AYS Daily Digest 6/8/20: New testimony of Frontex involved in pushbacks
NNK reveals illegal action at the Albanian-Greek border // First “voluntary return” flight leaves Greece // Locals stage racist protest on Gran Canaria // 50 people drowned in 24 hours // Italy resumes deportations to Tunisia // Increasing violence of smugglers in Northern France
Feature: Pushback by Frontex officers
No Name Kitchen reports on illegal pushbacks happening from Albania to Greece with the support of Frontex officers — the EU’s border protection agency. The case happened in the end of May, and NNK published it just now. According to witness testimony, the group was stopped in Miras, some two kilometers from the border. While the Albanian police were described as polite, the Frontex officers with their iconic blue badges and their national uniforms were not:
They don’t treat you humanely at all.
As some tried to escape the round-up, six of the police officers used physical force, including a tool similar to a baton, made of metal. “The transit group claim that the policemen wore balaclavas. They say that while they were being taken to the car, they were kicked from behind. At this point in the episode, the officers even pulled out their guns and shot twice in the air,” they claim further. They were brought to three camouflaged cars.
Afterward, they were brought to a police station, photographed and fingerprinted. However, they were denied food, although they stated they were hungry. Despite promises in the beginning that they would be transferred to a camp in Albania’s capital, Tirana, they were taken to a basement and told the camp was closed — which apparently was a lie. Contrary, they were told there was nothing for them to expect in Europe and they should leave. The next morning, they were brought to the border to Greece and threatened with violence if they didn’t go back.
Over the last months and years, there have been numerous reports of Frontex officers involved in illegal actions.
Greece
The Greek government conducted its first “voluntary return” flight for people stuck on the Aegean islands with 134 Iraqis being transferred to their country of origin. They were promised incentives of €2000 per person, according to Aljazeera. However, that a return is voluntary is doubtful when people are forced to live under inhumane conditions with no perspectives and protection.
Meanwhile, a new scheme for identifying underage people was introduced, writes Ekathimerini. At the same time, under the program to relocate 1600 unaccompanied minors among EU member states, 18 people were transferred to Belgium.
Scotland has renewed its willingness to welcome more people stuck on the Aegean islands. Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister for Scotland, has responded in support of Europe Must Act’s Scotland campaign and said, the UK must do more to protect people stuck at the European borders.
Following the Greek’s migration ministry’s announcement of EU funding for closed camps on the Aegean islands, Refugee Rights Europe demands open reception and asylum processing centres with proper access to the EU’s asylum process. “Concepts such as ‘Controlled Centres’ and ‘Closed Centres’ threaten to weaken EU protection obligations,” warns the organization. The hotspot approach has already failed and violated human rights.
Twenty-three people arrived in Chios by boat. Aegean Boat Report says, they are Turkish nationals asking for political asylum there. Two people suspected of being smugglers were arrested.
Spain
Some 100 people in Tunte on Gran Canaria have set up barricades to prevent 39 of a group of 71 people to access a school, where they should be quarantined for the next days, reports Publico. Before, the people needed to rest for four days in Red Cross tents, until their Coronavirus-tests were negative. The government criticized the action and stressed, that physical violence forcing police intervention was not acceptable.
Mauritania
Around 50 people have died over the last 24 hours trying the reach the Canary Islands. One group is said to have been shipwrecked in Dakhla, in the Sahara, and another in Nouadhibou, Mauritania. Only 11 people are said to have survived, according to Nius.
North Macedonia
In some regions of North Macedonia, a 30-day long state of emergency will be imposed by the government, according to local media. The decision was made in a session on Wednesday. The reason given was the high numbers of people on the move who transit through the country and fears of the spread of COVID-19. The affected areas are in the south and the north of North Macedonia, along the borders with Greece, Kosovo, and Serbia. Apparently the Crisis Management Center will be in charge of preparing an action plan in order to prevent the entry and transit of people on the move. In the last weeks the Greek border village Idomeni has once again become a transit point for people on the move who try to take the Balkan route. The route was closed in 2016, current attempts to cross the border to North Macedonia are dangerous and often end with people being beaten up and pushed back into Greece.
Serbia
According to Info Park, the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration plans to turn one government-run facility into a centre for isolation for newly arrived or pushed-back people. The country is experiencing a second wave of COVID-19 infections at the moment. After consultations with the Commissariat, Info Park decided to temporarily suspend its activities for children at Asylum Centre Krnjaca. Activities are ongoing in southern and central Serbian reception and asylum centres. Info Park launched a Viber Community in March in order to keep the refugee and migrant community in Serbia updated about the COVID-19 pandemic. The group has some 100 members and is supported by UNICEF Serbia.
From Serbia, many people tried to continue their travel into Hungary. According to Asylum Protection in Serbia, about 150 to 200 people are pushed from Hungary back to Serbia every day. Info Park said that many people therefore think about trying to cross the Romanian border.
A group of eight people on the move has been found hidden in a truck in the Serbian city of Niš. The truck came from Thessaloniki and had undamaged Macedonian customs markings. It is unclear how and where the people entered the truck.
Bosnia
A forced eviction at the camp on 4 August in Velika Kladusa at the border to Croatia has left hundreds of people on the road, as Triesteprima shows in a video. With nowhere to go, it seems to be even more reasonable for people on the move to try to make it to a safer place in Western Europe. Additionally, Federalna reported, thefts and violence among people on the move have increased recently.
Italy
Regular deportation flights from Italy to Tunisia will continue on 10 August, reports Ansa via InfoMigrants. Every week, the government wants to send two flights carrying a maximum of 80 people. Because of the pandemic, such actions have been limited or suspended in previous months.
Malta
Among 71 people, who disembarked on Monday, 16 were tested positive on the Coronavirus.
Together with Turkey, Malta will support the so-called Libyan Coast Guard to strengthen its southern borders. This was announced in a joint statement of the three countries on Friday. In parallel, they agreed that Maltese and Turkish companies will return to the war-torn country to make business and flights will resume, reports Newsbook.
UK
The Guardian reports about increasingly violent methods of smugglers to bring people from France to the UK across the channel in small boats. The newspaper received testimonials from people being pushed onto boats at gun- and knifepoint or threatened with having their fingernails ripped. More than 2000 people arrived on the British shores in June, four times as much as in all of 2018.
Germany
Germany is not meeting its promised reunification targets, writes dpa (via InfoMigrants). While the government said it will allow 1000 per month, the number of family reunion visas since August 2019 has been below 900. This can only partly be explained by the struggles of the pandemic. Speaking to the news agency, Pro Asyl criticized that the rules are “far too complicated” and that “not enough appointments were being given out” to assess the cases by foreign office employees in the countries where people were applying for the visa. Pro Asyl also warns that the deadline for renewing an expired visa for reunion and other services, which were not used due to the pandemic, ends on 8 August in Afghanistan and on 7 August in Pakistan.
MSF has teamed up with Sea Watch to provide medical support for people in distress on the Sea-Watch 4. The ship, funded and outfitted for the rescue mission in conjunction with the Protestant church in Germany, will probably leave the harbor in a few days.
Netherlands
Complaints about the ineffectiveness of the special task force that has been set up in order to work through the backlog of asylum application in the Netherlands are getting louder. Volkskrant, the national newspaper, published an article in which immigration lawyers speak about incomplete files, cancelled appointments and difficult phone contact. The task force was installed with the aim of dealing with some 14,000 asylum cases by the end of the year. Until now, only 3,000 cases have been dealt with. In several refugee centres across the Netherlands demonstrations took place, demanding more clarity about the procedures.
For more information in Dutch, see:
Algeria
The Global Detention Project has released its country report for Algeria.
Niger
People on the move are continuing their protest in Agadez, Niger. After their camp burned down in January, UNHCR left them abandoned in the desert, writes Sally Hayden for The Irish Times. They also accuse the agency’s staff of mishandling their asylum cases. For two years now they have been hoping to be eligible for a relocation program, after their attempt to reach European soil failed. In a letter addressed to UNHCR headquarters in Geneva, dated 1 August, Sudanese people said they were appealing for rescue and described the situation as urgent.
“Our suffering started in our country Sudan, due to lack of security, protection, civil war, but Libya became a threat to our lives due to insecurity.”
Lebanon
The Lebanese Red Cross published a survey for people in need following the explosion in the capital of Beirut. With this Damage Assessment Form, the LRC will try to respond to individual needs.
The Lutheran World Relief sent three shipping containers of aid to Lebanon. According to its own account, the items have a total value of around $624,000.
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