AYS DAILY DIGEST 28/1/2019: The Odyssey continues
Sea Watch 3 left alone for nine days now / Evacuation from Libya and new arrivals in Greece / Spain wants to almost double deportations
Feature
The Odyssey continues
For nine days now, Sea Watch 3 has again been stuck out at sea. Once again, Europe is unable to distribute 47 people among the countries or to provide a safe port for them. Even though there are cities all over the continent willing to host them, high-ranking politicians are blocking the support.
The Netherlands, under whose flag Sea Watch is sailing, also refused to host them, as long as there is no agreement on how to separate refugees from economic migrants. “Without a clear perspective for such a structural solution, the Netherlands will not participate in ad hoc measures for the disembarkation,” announced the Justice and Security Ministry.
Meanwhile the ship won’t be able to use its three toilets anymore as they are full and organic waste cannot be dumped into the sea. The Italian authority for children and adolescent of Siracusa further demanded the immediate landing of the 13 minors onboard of the vessel, due to the hygienic conditions and the abuses and traumas they suffered in Libya. Additionally, other ships are banned from sailing half a mile around the area of Baia di Santa Panagia (where Sea Watch is halted), ordered the port authority of Siracusa.
Libya
The UNHCR on Monday evacuated 130 people, who were released from Libyan detention centers recently, from Tripoli to Niamey, the capital city of Niger. On the other hand, journalist Sally Hayden reports, apparently 30 people signed up to be returned to Eritrea as they’d lost hope for an evacuation. Yesterday ten of them left with IOM for Eritrea from the Abu Salim detention center. Some of them have been waiting for more than a year for this procedure.
Morocco
Alarm Phone reported that a boat with twelve people left from Achakar two days ago and was intercepted by the Moroccan Navy. Later they were deported to the south of the country. “A cynical but common deterrence practice,” commented Alarm Phone.
Greece
Four boats arrived on the Greek islands on Monday morning, Aegean Boat Report counted. Two boats carrying 90 people landed in the South of Lesvos and another two with 76 people on Chios.
No Border Kitchen Lesvos calls for supplies to support a shelter for women. Next to blankets, pillows, lamps, fridges and soap they urgently need food for the Azadi squat in Athens.
Also the ShowerPower project close to Moria camp is looking for volunteers between March and April as well as June and August. Team leaders are wanted, too. More info on their homepage: https://www.showerpower.eu/en/helping
Zataar and the Victoria Square project published their schedule for this week. In the following tables you can see their coming activities.
Bosnia
About a hundred children currently staying in refugee camps in and around Bihać will finally start school, as the regional Ministry, schools and international organizations involved in the process have reported, according to Klix. While their first day reportedly marked a beautiful start and the children were welcomed warmly at the schools, we hope that the approach to the educational aspect of the whole story will be at the same level as the welcome of the locals.
We stress this because of the intentions reported in the media, where it says that “as foreseen and planned, the classrooms for the migrant children will function at first as playrooms, and as they progress in the Bosnian language, they will be included in the official educational programme with the rest of the children”. This leaves room for interpretation, so while we greet the (too) long awaited move from nothing to at least something, we hope things will be made more clear in the next official statement regarding the programme and that children will be given daily individual attention in learning from the professionals at the organizations hired for the job, so that the announced playroom situation in schools can be replaced with the actual education the children have every right to.
Spain
The Spanish government wants to massively increase the number of deportations this year. From the budget proposal for 2019, ECRE reads that there are plans for the expulsion of 9000 undocumented people compared to 5100 in 2018. “The budget further indicated as a priority the construction of new detention centres (CIEs) in Madrid and in the cities of Malaga and Algeciras in Andalusia, which are the main arrival points for undocumented persons,” adds the organisation. The budget plan has to be approved in April 2019.
Italy
According to Napoli Senza Confini, 800 people came together in a theater to respond to the mayor’s appeal to create a network of public support for refugees and to continue to save lives in the Mediterranean.
On some bus routes in Rome, racial controls have increased recently. In the following article (only Italian) you can find more info and a guide on how to behave when witnessing such a situation: http://www.fabbricadeidiritti.it/2019/01/28/negli-autobus-di-roma-ispezioni-solo-a-danno-delle-persone-di-colore-ecco-cosa-possiamo-fare-per-fermare-queste-pratiche-discriminatorie-e-questi-abusi-delle-forze-dellordine/
France
According to Mediterranean Hope 18 people were relocated from Beirut, Lebanon, to France today. The three families had to flee Syria and Iraq.
Donations are needed in Dunkirk. The VZWGent4Humanity team is back in the field and is asking for many supplies.
Denmark
The Afghan Migrants Advice & Support Org documented a deportation from Denmark to Kabul, Afghanistan today:
He doesn’t have any network in Afghanistan and is setting foot in the country for the first time.
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