Luk Lejren Live - English

Leftist parties want to close the refugee camps

In april 2007 the Social Democrats presented a plan for activation of asylum seekers, announcing that "the Social Democrats refuse to let people rot away in refugee camps".

Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen of the Red Green Alliance that those who for one reason or another can not be sent back to their own country should be able to live and work in society.

According to Astrid Krag, the Popular Socialists have made an egreement with the Social Democrats about converting the camps to reception centers with a maximun stay of six months.

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Christiansborg stays home

Even though the demands of parliamentary left are almost identical with the those of civil disobediance action Close The Camp on October 25, practical support for the action from the parliament building at Christiansborg will be very limited, according to the three spokespeople.

– I am prevented by a prior meeting engagement, but I expect that many members of the Red Green Alliance will participate. And our allies in Socialist Youth Front is moving a session of their annual general assembly there, says Johanne Schmidt Nielsen.

Astrid Krag has an almost identical message:

– I don`t know if anybody from the Popular Socialists will participate. We have a Central Committee meeting tomorrow, so I certainly won´t be there.

And Henrik Dam Kristensen won´t be there either:

– I don´t think any Social Democrat will participate. I certainly won´t, he says.

It is ok to demonstrate

The three spekespeople agree that the planned action may be a good idea as long as it is done without violence.

– In principal I of course think that it is ok for perople to use therir democratic rights to dra w attention to different problems. I to don´t think that everything is as it should be in the camp at Sandholm, says Henrik Dam Kristensen to Modkraft.dk.

Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen explains that the Red Green Alliance supports the action a peacefiul and non-violent basis, "just as the activists have declared", while Astrid Krag says that her parliamentary group hasn´t discussed the matter and she doesn´t know if any other party organ has, either.

Disagreement on plans for vandalism

The three parties part ways where it concerns the activist goal of cutting the camp´s perimeter fence to pieces.

Unsurprisingly, it is the spokesperson from the red Green Alliance who is most relaxed on the question:

– It´s just a fence. But is a very apt symbol for the asylum policies we have here in Denmark. I can not get exited by it, because a hole in a fence is notong compared to the conditions that hundreds of people in the camps are living in. The activists have openly stated whatr they intend to do and will have to take the fine for it. The important thing is that it is done with out violence, says Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen.

Astrid Krag of the Popular Socialists is also not unsupportive, but the support is more conditioned:

– In principal, actions with limited civil disobediance - banner droppings, for example - are a good way to draw attention to things. But it must be compared to the message, because the end does not justify the means. In this case I think teh important thing is how teh action is percieved buy those living in the camp. Do they perhaps feel that it is an attack on their property? That sort of thing should be taken into consideration, she says to Modkraft.dk.

Henrik Dam Kristensen, on the hand, is completely clear about the planned vandalism:

– I condemn it forcefully. I am not one to point fingers, but there are strongly traumatized people living in there, and they should think about them.