AYS Daily Digest 26/04/2018: Syrians potentially facing property loss due to new law
New decree allows the government to expropriate it / Summary of the third day of the Moria 35 trial / Once again, people sleep rough in Northern Greece / More people entered Bulgaria in March and April / New casualties in the Mediterranean / Prosecutor appeals release of the Open Arms / Summary from the Lebanon conference in Brussels / Reuters: EU plans to vastly increase border control budget / And more news…
SYRIA
A new decree passed by the Assad regime is said to jeopardize the property of Syrians, especially the ones who fled the war-torn country. Various media report that the so-called “Law 10” enables authorities to expropriate owners who do not present their deeds in a local office. Starting from April 11th, they are only being given 30 days to verify their property — even if they live abroad or in another district of the country. This period of one month starts after the authorities announce a new land development plan in the affected area.
Many people in both rural and urban districts do not possess such deeds, however, especially in poorer areas where homes are built without permission. If people fail to meet the requirements, the government can seize their property and choose to sell it at auction. For the ones who still had the hope to return one day, this step means they will have nothing left in case they ever can get back.
GREECE
Today was the third day of the Moria 35 trial. According to volunteer statements, eight defence witnesses as well as NGO workers and solidarians were seen. All of them said the riots happened before 12:30pm. They agreed that when everything was calm again, at around 3:00pm, the police started raiding the camp with the use of excessive violence, including tear gas. They added that Moria was not empty at this time. Most of the people present stayed in their containers because they felt safer in there. While seven of the witnesses said they did not see residents throwing stones, one said he did — as well as he seeing police officers throwing them back. Photos of burned bins and videos showing police violence were also seen during the trial.
Five of the defendants said they were arrested after 3:00pm, inside or outside of their containers — even if they did not attend the peaceful sit-in in front of the EASO office. Three of them confirmed police violence that left some people injured.
“In conclusion we have to say that all these people testified that they were arrested while everything was calm, against of what police says (that they were arrested during riots). And that they were arrested not as a group of people but one after one,” the volunteer summarized.
Some good news has arrived with regards to the awful racist attack last Sunday on Lesvos: 17 persons including some of the perpetrators were reportedly identified. However, according to the Solidarity Network Dodecanese, 110 refugees and 2 solidarians were arrested.
Refugees on the street in Thessaloniki
Since the land route between Turkey and Greece became more frequented, camps have in turn become overcrowded and people have ended up in the streets of Thessaloniki once again.
“Greek state and large NGOs are struggling to keep up. There is currently inadequate provision of accommodation, food and other services for these extremely vulnerable new arrivals,” Help Refugees states.
More and more people are arriving from Afrin and other regions of Northern Syria within just ten days. And once again it’s up to volunteers to provide vital aid.
Arrival on Lesvos
Two boats carrying 82 people have so far been confirmed as having arrived on Lesvos.
DocMobile in need of doctors and medical assistants
DocMobile is in urgent need of doctors and medical trained assistants to continue their operations in Greece. If you are willing to help or know someone who might be, please get on touch with verein@docmobile.org or check more details on www.docmobile.org.
BULGARIA
As the temperature slowly rises and the weather improves, it seems likely more people will try to make their way to Europe. Not only has Greece seen an influx of newly arrived people in the past weeks, Bulgaria has also seen the number of detained people double from February to March. Novonite reports in more detail, referring to data from the Ministry of Interior.
Even though the numbers are far from the ones seen back between 2015 and 2017, a total of 175 people were detained in the neighbouring countries of Greece and Turkey. In the first two weeks of April another increase was recorded. Since the beginning of the year, a total of 356 people were arrested by Bulgarian authorities. In the same period of the previous year, the number was more than 700.
AUSTRIA
Various Afghan associations and NGOs invite the public, on Friday April 27th at 7:00pm, to a commemoration for all civilians who died during assaults in Afghanistan the last days. The rally, which will take place in front of the parliament building, Dr. Karl Renner Ring 3, also aims to protest ongoing deportations to Afghanistan.
SEA
Salvamento Maritimo rescued 55 people in distress today and transferred them to Malaga.
In another report, 259 people are said to have crossed on the Western Mediterranean route: 144 in four vessels were rescued, five died, and twelve are still missing. It is not yet known if the other 55 people mentioned above are included in these numbers.
According to Epsocial, 144 people died in their attempt to reach the Spanish coast in 2018. 13 are still missing.
ITALY
The prosecutor’s office in Ragusa is appealing the court’s decision to release the ProActiva rescue ship Open Arms. With this step, it is following the orders of the anti-mafia prosecutor of Catania. According to ProActiva, the hearing will be on May 4th in Ragusa, just one day after the strike for the lawyers of the Camere Penali.
EU
On a conference in Brussels regarding the situation in Lebanon, NGO networks representing more than 70 Lebanese and international organizations demanded that the international community oversee the resettlement of ten percent of the refugee population in response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria and neighbouring countries.
Seeing some progress in areas like legal residency and birth registrations, there is still a lot do. Mike Bruce from the Norwegian Refugee Council adds: “Refugees are still struggling to secure legal stay and frequently live in fear of eviction. We all have a lot more work to do, and clearing the way for resumption of UNHCR registration would be a great place to start.” Camilla Jelbart Mosse from Lebanon Humanitarian INGO Forum demanded a “monitoring framework to track progress and ensure that we are delivering for those most in need.”
Especially vulnerable groups, refugees, as well as Lebanese people would still face many difficulties when it comes to the search for employment, what is also one of the main concerns of the Lebanese youth. Even though the current situation does allow for opportunity for Lebanon’s economic development, the organizations see stagnation in this sector. Especially because it is one of the main drivers of tension between Lebanese and refugee communities, Nadine Saba, from the Akkar Network for Development, added. The conclusion was: “The Lebanese and donor governments in Brussels failed to capitalize on this by setting out concrete steps that would deliver employment opportunities for vulnerable people.”
EU to bolster border control budget
The European Union plans to increase expenses to secure the external borders by more than 600%, Reuters reported. Their source said that the influx should be worth 25 billion Euro between 2021 until 2017. The current seven-year budget for border controls amounts to four billion Euros. Part of this money is meant to employ at least 3000 more staff. At the moment, the EU has around 1200 border control employees. Reuters added, that the plans should be unveiled on Wednesday.
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