AYS News Digest 7/10/22: Greece fails to provide IDs to Dublin deportees
Afghan sisters deported from Sweden face their next trauma // Moroccan appeal court tiples sentence // Serbia sees new influx of arrivals and pushbacks // Germany celebrates ten years OPlatz
Greece
Missing IDs after deportation
Four months after their Dublin deportation from Sweden to Greece, two adult sisters from Afghanistan remain undocumented there. “The two women are again exposed to danger and re-traumatisation,” Refugee Support Aegean concludes, naming missing IDs hindering access to housing and social welfare as key problems leading to re-traumatisation and lack of opportunity to integrate into society.
Both got asylum on Samos back in 2018, but suffering from mental health problems and post-traumatic shock there, they continued to Sweden. Now they are facing homelessness and insecurity once again, after being detained in Sweden for two months and separated from their relatives there. “The little help their elderly parents back in Sweden can provide them merely suffices to cover their expenses in phone credits to stay in contact with them,” RSA explains.
Upon arrival in Athens, a city we had never lived in before, we spent two nights in detention. Then police told us to go. It’s been four years I am in therapy and receive medication for my psychological problems. Being without any identity documents, far from our family, has worsened my condition”, says Somaya.
RSA highlights the fact that the Greek authorities only issued a residence permit in 2018, whcih had already expired when they were deported and renewals are usually not granted. A backlog of applications further leads to more than two months waiting time. Even though the sisters got a new issuance, the new competent authority had contrary views of the one on Samos, so they cannot apply for residence permits. “Greece’s bureaucratic deficiencies have severe repercussions for many affected asylum seekers and status holders,” RSA says. Because of a technical error, basic rights and services are denied. After a complaint to the Ombudsman, the sisters received another Asylum Seeker Certificate but still no IDs.
Morocco
As many as 158 people from Sudan and Tchad have been sentenced to three years in prison at the appeal court of Nador. The initial ruling was eleven months, according to AMDH Nador.
Serbia
Serbia is witnessing an increasing number of people entering from North Macedonia and Bulgaria. “Info Park estimates more than 12,000 refugees and migrants at any given time in Serbia right now, more than a half in official accommodation but thousands sleeping rough or in private accommodation,” the organization says following the reopening of the reception centre in Bujanovac, drawing attention to some 1200 pushbacks from Hungary daily. However, only a few organizations are on the ground prodiving assistance. One dead man has already been found in a village. In another incident, a train hit a group of people moving along the track, according to Nova.rs, killing two people and injuring more.
Germany
Residents of Berlin celebrated ten years of OPlatz. The name originates from Oranienplatz, a square in Kreuzberg: back then, the Refugee Struggle for Freedom started. Philosopher and Human Rights activist Angela Davis called for the linking up of abolitionist struggles everywhere. “We have to give up the possibility of reform,” the Justice Collective Berlin quotes her speech, naming racism a structure with structural manifestations in prison industrial complexes and policing.
Netherlands
A trafficker has been extradited from Ethopia to the Netherlands, facing charges of running a human trafficking ring. The man from Eritrea was arrested two years ago and already sentenced to 18 years. “Human rights groups say Eritreans flee their country because of forced indefinite conscription, enslavement, torture, and mass imprisonment,” Leakblast explains. While the prices surpass the ones people can afford, their families are tortured in case of late payment. The Guardian wrote a detailed story about him last year.
EU
Frontex’ operational areas are increasingly involved in systematic violations of human and the EU’s fundamental rights, says the Border Violence Monitoring Network. They accuse the border agency of “potential fundamental rights violations perpetrated with the acquiescence, complicity, or knowledge” and sent a submission to the Commission to show how Frontex is not in full compliance with its own regulations. The expanded mandate created a “toxic culture of impunity,” BVMN concludes from its 41-page report.
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