AYS Daily Digest 08/06/21: Repressions and other struggles
European politics focuses on preventing new arrivals, stops journalists from reporting and disrespects Human Rights// Ireland takes encouraging step to end inhumane Direct Provision.
Syria
Iraq
Activists are demanding the international community and the Iraqi central government to stand against attacks on the Makhmour refugee camp by Turkish forces. Several people have reportedly died in the recent drone attacks.
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Greece
After the Greek government’s decision to consider Turkey as a safe country, in order to deport people more easily, the Legal Centre Lesvos has spoken out. In a statement, the organisation said: “Turkey is not a safe third country for migrants. Most migrants are unable to access any form of protection in Turkey, owing to a geographic restriction that it imposed to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, and migrants there are at grave risk of exploitation, inhumane detention, and deportation.” Greece’s decision to expand the application of the policy of Turkey as a “safe third country” just goes to demonstrate the EU and Greece’s attempts to effectively exclude people from its territory.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has revealed that Greek police detained a Dutch TV crew reporting on refugees in the border region to Bulgaria und Turkey. Officials said the journalists were in a restricted are and ordered them to stop filming, before they took them to a local police station for questioning. After one hour, they were released without charge. “Greek authorities must allow reporters covering refugee movements to work freely, especially in border areas,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “If police detain, harass, or obstruct journalists, this only indicates that the Greek authorities have something to hide.”
Volunteers have documented an increasing number of pushbacks at the Greek-Northern Macedonian border, Statewatch writes, also by foreign border guards. Altough it is not confirmed yet, NGOs like the Border Violence Monitoring Network have raised concernes that Frontex officers could be involved in such actions and border violence. Five such recorded cases involve Frontex staff who were “engaged in or condoned brutal violence — including the use of tasers and electroshock batons, throwing people into rivers, and tying people up and beating them”. Statewatch has also confronted Frontex with the collected evidence. The agency says it had no knowledge of any incidents and stressed it was only present on the Greek side.
Libya
The Prime Minister of the Libyan National Unity Government said in a meeting with EU’s Commissioner for internal affairs that the country cannot stop migration and human trafficking on its own. As a transit country, a “strong collaboration between the European Union and the countries of origin” is needed, Ansamed reports.
Italy
Slovenia and Italy want to resume border patrols next month, after they suspended the activities during the Covid-19 pandemic. “Italy has said that it is willing to use drones and night-vision goggles in its activities,” InfoMigrants reports. Most of the patrols will probably happen between Udine and Trieste, where most of border-crossing are intercepted.
Eight people have been detained by Italian authorities, accused of smuggling people. The action happened during an operation off the Calabria region, when they intercepted a boat with 37 people last Thursday, InfoMigrants reports. A fishing boat towed the vessel and moved 80 kilometers away from the coast. Three units of the naval-air operation intercepted the boat and escorted it to Roccella port.
Spain
New footage shows another case of police violence in Spain in a Center for the Internment of Foreigners (CIE), which was opened last October. The person affected was handcuffed in his cell for three hours, according to a video of the incident published by El Diario.
UK
Norwegian authorities have identified the body of a 15-month-old child, which had washed up on the Norweigan coastline more than two months ago: Artin, with his parents, was a passenger of a boat which capsized on the way from France to the UK last October. Artin’s parents and his two siblings also died in the incident, according to the Guardian.
The Home Office wants social media providers to remove posts and content which could “glorify” border crossings or encourage others to make the journey, according to Site36.net. Facebook reacted and said that people smuggling was illegal and therefore was not allowed to promote on the platform.
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Ireland
The Department of Children and Equality in Ireland is aiming to close 24 emergency accommodation centres by the end of the year, which currently house some 1,300 people, The Irish Times reports. The step is part of the government’s attempt to move away from emergency accommodation and to end direct provision.
With the new system, which should be fully operational by December 2024, asylum seekers will spend a maximum of four months in governmental reception centers with a capacity of 1,980 people and then receive accommodation through Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs). The current system of direct provision has been heavily criticised for its inhumane conditions, and we welcome this decision.
General
The European Court of Auditors has slammed Frontex for not effectively helping EU member states and the Schengen countries. Their activities were not “adequate to combat illegal migration and cross-border crime” the report reads. The auditors further criticize the agency for not fulfilling the mandate it received in 2016. Another issue cited is their in-transparency, due to Frontex’s lack of reporting on its efficiency and costs, nor analysis of its performance or the impact of activities.
Thousands of displaced people in camps have already been infected with Covid-19, and have been exposed to a much higher risk due to poor sanitary conditions — now, they may be excluded from vaccination campaigns too, according to The New Humanitarian. “The main thing that is actually stopping equitable access to vaccines [for refugees] is the global supply,” Ann Burton, chief of UNHCR’s public health section, told The New Humanitarian. As rich countries have secured some 85 percent of the vaccine doses, 85 percent of refugees live in developing countries.
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