AYS News Digest 28/04/23: Nearly 300 deaths in the Mediterranean in the last 10 days
Unprecedented numbers of Tunisian nationals trying to flee//Human Rights Watch reports on extreme violence and torture of Syrians on the border//‘Stop the Reception Crisis’ campaign in Belgium//Police have evicted 400 migrants from a derelict building in Paris//and much more…
TURKEY
Human Rights Watch reports on extreme violence and torture of Syrians on the border
Turkish border guards are shooting at Syrian civilians on the border between Turkey and Syria. Since the beginning of 2023, there have been 11 deaths and 20 injuries at the hands of Turkish border guards. Shootings and attacks on Syrians trying to cross the border have been a common occurrence for many years, that have resulted in hundreds of deaths, including of children.
You can read more here: Turkish Border Guards Torture, Kill Syrians | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)
TUNISIA
Unprecedented numbers of Tunisian nationals trying to flee
The coast guard has stated that they have arrested around 1800 individuals in the last week. In just two days, 524 individuals were intercepted and stopped from trying cross the Mediterranean to Italy.
As a result of this increase in people trying to flee, there has been a rise in the number of deaths at sea.
Refugees in Tunisia are fighting for the chance to be evacuated so that they can leave the country safely rather than taking such dangerous routes across the Mediterranean.
You can read more here: “If we stay here we are going to die” — Alarm Phone | Alarm Phone
SEA/SAR
Nearly 300 deaths in the Mediterranean in the last 10 days
The Missing Migrants Project have reported their statistics on the number of deaths in the Mediterranean so far this year:
Alarm Phone reported on a boat in distress, carrying 30–35 people
After five days at sea, SOS Mediterranee rescued the group. They had spent the last two days without food and water, and were exhausted and dehydrated.
RESQSHIP reported on a boat carrying 54 people who had been fleeing from Libya for three days. They had been stranded for hours due to a defective engine:
Ocean Viking rescued 15 people in distress:
More resources: Airborne Monthly Factsheet January and February 2023 • Sea-Watch e.V.
GERMANY
Federal Government to fast-track asylum procedures
The federal government is in principle ready to agree to an accelerated asylum procedure at the EU’s external border, which will allow rejected applicants to be returned more easily.
EU asylum reform: Traffic light agrees on restrictive course (www-faz-net.translate.goog)
BELGIUM
‘Stop the Reception Crisis’ campaign
There are currently 3000 asylum seekers left without housing across Belgium. As a recent response, the collective ‘Stop the Reception Crisis’ have taken over an abandoned building on Rue de la Loi in Brussels to accommodate 95 asylum seekers.
FRANCE
Police have evicted 400 migrants from a derelict building in Paris
The evicted area is set to be the athletes’ village in the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics. The inhabitants had been living there for three years. Many who knew about the eviction left the day before, and activists arrived with vans to help move others before the police arrived.
You can read more here: Paris: Migrants evicted to make way for Olympic Village — InfoMigrants
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