We met with someone from the Minutemen yesterday. It was our first formal meeting with them as a team. Despite press reports to the contrary, they are still here in Arizona and very active at the border, especially on the weekends. They have two main "lines" around here, but are expanding soon into Texas and California. They believe that they have stopped thousands of migrants from crossing the border; of course we know that the migrants have simply gone around them to more remote places, making a dangerous crossing even more dangerous.
The guy we met with is the spokesperson for the Minutemen and second or third in the hierarchy of command. As such, he was quite disurbing! One of the people I was with, who seemed to know something about these things, said he exhibited signs of paranoid schizophrenia. He took small kernels of truth and manipulated them into a complete fabrication. But there is enough of a kernel of truth in what he says that he can convince people.
Some of his claims: Every migrant that crosses illegally is carrying a backpack full of drugs. All the children crossing the border illegally are sold into slavery or prostitution. 3,000 people are crossing illegally each night around Douglas alone. All Hispanic communities in the United States are harboring criminals. He claimed that the organization is nonviolent, trained in the teachings of King and Ghandi, yet his associate who was also at the meeting was wearing desert camoflage and packing a gun.
Rather than trying to prevent migration with guns and intimidation, we would rather address structural causes. One of our local partners is an organization called Just Coffee. Many of you know about fair trade, but this is even better. Other fair trade companies buy the coffee at a fair price but then roast it and market it in the US, which continues to transfer jobs across the border. Just Coffee Pays farmers in Chiapas a fair price, then roasts and markets it in Mexico, keeping the jobs there. Many people we have spoken with say that the migration crisis got considerably worse after coffee prices fell dramatically in the 80s and coffee farmers could no longer support themselves, so they all migrated north. Anyway, the more Just Coffee we buy, the more fair wage jobs are kept in Mexico. Fair wage jobs in Mexico will lead to fewer dangerous border crossings. You can find them at http://www.justcoffee.org/.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Migrant Deaths
12 people died crossing the border this weekend. One of them was in Cochise County, where the CPT team is living. During the weekend we were camped out on the Mexico side trying to help migrants in distress and about 70 came through our camp for help. There was a group of three women, one with a two-year-old child, who might have have died if not for us.
The man who died in our county was found about 5 miles north of our camp, and may have come through it. We don't know.
This afternoon we held what has become a weekly prayer vigil at the border crossing to remember all those who have died in our county (Cochise) trying to cross the border through the desert. Some of the bodies have never been identified. I was thinking while we were calling out all their names that if I were a family member of someone who died, it would be meaningful to me to know that someone out there was praying and remembering.
Tomorrow morning we are going to paint crosses on the border fence, as a way of calling a failed immigration policy what it is. We have decided to paint one cross for every migrant who dies this year in our county. So far there have been three.
The man who died in our county was found about 5 miles north of our camp, and may have come through it. We don't know.
This afternoon we held what has become a weekly prayer vigil at the border crossing to remember all those who have died in our county (Cochise) trying to cross the border through the desert. Some of the bodies have never been identified. I was thinking while we were calling out all their names that if I were a family member of someone who died, it would be meaningful to me to know that someone out there was praying and remembering.
Tomorrow morning we are going to paint crosses on the border fence, as a way of calling a failed immigration policy what it is. We have decided to paint one cross for every migrant who dies this year in our county. So far there have been three.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Post-Conflict Accompaniment in Kosovo
This spring I spent about 10 days in Kosovo learning about the Operation Dove accompaniment project there. Operation Dove (OD) is an Italian group with a mission similar to CPT.
The situation in Kosovo is complicated and I'm not sure that during our short time there we came away with a complete understanding. The region is functioning under a fragile peace agreement with the UN in charge. "UNMIK" is slowly handing over governance to local authorities, but they are probably at least a year away from handing over power completely. The population consists of 80% Albanians, 10% Serbs, and 10% others. Many Serbs fled to Serbia after the NATObombing, which is why their numbers are so low. Both Albanians and Serbs believethe land of Kosovo is rightfully theirs, and both point to history to back them up. Albanians are mostly Muslim and Serbs are mostly Serbian Orthodox.
Most Serbians live completely separately from Albanians, in enclaves or villages away from Albanian population centers. Serbian enclaves are surrounded by UN military checkpoints to prevent random violence. Operaton Dove says that although there does not appear to be any organized violence on either side right now, there is a high danger of random violence, especially of Albanians against Serbs. Serbs are generally fearful to travel unescorted out of their enclaves.
Operation Dove has been working in the region since 1999. They are currently living in a Serbian village called Gorazhdovats. The mission of the team consists of accompanying Serbs when they have to travel outside of the village and cannot get official accompaniment, as well as developing relationships inside the community, and faciliating two groups of young adults, one Serbian and one Albanian, in order to sow the seeds of reconciliation.
UN troops will provide accompaniment if there is an urgent need and there is 72 hours notice. Many Serbs need to travel and cannot give the required notice, and OD spends a good deal of time transporting people and shopping for them. Gorazhdovats has a few small shops, but any real needs have to be met in the nearest city, which is Albanian. Serbs feel they cannot go there unaccompanied.
Starting about a year ago, OD and their partner organization decided to form two small groups, one Serb and one Albanian, to work on analyzing the effects the conflict has had on them and on society, to see what they could do about it. The idea is to eventually join together as one group, working together for peaceful solutions. The project has many phases, and they are now still in the early one, talking about the trauma of the conflict and the effect it has had on them. They recently identified issues of injustice, and each group chose one specifica justice issue to try to think of solutions. Interestingly, both groups chose the same issue: freedom of movement.
The Kosovo accompaniment is a "post-conflict" presence because there is a peaceagree ment and the shooting has more or less stopped. The violence is random, not organized, but could still explode at any time. OD is focusing on how to help the Serbs maintain a dignified life, and on how to sow some seeds to prevent future outbreaks of violence.
The situation in Kosovo is complicated and I'm not sure that during our short time there we came away with a complete understanding. The region is functioning under a fragile peace agreement with the UN in charge. "UNMIK" is slowly handing over governance to local authorities, but they are probably at least a year away from handing over power completely. The population consists of 80% Albanians, 10% Serbs, and 10% others. Many Serbs fled to Serbia after the NATObombing, which is why their numbers are so low. Both Albanians and Serbs believethe land of Kosovo is rightfully theirs, and both point to history to back them up. Albanians are mostly Muslim and Serbs are mostly Serbian Orthodox.
Most Serbians live completely separately from Albanians, in enclaves or villages away from Albanian population centers. Serbian enclaves are surrounded by UN military checkpoints to prevent random violence. Operaton Dove says that although there does not appear to be any organized violence on either side right now, there is a high danger of random violence, especially of Albanians against Serbs. Serbs are generally fearful to travel unescorted out of their enclaves.
Operation Dove has been working in the region since 1999. They are currently living in a Serbian village called Gorazhdovats. The mission of the team consists of accompanying Serbs when they have to travel outside of the village and cannot get official accompaniment, as well as developing relationships inside the community, and faciliating two groups of young adults, one Serbian and one Albanian, in order to sow the seeds of reconciliation.
UN troops will provide accompaniment if there is an urgent need and there is 72 hours notice. Many Serbs need to travel and cannot give the required notice, and OD spends a good deal of time transporting people and shopping for them. Gorazhdovats has a few small shops, but any real needs have to be met in the nearest city, which is Albanian. Serbs feel they cannot go there unaccompanied.
Starting about a year ago, OD and their partner organization decided to form two small groups, one Serb and one Albanian, to work on analyzing the effects the conflict has had on them and on society, to see what they could do about it. The idea is to eventually join together as one group, working together for peaceful solutions. The project has many phases, and they are now still in the early one, talking about the trauma of the conflict and the effect it has had on them. They recently identified issues of injustice, and each group chose one specifica justice issue to try to think of solutions. Interestingly, both groups chose the same issue: freedom of movement.
The Kosovo accompaniment is a "post-conflict" presence because there is a peaceagree ment and the shooting has more or less stopped. The violence is random, not organized, but could still explode at any time. OD is focusing on how to help the Serbs maintain a dignified life, and on how to sow some seeds to prevent future outbreaks of violence.
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