Tag Archives: Repression

[Griechenland] Stigmatisiert, kriminalisiert, inhaftiert – Der Kampf gegen vermeintliche ›Schleuser‹ auf den griechischen Hotspot-Inseln

Begleitend zu unserer Solidaritätsarbeit u.a. für den Fall von Amir und Razouli, die wegen “Schleuserei” in Griechenland angeklagt sind, veröffentlichen wir hier unten auch den folgenden Recherche-Bericht von bordermonitoring.eu zu Kriminalisierung von “Schleuserei” in Griechenland:

“Der folgende Bericht dokumentiert und analysiert die systematische Inhaftierung und Bestrafung von Menschen, die an der EU-Außengrenze in der Ägäis des ›Menschenschmuggels‹ beschuldigt werden. Er veranschaulicht das Schicksal von Migranten, die in Griechenland zu lebenslanger Haft verurteilt wurden.

Einigen von ihnen war nicht bewusst, dass sie eine schwere Straftat begangen, als sie ein Boot mit Asylsuchenden von Griechenland in die Türkei steuerten; andere überquerten die Grenze nur, um selbst Asyl in der Europäischen Union zu beantragen. Bei ihrer Ankunft wurden sie verhaftet, oft geschlagen und monatelang in Untersuchungshaft festgehalten und schließlich in einem Gerichtsverfahren verurteilt, das gegen grundlegende Gerechtigkeitsstandards verstößt. Die drastische Kriminalisierung, die in diesem Bericht beschrieben wird, kann nicht ohne den breiteren Rahmen der EU-Politik zur Bekämpfung von ›Schleuserei‹ verstanden werden, die im Folgenden analysiert werden soll. Narrative über ›Menschenschmuggel‹ und die Entwicklung der Gesetzgebung gegen Schleuserei in der Europäischen Union stehen dabei im Mittelpunkt.”

Der vollständige Bericht ist hier verfügbar.

[Greece] Stop war on Migrants Broschüre erschienen!

Wir teilen hier die Broschüre unserer Freund*innen der Stop war on Migrants Assembly in Griechenland (https://www.facebook.com/StopWarOnMigrants/):

https://athens.indymedia.org/media/upload/2020/06/23/StopWarOnMigrants_pamphlet_web.pdf

[Moria] Zweiter Hungerstreik im Abschiebegefängnis Moria in diesem Jahr

Wir dokumentieren hier einen Bericht von unseren Freund*innen von Deportation Monitoring Aegean (https://dm-aegean.bordermonitoring.eu/2020/08/26/second-hunger-strike-in-moria-detention-centre-this-year/):

On 26 August 2020, about 60 mostly Arabic-speaking detainees in Moria pre-removal detention centre (PRO.KE.K.A) went on hunger strike. Since 5 March, Greece has been unable to carry out deportations to Turkey as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Detainees have been deprived of freedom for 174 days during which deportation – the only reason for their confinement – has been impossible. They are locked up without justification in conditions designed to drive them to despair.

From 5 to 8 April this year, detainees attempted to hunger strike. Their protest ended after a special police unit interrogated the strikers, beating a number of them. What happened during those days is still unclear; many could not speak openly of conditions during these days for fear that conditions would be made worse.

Many believe now that they have no chance of escape but that which they take for themselves. Suicide attempts are an almost weekly occurrence. On 6 January, a 31-year-old Iranian detainee took his own life after being held in isolation and denied access to psychosocial care. His death prompted a criminal investigation into staff and services at the facility.

Yet despite this, a structure and culture of impunity has allowed the cycle of violence to continue. Beatings – sometimes verging on torture – have become routine, and those who speak out are threatened with violent reprisal. The link between detainees and the outside world is tethered to services operating under a culture of camaraderie between prison officer and medic, lawyer, psychologist, creating a closed rank between detainees and the public prosecutor.

These abuses vanish under the code of silence that governs PRO.KE.K.A. The hunger strikers have chosen to break this silence.

[Chios] Wut und Solidarität ohne Grenzen – Repression in Griechenland gegen die Proteste Geflüchteter

Wut und Solidarität ohne Grenzen – Repression in Griechenland gegen die Proteste Geflüchteter im Lager Vial (Chios) und in den Abschiebegefängnissen Moria (Lesbos) und Paranesti in Zeiten von Corona

Griechenland. Dutzende Verletzte durch Polizeigewalt, neun Menschen in Untersuchungshaft. Das ist die Antwort des griechischen Staates auf wütende Proteste im Lager Vial auf Chios, nachdem Mitte April eine Campbewohnerin tot in Corona-Isolation in einem Container des Lagers aufgefunden wurde. Sie starb aufgrund fehlender, medizinischer Versorgung.

Die Wut der in Quarantäne eingesperrten Menschen hatte sich im Lager Vial in Protesten entladen, nachdem eine 47-jährige, aus dem Irak geflüchtete Frau am 18. April 2020 an einem Herzinfarkt gestorben war. Zwei Tage zuvor war sie mit Herzrhythmusstörungen ins Krankenhaus auf Chios gebracht, dort negativ auf Covid-19 getestet und rudimentär mit Medikamenten versorgt worden. Zurück im Camp wurde sie außerhalb des Camps in einem Container als präventive Isolation eingesperrt, wo sie eine Panikattacke erlitt und einen Tag später, kurz nachdem ein NGO Mitarbeiter sie noch besuchte, tot von ihrem Ehemann aufgefunden wurde.

Auf die Nachricht ihres Todes folgten spontan wütende Proteste hunderter Campbewohner*innen. Während der Proteste wurde Feuer gelegt, dabei wurden mehrere Polizeiautos, Zelte und Container des Identifikations- und Empfangszentrums zerstört. Als die Polizei eintraf, um die Proteste zu beenden, setzte sie Tränengas und Schlagstöcke ein. Berichten zufolge verteidigten sich einige Protestierenden durch das Werfen von Steinen. Hunderte Menschen versuchten vor den Polizeieinheiten und dem Feuer in die umliegenden Felder zu fliehen, wagten jedoch nicht das Lager zu weit zu verlassen, da die griechische Regierung seit der Corona-Pandemie eine Strafe von 150 Euro für Verstöße gegen die Ausgangsbeschränkungen eingeführt hat. Das kann für diejenigen, die strukturell bedingt kaum die Möglichkeit einer Bewerkstelligung solcher Strafkosten haben, oft auch eine polizeiliche Festnahme bedeuten.

Aufgrund der brutalen Niederschlagung der Proteste durch die Polizei gab es Dutzende Verletzte. Außerdem sitzen nun neun Geflüchtete in Untersuchungshaft und sind aktuell wegen Brandstiftung, Sachbeschädigung, Landfriedensbruch und Verstößen gegen das Waffengesetz angeklagt. Ein Minderjähriger, der ebenfalls angeklagt ist, wurde zwar zwischenzeitlich wieder entlassen, wird aber weiterhin polizeilich überwacht. Für weitere sechs Personen wurde eine Untersuchungshaft beantragt. Ihnen allen drohen nun mehrere Jahre Haft.

Was sich hier ereignet hat, ist die physische Manifestation all der Ungerechtigkeiten, die jeden Tag gegen die Menschen verübt werden, die in den Lagern leben müssen.

Das immer wiederkehrende Muster gewaltvoller Niederschlagungen von (berechtigten) Protesten Geflüchteter in den griechischen Lagern, sowie deren anschließende oft willkürliche Inhaftierung und Kriminalisierung ist fester, struktureller Bestandteil der menschenverachtenden Migrationspolitik der EU entlang der Grenze zwischen Griechenland und der Türkei. Bereits frühere Repressionsfällen gegen Protestierende zeigten, dass einzelne Personen beispielhaft verhaftet und angeklagt werden, oft vollkommen unabhängig von einer tatsächlichen Beteiligung bei den Protesten. um jeglichen Protest in den Lagern gegen die katastrophale Situation zu verhindern. So wurden im September 2015 die Röszke 11 nach Protesten gegen die Grenzschließung zwischen Serbien und Ungarn u.a. wegen Terrorismus mehrere Jahre in Ungarn inhaftiert. Gleichzeitig wurden über die letzten Jahre mehrfach Proteste von Bewohner*innen des Lagers Moria auf Lesbos gewaltsam niedergeschlagen und Beteiligte wie im Falle der Moria35 monatelang inhaftiert und angeklagt.

Nachdem der türkische Präsident Erdogan Ende Februar 2020 aus machtpolitischen Gründen den EU-Türkei-Deal platzen und Fliehende nicht mehr vom Grenzübertritt in die EU zurückhalten ließ, eskalierte eine Welle von Gewalt und Rassismus gegen Geflüchtete in Griechenland und der EU. Hierbei fielen tödliche Schüsse durch EU-Grenzbeamt*innen an der Evros-Grenze und es fand eine massenhafte Inhaftierung Schutzsuchender statt. Nun schürt die Regierung eine ablehnende Stimmung in der Bevölkerung mit Ängsten und begründet ihre migrationsfeindliche Politik mit Präventivmaßnahmen gegen die Corona-Pandemie. Mittlerweile werden Menschen aufgrund von Covid-19-Bestimmungen dort wo sie auf den Inseln ankommen am Strand in Quarantäne gesteckt, teilweise unter Planen, eingekesselt von Polizeiautos, oder auf Supermarktparkplätzen, fast ohne Versorgung oder der Möglichkeit einen Asylantrag zu stellen. Anschließend werden sie in geschlossene Camps auf dem Festland transferiert. In den letzten Wochen wurde zudem vermehrt von Pushbacks auf dem Weg zu den griechischen Inseln berichtet.

Anfang April wurden Hungerstreiks inhaftierter Geflüchteter gegen die Bedingungen im Abschiebegefängnis im Lager Moria auf Lesbos, sowie im Abschiebegefängnis Paranesti in Nordgriechenland durch Polizeigewalt beendet. Hierbei gab es mehrere Verletzte. Durch den Streik versuchten Häftlinge ihren Forderungen nach Freiheit und menschenwürdiger Unterbringung Gehör zu verschaffen. In den Abschiebegefängnissen der Lager werden Menschen auf Grundlage ihrer jeweiligen Nationalität inhaftiert. Ohne ein Verbrechen begangen zu haben werden sie wie Kriminelle in Gefängnisse gesperrt, sind Polizeigewalt ausgesetzt und dürfen lediglich einmal am Tag auf den Hof. Auch sonst wird die Kommunikation unter den Häftlingen, als auch nach außen, durch die Beschlagnahmung von Handys unterbunden. Obwohl Abschiebungen aus Griechenland durch die COVID-19 Beschränkungen auf unbestimmte Zeit ausgesetzt sind, werden die Menschen nicht aus der Abschiebehaft entlassen

Auch Solidarische Strukturen und Unterstützer*innen in Griechenland werden momentan durch die Behörden, sowie durch Covid-19-Beschränkungen und hohe Strafen bei dem Brechen von Quarantäneauflagen an ihrer Arbeit und an solidarischen Protesten gehindert. Die Antwort der Kampagne „You can`t evict Solidarity“ hierauf ist der Aufbau einer europaweiten Solidaritäts-Kampagne um Öffentlichkeit für die Situation vor Ort zu schaffen und Spenden für die Gerichtsprozesse der Inhaftierten zu sammeln.

Mehr Infos und Kontakt:
cantevictsolidarity.noblogs.org

Spendenverbindung:
Rote Hilfe e.V./ OG Hannover
IBAN: DE42 4306 0967 4007 2383 57
BIC: GENODEM1GLS
GLS Bank
Verwendungszweck: Cant evict Solidarity

Das Lager Vial: Das Lager Vial auf der Insel Chios ist als einer der sogenannten „Hotspots“ in der Ägäis eines der größten Lager in Griechenland. Aktuell leben über 6000 Menschen in dem für 1000 Personen ausgelegten Lager. Die sowieso schon mangelhafte Versorgung mit Medikamenten und Lebensmitteln hat durch die Covid-19-Quarantäne ein unmenschliches Minimum erreicht. In den vergangenen Wochen haben Menschen Löcher im Wald geschaufelt um Wasser zu finden. Nazis und Anwohner*innen haben in den letzten Monaten die Straße zum Lager blockiert um Neuankünfte zu verhindern und vor einigen Monaten wurde das soziale Zentrum mehrerer NGOs niedergebrannt. Gleichzeitig gab es große gemeinsame Proteste solidarischer Anwohner*innen mit Geflüchteten.

Die Kampagne: “You can`t evict Solidarity” ist eine Anti-Repressions-Kampagne, mit der viele verschiedene Repressions-Betroffene aus antirassistischen, migrantischen Kämpfen an den EU-(Außen)Grenzen mit Spenden und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit unterstützt werden.

Quellen:

https://medium.com/are-you-syrious/ays-special-from-chios-fire-swallows-up-makeshift-homes-of-thousands-2cf8808d3106

https://medium.com/are-you-syrious/ays-weekend-digest-18-19-4-20-vial-fire-latest-in-line-to-confirm-that-evacuation-to-safety-is-bfb4af7f176a

https://t.co/dxKIBMrpVu?amp=1

https://www.thenationalherald.com/community_general_news/arthro/three_asylum_seekers_arrested_for_violent_incidents_at_vial_hotspot_on_chios-267300/

 

[Chios/Griechenland] Solidarität ohne Grenzen gegen die Repression gegen Proteste Geflüchteter in Griechenland während der COVID-19 Pandemie

SPENDENAUFRUF der Kampagne Cant evict Solidarity: Solidarität ohne Grenzen

Repression gegen die Proteste Geflüchteter in Griechenland während der COVID-19 Pandemie

 

Gewalt und Repressionen gegenüber Menschen auf der Flucht wird immer brutalter und repressiver. Die aufgrund der Pandemie angeordneten Ausgangsbeschränkungen treffen diese Menschen besonders hart. Zusätzlich legitimiert die Pandemie der Politik und der ausführenden Organe noch brutalere repressivere Maßnahmen. Exemplarisch drei Spotlights:

  • Die Wut der im Lock-down aufgrund der Covid-19 eingesperrten Menschen hatte sich im Camp Vial auf der griechischen Insel Chios in Protesten entladen, nachdem eine 47-jährige, aus dem Irak geflüchtete Frau am 18. April 2020 an einem Herzinfarkt starb.
    .
    Zwei Tage zuvor war sie mit Herzrhythmusstörungen ins Krankenhaus gebracht, dort negativ auf Covid-19 getestet und rudimentär mit Medikamenten versorgt worden. Anschließend wurde sie außerhalb des Camps in einem Container als präventive Isolation eingesperrt, wo sie eine Panikattacke erlitt und einen Tag später tot aufgefunden wurde.Auf die Nachricht ihres Todes folgten spontan wütende Proteste hunderter Campbewohner*innen. Als die Polizei eintraf, um die Proteste zu beenden, setzte sie Tränengas und Schlagstöcke ein. Berichten zufolge verteidigten sich einige Protestierenden durch das Werfen von Steinen. Hunderte Menschen versuchten vor den Polizeieinheiten und dem Feuer in die umliegenden Felder zu fliehen, wagten jedoch nicht das Lager zu weit zu verlassen, da die griechische Regierung seit der Corona-Pandemie eine Strafe von 150 Euro für Verstöße gegen die Ausgangsbeschränkungen eingeführt hat. Bei Nichtzahlung droht eine Gefängnisstrafe.Aufgrund des brutalen Einsatzes der Polizei gab es Dutzende Verletzte. Vor allem aber sitzen nun neun Geflüchtete in Untersuchungshaft und sind aktuell wegen Brandstiftung, Sachbeschädigung, Landfriedensbruch und Verstößen gegen das Waffengesetz angeklagt. Für weitere sechs Personen wurde eine Untersuchungshaft beantragt. Ihnen allen drohen nun mehrere Jahre Haft.
    .
  • Anfang April wurde ein Hungerstreik inhaftierter Geflüchteter gegen die Bedingungen im Abschiebegefängnis im Lager Moria auf Lesbos sowie im Abschiegefängnis Paranesti in Nordgriechenland durch Polizeigewalt beendet.

    Mit dem Hungerstreik protestierten Häftlinge gegen die grundlose Inhaftierung, die menschenunwürdige Unterbringung und den fehlenden Schutz vor Covid-19. Auf den griechischen Inseln werden Menschen nicht nur nach Ablehnung des Asylverfahrens inhaftiert, sondern viele Menschen gleich bei ihrer Ankunft nach der gefährlichen Überfahrt auf Grundlage ihrer jeweiligen Nationalität. Obwohl Abschiebungen aus Griechenland durch die Covid-19 Beschränkungen auf unbestimmte Zeit ausgesetzt sind, werden die Menschen nicht aus der Abschiebehaft entlassen. Im Gegenteil, Menschen werden gezielt weiter verhaftet.
    .
  • Nachdem der türkische Präsident Erdogan Ende Februar 2020 aus machtpolitischen Gründen den EU-Türkei-Deal aussetze und Menschen an die Grenze brachte, eskalierte die Welle von Rassismus und rechter Gewalt gegen Geflüchtete weiter. Hierbei fielen tödliche Schüsse durch EU-Grenzbeamt*innen am Grenzfluss Evros. Auch hier fand eine massenhafte wahllose Inhaftierung Schutzsuchender statt.
    Nun schürt die Regierung eine ablehnende Stimmung in der Bevölkerung mit Ängsten und begründet ihre migrationsfeindliche Politik zusätzlich mit Präventivmaßnahmen gegen die Pandemie. In den letzten Wochen wurde zudem vermehrt von illegalen Push-backs der griechischen Küstenwache auf dem Weg zu den und inzwischen sogar von den griechischen Inseln berichtet.

Eine gewaltvolle Bekämpfung von Protesten Geflüchteter in den griechischen Lagern, sowie deren anschließende oft willkürliche Inhaftierung und Kriminalisierung ist fester, struktureller Bestandteil der menschenverachtenden Migrationspolitik der EU. Dieses allgemeine Vorgehen ist während der gegenwärtigen Pandemie wieder verstärkt zu beobachten.
Bereits frühere Repressionsfälle gegen Protestierende zeigten, dass einzelne Personen beispielhaft verhaftet und angeklagt werden, oft vollkommen unabhängig von einer tatsächlichen Beteiligung bei den Protesten. Damit soll jeglicher Protest in den Lagern gegen die katastrophale Situation verhindert werden. In den letzten Jahren wurden mehrfach Proteste von Bewohner*innen des Lagers Moria auf Lesbos gewaltsam niedergeschlagen und wie im Falle der Moria35 monatelang ohne jegliche Beweise inhaftiert.

Die Antwort der Kampagne „You can`t evict Solidarity“ auf die immer brutaler werdende Repressionspolitik ist eine Solidaritäts-Kampagne. Diese schließt Öffentlichkeitsarbeit und finanziellen Support von Gerichtsprozessen der Inhaftierten ein. 

Solidarischen Spenden gern auf dieses Konto:

Rote Hilfe e.V./ OG Hannover
IBAN: DE42 4306 0967 4007 2383 57
BIC: GENODEM1GLS
GLS Bank
Verwendungszweck: Cant evict Solidarity

Kontakt:

cantevictsolidarity(at)riseup(dot)net

https://cantevictsolidarity.noblogs.org

[Evros/Türkei/Griechenland] Erschiessungen und Hetzjagden – Die Faschisierung des Europäischen Grenzregimes

veröffentlicht von unseren Genoss*innen von dm-agegean: https://dm-aegean.bordermonitoring.eu/2020/03/07/shootings-and-hunting-the-fascistisation-of-the-european-border-regime/

Shootings, Torture and Push-Backs at the Borders

News about people being shot by Greek border guards on the Greek-Turkish land border appear with increasing frequency. On social media information circulate about at least 8 people brought to hospital with gunshot wounds. Videos how that people have been killed, being stripped naked, beaten and tortured and pushed back from Greece to Turkey in mass expulsions. The murder of a young Syrian on Monday has already been analysed in detail by Forensic Architecture. In some areas around the Evros river people were blocked from two sides when special units of the Turkish police were mobilised to oppose the Greek pushbacks. Migrants report that they have been beaten also from the Turkish side and a video shows how families were transported to the border in busses and forced to get out.

The Greek government also announced a so-called “exercise with heavy weapons” carried out on the coast of Lesbos towards the sea in the direction of Turkey by the Greek government. Furthermore, a restricted navigation in the sea came into power, which bans any type of non-commercial or private activities in the waters around the northern Aegaen Islands. At the same time, there are more and more reports about refugees being brutally attacked by groups of masked people in cooperation with the Greek coast guard in the Aegean Sea. The engines of rubber dinghies were destroyed, boats pierced in the open sea or attempted to be capsized. Shots were fired at people in rubber dinghies. A child drowned. To an extent, the Turkish coast guard is still active in the sea, even carrying out pull-backs from Greek waters. Meanwhile, the Frontex units stationed in the Aegean were passively holding back.

Video on attacks of refugees in the Aegean by the Greek Coast Guard and masked forces, first released by Turkish TV.

Criminalization of Migrants and Suspension of Asylum Law

Adding to this, the Greek government announced that the right for asylum will be suspended for all new arrivals. Already about 500 people who arrived on Lesbos are currently held in the port of Mytilene and scheduled to be brought to a closed camp on the mainland on Saturday, 7th of March, presumably to be held in a military base in the town of Serres. From there, they will be deported without any asylum procedure.

Moreover, people seeking protection have also been criminalized and prosecuted. The number of cases is unclear but some newspapers reported about 17, others 45 and even about 183 people who crossed the border in Evros region and have been sentenced with charges of 3 to 4 years of prison with fines around 10,000 Euros. On Monday, seven men were sentenced to 3 years imprisonment on Lesvos for “illegal entry”, where three more trials are planned against unaccompanied minors in May. Many other trials are expected to follow.

People who arrived at the port of Lesvos. March 2020. Source: Legal Centre Lesvos

Fascists Hunting Down People on Lesvos

Meanwhile, the hell of fascist violence has broken loose on Lesvos and Chios. Right-wing groups are hunting migrants and building blockades along the streets to check cars and their occupants. If they are not Greek or supposedly working for NGOs they are attacked and their vehicles have been smashed. The escalation of violence started after the Greek government announced the plan to construct new closed camps on the islands. Soon after the camp Stage 2 in the northern part of Lesvos was set on fire. Even the UNHCR was not spared from violence and several aid workers and volunteers were intimidated and decided to leave the islands. People were injured, their photos shared on Facebook among fascists groups and advertised for hunt. Shoreline response and sea monitoring teams who have been doing emergency response and monitoring for years were also attacked, while the police frequently disrupts their work. Simultaneously, right-wing groups prevented asylum seekers from landing and disembarking the boats.

Road blockade on Lesvos during protests against the planned closed camp on Lesvos near Karavas. Source: Mare Liberum.

Declaration of bankruptcy by the European Union

What is the EU’s stance on these developments? It should be self-evident that the brutal violence and the shooting of people in Europe would cause investigations for murder. It would be expectable that the suspension of the fundamental right for asylum, which directly violates the European Human Rights Charter and the Geneva Refugee Convention, should be seen as a scandal to be immediately sanctioned by the EU. At least that the EU should speak against the horrifying fascist violence unleashed against their own humanitarian organisations.

But none of that is happening. The president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, does not seem to be particularly concerned about the brutalized violence within Europe. She praised Greece for being the “European shield” because “this border is not only a Greek border, it is also a European border” and promised Greece financial support of 700 million. Border reinforcement will be further strengthened through a RABIT operation by the European border and coast guard agency Frontex.

The eternal mantra that the events of 2015 must not repeat has become so deeply imprinted into the public’s mind that any violence seems to have become acceptable as long as refugees are prevented from entering Europe. This is visible not only through the absurd hysteria about refugees at the border, but also the almost fascinating irrationality. With its violent isolationist policy, the EU is not only exposing its much-vaunted fundamental human rights values to ridicule, but is also becomes the toy of the Erdogan government.

Accompanied by a chess-like played media coverage, refugees were released from deportation centres and collectively transported with buses to the Evros border and the Turkish coast while others joined on their own. The departing boats were filmed by state television companies and sent to the EU as a threat. It was a military counter-strike in the Syrian war. Refugees are being abused as a bargaining chip by the Turkish government to blackmail the EU and NATO to cooperate in the Syrian war.

The EU panics, although the EU-Turkey Deal is not even suspended. Deportations to Turkey continue and Turkish border guards are at least partially active. The estimated 130,000 people who would have crossed the border were never registered in the EU, and within three days only around one thousand refugees arrived to the islands. The absolute numbers of crossings in the Evros border remain low.

What’s much more frightening than Turkish power politics is the helplessness of the EU: Receiving the approximately 13,000 people from the border would be an easily achievable and legally required act for the EU with its almost 450 million inhabitants. But today, it apparently rather accepts those seeking protection to be shot than to break its dependency on Erdogan.

Sticking to the Birth Defect of European Migration Policy

While people are dying, beaten and instrumentalized in a dirty geopolitical game, the core failure is that the EU continues to firmly hold on to the EU-Turkey deal. Instead of learning from the fatal errors, the architect of the deal Gerald Knaus now speaks of an “Agreement 2.0 between the EU and Turkey”. Apparently, there can be no thinking out of the box, since the basic principles of the European border policy are based on blackmail and dependency on authoritarian regimes that do the dirty work for them. As soon as this relationship begins to falter, it becomes obvious that the policy is built on the basis of disenfranchisement. Shooting people at the border is only the logical consequence of a policy that systematically denies access to asylum.

In doing so, the EU fails to recognise the real dangers: Its policies lead not only to the death of refugees, but also to the fascistisation of Europe. A direct line can be drawn from the racist murders in Hanau to fascists hunting refugees and attacking support structures on Lesvos. It is therefore not surprising that right-wing networks in Germany are calling for people to go into battle at the EU’s external border and hunt people down. Luckily, they are received roughly by the local Antifa.

V.H.

[Evros/Türkei/Griechenland] Aktuelle Infos und tägliche Updates zur Situation an der Grenze

Unsere türkischen Freund*innen von Göçmen Dayanışması berichten täglich zur Situation am Evros der türkisch-griechischen Grenze:

Notes from #Pazarkule / #Evros, the Fourth Day

Pazarkule/Evros’tan Notlar, Beşinci Gün / Notes from Pazarkule/Evros, the Fifth Day

 

 

 

[Evros/Türkei/Griechenland] Gemeinsames Statement: Transnationale Solidarität gegen Krieg und Rassismus!

[Evros/Türkei/Griechenland] Hunderte Gruppen weltweit unterzeichnen vielsprachigen Aufruf für Frieden, Grundrechte und Recht auf Bewegungsfreiheit für alle Flüchtenden. Wir unterzeichnen den Aufruf unserer türkischen Freund*innen (https://crossbordersolidarity.com/#German):

Fünf Jahre nach der sogenannten „Flüchtlingskrise“ und fast vier Jahre nach dem EU-Türkei-Deal werden wir erneut Zeug*innen der Gewalt, die durch sicherheitsorientierte Migrationspolitik verursacht wird. Seit dem vergangenen Donnerstag (27.02.2020) zogen tausende Menschen in Richtung der türkisch-griechischen Grenze, nachdem angekündigt wurde, dass Migrant*innen, die Europa erreichen wollen, von türkischer Seite nicht länger daran gehindert werden. Diese Ankündigung türkischer Regierungsbeamter erfolgte nach dem Tod von 33 türkischen Soldaten in der Region Idlib. Dort hat die Eskalation des Konflikts die Zahl der zivilen Todesopfer von Tag zu Tag rapide erhöht, offenkundig wurden grundlegende Infrastruktur- und Gesundheitseinrichtungen beschossen. Die türkische Regierung hält ihre Grenzen zu Syrien geschlossen, sieht jedoch keine Schwierigkeit darin, tausende Migrant*innen vor die Türen Europas zu drängen – wo sie in einem Schwebezustand verharren.

Migrant*innen und Asylsuchende aus Syrien, Afghanistan, Pakistan und mehreren afrikanischen Ländern haben die Grenzgebiete Edirne, Çanakkale und İzmir erreicht. Einige wurden mit Bussen von Gemeinden dorthin gebracht, andere mit privaten Taxis oder zu Fuß. In der Region Edirne wurde ihnen von den türkischen Behörden gestattet, ins Grenzgebiet zu gelangen, doch die griechischen Polizeikräfte verhinderten den Grenzübertritt mit Tränengas und Blendgranaten. Gleichzeitig beschränkten die türkischen Behörden den Zugang für Journalist*innen und Reporter*innen. Diejenigen Migrant*innen und Asylsuchenden, die in der Grauzone zwischen den beiden Staaten festsitzen, im starken Regen und mit nur wenig Nahrungsmitteln, riefen nach der Öffnung der Grenzen. Einige derjenigen, die die Landgrenze erreichen, wurden von den Behörden angewiesen, trotz gefährlicher Wetterbedingungen auf den Seeweg zu gehen.

In Griechenland verschlechtert sich die Situation ebenfalls. Die Regierung hat kürzlich ein neues, strengeres und noch unmenschlicheres Asylgesetz verabschiedet, das die Inhaftierung aller neu ankommenden Asylbewerber bei ihrer Ankunft auf griechischem Gebiet vorsieht. In den vergangenen Tagen kam es zu Auseinandersetzungen zwischen Menschen aus Orten auf den Inseln Chios und Lesbos mit der Bereitschaftspolizei, als dort neue Hafteinrichtungen errichtet werden sollten. Unter der Belastung der sogenannten „Flüchtlingskrise“ seit dem EU-Türkei-Deal protestieren die Menschen gegen die Verschlechterung ihrer eigenen Lebensbedingungen und gegen die Lebensbedingungen der dort Asylsuchenden gleichermaßen. Fremdenfeindlichkeit und Rassismus haben jedoch nie aufgehört, Teil des öffentlichen Diskurses zu sein. Als Reaktion auf die jüngsten Ereignisse haben griechische Regierungsbeamte ihrerseits Hass und Angst geschürt, indem sie den Mythos einer Invasion von „Illegalen“ auf Geheiß ihres Nachbarlandes verbreitet haben.

Fremdenfeindlichkeit, Rassismus und ihre Normalisierung müssen überall bekämpft werden, wo sie erscheinen, sei es in der Türkei, in Griechenland oder anderswo. Die Instrumentalisierung des Lebens von Migrant*innen, Asylbewerbern und Geflüchteten, welche auf eine Bedrohung und einen Faustpfand reduziert wurde, muss beendet werden. Sowohl in nationalen Wahlkämpfen, als auch in den Beziehungen zwischen der türkischen Regierung und der EU. Eine Sicherheitspolitik, die tausende bereits Vertriebener in einen Schwebezustand treibt, und die Grenzregime, die einen endlosen Kreislauf der Gewalt gegen Migrant*innen, Asylbewerbern und Geflüchteten mitverursachen, müssen damit aufhören. Was wir fordern, sind Frieden, Grundrechte und die Freiheit aller Menschen, die in Bewegung sind.

Grenzen töten, öffnet die Grenzen!
Stoppt den Krieg gegen Geflüchtete und Migrant*innen!
Transnationale Solidarität gegen Rassismus und Krieg!
Für eine freie Welt ohne Grenzen, Ausbeutung und Exil.

[Lesvos] A Retrospective on January 2020 by No Border Kitchen Lesvos

We share a text from No Border Kitchen Lesbos:

Greece: A Retrospective on January 2020 by No Border Kitchen Lesvos (from Stop War on Migrants)

Just one month has passed in the new year and it already casts a grim shadow over the months yet to come. Blow after blow, new atrocities occur, and the government issues one fascist decision after another. Public outcry is absent.

Still, almost every day people set out on the dangerous journey across the straits between Turkey and Europe. Forced by a system that criminalizes and negatively stigmatizes migration, people unsafely have to board boats and leave everything behind, in the hope of a better, normal life – and for the EU (and within it the Greek government) no effort seems too big or too expensive to crush said people, no matter the cost.
The numerous shipwrecks in this month alone shows yet again how dangerous the crossing is. The Turkish coast guard rammed a rubber dinghy, 4 people drowned, one person went missing – and the excuse of missing safety precautions on board is accepted without comment. A fiber boat broke, 11 people died, of whom 8 were children – but the outcry is absent.

Driven in desperation by a dehumanizing and exclusionary system, a man finds himself during the first days of January in prison. He is locked away in solitary confinement, out of sight. He is a man with known psychological problems and he is left alone. Nobody will take responsibility for him. Death appears to him as the only way out of this hell.
In response to this, approximately 150 people took to the streets to protest against Moria Camp and the conditions in its prison. In a public statement (in several languages), the violent methods, which are de facto torture, were criticized, and the release of all prisoners demanded, as well as the closure of Moria camp and freedom of movement for all.
Towards the end of the month around 300 women protested in the streets of Mytilene with slogans such as “we want to be free, we want to be human”. They criticized the horrible living conditions in Moria camp and the ongoing violence. Meanwhile, another hundred women were prevented from participating in the protest and were blocked at the streets entering Mytilene. More than ten non-refugee women that attended the demonstration were removed and taken to the police station. The police were of the opinion that it was they who organized the rally, based on no evidence and only prejudice, the racial prejudice that the refugee community were unable to organise the demonstration themselves, and that it must have been done for them.
Women have to live under constant fear of assaults and rape. Medical help for pregnant women is barely existent. General medical support is scarce. Children grow up in a hostile environment. They are denied their childhood. But the outcry is absent.

Over 20,000 people are currently stuck in and around Moria camp, having to call it their home. Basic needs are not even close to being met. The ideal environment for violence has resulted in several attacks. Already more than 10 people have been injured and hospitalized since the start of the year. Among those, two men were killed. Some no longer dare to stay in the camp and see themselves forced to endure the cold winter nights in public places. But the outcry is absent.

On January 22nd, with the slogan: “we want our islands back!”, thousands of Greek civilians went on strike and protested the government’s refugee policy. The general strike was supported by the broad public, and a poster with their inflammatory demands could be seen in countless shops and stores of Mytilene, resulting in the largest protest in the history of Lesvos. Thus, domestic politics evaporates, and the belief that those who have newly arrived are to blame for the old, structural problems of the country spreads.
This is a perfect example of the recently formed government confirming its desire to show hardness and “strength” by implementing xenophobic policy. Championing the ideal of “out of sight, out of mind”, the first closed camp is already being built on the island of Samos, afar from any civilization. Men, women and children are to be imprisoned there on a general basis, their only “crime”: they came to Europe. They shall be imprisoned for 25 days. Within this time, it is supposed to be decided who is allowed to stay and who will be deported. The new law, however, provides for numerous possibilities to extend detention – up to 18 months if the asylum application is rejected. In addition to this, the time limits for appeals has been shortened, and any appeal must be submitted by a lawyer. This gives rise to the fear that under these circumstances many will not find a representative in time to appeal against a negative verdict.
But the government cannot wait for the completion of the closed camps to achieve their goal. Thus, on the last weekend of January, 55 people, most of them families, were locked up in a wing of the prison on Kos island. EU law ubiquitously requires a case-by-case assessment of whether there is a reason for imprisonment, and the Greek government flagrantly shows a clear disregard for such legal principle. If even legal principles are so publicly ignored, how are we to believe that any moral or ethical principles, such as a basic human right such as migration, will ever be followed?
Help and support will never be close at hand. The dehumanization continues. Imprisonment of the innocent, even children, is legitimized by our xenophobic system. But the outcry is absent.

The closed camps are intended to accelerate and intensify deportations. By the end of 2020, the government wants to deport 10,000 refugees to Turkey – five times greater than the total number of deportations since the EU-Turkey deal was made. So far, in accordance with former practice, many deportations have been prevented (or at least delayed) with the argument that the horrific conditions in Turkey classify a return as unsafe. However, the Greek government has installed a new judiciary for decisions in regards to deportation, and hopes they will decide differently. But the outcry is absent.

The European Union continues to fully support and implement the entire system. They don’t only demand more “effective (frequent)” deportation but also demand the doubling of EASO (European Asylum Support Office) staff officials to carry out the heinous act. It is not the only staff increase. The cruel, so-called “defenses” continue. The government announced to have 1200 more border police officers in the coming months. Already 400 jobs are advertised for the borders at the river Evros, and 800 are to be added on the Aegean islands.
Now they also want to install a floating dam system on the water. How exactly this is supposed to keep boats away is unclear to everyone. Considering that Lesvos is roughly 70km long, the 2.7km long barrier with blinking lights does not invoke an effective approach to the “issue”. The half a million-Euro project seems even more senseless when one takes in to account that people who are stopped by the barrier have already reached Greek territorial waters, and would therefore have to be rescued and taken to Greek soil under maritime law. But the outcry is absent.

As well as this, Stage 2 was closed on the 31st January. Stage 2 was the short-term transit camp to ensure people who land on the northern coast can access safety and receive medical aid and shelter. Over half of the total arrivals on Lesvos are on the northern shore. With closing Stage 2, people arriving will be left waiting for hours on beaches, by the side of the road, or in remote rocky areas, with no access to immediate shelter, protection or medical aid; some may even attempt to walk for hours to the south. But the outcry is absent.

Irony screams out, with all of the events aforementioned taking place in the same month in which the liberation of Auschwitz was remembered during the 75th anniversary of it’s closure, with politicians from left to right wing parties proclaiming: “never forgive, never forget!”. But they do forget. They forget all people who are not wanted in Europe because of their country of origin. They forget the tens of thousands of people who lost their lives because of the current EU policy. They forget the children who have experienced nothing else in their whole life than war, conflict zones and flight, and now are forced to live in hostile environments which provoke child suicide attempts. They forget all the young people who are condemned to do nothing, full of potential – potential Europe desperately needs, but apparently would be provided by the “wrong” people. They forget humanity in view of their own political and economic interests. They forget that fascism is in our midst and again the majority is not only watching but willfully ignoring. Thus, new atrocities take place over and over– but, once again, the outcry is absent. Deafeningly, forever absent.

United we stay- divided we fall.
No borders
Solidarity will win

[Athen] No holidays in Petrou Ralli: A LETTER FROM DETAINED WOMEN

An article from our comrades from Bulletinmag in Greece:

No holidays in Petrou Ralli: A LETTER FROM DETAINED WOMEN

On December 19, 2019, was our last visit to Petrou Ralli Detention Center. Once more the number of detainees had increased and reached no50 50 women from 15 different countries. Indonesia, Ethiopia, Albania, Afghanistan, Georgia, Iran, Italy, Cameroon, China, Tibet, Belarus, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, and Turkey. In our effort to talk with them, some police officers were in such close proximity that prevented women to express themselves freely about situations they experience. The behavior of some officers was also provoking towards us.

A characteristic testimony: “When we came here they forbade us to wear our headscarves and told us:” Out of here you can be Muslim, here NO! Here you are Christians… ”

Another testimony: “A police officer invaded into the shower room, while a prisoner was bathing, and made her pull the towel…” At the time, the health of several of them was very bad. Despite our own pressure for two women to be transferred to a hospital as emergency cases, nothing really changed. Τhese women are still very sick. Also, there are no doctors during weekends and during the night time, at Petrou Ralli. On Christmas day we were informed by relatives of prisoners for possible initiation of a few women on hunger strike. The day after our visit they started writing their experiences in the following denunciation letter, where they describe them with their own voices. Experiences that we can simply only imagine. Women from six different countries asked their will for their letter to be publicized. When you have lost everything you do not fear anything.

Their voices should be heard in the whole world. You can discuss it in your assemblies. The organizations and institutions that talk about human rights should stop fooling us and playing with the plight of migrants and refugees, who are led to extermination.

We stand by and admire these women for their bravery and solidarity they show to each other…

No person illegal, no person invisible

Our Rebel sisters are right for the abolition of detention centers and opening of Borders

for stopping illegal racist & misogynist behaviors

for smashing verbal, physical and mental torture

The passion for freedom is stronger than all kinds of prisons

In streets, in squares and prison cells, migrant women you are not alone

The House of Women, for the Empowerment & Emancipation

spiti.gynaikon@gmail.com

(translated in English from the original)

“Greece, Allodapon (Immigrant House) PRISON 20-12-2019

That so-called-immigration office is such a hideous and villainous place that makes anyone forget his/her humanity. Nothing is legal here. Lies, molestation, sexual abuse, diseases, neglection, squalidity, ill-treatment, beating, insult…You literally face with all of these.

Above all, how can they dare? If Europe doesn’t know, how come they dare? Maybe it is a conspiracy! Here we are locked into wards 3-4 times a day which are filthy and full of lice. Only after hitting the iron fences over and over, a policewoman asks «what», by shouting and insulting. They treat us as if we are animals. (not even animals should be treated like this). They took our mobile phones on the first day and didn’t give it back to prevent us to take pictures or videos. Even the lawyers can’t come inside. When the volunteers of organization companies come we are locked. Volunteers are told a lot of lies. For example, they are told we stay here 2 weeks maximum. Most of us are here for 1,5 months. There are people here who stay for 4 months without being told anything.

We are being taken to airing twice a day like herds. When the time is off, they shout ‘Inside’, and lock us inside the wards. When people need to go to the toilets, they have to shout, punch, kick the doors. Sometimes, only sometimes, a policewoman comes after 15-20 minutes. Other times no one comes. Even if one of us dies at those times, no one cares.

Ceylan Pinar Kanli, Turkish. Everybody is sick. Everybody has wounds because of the filth. Some of us even have cysts. For example, I have cysts all over my body. After 5 days, they took me to the doctor inside the immigration house. He said “you should go to the hospital immediately. You need a blood analysis. It is urgent.” Despite that, they make me wait. It has been 5 days.

We do the cleaning ourselves. We have neither shampoo nor soap. Nothing… The ones who have visitors are lucky, what about the others? They ask the ones with visitors to buy things for their needs if they have money. Our friends without money, they either ask to share or they smell.

There is no word to describe the toilets. No detergents, no soaps, nothing! The toilets changed their color because of the dirt and filth. The ones with wet handkerchiefs wrap their noses and face to be able to enter the toilets. The ones without handkerchiefs mostly vomit.

And the policemen! Under the pretext of distributing food, they touch and harass women. This is a horrible place.

The ward on the right belongs to men. The inhuman beating by the police (the victim was a man called MECIT) shouldn’t be ignored. 4 cops kicked him to death barbarously. I can’t forget his ashamed looks because he was beaten in front of all of us.

The food they give both cold and smells! Tomatoes and oranges are rotten. Even to drink water we have a timetable. Water drinking time… We have to drink that disgusting, smelling water. When I said ‘I can’t drink this water. May I buy from outside?’ the policemen laughed a lot and said ‘You have to’. There are a lot of things to say about that place… The sentences on the walls, relentless tears, and continuous supplications.

All are here in that hell.

Alla from Syria, whose headscarf is pulled from her head

Aisha from Somalia, who can’t walk because of the cysts, who is taken to hospital in the middle of the night and when the inflammation gets a bit better, taken back in prison.

And us, who are insulted every day, 1 Iranian, 3 Albanian girls who were abused.

That place is not an immigration office, it is a torture house. I believe I will be able to go out but it’s not only me. After me, there are lots of women who haven’t got any money, a lawyer. They have no one. There are children hereunder 18 and it is not legal.

Please help us. The women who were on indefinite hunger strike ate for the first time after 3 days. No one cares.

Esraa Kreash (Syria), age 22. Esraa is on medication for her psychological condition under the supervision of a doctor twice a day. However, the police gave her only once at night. For a day, they didn’t give her any. Then, Esra didn’t take the pills at night and the next day she took two of the pills. Because she took two pills in a day (she took one in a day for 20 days before), she slept. When she woke up, she went out airing. The police said that the time was off. She had to go inside, but she knew neither English nor Greek. So she didn’t understand.

After that, the police pulled her arms hard and pushed her. Esra attacked the police’s hair. 4 police came from inside. 2 policemen handcuffed her, 2 policewomen hit her arms. And in front of all of us, they dragged her on the floor and locked her in a cell. They left her handcuffed in the cell without food until night. She cried a lot, knocked the door continuously but they didn’t open it until the night shift. She only knows to say ‘sorry’ in English. She said it tons of times, over and over. Only after that, they opened the door. Her roommates asked food for Esra, but they didn’t give any.

She says ‘I haven’t used psychological drugs before. When I came to this prison, the doctor here gave them to me. She is here for 25 days. She has no visitor, neither money nor a lawyer. She retained a lawyer but because she doesn’t have money, the lawyer doesn’t come. She signed for asylum in Leros 3 months ago. Then she went to Lefkada and she was caught there while going to Italy on the ship and was taken to Allodapon. For 3 months, she has been waiting for the interview. 25.12.2019

Meryen Zare, from Iran who was swindled by her lawyer, hasn’t got any money and a lawyer. Neither translator nor visitor. She asked someone who knows English to write a letter to the police saying ‘Please send a translator or I will kill myself.’ Meryem has been waiting for the answer for 3 days. She is all alone, doesn’t know what to do, without a translator. She has gone on an indefinite hunger strike for 3 days. Today we made her eat.

Glory, from Nigeria, has been waiting to be free although she has been here for 2 months and finished 2 interviews. She is still an indefinite hunger striker! 26.12.2019″

Reading the denouncing letter of these women, in comparison with Article 21, on the rights of detainees, from the Decision: “Establishment, operation, and regulation of the aliens’ pre-removal centers(APC)”, one can easily, and leniently speaking, realize the tragic irony:

Regulation of Pre-removal Centers

Article 21

The foreign detainees in the detention centers have the right:

a. To medical treatment and to psychosocial diagnosis and support,

b. To unhindered religious practice, as long as the safety rules of the detention center are not violated

c. Not to be subjects of discrimination (…)

g. To access to a lawyer and in case of inability, providing legal support (…)

n. To be informed via newspapers, magazines, and books with which they are supplied during their visiting hours and to have access to the library (…)

L. To receive from the guards of the detention center the necessary things for their personal hygiene and tidiness,

m. To receive appropriate nutrition with the concern of A.P.C., 3 times a day and

n. To be informed via newspapers, magazines, and books with which they are supplied during their visiting hours and to have access to the library

(there is no and has never been a library at Petrou Ralli)