AYS News Digest 12/12/2022: Spotlight on Bulgaria — 70 facing criminal charges
Frostbite leads to amputation for one man at the Lithuania-Belarus border // Trapped Evros islet group beaten // Report proves Frontex uses aerial surveillance to aid pushbacks to Libya.
FEATURE
70 people detailed in Bulgaria facing criminal charges for entering by ‘irregular means’
70 people were detained after a police operation near the city of Sliven, including two Romanian nationals. The group were travelling by bus at the time of interception, and several people had to be rushed to hospital with symptoms of exhaustion, three still under critical observation. The city of Sliven is approximately 100km from Bulgaria’s border with Turkey.
Bulgaria was in the spotlight last week when the non-fatal shooting of a young Syrian man in October was the subject of a Lighthouse report.
Abdullah Mohammed was shot when his group was pushed back from Bulgaria to Turkey, an event that is indicative of an increasingly hostile situation for people-on-the-move in Bulgaria.
This summer, an Afghan man who held humanitarian status in Bulgaria was deported to Turkey, an act that was publicly denounced by six NGOs — who also highlighted an increase in similar action, calling attention to the actions of the authorities who were found to be “beating, robbing, stripping, and using police dogs”. The Bulgarian government denies the allegations, claiming that violence towards border officials has increased.
Bulgaria recently had its application to join the Schengen area rejected, which would allow passport-free travel with other EU member countries. Austria and Hungary blocked the application, with migration one of the reasons for the rejection, along with corruption and rule of law. Bulgaria is usually seen as a transit country for people from the Middle East, and is the poorest of the EU’s member states. Romania was also blocked from joining Schengen, whilst Croatia was successfully admitted.
BELARUS
Frostbite leads to an amputation for one man at the Lithuania-Belarus border
A man has had part of his leg amputated after enduring winter conditions at the EU’s border for a prolonged period. The man from Egypt was treated in a Lithuanian hospital. This is the third reported case of such drastic treatment. In November, two men from Sri Lanka were exposed to extremely wet and cold conditions and were left with amputation as the only treatment option following frostbite.
The number of people arriving in Lithuania has radically reduced since a border fence was erected. The 550km long barrier is topped with barbed wire and was completed in August this year.
A year ago, thousands of people were attempting to enter the EU via Belarus when people migrating were manipulated by Belarus against the EU. People were encouraged to travel to Belarus with false promises of an easy route to Western Europe. Despite border defences being erected, there are around 1,000 attempts to cross the border to Poland every month. This long read gives a clear picture of life at the border for one woman who is trying to help.
GREECE
Trapped Evros islet group beaten
In an update to our previous Digest a group remained trapped on the disputed islet in the Evros River. Both Greek and Turkish authorities deny responsibility for this area. Since last reported, the group shared that the pregnant woman and her children were evacuated, whilst some men and boys were stripped and beaten.
Meanwhile, a ten year old boy was being bitten by something while he slept and is now suffering ill health.
SEA and Seach and Rescue (SAR)
In another update from our last Digest a boat carrying approximately 53 people is still missing. The boat was en route to the Canary Islands from Moroccos when contact was lost.
More positively, those rescued by Humanity 1 were able to disembark in the port of Bari, Italy.
EU + FRONTEX
Report proves Frontex uses aerial surveillance to aid pushbacks to Libya
A new report has been published indicating that Frontex uses aerial surveillance technology to inform the so-called Libyan Coastguard of the location of boats, in order to return them to the African continent.
In a multimedia report entitled Airborne Complicity: Frontex Aerial Surveillance Enables Abuse by Human Rights Watch and Border Forensics shares evidence that drones and planes are used by the EU authority Frontex to locate boats attempting to travel to Europe, and that the information is shared with Libya in order to prevent the boats from reaching Europe.
The human rights abuses that people suffer in Libya are well documented. Abu Laila, 28, from Syrian (his real name wasn’t used to protect his identity) was interviewed for the report and described his experience.
“[He was] 11 hours into his attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to escape abuse in Libya and reach safety in Europe when Libyan forces intercepted the boat on July 30, 2021… After the boat was intercepted, he was taken back to Libya, detained, beaten, and forced to buy his freedom.” Airbourne Complicity
The use of aerial surveillance is crucial to the EU’s strategy in preventing people arriving, although Frontex claims that the surveillance is used to save lives. The report authors state:
“The analysis of available data supports the conclusion that the EU border agency’s approach is designed not to rescue people in distress but to prevent them from reaching EU territory.” Human Rights Watch
The full report contains detailed documentation of flight paths and analysis of data and is available here.
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