AYS News Digest 20/02/23: People seeking protection died in a truck in Bulgaria
18 people were found dead in a truck in Bulgaria // Updates on the poor conditions of Amygdaleza camp // More funds for Hellenic Coastguard // Iuventa ship destroyed in Italian custody // Antiracist demonstrations in UK // Over 18,000 migrant and refugee children went missing in Europe // and more…
FEATURE
Border management continues to kill people
Borders are dangerous. Borders force people to risk their lives. The 18 people found dead in Bulgaria were forced to risk their lives by those dangerous borders. Need to seek protection, but no visa: what to do? Since the visa system (and the border system in general) follows hierarchical policies, there is no choice but to resort to smugglers. The result is 18 people losing their lives and 34 in very difficult conditions. No food, no water, no space, no air to breathe.
The people found last Friday tried to reach the EU hiding in a truck. All of them were from Afghanistan, a country where human rights are not respected and plagued by the consequences of years of war. Despite most western countries having declared that they would be ready to support the Afghan people, now they are leaving them dying at EU borders. The solidarity claimed during August 2021 with the Taliban takeover looks like just another unfilled promise.
Here is the article in Spanish and Italian.
For years people seeking protection die at our EU borders. Illegal pushbacks have been normalised and are a systematic practice which endanger already risky borders. Human rights abuses and torture are funded by the EU and seem to be an essential part of border management.
Precisely with regard to Bulgaria and the Balkan Route, it has recently been proved that the rights of people on the move are violated out of sight, although associations and activists have been denouncing this for years. You can read the investigation led by Lighthouse Reports here:
Lighthouse Reports have video footage of violent practices carried out at EU borders, including that of shooting people:
Violent border management goes hand in hand with an ever-increasing externalisation of EU borders, thus favouring the instrumentalisation of people seeking protection.
It will soon be the seventh anniversary of the EU-Turkey deal.
Together we demand: Safe escape routes and freedom of movement for all! “No more EU-Turkey Deal: Human rights are not for sale”! Join the actions or organize your own actions in your cities!
Writes Frenchcollective in a tweet.
GREECE
Updates on the poor conditions of Amygdaleza camp
The situation in the camp is simply inhuman. The food is delivered in packages and cold, the facilities are inadequate (ruined mattresses, disgusting toilets, no running water guaranteed).
The conditions in the Greek camps have been denounced for years and have led to extreme situations such as the fire in Moria in September 2020. Legal Centre Lesvos writes:
The fires that destroyed Moria camp in September 2020 came four and half years after the EU-Turkey Deal turned the Aegean islands into prison islands for those forced to cross the border from Turkey, and Moria camp became the notorious symbol of the EU’s migration policies. The destruction of Moria camp was the inevitable outcome of the cruel policies of dehumanisation and exclusion that created it.
But no one seems to want to take responsibility for this. On the contrary.
Lawyers of the Legal Centre Lesvos are in part representing the Afghan defendants who were accused and convicted for the fires that destroyed Moria refugee camp in September 2020. Four of the six of them will have their conviction and sentence re-examined before the Mixed-Jury Court of Appeals of the North East Aegean on 6th of March.
While some scapegoats are being sought, conditions continue to worsen in the camps, to the point of extreme situations. Despite this, the priority does not seem to be a dignified reception, but to strengthen borders and controls. As it is announced by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum:
The Special Service for the Coordination and Management of Immigration and Internal Affairs Programs (EYSYD MEY) of the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, through the Immigration Funds, proceeded with the allocation of €105,500,000 in funding for the acquisition of 50 new vessels by the Coast Guard — Hellenic Coast Guard and Internal Affairs (FUND) of the European Union.
ITALY
The Iuventa crew have filed a criminal complaint to the Trapani Prosecutor’s Office requesting an investigation into the destruction of their ship
The Iuventa rescue ship has spent five years in custody of the Port Authority of Trapani. Abandoned.
“Negligence in custody is a crime under Italian law. We expect a thorough investigation which will assess if and who violated their duty to maintain the perfect functionality of the seized sea rescue vessel, which was completely abandoned,”
Said Nicola Canestrini, Iuventa lawyer. Therefore the Iuventa crew decided to fill a criminal complaint in order to ask for an investigation on such negligent treatment of the rescue ship. Explained Sacha Girke, from the Iuventa crew:
The Italian state has not only reduced the capacity of the civil fleet by seizing the Iuventa, but has abandoned the ship and contributed to the destruction of an asset that could have saved lives
Read more here:
Young woman died in Lampedusa hotspot
After traveling in distress a young woman died because of the cold and the difficulties faced along the journey to Italy.
People seeking protection are forced to cross the Mediterranean Sea risking their lives. Meanwhile European migration policies focus on externalisation and there are not safe routes yet. People are pushed back and left to drown.
Italy and EU are directly involved in illegal pushbacks, since they systematically fund and support the Libyan Coastguard.
Recently Libya, responsible for human rights violations and torture, received two new boats from the Italian authorities:
GERMANY
Germany plans to transfer asylum seekers offshore
NGOs denounce the impracticability of a German plan to process asylum of people arriving from the Mediterranean in other countries of North Africa
Read more here:
SPAIN
Spain plan to host over 100 Syrian refugees impacted by the earthquake:
UK
Antiracist and pro refugee demonstrations in response to anti migrants protest in Knowsley
After the violent demonstration in Knowsley where a far right group protested against migrants, many people showed their solidarity to migrant people in different cities of UK.
We talked about the anti migrant protest in this digest.
The increasing violence against people seeking protection is a proof of a broader structural racism. A petition was launched in order to limit the inflammatory language on the migration topic often used by far right groups. Here:
In many cities people reacted and organised pro refugee demonstrations. One of those was held in Liverpool last week. Read more here.
Many people gathered in Ireland as well to shout loudly how important it is to welcome refugees:
You can read an analysis written by Care4Calais on the rise of hate towards refugees and asylum seekers in UK. Here
EU
Over 18,000 migrant and refugee children went missing in Europe between 2018–2020
EU Parliament report on disappeared refugee children across Europe. Read more and here:
WORTH READING:
- Climate change forces people to migrate, risking their lives and crossing dangerous borders. A good article with some stories:
- CEAR shared some interesting data on asylum in Spain in a thread
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