AYS News Digest 29/03/23: Croatia returning people to Bosnia, everyone confused
38 people died in a fire at a detention facility // A boat set on fire by police after they tear-gassed children // MSF: EU must monitor border forces in Balkan countries // EU continues prioritising the protection of borders over the protection and wellbeing of people // More news, event announcements, analysis and texts worth reading
FEATURE
Croatia is the latest addition to the Schengen area and the country with the longest terrestrial border of the EU with third countries. It has started a constant practice of returns to Bosnia and Herzegovina, but it seems not even their Bosnian counterparts were informed about it.
Una-Sana canton Prime Minister Mustafa Ružnić confirmed they had no previous knowledge that dozens of people would be returned to the Lipa camp, supposedly under readmission.
“As soon as we heard about this so-called process of readmission, we turned officially to the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who run the Centre Lipa and the entire process of migration. To our official request, absolutely nobody reacted. Why are people from the EU being returned specifically to Bihać? What is about to start happening again in Una-Sana canton? Several detention units were just built in Lipa, nobody knows anything, this is impossible. It is impossible that nobody has any information and people are being returned to Bihać with police escort, large numbers of people, and a whole part of Lipa is now bordered with great wire fence”, said Ružnić.
Other officials reacted as well.
“Interestingly enough, nobody knows what this is about. I will have to conduct an inquiry, given that this space that I see in Lipa surely hasn’t been built within regulations that take human rights into account and what the representatives of the EU demanded from us from the very start. Someone will have to explain everything”, said the refugee minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
At the same time, as the pushbacks continue, demands are louder for the scrutiny of the border regime in the area.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling for increased EU scrutiny of violence against refugees, migrants and asylum seekers at Europe’s borders.
“The physical injuries we treat and the accounts of violence we hear from our patients indicate the continuous intentional use of violence to deter people from seeking asylum in the EU”.
MSF’s recent publication states that patients treated near Serbia’s border with Bulgaria have reported being stripped of their clothes and belongings, being beaten with batons and branches, having dogs released on them, and having pepper spray and teargas used against them.
See the entire press release: EU must increase scrutiny on Balkan border force activities
GREECE
New migration code
A new law contains a clarification of current categories in residence permits and it changes the process of inviting citizens of third countries to Greece to cover domestic market needs, whether permanent or seasonal. It also lifts a ban on changing the location of residence for certain categories, in order to allow the better use of workers already living in Greece legally in different locations, report the media.
The new code includes a ten-year residence permit (like the current M2), based on two conditions: first, that they have completed at least three years of schooling in Greece before they turn 23. Second, that they have been accepted in professional or university-level schools or institutions.
Relocation programme for UASC ends
The programme of voluntary relocation for unaccompanied minors in 13 countries of the EU has ended.
15 children who were last to leave Greece were moved to Portugal.
See the official report here.
ITALY
Roccella Ionica and the surrounding coastline in the southern Calabria region have become a new destination for people departing from Libya.
Fifteen hundred people have landed at the Calabrian port of Roccella Ionica over the previous four days, reported Italian authorities.
This could mean that the route to Italy from Turkey—taken by the fateful boat that suffered a shipwreck on 26 February, leaving at least 91 people dead near Cutro—is becoming less important.
Migrants who take the new route to Roccella Ionica depart from North Africa, in particular from Libya, to reach the coast of Calabria, writes InfoMigrants.
Pushback from Crete
Alarm Phone reported on Saturday about 50 people on a boat with a broken engine sailing south of Crete. They said it notified the coastguard who responded to the call and said it was proceeding with a rescue. However, late Saturday night, in a new report, Alarm Phone reported that it had contacted the relatives of the refugees on the boat, who noted that water was entering the boat, which was towed by the coastguard to a location south of Crete, but without taking them ashore.
The rescue coordination center in Piraeus refused to confirm the incident, with the organization expressing fears about the possible refoulement of the people.
Fifty-nine people pushed back From Crete — Aegean Boat Report
People continue finding themselves in dire situations where they discover the means to express their intention to seek international protection.
Rule 39 measures were now brought in for a group of Turkish asylum seekers on Twitter who are continuing the trend of stating their presence in the territory and wish to claim asylum online using Twitter.
Analysis of key developments and trends in the Greek asylum procedure in 2022 based on the latest statistics made available:
Find the rest of the report in the thread by RSA:
FRANCE
Police brutality with no regard for children
Utopia teams report that this Sunday, police used tear gas to push back around 30 people (including four children aged one, four, 14 and 16) who were trying to cross the English Channel. The police then set fire to the boat with a lighter before abandoning them on the beach.
GERMANY
Legal info bus denied access to asylum reception centres
Germany’s federal administrative court has rejected granting access of independent asylum counsellors to initial asylum reception centres. It said that in order to be allowed to visit an asylum applicant, there would have to be a specific request for counselling from an asylum seeker.
The Munich Refugee Council then appealed the decision, but the federal administrative court now rejected the appeal. Read more.
EVENTS
Refugees welcome protest, UK
Counter-racist protest announced in Skegness town centre to take place on Saturday, 15 April.
People from all backgrounds are invited to join the demonstration, which has been coined as an opportunity to say refugees are indeed welcome in Lincolnshire and racism must not be tolerated.
“Lincoln Trades Council reject this division and welcome refugees. Lincolnshire has a strong and proud history of diversity, anti-fascism and of welcoming refugees.”
UK
“Not detaining children is a pull factor”
Just when you thought you’ve heard everything.
The British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak argued the government plans must include families so there was no “incentive” for people to bring children with them. Find the entire bizarre story that we just wanted to highlight further, in the mainstream media.
MEXICO/US
Immigration policy that kills
Poor conditions and overcrowding in detention centres, that is, prisons, are among the main reasons for the frequent tragic news of loss of lives in such places worldwide.
Latest in line is the tragedy that happened when a fire reportedly killed 38 people at a detention site near the Mexican-US border, where people set mattresses on fire in desperation having realised they would all be deported. 28 people were hospitalised.
Video-surveillance footage appeared to show guards leaving as flames engulfed the centre while smoke filled the cell. A man inside kicked a door that appeared to be locked. On the other side of the bars, three people in what appeared to be official uniforms could be seen walking past but making no attempt to open the door.
The footage was authenticated by a government minister, reports the Guardian.
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