AYS Daily News Digest 5/11/19: The broken promises after a sea rescue
People still wait for a relocation // Winter approaching in Bosnia // People left on the streets is Libya // Greece wants to implement new distribution system
Sea
We often hear about rescues at sea, but bareley know what happens to the people, who have been rescues. It is “injustice and neglect” Sea-Watch summarizes, giving an update on a case of 53 rescued people from last summer.
While many of them were relocated as promised, all of them were detained in the hotspot in Messina, Sicily, and were denied free lawyers until lawers helped them. Eleven people are still forced to stay in Messina, with “little to no access to medical or psychological care, and lack clarity about their legal status”. Germany promised to relocate them, but nothing has happened yet. Additionally, Sea-Watch criticzes a lack of monitoring opportunities for the relocation process, which makes it seem intransparend and arbitrary.
Libya
According to Giulia Tranchina, dozens of vulnerable people including women and children were taken out of Tariqal Sikka detention centre yesterday: “They are spending another night homeless in the streets of Tripoli. They are are terrorized, at risk of being kidnapped, tortured, raped, sold, enslaved or killed.”
Greece
The honorary chief of the Greek armed forces, Konstantinos Ginis, describes an “asymmetrical threat” from Turkey with respect to the refugee situation, Ekathimerini writes. He also blamed the European Union for being “incapable and unwillingly” to deal with the topic besides disbursing money. Ginis suggested to sign a new agreement sharing the burden and demanded more border controls.
At the same time, the government wants to implement a shared distribution of people throughout the mainland. In any area the number of accomodated people should not exceed 1 percent of the local population, government spokesperson Stelios Petsas explained according to Greekreporter. At the same time, the infrastructure and services in the local communities should be strengthend. Furthermore the government plans to open new detention centres for people they want to deport. By the end of 2020, they want to deport 10.000 people.
Meanwhile Attika Human Support is asking for donations. After two elderly people lost thei home in Skala Loutron due to a fire, together with locals and the municipality they want to rebuild the house. Meanwhile, last week 30 boats arrived with more than 1000 people. A similar number has been transferred to mainland; however the camps remain overcrowded.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Temperatures are decreasing and therefore conditions in the camps get even worse. Vučjak “lacks all of the necessities and infrastructure such as regular water supply, toilets, medical care and food supply with sole exception of the International Red Cross providing two meals a day,” writes Ziyah Gafic. As the country unwillingly became the new entrance door into the European Union, thousands of people are residing at the border area to Croatia — left all by themselves with winter slowly approaching.
The situation is not much better in other parts of the country, where the local and cantonal authorities still haven’t done anything to provide emergency shelter for hundreds sleeping in the cold and rain in the past days in Tuzla. However, the UN agencies who picked up all the emergency funds for the migration ‘issue’ in the country also haven’t done much more than the politicians they are constantly accusing of lack of political will. Some transparency in the situation, with both letters and numbers, wouldn’t hurt.
Italy
Italian and Slovenian border police intensified their collaboration to prevent irregular border crossings. For this, the duplicated their resources, Messagegeroveneto reports.
At the same time, volunteers speak about continuesly arriving people in Udine. They need especially Sleeping bags and winter clothes as well as canned food and other supplies.
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