NoBorder. NoProblem.

January 26, 2019

The atmosphere at the border container, which was already a torture chamber, has gotten even more grim in the last few weeks.

As mentioned before in breakfast updates, dozens of people are kept inside these metal containers for up to 24 hours or more, without food, water, toilets, medical attention or a roof. The floor is kept wet so no one can sit or lie down. Obviously, for those who are worn out or lesser abled, this is already a dangerous situation.

We are stationed about 300 metres further, on the Italian side, to welcome those who come out wth food, tea, coffee, and a station to charge the phones that have not been taken or smashed by police. Throughout a week we listen to hundreds of stories. Lately, the stories we collect have shown a huge increase in police violence and abuse of power:

French police take important documents away (such as minors‘ birth certificates) and when they ask for them back, or ask for food or water, they get punched in the face (…with a ring). They hit minors for trying to declare themselves as minors. They spray pepperspray into the closed container, sometimes straight into the eyes, and beat people without mercy.
A man came out day before yesterday with bruises and cuts, with blood on his jacket, and on the back of his hand he had a burn mark: French police had not only beaten him up and insulted him, but also extinguished a cigarette on his hand. (See pictures.) He told us of how they had slapped his face and punched him and one told him he would fuck his mother. They took all his belongings.

Hopefully this doesn’t need to be added, but we have no reason to doubt these accounts: people are all locked up together and confirm each other’s stories independently.
We are not surprised but outraged. This is how far the French state will go to „discourage“ migration. 
We will keep doing breakfast and try to provide all the encouragement, solidarity and coffee that we can.

La frontiere tue! Let all of us do what we are able to.

December 31, 2018

Friends and family,

It is the end of the year already and we want to say a massive thank you for the awesome help and support we received this year which made us able to continue our mission !

We thank you for the food you brought us, the clothes you gathered, the money you offered, the logistical help you provided and much more :

Thank you to all the scouts and students who came to learn more about the situation of Ventimiglia and shared some time with the migrants.

Thank you to those who brought music to light up the evenings at the distribution and at the farm.

Thank you to the associations that provide us the means of continuing our missions day by day by lending us their ressources and their much needed help !

Special thanks too to the associations in Germany that keep helping us by raising funds and sharing our fights.

Thank you to our long time friends who still support us and always find a way to come up with solutions when we are in trouble !

Thank you to the new friends we made this year also who are bringing new and fresh ideas and enthusiastic help !

Thank you to groups that came to us and put all their energy and ingenuity into developping new ways to help.

Thank you to the associations, groups and activists that are working relentlessly with us in and around Ventimiglia.

Thank you for opening your spaces, hosting us in transit and making our relocation this year possible.

Thank you to those who come to help regularly at the distribution and thank you again to those who come to eat and help with the distribution first !

Another very big thank you to all the volunteers that came, shared our work and are forever part of our family.

Finally thank you for collecting wood beside us, for distributing with us, for eating with us, carrying water with us, lighting up fires with us, for bearing with us, for watching with us, driving us, cooking with us, for living along us, making tea with us, hosting us, translating for us and others, and much much more. Thank you for doing all of this for you, for us, and for an ideal we all believe in.

Thank you all for your support in 2018, we are counting on you for 2019 and you know you can count on us !!

Kesha Niya, the fight is not over.

Mit freundlicher Genehmigung dürfen wir die Texte und Posts unserer Freund*innen von Kesha Niya (keshaniya.org) hier veröffentlichen. Sie befinden sich kontinuierlich im Einsatz in Ventimiglia. 

December 19, 2018

Hello friends!

It has been a long time since we last updated our situation:

We have left our previous home and are now split in 2 places which belong to friends of us while we search for a place to settle together again.

In the current situation, one group has taken the kitchen and the other one the breakfast. We continue as always to provide food, hot tea, warm clothes, hygiene products, support (and more) to refugees and migrants in Ventimiglia, as well as to anybody who needs it.

But right now we facing some difficulties :
Our beloved van needs to go to the garage again, it is broken in different places and is too dangerous to drive.

Furthermore, with the winter weather, we are facing freezing temperatures. We need funds for wood to keep ourselves warm during the days AND evenings (at 700m altitude in the mountains its really cold!!).

The new Salvini law in Italy is making the situation of men and women in transit even more difficult and dangerous, and we will keep you updated about that soon!

GLS Bank: 
Frederik Bösing: 
IBAN: DE32 4306 0967 2072 1059 00
BIC: GEN0DEM1GLS

Love and peace, and keep fighting !!

Mit freundlicher Genehmigung dürfen wir die Texte und Posts unserer Freund*innen von Kesha Niya (keshaniya.org) hier veröffentlichen. Sie befinden sich kontinuierlich im Einsatz in Ventimiglia. 

April 18, 2018

This happened today in Ventimiglia (18.04.2018): the officials from the town of Ventimiglia have promised for a year to open a center for minors and women, but instead of doing something useful, like making sure everyone is sheltered and secure – they dismantle and destroy everything again that was built up during the winter under the bridge!

F..k you!

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Mit freundlicher Genehmigung dürfen wir die Texte und Posts unserer Freund*innen von Kesha Niya (keshaniya.org) hier veröffentlichen. Sie befinden sich kontinuierlich im Einsatz in Ventimiglia. 

November 29, 2018

Hello everyone / Bonjour tout le monde / Ciao tutti 
We are settling into our new places as we continue working every day, distributing hot meals, blankets, clothes, etc to people in need in Ventimiglia. We might be a little short on volunteers in the upcoming winter months, between December and January. 
What we are looking for: motivated people to work with us, cooking, building, cleaning, etc.
It is a PLUS if you can drive, a bigger plus if you can drive larger vehicles, and A HUGE BONUS if you come with your own vehicle. 
The primary language is English but it is a help if you speak French, Italian, Arabic, Urdu, Pashto, Kurdish, etc. 
If you have experience with construction, or if (in a perfect world) you can bring your own power drill we are very happy, but maybe this is too wishful of thinking. 

😉
Something to keep in mind: we are living and working high in the mountains and it is COLD – there is already frost. We have blankets and things to accommodate, but it is better if you have good shoes and warm clothes. 
We look forward to seeing you. 
Peace and love, keep fighting! 
– the Kesha Niya team

Mit freundlicher Genehmigung dürfen wir die Texte und Posts unserer Freund*innen von Kesha Niya (keshaniya.org) hier veröffentlichen. Sie befinden sich kontinuierlich im Einsatz in Ventimiglia. 

October 22, 2018

Good evening!

For 2 months, we have been distributing breakfast near the border in Menton 3 times a week, where migrants are forced into roofless shipping containers after being caught trying to pass the border.
Everyone from minors and pregnant woman to sick, handicapped, or elderly people are kept in the same container indiscriminately.
They are not supplied with food or water. Every night up to 50 people are kept in these conditions, many for 24 hours straight. 
After being released, everyone is forced to return to Ventimiglia, a 10 km walk through mountainous roads. We are giving water, tea, fruits, bread, jam, cookies and sometimes fish on the side of the road, a small gesture to help them continue their journeys.
We have reported cases of police brutality, as well as illegal refusing of the asylum process. But most importantly, we must raise awareness about this horrific treatment of other human beings.

Besides that we still cook almost every day for the people in Ventimiglia.

Never obey always resist!

Thanks for your support!

Mit freundlicher Genehmigung dürfen wir die Texte und Posts unserer Freund*innen von Kesha Niya (keshaniya.org) hier veröffentlichen. Sie befinden sich kontinuierlich im Einsatz in Ventimiglia. 

October 26, 2018

Good evening lovely people !

One and a half years ago we came to the french / italian border to cook for the people in Ventimiglia. When we arrived, a permaculture gardener offered to allow us to set up our kitchen on his land.
As time passed, we realized we wanted to stay in this area, settle and build a Kesha Niya homebase. 
For us this meant that the two projects of permaculture and kitchen would continue to grow.

Therefore, we agreed to leave the farm so that the people living there can concentrate their energies on permaculture.

We are now searching for our own place that enables us to continue our work in Ventimiglia, providing dinner and breakfast as well as clothes, blankets, and other necessities.

As the border here becomes ever more troublesome, people are trying to cross the border more north. There are other groups and collectives, actively supporting and accomodating refugees. By sending volunteers and donations we try to support them as we can.

As we search for a sustainable place to continue our work, the fight continues into the winter months.

Love and peace! <3

Mit freundlicher Genehmigung dürfen wir die Texte und Posts unserer Freund*innen von Kesha Niya (keshaniya.org) hier veröffentlichen. Sie befinden sich kontinuierlich im Einsatz in Ventimiglia. 

January 5, 2018

Good morning lovely friends,

It’s already almost a week ago but we still wanted to share the awesome new years day and eve we had with each other and the people under the bridge in Ventimiglia. We had a lot of donations for this day, so we bought extra stuff to make delicious snacks besides of the normal food. We made houmous, baba ganoush, falafel, fresh orange juice, had a theater act and music. It was an awesome night which we all celebrated together with the people in Ventimiglia.
We want to thank everyone for the donations and support and for this matter special thanks to Jay!! Without you we would never have been able to organise all this.

Peace, love, solidarity and a rainbow unicorn for ever.

Kesha Niya

Mit freundlicher Genehmigung dürfen wir die Texte und Posts unserer Freund*innen von Kesha Niya (keshaniya.org) hier veröffentlichen. Sie befinden sich kontinuierlich im Einsatz in Ventimiglia. 

April 28, 2018

We are now more then one year in the area of Ventimiglia (28.04.2018) and during this time everything changed a lot, we started with 300 bags containing hot meals, 200 sandwich bags, hot tea and water at two different places. We where cooking for Ramadan twice a day. During the summer we served food for around 500 people, we had a medical point what got stoped by the authorities and this winter the number decreased to 150!
Last week the unofficial camp under the bridge got evicted and destroyed by the officials and untill now the police is guarding the bridge and letting no one enter the bridge area. Open racism from the police at a public place. We don’t know for how long this will continue, we are still cooking and distributing for the people in Ventimiglia and we will continue!
Next week we will take part at the solidarity march from Ventimiglia to Calais, we will provide food at the 1st of may in Breil sur Roya and on the 2nd we will be in Sospel.

Love and Peace, your Kesha Niya Crew!