AYS News Digest 23/3/22: Mother and 13-year-old daughter deported after 10 years in Germany
Bodies of people who have died in shipwrecks found along Tunisian coast / BVMN Monthly Report / EU leaders have tacitly admitted that EU migration policies, at a purely mechanical level, are unfit for purpose / and more
FEATURE
All of Europe seems to be on high alert regarding the situation in Ukraine and the needs of the (Ukrainian) people fleeing the country. And while authorities and civil society throughout Europe and Germany are jointly organising for reception of hundreds of thousands of people and a new culture of welcome is being created, meanwhile the detention and the deportation machinery continues to work relentlessly.
A particularly blatant case occurred last Wednesday when an Iranian family from Büdingen, who had lived in Germany since 2012, was separated by deportation.
The mother and the 13-year-old daughter were surprisingly deported to Iran, the father was left behind because there was no more room for him on the plane.
He is now likely to leave voluntarily in the coming weeks in order to be able to be with his family.
He knows that if he manages to stay in Germany despite his deportation order and tries to bring his wife and daughter back to Germany, this could take years. Even if he managed to get legal status, they are banned from entering Germany for a period of around two years because of a rule that applies to people who have been forcibly removed.
“We demand that the best interests of the child be taken into account as a matter of priority and for the authorities to admit the error, mother and daughter be granted re-entry to Germany, and the family granted the right of residence”, Hessischer Flüchtlingsrat press statement says.
A demand for an immediate moratorium on deportation in Hesse is sought by the engaged groups.
TUNISIA
Dead bodies appeared at the north-eastern coast
The death of 25 people was confirmed by the IOM when bodies started to appear already last Saturday off the north-eastern coast of Tunisia, revealing that a shipwreck had happened on the Mediterranean, reported the Italian news media Il Manifesto.
Among the victims were a mother and two children who were trying to reunite with the father who has been working in Italy for several years.
The boat left the coastal Tunisian city of Mahdia on 4 March with 59 people from Tunisia and Syria on board, according to a prosecutor in Nabeul, a city a few kilometres from Hammamet on the southern part of the Cap Bon peninsula.
“They tried to cross the sea because family reunification applications had always failed. Once the man’s income was insufficient, another one was missing some square meters to the rented house,” says Karbai (Tunisian MP, note) bitterly. And he adds: “To die like this, because of bureaucratic quibbles, is wrong. It is not possible that the law forces people to risk their lives in this way. There are Italian and Tunisian responsibilities.”
— says Majdi Karbai, a Tunisian parliamentarian of the Attayar Social Democratic Party.
GREECE
Two people in urgent need of support close to the town of Didimoticho, near the Evros border
A new alert from Alarm Phone arrived regarding two people in an urgent situation close to the town of Didymoteicho, the nearest town to the Turkish-Greek border. In need of applying for asylum in Greece and after traveling for three days, they are now reportedly injured and without water. Alarm Phone reports that local authorities and UNHCR have been informed.
Misinformation by the Greek minister of Migration and Asylum
Allegations with no basis in international or European law about who is a real refugee were made on a Greek television program by the Minister of Migration and Asylum Notis Mitarakis, reported Solomon news media.
The minister once again stressed that the “refugees leaving Ukraine are war refugees, they are the real refugees” and that the Greek government is ready to provide technical and humanitarian assistance and support the Ukrainian people.
What is more, he expressed that “Ukraine borders the EU, the country has been invaded illegally and these people are coming straight from a country in danger onto EU territory.”
Immigration law experts—Salvatore Lombardo, a lecturer at the Sciences Po University of Paris, and Anna-Jasmine Vallianatou, an Athens lawyer and researcher at the British Institute of International Relations—and UNHCR refute all information leading to false conclusions. At the same time, allegations of illegal repatriation of asylum seekers continue.
THE BALKAN ROUTE
In February, the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) shared 32 testimonies of pushbacks impacting 364 people-on-the-move across the Balkans. This report brings together first-hand testimony from a range of countries in the region to look at the way European Union states and other actors are affecting systemic violence towards people crossing borders.
This month’s BVMN report covers:
- trends in violent pushbacks from North Macedonia, Bulgaria and in BiH
- 19 bodies found in Evros region
- a court victory in Austria, where a verdict condemned the pushback of an unaccompanied minor
- police raids, forced relocations, and raids on attacks on solidarity structures in Serbia
- MEPs visiting the Western Balkans
Read the full report for more information on these topics, as well as further updates from the region including: the latest developments in Samos and Trieste, a campaign against pushbacks and border violence in Greece, and an update on the ongoing war in Ukraine, highlighting the systemic racism against people of color fleeing the conflict.
FRANCE
Young people left on the streets of France
40 young people are to be evicted from an emergency accommodation centre in Essone, according to Utopia 56. The eviction was already planned to happen two weeks ago but the process was suspended following the organization’s denunciation.
BELARUS
People still stranded in Bruzgi
People still continue living in limbo inside a customs warehouse camp in the village of Bruzgi — the Belarusian cross border with Europe — while Belarus officially states that there is no one left there. Video footage from 12 March, released by Grupa Granica, the Polish network of human rights organizations, shows the existing situation of people living in makeshift dormitories made from planks and cardboard.
Read also: Emergency conditions ignored at Poland-Belarus Border
A similar situation in Lithuania, where more than 100 people have been prevented from entering the country from Belarus during the past week, reports journalist Dominik Wilczewski on Twitter.
Since the beginning of this year, the Lithuanian border guard (VSAT) has deterred 786 people and 8106 last year.
UKRAINE
On Zhuravychi detention
The EU is responsible for these refugees because of its pivotal role in setting up the detention centre in which they are being held.
Trans women fleeing Ukraine are reportedly being denied passage to safer countries, despite their legal status as women and the danger posed by Russia’s transphobic policies, Guardian reports.
UK
WORTH READING
- El Hiblu three have written down their testimony about their trip to Malta for the first time since being accused of terrorism three years ago:
- Mixed Migration Hebdo opens with another discussion of pushbacks in the Aegean Sea, and why the undeniable evidence that just emerged of their commission will lead to anything but their omission. Then the news:
- EU leaders have tacitly admitted that EU migration policies, at a purely mechanical level, are unfit for purpose:
- Contrary to what people tend to think, climate migration will be mainly national: the latest major UN report on climate change says so:
Find daily updates and special reports on our Medium page.
If you wish to contribute, either by writing a report or a story, or by joining the info gathering team, please let us know.
We strive to echo correct news from the ground through collaboration and fairness. Every effort has been made to credit organisations and individuals with regard to the supply of information, video, and photo material (in cases where the source wanted to be accredited). Please notify us regarding corrections.
If there’s anything you want to share or comment, contact us through Facebook, Twitter or write to: areyousyrious@gmail.com
