Donate at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/infopoint-upupa
The Project – Upupa infopoint
The Infopoint Upupa, which is named after a migratory bird, bearer of wonderful meanings of rebirth and peace in many cultures, is a space of support, solidarity, connection and mutual aid for all people from Ventimiglia and passing through.
The project is self-funded by Progetto20k, with the support and commitment of other solidarity realities. Progetto20k is a political, horizontal and self-managed collective that has been fighting against the system of racist, capitalist and patriarchal violence embodied by the border apparatus on the territory of Ventimiglia since 2016. All of its projects only remain open thanks to the work of numerous activists and supporters, who volunteer their time to allow a constant presence.
The Upupa Infopoint was born in spring 2022, after months of searching for a space and imagining the project. It wants to be a safe and welcoming point of contact with and for migrant people, but also a point of encounter between those who inhabit the city and the people who pass through it. The project has come to life in an independent space, where one can find multilingual information on services in the area and on international protection in Italy and Europe. Additionally, it offers possibilities to recharge cell phones, connect to the Wifi, have a cup of tea or coffee, use the bathroom, participate in language courses, organize meetings and moments of political self-organization and implement workshops of artistic expression…
Political and social changes in the territory
To maintain this space of solidarity in a city like Ventimiglia, full of problems and contradictions, is tough and continuously challenging. The last elections proved this, bringing Flavio Di Muro (Lega Nord, right wing party in Italy) to power. His very first actions was to evacuate the only place where people were able to sleep: under a bridge, in total abandonment. Furthermore he placed armed guards in front of the cemetery, preventing people on the move from accessing their only source of drinkable water. Of course, his action was also to enlarge the police force, establishing a fixed presence of cops in front of the infopoint, the food distribution, on the beach and in the municipal gardens. Therefore, existing and resisting here is not easy and subject to constant repression and aggression from police and rightwing inhabitants of Ventimiglia alike.
In the meantime, the owner of the infopoint’s space started a legal procedure to withdraw us the joy of paying 500 euros per month for rent, the next hearing at the court of Imperia is in june.
Support actions in Ventimiglia and nearby
Despite everything, we are thinking about the future plans, and especially how to deal with the cold, the bad weather and the problems it brings for those who sleep on the street. We try to collect all kinds of warm clothes, find wood to make fires under the freezing bridge. All this requires organisation, material and energy, but unfortunately also money.
We are working to implement a legal office with friends from Genoa, to support people who are thinking of establishing themselves in Italy after having reconsidered their migration trajectory due to the systematic violence and the french non-hospitality that continues to pushback people on a daily basis, including minors.
We are, in addition, also physically present at the border, where people who are pushed back by border police can receive a hot drink, food, emotional and legal support, transportation back to Ventimiglia and information about the services present in the city. In this way we are also able to monitor rejections, police behaviour and their constantly changing patterns, with the help of other solidary people that are present in the territory.
Our presence in Genova
This fundraising is shared by two groups: Progetto 20K, which has been established in Ventimiglia for 7 years now, and 20K Genova, a project born in 2023 with the will to fight against other types of borders, those present in the cities, those that take shape in the prefecture, the police headquarters or in the various reception centres. The idea is to support people in their administrative procedures, to give moral and material support to those who are making the long and complex journey of applying for asylum and integration in Italy. Supported by Aut Aut, a social centre in the centre of Genoa, the 20K Genoa assembly is active every week to invite anyone in need to come and share the weight that the Italian government puts on the shoulders of those who imagine a future here, but with the wrong papers.
This fundraising will also allow to cover the legal costs for Upupa’s trial, as well as those of comrades targeted by repression over the past year because of their actions in support of people on the move.
With your contribution you will help us to:
Keep the space open and cover the costs of rent and utilities.
Purchase some basic tools, which are needed to run the Infopoint: laptops, stationery, phone credit, chargers, cell phones, computers, etc.
Print multilingual information materials.
Have a fund available to cover the legal costs of registration, legal action cases, travel.
Have funds available for writing, publishing and promoting advocacy reports, organizing public events to raise awareness with respect to the border situation, and promoting advocacy activities within the Infopoint space.
To organize cultural and informational events to facilitate good coexistence between the citizenry and people in transit.
you can donate: https://www.gofundme.com/f/infopoint-upupa
Thank you for your support!
Love and fight!!