AYS Daily Digest 11/03/2021—53 People Land on Lesvos, Turn to NGOs For Help
82 People Leave Lesvos for Hanover//The Many Forms of State Violence in Spain//Updates from Southern Serbia//& More
FEATURE
53 People Reach Lesvos, Turn to NGOs For Help
Early this morning, a boat carrying 53 people reached Lesvos after crossing the Aegean from Turkey. Instead of going directly to authorities in order to apply for asylum, as is their right according to international law, the people hid hid in the forest and contacted Aegean Boat Report for help. The reason? They were afraid that if they went directly to authorities, they would be forced onto life rafts and pushed back to Turkey, as has happened so many times in the past.
The group was eventually taken to the quarantine camp in Megala Therma. However, this is far from the first time that a group of people on the move has contacted NGOs or humanitarian organizations to document their presence in Greece because they were aware of the dangers of pushbacks.
To some people, this incident may not seem newsworthy or feature-worthy. It is just another story about people arriving in Lesvos, just another story about people terrified of the Greek authorities. However, it is worth taking a moment to let it sink in that the people were so terrified of exercising their internationally guaranteed right to seek asylum (and with good reason to be afraid, given past treatment of people on the move) that they waited for hours in the rain, with young children, instead of seeking shelter.
People should not need to document their physical presence on Greece three different ways with international witnesses just to increase their chances of going into a camp instead of onto a raft in the middle of the sea. European authorities should not need to be placed under the microscope by watchful NGOs to do the right thing. Yet, here we are.
SYRIA
Violations Documentation Center Report for February
The VDC reported 191 cases of arrests, disappearances, and other violent acts in Syria in February alone. This is important context to keep in mind as countries like Denmark look to restart deportations to Syria.
TUNISIA
39 People Dead Off the Coast of Sfax
Two shipwrecks off the coast of the Tunisian city of Sfax killed at least 39 people. This is the biggest shipwreck off the coast of Tunisia this year.
GREECE
82 People Depart for Hanover
Hopefully, this will be the start of a new life. A group of 82 people left Lesvos today for Hanover in Germany. They are part of the 1,553 people that Germany agreed to take in after the Moria fire. We wish them the best of luck and hopefully a fresh start, although it should have happened a long time ago.
Updates from Evros:
A group of nine people was stranded in the municipality of Soufli, in the Evros region, due to the snow. At least one person was seriously injured. The authorities eventually arrived and took them to a local police station, where we hope they received the help that they needed.
Evros was also the site of shots fired from the Turkish side of the border. While nobody was hurt, this was not an isolated incident and hopefully there will not be an escalation at the border, as people on the move will most likely be the ones hurt the most.
Updates from Lesvos:
More reports are coming out about irregularities in the first trial of members of the Moria 6 on Tuesday. Besides limiting the number of witnesses the defence was allowed to call, prosecutors also tried to stop lawyers from Legal Centre Lesvos from representing the defendants. There were huge disparities between the statements of witnesses allegedly identifying the defendants and their actual appearances.
Even though the Moria 6 are facing unjust persecution for their alleged role in the fire last year, no authorities are facing consequences for the dangerous camp they built where there have been five fires since February alone.
Many children in Lesvos are traumatized because of their experiences, both in their home countries, on their journey to Greece, and in the camp itself. However, trauma therapy will be ineffective while children are stuck in the camp because they are still surrounded by a traumatic environment. It’s estimated that 75% of the 2,000 children in Moria 2.0 need mental health assistance.
Stand By Me Lesvos published their annual report.
Updates from Ritsona:
Protests in the camp are continuing. More from Parwana Amiri:
General Updates:
This article (in Greek) offers insight into the way that the new NGO register developed by the Greek government prevents many independent organizations from helping people.
The Greek police is looking to increase its use of facial recognition technology, which will especially be used to target people on the move. Facial recognition systems are full of flaws, especially when identifying people of color, and in the hands of the increasingly authoritarian Greek police they will be a serious cause for alarm.
SERBIA
The Situation in Southern Serbia
According to Asylum Protection in Serbia, about 200 people on the move enter Serbia from the south every day. However, pushbacks to North Macedonia are still common.
HUNGARY
The Situation for Stateless People in Hungary
Although Hungary was one of the first countries in the world to introduce a special protection status for stateless people, the actual situation on the ground has gotten worse as overall Hungary’s democracy and tolerance has declined. Most people have their applications rejected without an explanation, the process takes a long time to complete, and the protection offered once people receive stateless status is lacking. More must be done to inform people—and local authorities, such as police who harass people—about their rights.
ITALY
More Protection for Labor Rights for Migrant Workers
IOM and Italy’s National Labor Inspectorate signed a protocol that would increase protection for migrant workers. It would strengthen legal boundaries against labor exploitation and protection for victims of workplace exploitation. While there is still a long way to go, this is a start to improve the situation for Italy’s many migrant workers.
SPAIN
State Violence Takes Many Forms
Today’s roundup of news from Spain offers an interesting (and infuriating) insight into the many forms that state violence against people on the move can take.
There is the disproportionate use of force and police presence to raid neighborhoods, checking people’s documentations and arresting them for deportation, as residents of Barcelona witnessed yesterday evening.
Severe restrictions on freedom of movement are another form of state violence. For months, the national government of Spain has refused to approve transfers from the Canary Island to the mainland. Yesterday, the first group of underage children was able to make the transfer, but they should not have been forced to stay in squalid conditions on the islands for so long.
Detaining people for months under the threat of deportation, even though according to the law a deportation must be carried out in 72 hours, or deporting them months after their arrival under the principle of “immediate” return, is also a form of violence. A judge has struck down the Spanish government’s use of immediate returns, which allows them to avoid the court cases that come with normal expulsion proceedings.
Not providing people with lawyers, which is especially common in the southern exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, may not directly kill people but is another form of violence as it throws people to the merciless jaws of the immigration system.
Violence is so much more than a policeman or border guard with a baton. The state has many ways, often legally sanctioned, of inflicting violence on people on the move.
BELGIUM
NGO Based in Brussels Helps Women and Children in Lebanon
This digest’s feel good story: Syrian-born Louma Albik is the founder of SB Overseas, which works with Syrian people displaced in Lebanon to give women and children more opportunities. The organization built schools for children and offers classes in languages, IT skills and more for women.
UK
EU Settlement Scheme Extension Refused
The UK high court rejected a bid to extend the EU Settlement Scheme past June. If EU citizens living in the UK do not apply for leave to remain by June 30th, they would be at risk of deportation. This decision could potentially affect tens of thousands of EU citizens, especially those who are less likely to be aware of this situation, such as the elderly (the Home Office has not done a great job of communicating about the settlement scheme).
UK residents can contact their MP here to stand with people affected by this policy.
The Home Office’s rapid change in policies, which are rarely communicated clearly, means that many are not clear on the status of detention and accomodation centers. Tinsley House is one example of this confusion and how the changing status and poor living conditions affect people on the move as well as groups trying to help people detained.
How much do drones cost? Drone surveillance of the English Channel cost the Home Office up to one billion pounds last year, although the actual price of the contract has not been disclosed.
EU
Externalization of Borders, Flexing of Power
The trend of the European Union’s externalization of its borders is probably not going to end any time soon. Increasingly, migration is a key issue in the bloc’s foreign relations, especially its use of deterrence and resource-sharing. The European Union’s border agency, Frontex, already has several partnerships with non-EU member states in the Balkans where they patrol along with local border guards and are even allowed to use force. The number of these deals are likely to expand in the future. The practice of pushbacks is already a dire problem at the EU’s external borders, how will this change as Frontex potentially increases its power even in countries that do not border the EU?
The European Union also created a new, somewhat ironically named, “European Peace Facility” a few months ago, which for the first time would allow the bloc to export weapons to its allies (before this, countries could only do this on their own). How will this tie into migration policy, which has already seen the EU cooperate with some unsavory actors? (the Libyan Coast Guard comes to mind)
That does not even touch on Frontex’s current, bizarre propaganda attempts as part of their operations in non-EU countries.
The European Court of Justice ruled that member states must keep the best interests of children at heart, even when they are not deciding their permission to stay in the country but that of their parents. They heard the case of a man deported from Belgium, even though he has a Belgian child.
WORTH READING
Many countries have used the pandemic as an excuse to crack down on people on the move and increase their surveillance powers. This article and this article unpack the impact of the pandemic on people’s right to seek asylum.
“Credibility” is a buzzword that gets used a lot in asylum law and interviews. However, this piece unpacks the problem behind current conceptions of credibility.
Find daily updates and special reports on our Medium page.
If you wish to contribute, either by writing a report or a story, or by joining the info gathering team, please let us know.
We strive to echo correct news from the ground through collaboration and fairness. Every effort has been made to credit organisations and individuals with regard to the supply of information, video, and photo material (in cases where the source wanted to be accredited). Please notify us regarding corrections.
If there’s anything you want to share or comment, contact us through Facebook, Twitter or write to: areyousyrious@gmail.com
