Monthly Archive for December, 2012

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Protest of migrants in Fylakio detention center

Published on December 8, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , , , .

On December 5, 2012 the detained migrants in Fylakio, Orestiada protested against the extended length of detention of up to 18 months. On October 19, the government had published a change of law according to which detention duration would be extended form 6 months to 18. Currently there are 160 detainees in Fylakio.

The protest in Fylakio is only one among many in the past month following Corinth and Komotini uprisings. As in the other uprisings the police of Orestiada announced also for the case of Fylakio to punish the ones “responsible” for the protest and the respective damages by charges for criminal acts.

See video of thrakine here

Skai.gr (in greek)

UPDATE: see new article about Corinth detention center from December 8, 2012 in Efimerida sinadakton (in greek)

Syrians report push-backs in Evros

Published on December 8, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , , .

Syrian refugees ‘turned back from Greek border by police’
Asylum seekers crossing from Turkey say they have been illegally deported by Greek police or blocked from entering

by Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi in Edirne and Athens – Friday 7 December 2012

On the edge of Europe, where the river Evros meanders towards the Aegean sea, a new tragedy involving two of the world’s most troubled peoples is unfolding. On one side of the river border are gathered clusters of Syrian refugees, desperate to escape the misery of war and put the Turkish camps behind them. But beyond the perilous currents lies Greece, a nation so economically bereft it has little time or resources for them.

The Evros has always been a barrier to those seeking asylum in the European Union, but now the surging tide of migrants fleeing Syria faces something new. Refugees, non-governmental organisation (NGO) workers and lawyers have told the Guardian that border forces have been pushing asylum seekers back into their boats and escorting them back back across to the Turkish side.
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Vote No on the EU “Reception” Directive! Flight is no crime!

Published on December 5, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , , .

Appeal to the members of the European Parliament

Vote No on the EU Reception Directive! Flight is no crime!

Dear Sir or Madam,

Imagine you yourself had to flee. You leave everything that you own behind. After a long, ardous journey you reach the EU. You believe that here rule of law and democracy exist, and you finally believe that you are safe. But at the border you are being arrested. You are locked up in the next detention centre – for months if deemed necessary. No-one tells you why you are being detained.
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Statistics on Xenios Zeus police raid for the period 4.8.12.-4.12.12 – Attica and Evros

Published on December 5, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

In Attica 58.293 migrants were temporarily arrested and finally 4.092 were arrested because they lacked documentation.

478 houses were raided and searched.

4.971 migrants were either deported or returned “voluntarily” with IOM programs.

In Evros the arrests of new arriving migrants decreased 95%. Within this period in 2012 1.501 migrants were arrested compared to 28.656 in the same period of 2011.
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Deportations of the last 20 years

Published on December 5, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , .

Within the last 20 years 269.193 persons were deported from Greece according to the Ministry of Citizen Protection and Public Order. In the period 2001-2012 most of the deportees were Albanians. From 1993-2000 most were Rumanian and 1991-1992 most were Bulgarian.
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The father in detention, the 5-year-old alone at home!

Published on December 5, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , , .

2,5 months ago the sudanese father of a 5-year-old daughter was arrested for lacking valid documents. The man is living in Greece since 20 years and was on his way to the supermarket to get some food when the police arrested him. His daughter, born herself in Greece, was waiting at home. The desperate father asked the police repeatedly to send someone home to look after his child, but no one cared. The father was sent to detention to Komotini with the aim of deportation, despite the fact that deportations to Sudan are not feasible. It is not known what has happened to the child after the arrest of the father.
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UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants on the situation in Greece

Published on December 4, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , .

UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants concludes the fourth and last country visit in his regional study on the human rights of migrants at the borders of the European Union: Greece

ATHENS (3 December 2012): Following an invitation by the Government, I conducted a visit to Greece from 25 November to 3 December 2012. During my 9-day visit, I visited Athens, the Evros region bordering Turkey, the Aegean island of Lesvos, and the western port city of Patras. I met with Government representatives, civil society organisations, international organisations, the European Union (EU)’s representation in Greece, as well as migrants themselves, including in detention centres.
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Detention conditions in Attica inhuman, police declares

Published on December 2, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , .

The Greek government has been condemned repeatedly by the ECHR for the detention conditions of migrants. Consequently, Greece had to pay some thousands of Euro as fines/ compensation and still did not improve anything. Since 2000 many detention centers have started getting overcrowded. Now, the Greek police in a press conference criticised themselves the inhuman detention conditions of the overcrowded police stations and detention centers in Attica.
While every detainee has the right of 4m2 in detention in many cells, prisons, they have less than 1m2 and in others three persons might even share 1m2! Some police stations do not even have cells and are not equipped for detention. Most of the times, administrative detainees – such as sans-papiers – are detained along with personal arrested for criminal acts in mixed detention. Even worse many times men, women and children have to share cells.
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Letter by the Greens to Mr. Dendias and video showing Amigdaleza and minors detention centre

Published on December 1, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

letter by the Greens to Citizen Protection Minister Dendias

Dear Minister Dendias,

We are writing to you as a follow up to our recent visit to Amygdaleza detention center in Attica, Greece, which took place November 10 and a recording of which can be found here. We hope with this letter to present you with a brief overview of our position and concerns relating to issues falling within your sphere of competence, and to commence a fruitful dialogue.
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