AYS Daily Digest 26/12/19: Pushback on Rescuing Children in Germany
German government officials state decrease in asylum applications but continue to say deportation support inadequate // Tragic drowning in Turkish Lake as boat capsizes // Two lives lost to misery and hopelessness in Greece // Sea rescue continues…
Germany’s New Slogan “Refugee Children (Un)Welcome”
Two news stories related to the situation of refugees in Europe dominated the newspapers in the days shortly before and around Christmas in Germany. One was the publication of new statistics about asylum claims in Germany. The numbers of asylum applicants in Germany fell again. From January to November 2019, 133,270 asylum claims were submitted; this numbers continue the downward trend of the last years. Compared to the same time period last year, it is a decline of 13 percent. For the EU as a whole, the numbers of asylum claims rose slightly (8.6 percent) in the time period from beginning of the year until end of September.
The second piece of news was a statement of chairman of the German Green Party, Robert Habeck, which provoked strong reactions. In an interview with one of the big newspapers, he said it is a “Commandment of Humanity” to take action against the situation of refugees on the Greek islands, especially that of children.
He said that around 4000 children are currently living under untenable conditions.
“First, get the children out of there”, he demanded.
Church organizations and charities have made similar demands before and now support Habeck’s proposal of bringing around 4000 unaccompanied minors from the islands to Germany. Various German states already announced their will to take care about these minors.
Of course, this would be symbolic politics and far from actually providing dignified access to asylum procedures for everybody. And of course it would give Germany the chance to, once again, present itself as the upholder of moral standards, based on the motto: “If the EU is unable to find a solution, then it is our duty to step in for Human Rights.” That Germany for years now is holding on to the Dublin-regulation that causes these unbearable conditions in Greece and Italy in the first place, would once again discreetly be ignored. It is more of a fig-leaf than anything.
But even from this kind of short-term solution and hypocritical Christmas act, that would at least relieve the situation of 4000 unaccompanied minors, we are far, far away.
Minister of the Interior Seehofer and the government unanimously reject these demands. Seehofer dismisses Habeck’s demands as “dishonest politics”. He accused Habeck of “coming along at this transparent moment with an unhelpful proposal”. Christmas, it seems, is the time of the year in which we are no longer allowed to talk about acting humanely, as this disturbs the Christian Occident in its complacently holy atmosphere. Some newspapers titled: “Habeck wants to bring thousands of refugees to us”.
And some commentators like a member of the liberal party felt the urge to state “under no circumstances we should only bring children to Germany, because than we would separate them from their family” without even realizing that we are speaking about 4000 children that live under these unbearable conditions alone, without any family to be separated from. We are not speaking here about all the children, babies, pregnant women, old and sick people. Leave aside that no person should live under these circumstances, regardless of his or her vulnerability.
Instead, Seehofer states: “We do not only hold order, the even act in a humanitarian way”, referring to sending some trucks with relief supply. And, don’t worry, the numbers of asylum applications are declining for Germany. Congratulations. And in spite of this the federal police continue to lament the lack of infrastructure in deporting people as there are, according to them, far too few pre-deportation facilities. This on the heels of an earlier complaint about a lack of federal police staff to be aboard deportation flights. According to Federal Police Chief Romann, there are 248,000 people who await deportation in Germany, having seen their asylum claims rejected or being from countries “not qualified as unsafe”. However nearly half of these have been granted a stay of deportation, for local authorities have found there are reasons preventing them from being deported. It is unclear whether these reasons lie in terms of lack the resources to be deported or whether their cases are being appealed, although it is likely a mix of both. Regardless, the amount of pushback against providing relative safety to unaccompanied minors — which is far from adequate as has been noted, highlights the rapid deterioration of the discourse around supporting people in need in Germany.
As we reported yesterday, the community of Athens housing squat Notara26 marched towards Syntagma square in the heart of Athens to place 18 big parcels presenting the 18 articles of the European Convention on Human Rights under the Christmas tree. I wish they could have placed them under every single Christmas tree, all over Europe.
People on the move drown in a Turkish lake…
At least seven people are feared to have been drowned in a lake in Turkey, close to the border with Iran. The people on the boat were from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. 64 people were rescued and brought to hospitals and shelters. The area is transited by refugees from Iran and further east. Still it is unclear why the people were on the boat, as the Lake Van is completely within Turkey and has no direct border with Iran.
More arrivals and tragedy in Greece
Aegean Boat Report
Aegean Boat Report speaks about 240 people that arrived to Lesvos alone during the day. Information for the other islands are not yet available.
Samos Fire in Warehouse
As we reported earlier in the week, a fire broke out in Refugees 4 Refugees warehouse on Samos. hygiene items, winter clothing, sleeping bags and tents that were stored in the warehouse were destroyed. All this things are in high demand, especially now in winter. Please consider supporting Refugees 4 Refugees!
For information about sending items for distribution on Samos, please email info@refugee4refugees.gr, or send them a message directly on their Facebook profile. To donate in support of R4R, visit the GoFundMe campaign at https://bit.ly/2ZbIUU5
Two Men commit Suicide over Christmas days
While most of Europe was celebrating Christmas in warm houses amongst family and friends and most definitely with way too much food, two young men in northern Greece ended their lives by committing suicide. Both of them lived in a hotel in Mouries, Kilkis, close the border to North Macedonia, which accommodates currently around 400 people. One of the men was a father of two from Afghanistan; the other one was from Iraq. Both killed themselves by hanging. It should be noted that suicidal ideation and acts are often the natural outworking of the pressure of the situation — the seeming hopelessness, the vulnerability and abuse. The tragic event was reported by Greek Forum of Refugees.
Lawyer urgently needed
The Asylum Seekers Information Team is urgently searching for support of qualified lawyers with some experience in international law, migration law in the EU or elsewhere and/or human rights. Please go here for more information!
Central Mediterranean
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