State repression Victory

Struggles that emerged out of:

Repressive legal framework- Europe Fortress Neoliberal global displacement experiences

(countries of origin and countries of reception).

Prior migrant struggles in EU, Greece, and in Chania in particular.

Strong anti-racist solidarity movement of Chania.

Neoliberal Global Displecement.

Migrants from magreb in Greece were first ejected from their countries of origins though the neoliberal restructuring of their society. They were the first victims of IMF imposed policies. They were forced to migrate because of the raising inequalities. They have the experience of the forced restructuring of their societies.

Migrant Struggles in Greece

April 18, 2008 : 1500 Strawberry pickers (East Asian migrant workers) in Manoliada won 3 euros rise per day after a strike that started. Some of the people have not been paid for 7 months. The strike was met with extremely violence, agribusiness owners fired shotguns, and threw dynamite during the protesters rally but the migrants stood their ground. Left parties as well as anarchists stood by the laborers.

Living conditions of migrant workers/strawberry pickers in Manoliada

Migrant Struggles in Greece

September 8, 2008: Afgani migrants and port police clashes as a response to port police brutality. Red Cross accused police for unlawfully interrogating injured migrants in their clinic.

November 11, 2008: Hunger strike in Chania Crete15 immigrant workers from North African countries (Algeria,Morocco, Tunisia), active members of the Forum of Immigrants of Crete, began a hunger strike. The hunger strikers were all residents of Chania and they demanded residence permits. Local community supported their struggle.

Hunger Strike: For dignity and the right to life (Chania, Crete, 2008)

Migrant Struggles in Greece

23rd of December 2008: “Konstantina Kuneva, a bulgarian migrant worker and an elected trade unionist of cleaners and domestic workers, was attacked and sulfuric acid was thrown to her face on an ambush one night going to her home. Strong solidarity movement emerged addressing gender, ethnicity, class nature of oppression. Occupations of ISAP and labor centers emerged.

Strong Solidarity Movementfirst banner is the one from the United African women Association in Greece- part of 8th of March demonstration 2009

Other Migrant Struggles in Greece

On March 2, 2009, hundreds of refugees from Afganistan clashed with riot police for hours in the streets of Patras.

On May 22, 2009, in Athens, 1,000 sans papiers hold a spontaneous demonstration turned around cars to barricade central streets, and clashed with the police who fired tear gas, stun grenades, and used excessive violence.

Christmas 2009, in Nea Michaniona, North of Greece, 250 Egyptian fishermen engaged in 3 months strikes

Hunger strike of 300 migrants

History: Out of their lived experiences of oppression. 2-3 people part of the Migrant Forum of Crete.

House to house discussions. General assemblies in public spaces. Reclaim public

spaces. Approached anti-racist organizations, unions and

other progressive organizations. How did they respond to their call of solidarity?

From January to March 2011 (44 days)

Hunger strike of 300 migrants

Two cities: Athens (Law school occupation-solidarity of the student unions) and Thessaloniki (labor center)

Riot police moved them out from Law school. Mass media orchestrated attacks. Strong solidarity movement – more than 3000 activists engaged in

different aspects. Prosecution of solidarity, members of the solidarity committee

attempt to be prosecuted as traffickers. On going general assemblies. Importance of self governance.

Hunger strike of 300 migrants

More than 100 people ended in hospitals. Government on the 44th day was forced to step back

despite its initial intolerance and concessions were made: Sans papiers won’t be deported and travel documents

have been issued. Residency renewed every 6 months. Decrease of the years required for permanent residence

and full legal rights from 12 years to 8 years (applied to every immigrant working in Greece).

Decrease of the required working days from 200 to 120 for the renewal of the work permit.

Decrease of the working days required for health care insurance cover from 80 to 50 (this also applies to all workers, local and migrant).

Anti-racist solidarity: Chania, Crete

Crete, Chania up until 1923 had a strong Cretan Muslim population which lived in harmony with the Cretan Christian population..

Chania – large refugee population (Greek refugees from Turkey).

Chania, Crete is in the Mediterranean sea, just above north Africa.

Successful hunger strike of 2008. Migrant forum of Crete. Strong activist community.

Fascism on the rise

Attacks on migrants and on left wing and other activists.

After a year from the hunger strike, xrisi augi a neonazist party got elected in the Greek parliament. Since then we have almost daily attacks on migrants who end up seriously hospitalized.

Concluding remarks

Under the pressures of growing inequalities broad coalition building and radical strategies of community organizing, such as civil disobedience can be successful strategies for narrowing  gaps of inequality for vulnerable groups of people.  Oppressed people can lead the struggles and from ambassadors of injustice can be ambassadors of social change. We can look to them for insights of successful organizing. They are our allies and not just service users. They are experts.

Concluding remarks

Disobedience, in the eyes of any one who has read history, is (wo) man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.

Oscar Wilde  

Concluding remarks

The question though for us remains: Within the context of rising inequalities, within the context of an unfair and discredited system why have we not engaged in similar struggles of resistance, since as Martin Luther King Jr urged us: “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”

Please note: Ambassadors of social change? There is a feminist question mark in the parallism of ambassadors of social

change that refers to the following: The hunger strikers were men, from North Africa. In the begining it was decided

through the general assemplies that both women and men were going to be part of the hunger strike. Four women had decided to participate but during the final stage of preparation for the hunger strike the general assemply decided to exclude them on the grounds of pregnancy (one woman was four month pregnant) and logistical considerations, ie., had to provide seperate tents and other facilitites. This has been critisized by the women movement in Greece even though they were actively part of the broad solidarity committe of the hunger strike. Since then women from the magreb countries along with women from the solidarity comitee have actively engnaged in international women’s day activities.