Utopian Pulse

Fluchthilfe & Du addresses the critique of the EU border regime and its migration policies expressed by the self-organized refugee protest movement in Vienna. The design of the banner, titled Fluchthilfe & Du? (Escape Aid & You?), echoes a current campaign by the Caritas, which collects donations with an appeal to charity while distancing itself from those it denounces as “people smugglers”: those whose assistance to refugees made it possible for them to come to Austria and apply for asylum in the first place. Fluchthilfe & Du envisions aid to refugees as a service and publicly solicits support for their struggle for freedom of movement.
The work was created as an act of solidarity with those activists of the refugee movement who have been held in custody since July 2013 and accused of being members of an international people smuggling organization. The charges—that they supposedly made millions and endangered the lives of refugees in transit—have been rebutted, but the Austrian interior ministry continues to criminalize them.

For more information please visit www.fluchthilfe.at