AYS Daily Digest 04/01/2021—Hunger Strike in Remnants of Lipa
Open Arms finds safe port in Sicily//Fascists appointed to Greek Cabinet//Unaccompanied minors in Canary Islands neglected by government
FEATURE
Protests, hunger strike against awful conditions in Lipa
Starting on New Year’s Day, people trapped in the remnants of Lipa Camp, near the Bosnian–Croatian border, have been on a hunger strike protesting the awful conditions they are in.
Since the fire on Christmas Eve, the people of Lipa have been stuck due to government inaction and protests from locals. The local authorities refused to reopen Bira camp in the nearby city of Bihać, and locals stopped the people from moving to a compound of unused military barracks. They’ve been forced to stay in the burned out camp. The Bosnian army set up tents, but they were unusable due to the muddy ground, did not have beds, and were not appropriate for the winter weather.
Construction has begun on rebuilding Lipa camp, but the people do not want to return to the isolated camp, and forcing them into tents until the camp is rebuilt is not a proper solution.
Now, the people are protesting these conditions by refusing food from the Red Cross, food that was inadequate and unhealthy anyway. On Sunday, they protested in front of a visiting government delegation, asking for freedom and the right to seek asylum in the EU.
The situation in Lipa has reached a breaking point now, but the conditions that led to this problem have been present for a long time. There are so many people on the move trapped in Bosnia due to violent pushbacks at the Croatian border by a police force that receives funding from the European Union. The EU may have set aside an additional €3.5 million in humanitarian aid for people on the move in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but what good is that when the militarized EU external border is what has caused this problem in the first place? Both the EU and the High Representative published statements expressing concern about the situation in Lipa, which observers such as Jeff Crisp have pointed out is ironic due to the EU’s direct involvement in humanitarian crises both in Bosnia and elsewhere. Other political actors have failed people on the move as well. The IOM has failed to build camps that are anything but degrading and local authorities have refused to take responsibility.
Solidarity with the people striking!
ALGERIA
Twenty people killed in the Sahara Desert
Nineteen people on the move and a driver were killed and 11 others were injured near the southern Algerian town of Tamanrasset after the vehicle they were in crashed. Among the dead were several children.
IRAQ
100 people set to return from Turkey
The Iraqi government announced that 100 people who fled to Turkey to escape Daesh will return to their homes following the defeat of the terrorist group in their home provinces. However, the Iraqi government has been treating returns of displaced people as a political token, often violating their rights by forcing them to return and closing IDP camps with no notice. Returnees also face hardship and suspicion when they return to their homes. We hope the people are able to rebuild their lives after such a traumatic experience.
JORDAN
Pandemic pushes Syrian people in Jordan further into poverty
Syrian people on the move in Jordan are facing difficult conditions as a result of the pandemic. Due to restrictions on movement since March, many find it difficult to leave the refugee camps and earn money. Those in urban areas are at risk of eviction and children cannot access online schooling.
SEA
Open Arms rescues 265 people, finds safe port in Sicily
In the first four days since 2021 began, the Spanish rescue ship Open Arms rescued 265 people already from conditions that would have been fatal on small boats. Their ask for a safe port was initially denied by Malta, but granted by Italy on Sunday night.
GREECE
Cabinet reshuffle includes Fascists in positions of power
The new cabinet positions, announced today, include a couple people with close ties to fascist movements that is especially concerning considering the rising tide of Fascism and xenophobia in the country.
The new Interior Minister is Makis Voridis, founder of the far-right Hellenic Front party and a virulent anti-Semite whose previous cabinet position in 2014 was opposed by the Greek Jewish community. Voridis rose to political power under the slogan “Red Card to Illegal Immigrants” and has publicly promoted the well-known anti-Semitic conspiracy, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”
Sofia Voultepsi was appointed Deputy Minister for the Integration of Migrants. In the past, she has made disparaging statements against racial minorities, including Roma, advocating for increased detention of asylum seekers, and calling people on the move “unarmed invaders.” She also has a history of spreading conspiracy theories about the Rothschilds and the BBC. In the 1990s, Voultepsi was a prominent supporter of the Milošević regime and translated the diaries of Mira Marković, the genocidal dictator’s wife.
Amid increased militarisation of Greek society, criminalisation of solidarity, and violence against people on the move, it is frightening that these two hateful people have been appointed to positions where they exercise great control over the future of asylum seekers. Fascism supported at the very top will only empower local Fascists who are growing in power in places such as Lesvos, which has seen a upsurge in violent, racist attacks. Although Kyriakos Mitsotakis may have come to power as a centrist, his policies have been growing closer to the far right.
The Greek government is planning to “upgrade” the Fylakio camp near the Evros border by building a new camp spanning 7.2 hectares near the existing one. Advocates were quick to point out this will be just another closed “pushback fortress.”
On 26 December, a young Yazidi woman named Khatun Seido drowned in the Aegean. She and two siblings had been waiting for years to be reunited with their mother and other siblings in Germany.
AlarmPhone reported several other distress cases in the region, including illegal pushbacks. As long as people trying to reach safety are met with violence, deaths at sea will unfortunately continue.
On Samos, about 3500 people on the move will have to spend the rest of the winter in “the jungle,” in poor conditions as the new closed center will not be completed until March. Although the conditions in the camp are shameful, a closed center is dehumanizing and isolating, and will not provide dignified accommodation either.
ITALY
Trieste’s new police commissioner focusing on Balkan route
Irene Tittoni, the incoming police commissioner for the northeastern Italian city, said she would focus on the Balkan route during her tenure, including cooperation with Slovenian authorities. She described the area as having “pathological dynamics” and said arrivals cause “sustainability problems, including from a health standpoint.”
SPAIN
Unaccompanied minors in the Canary Islands are being neglected
Organizations such as Save the Children are expressing concern about the plight of children on the Canary Islands whose mental wellbeing is at risk.
There are an estimated 2,500 unaccompanied minors on the Canary Islands, however, they do not have access to the support that a child who has been through such traumatic conditions needs in order to thrive. The Canary Islands is a small region that has not received enough state support to host the thousands of people who arrived in 2020, as such many children wind up in overcrowded hosting centers. The “emergency spaces” lack interpreters, schooling and other activities to help children learn and grow. The government has also prevented NGOs such as Save the Children from visiting many of the accommodation centers.
Some of the social workers knew English, but almost none of them spoke French, Farsi, Wolof or one of the other children’s mother tongues. It’s important to point out that the minors’ protection system on the Canaries decided which centers we could visit based on the availability of the managing NGOs. Needless to say, we didn’t visit the bad apples but the ones where children were living in good conditions. Getting access to more difficult spaces is complicated.
Many of the children are showing signs of mental health problems such as PTSD, but do not have access to mental health care. Older children do not have access to legal support in order to apply for asylum, meaning that they face the risk of deportation once they turn 18. The Spanish state and the EU must step up to meet the needs of children who seek safety on their shores.
GERMANY
Candidate for CDU leadership says “The road to Germany is no longer open”
Friedrich Merz, who is a candidate for the leadership of Merkel’s CDU party (and likely a future chancellor) said on Saturday that “the road to Germany is no longer open” to people on the move. Merz, who was dubbed “the German Donald Trump” by Politico, also said that Germany should conduct more deportations.
The disappearance of unaccompanied minors is sadly common in Germany, and investigations are often neglected by police. This article follows the cases of two boys, Hamid and Reza, who disappeared only a few months after they were transferred from Moria to Berlin. Hamid eventually was found in Belgium with relatives, while Reza has not been found. Despite the pleas of their guardians, the police have not conducted an exhaustive investigation.
In 2020, Germany sold over one billion euros in arms sales to countries actively involved in the conflicts in Yemen and Libya. This is especially maddening considering that it, along with the rest of the EU, treats Libya as a safe port of return.
UK
Priti Patel seeking ways to make deportations easier
The Home Office Secretary wants to lower the threshold of prison sentences necessary to deport people, from twelve months to six months.
GENERAL
Branding Gone Wrong
UNHCR’s “Happy New Year” email drew ire for its insensitive usage of a child’s photo to support repatriation to Afghanistan. In a detailed thread, Josoor cofounder Natalie Gruber criticized the agency’s praise for repatriation at the same time that many EU nations are denying asylum claims of Afghan people escaping war zones, purely for political reasons. She also questioned if the parents consented to this particular usage of their baby’s image, given the history of Western aid groups and journalists misusing photos of children.
WORTH READING
Read about the story of Abul Kalam, a photojournalist detained for documenting the controversial transfer of Rohingya people to a remote island by the Bangladeshi government, here.
The second issue of Crisis Magazine is out now! It is well worth a read and has received praise from readers including Professor Bridget Anderson.
Worth Buying: The “Digital Culture Box,” which gives subscribers monthly access to exclusive recipes, playlists and more from all over the world. All proceeds go to In-Sight Collaborative.
Worth Attending: This Wednesday, 6 January, In-Sight Collaborative is hosting a webinar called “Shifting the Narrative: What Is Accompaniment?” Learn more here.
Worth Listening To: This podcast episode on adapting a Canadian community sponsorship model in Europe is worth a listen.
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