AYS Daily Digest 6/2/20: Pressure to be heard at the Serbian-Hungarian border
Demonstrations across Europe // Convoy of Hope reaches the border // An activist attacked on Lesvos // Changing citizenship laws in Denmark & Much More
FEATURED
A group of people on the move, nicknamed the Hope Convoy, are currently making their way through Serbia. There are more than 100 of them marching to the Kelebija border crossing (Serbia/Hungary) in protest, holding banners that read, ‘we are refugees, not criminals.’ Hungarian riot police were present yesterday and barricaded the area to keep them at a distance. The group’s demands include opening EU border in response to rough conditions in the Balkans.
Aid workers in the area report many of the families are from Syria, Iraq and Maghrebi countries. They also note the presence of many children and babies. So far there has been no violence and the asylum seekers are only asking for attention and the right to be released. Earlier during the day some people had the impression that the police aim to simply wait out and exhaust the people in order to eventually push them back to camps.
Hungarian law experts advised people to remain at a safe distance from the border and HU territory.
“Crossing the fence is in itself a crime punishable through prison sentencing. If committed as part of a group, it’s an aggravated version of the crime and the sentence can be as high as 3 years.”
The tension at the Serbian Hungarian border is raising. Since 1 July 2018, conducting border monitoring activities and assisting people with lodging an asylum application is also a criminal offense, punishable with up to 1 year in prison. For these reasons, NGO teams should try to clearly remain on Serbian soil as staff entering too close to the border may be arrested.
The local MSF team is in the area, monitoring the situation from a safe distance.
See footage form on the ground and follow the Convoy at the links below.
LIBYA
The IOM reported that 18 people traveling through Sabha, Libya were harmed when their truck crashed into a fuel tanker.
Survivors of the crash were taken to the local hospital in Sabha, 640kms from Tripoli, where many are in very critical condition, needing urgent medical intervention.
Five people have already passed, and another twelve suffered injuries.
GREECE
Lesvos
An Italian activist was attacked by a group of Greek fascists
On the night of February 4, activist Nawal Soufi was beaten by about fifty young Greeks and her car badly damaged, all under the eyes of the police. Fortunately, Nawal was not alone, three boys from the Moria camp tried to shield her body. The police intervened only at the last minute and explicitly told the activist that her presence is not welcome on the island. Nawal had to go to the hospital to receive treatment.
Several other people, including an Afghan girl, were also brutally attacked by fascist gangs in the area around the fields of Moria and Kara Tepe.
This all comes as tensions on the island are rising, with camp residents staging protests in the streets and fascist groups responding with violence at night.
Protests in Lesvos are reported to continue, despite yesterday’s police crackdown which resulted in some injuries mostly to women and children who were trampled during the chaos. Police fired tear gas into the crowds and attempted to use threats, blockades, and arrests as modes of repression. Food and water did not arrive to the camp yesterday and the stalls were closed for public order reasons.
In response to the brutal police crackdown and violence, yesterday people who are stuck on the island unexpectedly distributed flowers to the city’s residents while chanting “Sorry people of Lesvos.”
Antifascist counter protests also took place as reported by Latitude Adjustment.
Seven arrests were reportedly made by the Greek Police today during a raid against the “resentful” batsmen who were patrolling the previous night. Reportedly, two more are being sought.
These men acted as a modern-day raid squad, carrying out night patrols with bats and helmets, and stopped to check on passers-by, Greeks and foreigners.
Patras
No Name Kitchen reports that the conditions in the Factory where kids who play the “game” reside are dire. Because of this, three minors decided to leave the Factory and go to Athens to try other ways to get to Italy. Last Friday, after having climbed the fences that separate the port of Patras from the road to try the “game”, one of them was seen by the police. In his attempt to escape, he jumped the fence to exit the port, slipped was seriously injured. He received twenty stitches but now can’t sleep in the factory, because it’s too dangerous. In Patras, there is an organization that takes in homeless people at night, but it is becoming very difficult for kids from the Factory to get in. The number of people present in the factories at the moment is around 120.
Organizational Updates
Stand by me Lesvos is on strike for the first time in their organization’s history due to the conditions in the camp.
Conditions in the already overcrowded camps are expected to worsen this week as the weather changes for the worse. Read here.
In response to the drop in temperatures, the NGO Save, Assist, Outreach is calling for warm clothing donations.
Mobile Info Team released an update yesterday about the appeals process for rejected asylum claims:
Another change in the asylum should already state the all reasons why they were fleeing their country of origin in the full registration. The full registration is when your asylum claim is registered and you receive your white card. You will be asked details about your identity, about how you traveled to Greece, if you already have family members in other European countries and a brief statement why you fled your country of origin. If you have any documents from your country of origin, please bring them along. As it might create problems if you later in the procedure state different or new reasons why you were fleeing your home country, already think beforehand what you want to say. If you have been persecuted by your government or anybody else, or if your life was in danger because of certain circumstances, then this might be important reasons to state in the full registration. Make always sure to be truthful with the authorities, as making something up might lead to your asylum claim being rejected. If you can, try to get advice from a legal NGO, a lawyer or a social worker before your full registration.
Amidst the chaos, the Greek Forum for Refugees has called for dialogue as they believe it is the only solution to increasing polarization. Read more here.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
In Bosnia, 400 people are forced to stay outside in tents Tuzla, one of the most prominent cities along the Route.
The local and governmental officials still refuse to take charge or responsibility over the situation in the city and canton. In the Bosnian capital, the rising number of people on the move who are not taken care of is passing under the official radar and seems to generally be beyond the collective responsibility of the international community.
Follow local groups and pages across Facebook for more direct insight into the situation.
HUNGARY
Evidence of the abuse of asylum seekers along the Hungarian-Serbian border is being repeatedly ignored.
https://twitter.com/Balkani.../status/1225343157329637376...
In other news, internal documents reviewed by BIRN show that the head of Frontex rejected a recommendation in 2016 from the agency’s own compliance watchdog to suspend operations on the Hungarian-Serbian border amid concerns of complicity in rights violations by Hungarian officers.”
ITALY
Reporting from the retention center (CPR) in Gradisca, activists say they must report the stories of inmates as what they are hearing cannot go left unsaid and inmates themselves risk deportation if they speak out. A boy inside the CPR has hepatitis C and on Saturday began to become sick. Other inmates shouted and called for help. Help was not given. Sunday, he started to vomit blood and was briefly taken to the emergency room. However later that night, he was returned to the CPR. Reports say that whenever someone is in need of assistance authorities make them wait and do not respond to their screams for help. Read more here.
In other news, the organization, Mai Più Lager has compiled a list of information on retention centers that hasn’t often reached the public. To keep updated on these situations follow their posts on their Facebook page linked below.
https://www.facebook.com/360195841218595/posts/640553626516147/
SPAIN
Dozens of people gathered outside the Spanish Parliament today to commemorate the victims of the El Tarajal tragedy on February 6, 2014. On this day, six years ago, around 200 people tried to enter Spain by crossing the Mediterranean Sea at dawn. The Civil Guard officers used “anti-riot equipment” to stop the migrants reaching Spain, firing 145 rubber bullets and five smoke canisters at those still in the water. Fourteen of the asylum seekers drowned just meters from Tarajal beach in Ceuta while twenty-three were sent back to Morocco after being picked up by the Civil Guards on Spanish soil. The event has become a symbolic representation of Europe’s hardening stance against migration. No entry, no matter the cost.
While protestors commemorate those who died this week, border issues and rights abuses wage on, not only in Spain, but around the continent. In Melilla and Ceuta, migrants are repeatedly pushed back without the opportunity to ask for asylum. In the Greek border region, hundreds are systematically rounded up, beaten and forced back into Turkey every night. Along the Bosnian-Croatian border migrants are shot at, beaten and forcibly returned often with nothing. Today, a group is making its way through Serbia to the Hungarian border. Their fate will likely be the same unless politicians are held accountable and political pressure is applied. Direct action in these protests helps.
FRANCE
To participate in demonstrations in France, on Saturday February 8th, a demonstration will take place in Grenoble to remember those who died. Demonstrations have also already occurred in Berlin and more will continue throughout the weekend. To find more information on the event in Grenoble follow the link below.
The Centre de Rétention Administrative (CRA) in Paris is on fire.
For several days, the inmates of Building 2A at the Vincennes Administrative Detention Center were on hunger strike due to the conditions and Violent police repression. On February 4th, the inmates sounded the alarm that the undocumented prison building was on fire. Prisoners were surrounded by riot police in the courtyard of their building where in some instances they were beaten by police and had to stand in the cold and rain for several hours.
Around midnight, the policemen loaded at least 30 people into 4 different trucks. No one is sure where they were headed. The few dozen people who remained at the CRA had to sleep on the on the burnt mattresses some without clothes or their personal items.
So far, no news has circulated in the press.
To demonstrate our solidarity with the prisoners, here are the numbers of the cabins:
2A: 01 48 93 69 47/69 62/90 42
2B: 01 43 76 50 87
01 48 93 99 80/91 12
The Council of the State decided on February 5th to reject the appeal brought forth by MSF and others against the decree of January 30, 2019 on the support file for the evaluation of minors (AEM). This mean migrant children will not be protected from expulsion and increases the risk of illegal evictions. “It thus confirms the possibility for the administration to expel a young person who requests protection because of his age and isolation as soon as a department has considered him to be of adult age, which is most often based on subjective criteria.” The organizations note in their appeal that this often ends up leaving children on the street without protection during the whole procedure. Many are seeing fewer and fewer of minors visiting their offices. Overall, the minors’ health seems to be deteriorating and suspicions of case of exploitation is increasing: “These are all signs that confirm our fears that these children and adolescents, dissuaded from seeking protection by such a measure, remain exposed to all the dangers.” To read more about the appeal and the statement form MSF click here.
If you are in Northern France, FAST needs your help.
GERMANY
Prime Minister Kemmerich announced his resignation and has made a call for new elections. This announcement comes amid backlash over his apparent AfD support. Germany’s main parties have shunned the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and Minister Kemmerich said in Erfurt on Thursday, “the resignation is unavoidable.” During Chancellor Angela Merkel visit to South Africa, she described Kemmerich’s AfD-backed election as “unforgivable” and called for the election result to be reversed. Merkel also noted, “It is a bad day for democracy.”
DENMARK
Big news in Denmark yesterday, after months of discussion an amendment to the Danish Citizenship Act was passed confirming that children born Danish parents who are “unlawfully within conflict zone” will not acquire Danish citizenship by birth.
Danish criminal law has defined a ‘conflict zone’ as an area where a terrorist organization is party to an armed conflict and where there is a ban on entry and stay without prior permission or creditable purpose. This applies to areas in Syria, where Danish women reside but have previously tried to return home. Some speculate that the law is an attempt to relinquish the government’s responsibility to facilitate their return home.
Many have also raised concerns about statelessness and the impact this amendment will have on children’s lives. In response, the Danish government has decided that the rule does not apply if the child would otherwise end up stateless, however “it is not clear whether occurrence of statelessness will be prevented in practice.” This has raised human rights concerns and calls into question that legality of charging a child for a parents’ actions. This is a particularly important amendment to follow, as Danish legislation often ends up paving the way for other countries in Europe to adopt similar and even more radical measures themselves.
For more information and an in depth legal analysis of the amendment analysis from Lawyer and researcher EVA ERSBØL can be found here.
More news coming out of Denmark regarding their UN quota refugees. It is apparently not clear yet how many or whether at all Denmark will receive its quota refugees in 2020. A quota refugee is a particularly vulnerable person(s) who has been selected among others applying for asylum as a special case in need of immediate resettlement either for medical reasons or because their protection is at risk. In spite of this, Foreign Affairs and Integration Minister Mattias Tesfaye said the decision will not be made until mid-year, as “we must take care that we do not end up in a situation where we further challenge the cohesion of our society.” This is an important development as it reflects the hardening political and popular sentiment towards foreigners in Denmark. The minister in the same speech, referred to importance of only taking cases who really need protection like women and children and went as far as to mention that an emergency case, for example, “could be a Christian who is in the minority in refugee camps because of his religion.” For the last five years, the Danish government has not received anyone for most of 2016, 2017 and 2018, taking only a handful of Syrian families in 2019.
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