Chiara Lauvergnac (born 1961) is an Italian activist based in London. She describes herself as a "freelance troublemaker"" 'Freelance troublemaker' is leading Calais anarchist", Fariha Karim, The Times, 26 October 2016, p. 19. and is a campaigner for the rights of migrants and asylum seekers.
Background Chiara Lauvergnac was born in Trieste, Italy, in 1961. She is related to the jazz singer, Anna Lauvergnac. She lived in Galway, Ireland, and moved to London in 2006 to study anthropology at the University of East London.
Activism
Lauvergnac is a campaigner for the rights of migrants and asylum seekers. In 2006, she protested outside the Haslar detention centre in Hampshire. In 2009, she was part of a group that protested at Tinsley House Immigration Removal Centre at Gatwick against the use of charter flights to deport failed asylum seekers and others to Kurdistan in Iraq. She was arrested and convicted of aggravated trespass and given a conditional discharge.VIDEO: Tinsley House protesters guilty of trespass. Crawley & Horley Observer, 30 March 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
In 2015, she was again involved in protests against the deportation of refugees from the United Kingdom at Gatwick Airport during which she was arrested and subsequently fined.Court results - Crawley. Crawley & Horley Observer, 16 September 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2016. She is a leading figure in the London No Borders anarchist group, part of the No Border network.Second holding centre hit by hunger strike. Eric Allison, The Guardian, 17 April 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2016. Her photographs of the camp featured in the exhibition Art, Refuge and Resistance at the Brighton & Hove Sanctuary on Sea in partnership with the University of Brighton.Exhibition: Art, Refuge and Resistance. Brighton & Hove Sanctuary on Sea. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
References
External links Chiara Lauvergnac describing conditions in The Jungle, Calais, November to December 2015