AYS News Digest 31/05/23: Systematic pushbacks at Austrian-German border
Multiple deaths reported throughout the Mediterranean // 400 people arrive safely in Italy // 1000 new places for people on the move in Calabria // Undocumented children to receive registration in Kyrgyzstan // 500 young people now housed in occupied school in Paris // Frontex to take key role in deportation flights and more…
FEATURE: Systematic pushbacks at Austrian-German border
I refused military service under the Assad regime and took the life-threatening journey all the way to Germany because all my close relatives live here. I was stunned when the officials in Freilassing told me I would be fined and could even go to jail if I tried to enter Germany again. Ahmad, a young father from Syria.
Human Rights groups have collected testimonies documenting a total of six pushbacks, between November and December 2022 at the Austrian-German border and believe that this illegal practice is in fact far more widespread.
If you go to an Austrian reception facility today, almost everywhere you will find Syrian war survivors who have been pushed back* from Germany to Austria in recent weeks, even though they had asked for international protection in Germany. Despite clear national and international regulations prohibiting this, just hours after being apprehended in Bavaria, people have been handed over to Austrian police, or simply abandoned on the streets in Salzburg. This is not a matter of an isolated case, but one of systematic practice and ultimately of access to the asylum procedure in Germany. Comparable practices by the Austrian police in cooperation with Slovenian authorities were condemned and terminated by Austrian supreme courts as pushbacks. Petra Leschanz of Pushback Alarm Austria.
We join them in calling for:
● An immediate clarification of allegations of pushbacks from Germany
● The stop of removals and refusals of entry at the German-Austrian border until compliance with rule of law standards is guaranteed
● That the German authorities ensure people’s right to asylum and in particular, access to the asylum procedure
● The establishment of an independent human rights monitoring mechanism at German borders, authorized to monitor rule of law compliance of authorities
● Disciplinary consequences for those responsible.
● Compensation and the right to re-entry for those affected.
The full testimonies can be found on the Border Violence Monitoring Network database and the Frankfurter Rundschau reports.
SEARCH AND RESCUE AT SEA
Thirteen people have died off the coast of Tunisia
Alarm Phone has reported that it has been informed about the shipwreck of a boat with approximately 41 people abroad who had fled from Tunisia. The survivors were returned to Tunisia and one reported that 13 people had died.
We are devastated. Borders kill!
Four hundred people arrive in Italy
It appears that the 400 people of concern reported by Alarm Phone on 30th May have now found safe port as they were only 20 nautical miles off the Italian coast at last contact.
Sea Punk 1 returns to port for maintenance
Sea Punks have published a detailed account of the technical difficulties related to sea rescue and the reasons why their current rotation had to end early. We hope they will be back to sea soon!
ITALY
1000 new places for people on the move in Calabria
The special commissioner for the migrant emergency, Valerio Valenti, has announced that the new accommodation will be ready by the end of June. Worryingly his emphasis was obviously on re-patriation and fast-tracked border procedures calling into question new arrivals’ ability to appropriately apply for asylum.
GREECE
Death toll rising from Mykonos shipwreck
Another five bodies have been recovered from the shipwreck that took place near the popular tourist island on 26th May with only two survivors who stated that in total there had been 17 people on board. Four bodies were found on the sunken vessel while one woman was recovered from Antiparos. So far the remains of nine people have been found. Again and again, borders kill.
KYRGYZSTAN
Children will be registered regardless of legal status of parents
A bit of good news from Kyrgyzstan where children will now be given birth certificates regardless of whether their parents are documented or undocumented. The law includes children already born and should effect 5000 preexisting families. It will come into effect on the 24th of June.
FRANCE
500 young people housed in school
There are now 500 young people housed in the squatted school in the 16th Arrondissement of Paris while authorities refuse to house them within the urban area where their support networks and services are located. The space does not have the necessary facilities for those housed there. Although the grass roots groups on the ground are trying to do their best to support the situation they also wish to make clear that they could withdraw their services in order to force the authorities to take action and fulfil their legal obligations.
FRONTEX
Frontex to take bigger role in deportations
Statewatch report that Frontex will now move from facilitating deportation flights to organising them. This role was previously only taken by member states. Among several worrying changes as a result of this shift, they note that as the number of deportation flights coordinated by Frontex has risen the number of flights with a human rights monitor on board has dropped by 7%.
WORTH READING
How an EU-funded agency is working to keep migrants from reaching Europe — Coda Story When he saw the Tunisian coast guard coming, Fabrice Ngo knew he wouldn’t make it to Italy that day. The young Cameroonian had pushed off from the shore of the Tunisian city of Sfax in a small metal boat with 40 others.
African migration to Europe: forced returns run into resistance (theconversation.com) The forced return of migrants from the European Union (EU) to their countries of origin continues to be a source of major tension in African countries as well as EU member states.
Greece after the hotspots: closed centres with controlled access — Progetto Melting Pot Europa What characterizes the CCACs is the extreme limitation of the freedom of movement of people staying inside. Upon arrival at the facility, asylum seekers receive a 25-day “restriction of freedom” order from the competent authorities, for the purpose of identifying the subjects and completing the formalization of the asylum application
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