AYS Daily Digest 17/06/21: More than 13,000 illegal pullbacks to Libya
Lebanese bank burns 250 million USD in UN aid // New footage from Malakasa camp // New vaccination campaign in Sicily
Are You Syrious? · Jun 18 · 3 min read
More than 13,000 people were pulled back to Libya in 2021 — a place that is not safe for them. Credits: Twitter/@TilleyMarc
Lebanon
Lebanese banks have burned at least 250 million dollars in UN humanitarian aid, which was intended to support people on the run and poor communities. According to Thomson Reuters Foundation, they lost the money by “selling the local currency at highly unfavorable rates”, Al Arabiya reports. Due to the economic crisis and inflation, the value of the aid has shrunk despite the amount per person increasing , making it hard for people to get basic supplies like food.
Greece
“Despite mounting national and international pressure, Greece is still continuing, business as usual, with pushbacks and the EU stands idly by”, Raphael Shilhav, Oxfam’s EU migration expert said in an analysis of the NGO, collecting several testimonies of unlawful behavior by Greek authorities.
Activist Parwana Amiri shared a video showing how tents are packed together, leaving almost no room to move.
The Dunya Collective reports that police entered the Moria camp with a list of names of rejected asylum seekers to register them for transfer to Thessaloniki and deport them to Turkey after.
Worth reading
Sea
More than 13,000 people have been pulled back to Libya unlawfully, IOM and UNHCR wrote in a joint statement following an incident with over 270 pulled back people. This number is already higher than in all of 2020. In another case, 190 people fled the landing point upon arrival, Ansamed reports.
Resqship rescued some 86 people and transferred them to the Italian Coast Guard, after a three-day odyssey. The Civil Fleet summarized the incident here. The GeoBarents also rescued 410 people. As this is the only rescue ship at sea at the moment, several NGOs demanded that the EU assist with sea rescues, EU Observer reports.
In Luzern, Seebrücke Schweiz and other activists have started writing and reading out the names and causes of death of people who died in the Mediterranean.
Italy
NGOs in Southern Sicily have started a Covid-19 vaccination campaign, which is open to all people, including undocumented people. They can get their dose in the centers in Ragusa and Vittoria. On the first day, 129 people were vaccinated, InfoMigrants reports.
Spain
A boat with 57 people landed on Lanzarote this Thursday, EFE reports, referring to Salvamento Maritimo and the emergency hotline. All aboard were in good health. Three babies, their mothers and a pregnant woman were transferred to the hospital for evaluation.
A man in Las Palmas was sentenced for eight years in prison after the boat he was responsible for capsized in May 2019 and a baby died, while two relatives are still missing. The Superior Court now confirmed the trial, EFE writes.
Following Morocco’s border opening to Spanish enclaves Ceuta and Melilla and the ongoing dispute between both governments, Spain intends to ask Frontex for help at the border, ORF reveals.
Portugal
Following an assumed arrival at Portuguese shores, police detained five people, according to Publico. Water police are still looking for the vessel.
Bosnia
NoNameKitchen is looking for donations to start their Vouchers for Food programme near Velika Kladusa.
UK
The UK’s Refugee Council has published a briefing on the New Plan for Immigration proposals of the government, warning of a “two-tier asylum system”.
Denmark
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General
The European Ombudsman asked Frontex to improve its accountability by
- ensuring people know there is a complaints mechanism they can use
- improving how complaints are handled
- making more information about its activities public
The next LERRN-IDRC Webinar will focus on “Forced Displacement and Health in the Context of the Pandemic: Localized Responses to COVID- 19’s Impact on Refugees, IDPs, and Communities Living in Chronic Displacement.” It starts on June 24th at 9am.
On the same day, from 15.30 on, there will also be a Webinar on “Unaccompanied migrant children in the Netherlands: protection, integration, and transition to adulthood”.
Find ECRE’s daily press review here.
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