AYS News Digest 28/07/23: 901 Bodies Recovered off Tunisia
950 Syrians deported from Turkey in July // 2000 people rescued by civil rescue operations in last 2 weeks // Frontex collaborates with Libyan coast guard // Less than a third of unaccompanied children get asylum approved in Greece // CoE press Greece for Pylos investigation // Evros wall extension begins // Video released of Greek border guard beating Syrian man // Systematic criminalization of boat drivers and much more…
FEATURE: 901 Bodies Recovered off Tunisia
The bodies of 901 people have been recovered by the Tunisian Coast Guard between 1st January and 20th July this year. The identities of 598 of these individuals remain unknown. Tunisia has long been a transit country, but people are now fleeing en masse due to the dangerous situation for black Africans in the country.
Within the interior of Tunisia and at its borders with Libya and Algeria, many more people, including children, are losing their lives or struggling to survive in inhumane conditions due to a combination of racist violence within the country and systematic enforced state disappearances of people to remote desert regions.
After the signing of a new billion euro deal between the EU and Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed earlier this month, IOM and UNCHR have published a statement calling for urgent assistance for those stranded in the border areas.
Among those stranded are women (including some who are pregnant) and children. They are stuck in the desert, facing extreme heat, and without access to shelter, food or water. There is an urgent need to provide critical, life-saving humanitarian assistance while urgent, humane solutions are found.
TURKEY
950 Syrians deported in July
In Turkey, there have been mass deportations of Syrians, many of whom have been forced to sign ‘voluntary repatriation’ documents. On 8th June, Erdogan stated that 1 million Syrians would be voluntarily returned, but there has been more and more evidence, including videos and testimony, that instead paints a picture of detention, violence and forced returns. The president also stated that 600,000 people had already been sent home.
SEA
Arrivals
On 26th July, Open Arms disembarked 73 people in Salerno. They also need crew. From 7th to the 21st July, SOS Mediterranee reports that nearly 2000 people have been saved at sea by civil society rescue operations.
Frontex collaborates with Libyan Coast Guard
A wooden boat with approximately 300 people onboard was illegally brought back to Benghazi by the Tareq Bin Zeyad militia commanded by Saddam Haftar. Haftar has been found directly responsible for war crimes.
Since its emergence in 2016, the Tariq Ben Zeyad armed group has terrorized people in areas under LAAF control, inflicting a catalogue of horrors, including unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, rape and other sexual violence, and forced displacement — with no fear of consequences. — Hussein Baoumi, Amnesty International’s Egypt and Libya researcher.
Previously, a Frontex airplane flew over the wooden boat several times and could have informed the TAREQ BIN ZAYED about its location, although Frontex claims to cooperate only with maritime rescue coordination centers.
Sea Watch reports that they have been talking to Libyan government officials who confirmed the collaboration.
GREECE
Less than a third of unaccompanied children get asylum approved
A new report from Save the Children and the Greek Council for Refugees highlights the risks undocumented children are facing in Greece. In 2022, only 981 out of 3,175 asylum applications lodged by unaccompanied children were accepted. The remaining applications were either rejected or are still in process. As a result, many children live in constant fear.
I have never been outside the camp. I am afraid that if I leave the camp the police might ask for my documents and will deport me back to Türkiye and then to Afghanistan. And then I will have no choice but to commit suicide. — Hakim, 17, from Afghanistan, is unregistered and lives in fear of returning home
Council of Europe press Greece for Pylos investigation
The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, has written to the Prime Minister of Greece to ask for a thorough investigation into the Pylos shipwreck. In the letter, she highlights concerns over the actions of the coast guard, the treatment of the survivors and the families of the missing, and the government’s overall policies towards people on the move and civil society organisations.
Despite the numerous reports and testimonies regarding Pylos, the response from the Greek government refuses to take any responsibility for the incident or their ongoing attempt to erase the truth.
Evros wall extension begins
Workers have begun construction on a new section of the Evros border wall. It will stretch 35 km from Psathades Didymoteicho to Kornofolia Soufliou. Two companies, TERNA and Intrakat, will share the budget of 99.2 mill Euros to build the 5 meter high fence and 7 armored cabins along with roads and other infrastructure.
Video released of Greek border guard beating Syrian man
The violence in Evros continues as a video of a man being badly beaten by a Greek border guard emerged on the 28th.
Systematic criminalization of boat drivers
A new report has been published by Borderline Europe covering the criminalisation of people accused of driving cars or boats into Greek territory. The report examines a total of 81 trials of 95 people who were arrested and tried in Greece for smuggling. The findings are stark and include:
At least 1374 people were arrested for smuggling in 2022.
84% of the cases are subjected to pre-trial detention, lasting an average of 8 months. As of February 28, 2023 there are 634 people in pre-trial detention for smuggling.
On average, trials last for 37 minutes, which drops to 17 minutes in trials with state-appointed lawyers; the shortest trial we documented lasted 6 minutes.
NORTH MACEDONIA
Fund to send Ismail’s body home
A fundraiser has been started to support the family of Ismail to retrieve his body from North Macedonia so they can say goodbye and lay him to rest.
On 2nd July this year Ismail, a 21 year old from Morocco, was electrocuted by the train tracks whilst transiting through North Macedonia as a person on the move. He was in a coma in the hospital from that point on, but eventually succumbed to his injuries and passed away on the 12th July.
We are now working with the state institutions and the Moroccan Consulate to bring Ismail home so he can be buried by his family and they can have a chance to say goodbye and grieve their son, brother, cousin.
The cost that has been quoted to us by the Butel Funeral Home in Skopje to cover all expenses is 6,500EUR (5,570 GBP). We are aware it is a big expense but any small amount you can donate to cover this cost will make a huge difference to the family so we can work towards the ultimate goal of bringing him home to rest.
Thank you. Please email us if you have any further questions or concerns.
FRANCE
73 families on the streets of Paris
On 27th July, volunteers from Utopia 56 met 73 families on the streets of Paris. Among them were two infants of two months, another who was three and other children of all ages who were forced to spend the night on the ground in front of the Town Hall. It was impossible for them to put up tents without police intervention.
On 25th July, police evicted five families, including twelve children, who had put up tents on Place Saint-Sernin in Toulouse.
Asylum seekers to be housed in tents
Up to 2000 people could be housed in tents in the UK in Suella Braverman’s continued and increasingly expensive bid to prevent people from being housed in hotels (which were already inadequate and often dangerous; residents, including children, were recently found to be suffering from malnutrition). Meanwhile, attempts to move the first people onto the Bibby Stockholm have been delayed due to safety concerns, including fire risk related to doubling the housing capacity of the barge by putting in bunk beds.
Routine housing of unaccompanied children in hotels ruled unlawful
The Family Division of the High Court has ruled that unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the UK are the responsibility of local authorities, which have full powers and duties to protect them under the Children Act 1989. This comes after it was reported that hundreds of children were missing from Government-run hotels, with 66 missing from one alone.
WORTH READING
Germany’s Afghan Betrayal — Lighthouse Reports The German government is rejecting its Afghan staff’s pleas for evacuation, despite its own development agency warning they face Taliban retaliation.
How Europe Outsourced Border Enforcement to Africa — In These Times In 2016, the EU designated Senegal, both a migration origin and transit country, as one of its five priority partner nations in addressing African migration. But in total 26 African countries have received taxpayer euros aimed at curbing migration through more than 400 discrete projects.
JOIN OUR TEAM — Reach out via Facebook, Instagram or by email at: areyousyrious@gmail.com
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 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
