October 3: Registration queue in Moria / copyright: Salinia Stroux
Continue reading ‘Moria / Lesbos: Registration chaos, police violence, hunger, thirst and sleeping rough’
information with, about and for refugees in Greece
Yearly Archive for 2015
Page 2 of 2
Continue reading ‘Moria / Lesbos: Registration chaos, police violence, hunger, thirst and sleeping rough’
It is Sunday. For at least two nights no refugee was seen during night sleeping in the port of Mytilene. Today there are again about 100 persons from Afghanistan and Syria mainly but also from Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan and other countries.
“We spent five nights in the detention center in Moria,” they say. “It was specifically ver crowded at the outside area where we were in the beginning.”
Everybody is stressed to leave. A handful of families didn’t know they had to get tickets for their babies too even if they were for free. While trying to enter the ferry they were send back to the ticket office. The mothers had already entered with the other children and were not reachable. Two Syrian dads and one Afghan holding all small babies stand beside the ticket shop not knowing what to do. Their women have the documents of the children inside the boat. Only in the last minutes and after discussions with the ticket office they manage to solve the problem and run in the ferry.
A group of kurdish Syrian men is standing aside. They are angry.
“I want to ask you what we can do. In the morning an officer came on a motor bike. He parked and came over to the place we were sleeping on the street. Then he kicked this 16-year-old who is traveling alone twice and shouted ‘stand up’. We are no animals! If we had more time we would go to report this at the police station. We are not afraid, we have honor. We want you to publish this somewhere. The number of the motor bike was MTZ 415. It was around 5:30 in the morning of Sunday 2.8.15. Thank you.”
Two days between Kara Tepe tent camp and the port of Mytilene (24.7.-25.7.15)
Camping for days in the port waiting for their family to be released
A small Afghan boy is sitting outside a blue tent built up just behind the kiosk in the port of Mytilene. On the other side of the tent there are some other Afghan minors sitting on a blanket on the floor and leaning at the walls of an abandoned swimming hall. It is late in the night. His elder brother has fever. He is climbing out of the tent to join us. The two underage boys from Afghanistan are camping there already since four nights. They arrived to Lesvos together with their mother and father and two little sisters. In Moria they registered themselves as adults, as other people advised them to avoid reporting their real ages for the own good. Then the two of them got released alone.
“We fear to loose track of our family if we move away from here,” F. the elder brother says. “My father said we should wait here for them.” He seems exhausted and under pressure carrying all the responsibility of holding his family together on his small shoulders. With an official note ordering them to leave the country within 30 days, both boys’ time is running out, while they wait for their relatives. “My father said they would be released today. Again they didn’t let them go. Others were only one night in there. I don’t understand why they don’t let them free.”
The Welcome to Europe Info-Guide is now available in an updated version (as of July 2015).
Download the web version here:
Info Guide Greece 2015 (web version)
For a print version with higher analysis please send an e-mail request to: contact@w2eu.info
UNHCR estimates that currently 1,000 refugees reach daily Greece. Most of them arrive on the islands of the Aegean, at the sea border to neighbouring Turkey. Lesvos, Chios, Kos, Samos, Leros only to name some of the islands with high numbers of newcomers face a humanitarian crisis that cannot and shouldn’t be dealt with solely by the Greek government. European solidarity is needed.
Homeless Afghan families sleep in public parks
Despite the current political and economic crisis nowadays solidarity has emerged mainly from the civil society with local people together with tourists trying to support where needed. Yet there are hundreds if not thousands of refugees spending days and weeks under devastating conditions in provisory tent camps, detention centres or on the streets exposed to the weather and unprotected. There is no sanitary infrastructure that can suffice the real needs. Hygiene is getting more and more a serious issue leaving many persons with skin diseases or infections i.e. of the stomach. There is not enough food, clothes, hygiene products, medicine, cleaning products, tents etc. Everything is needed.
Also in the main urban centers such as Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras as well as in border regions such as Eidoumeni / Kilkis in the North refugees are concentrating while in transit for days if not longer. They stay often homeless in public squares and parks or simply on the streets, fields or forests. Their situation is getting more and more critical every day.
What is urgently needed:
– Money donations, so that needed products (specifically fresh ones like food) can be bought in Greece for refugees. We want to support the Greek economy too, which has been exhausted by European austerity measures.
– Sun crèmes, sun hats (specifically for children) and mosquito sprays (for children)
– Baby milk powder, pampers, baby summer clothes and shoes
– Tents, light sleeping bags and towels
– Sandals and sport shoes for women, men and children
– Soap, shampoo, washing powder for clothes, skin crèmes
– Medicine (which should be send to the social clinics or social farmacies in Greece preferably though)
– Any support in men force is wanted too if self-organised, self-financed and independent. Please contact local NGOs or solidarity groups if you plan to come for help.
Please send monetary donations to:
Wohnschiffprojekt Altone e.V.
Keyword: Infomobile
Banc: Hamburger Sparkasse
IBAN: DE06200505501257122737
BIC: HASPDEHHXXX
For sending any other donations contact us, tell us what you want to send / bring and we will discuss where it makes more sense to address the donations as situations change over time locally.
http://infomobile.w2eu.net/ and http://lesvos.w2eu.net/
Contakt: lesvos.w2eu@yahoo.gr
Welcome to Europe / Infomobile Griechenland: Aufruf zur Solidarität mit Flüchtlingen in Griechenland
Gegenwärtig erreichen – nach Schätzungen des UNHCR – täglich etwa 1.000 Flüchtlinge Griechenland. Die meisten von ihnen kommen von der benachbarten Türkei aus auf den Ägäis-Inseln an. Lesbos, Chios, Kos, Samos, Leros – um nur einige der Inseln mit einer hohen Zahl von Neuankommenden zu nennen – stehen vor einer humanitären Krise, mit der sich nicht allein die griechische Regierung beschäftigen kann. Die staatlichen Stellen sind von den stark ansteigenden Flüchtlingszahlen komplett überfordert und internationale Hilfe ist kaum vorhanden.
Europäische Solidarität ist dringend notwendig.
Auch in der aktuellen politischen und wirtschaftlichen Krise zeigen sich Menschen aus der Zivilgesellschaft in Griechenland solidarisch und versuchen gemeinsam mit der lokalen Bevölkerung und Touristen dort Unterstützung zu leisten, wo sie am dringendsten benötigt wird. Hunderte, wenn nicht Tausende von Flüchtlingen, verbringen Tage und Wochen unter verheerenden Bedingungen in provisorischen Zeltlagern, Haftzentren oder auf der Straße, dem Wetter ausgesetzt und ungeschützt. Sie haben keinerlei sanitäre Infrastruktur, die den Bedürfnissen genügen könnte. Die Frage der Hygiene wird mehr und mehr zu einem ernsten Problem. Viele Menschen erleiden Hauterkrankungen oder Infektionen. Es fehlt an Nahrungsmitteln, Kleidung, Hygieneartikeln, Medikamenten, Reinigungsmitteln, Zelten etc. Alles wird gebraucht.
Homeless refugees in Omonia Square
Continue reading ‘Welcome to Europe / Infomobile Griechenland: Aufruf zur Solidarität mit Flüchtlingen in Griechenland’
In the night of the 12.05.2015 a refugee boat by the name of “M/S Sula” carrying 192 refugees got in distress near Palaiochora, Crete. The mainly Syrian passengers were saved and brought to a closed gym. According to testimonies of refugees the police authorities wrote registration numbers on their arms while they were sleeping. Representatives of local NGOs explained, this was a common practice during massive arrivals on the island.
registration numbers marked on the arms of the refugees
It’s the second arrival of a refugee boat in Crete within one month. The “M/S Sula” had reportedly started in Antalya, Turkey and was heading towards Italy when the bad weather conditions forced the refugees to send SOS to Greek authorities. Most of the passengers were Syrian protection seekers while there were also some Palestinians. There were also 70 children among them as well as five unaccompanied minors. All refugees were first brought to a closed gym. The minors were then transferred the next day to detention in the police station of Souda/Chania awaiting a free place in a reception center for minors. UNHCR and IOM representatives visited them the first day of arrival. On May 14, 2015 most of the newcomers were transferred to Athens with an official note that allows them to stay for six months in Greece.
“M/S Sula” – 12.05.15
In the meantime, six persons were arrested and charged as smugglers. One of these arrested was traveling with his wife. She had to be brought to emergency department of the Hospital of Chania because of a panic attack on May 14, 2015 and following the arrest of her husband.
R. from Syria:
“We went to Lebanon and from there to Turkey. We wanted to go directly to Italy. Our boat was only 35 meters long while we were more than 180 persons. It was in a very bad condition being rusty and old and the waves were getting very high. We were four days on the sea. It was very dangerous. Some people got crazy of fear and started screaming. All people in the boat vomited. We were alone in the sea. No other ships. We called for help. Then the Greek authorities came and brought us to Crete. The police wrote registration numbers on our arms. They called me with the number. That is horrible. It’s not my name.”
M. from Syria:
“I am from Damascus. I lost everything in Syria. I just have my family. A lot of friends are dead. Some of my friends escaped to Europe. Others stayed in Syria fighting. I want to go to Germany to save my family. (…) When no NGOs and no journalists are here in the gym during night, they start shouting on us. They also don’t allow us to go out. The first night while I was sleeping, they came and wrote on my arm this number. I feel horrible about this. Why they put a number on me? Why they call me by a number? We are humans. We have names. Even they wrote numbers on small children arms.”
-
- gym where all refugees spent the first nigiht
-
- registration numbers instead of names
-
- registration numbers marked on the arms of the refugees
-
- “M/S Sula” – 12.05.15
See also: Hellenic Coast Guard Press Release
On Thursday 19, 2014 about 17 unaccompanied minors started a hunger strike in Lithi police station near Thessaloniki. Most of them were only recently released after months of detention. They had been in pre-removal centres such as Corinth, Amygdaleza or Paranesti Drama while waiting to be assessed as underage and / or awaiting their transfer to one of the scarce accommodation places for minors in open reception centres. Some of the minors detained in Lithi have been already more than six months detained. They have been arrested as they left the reception centers hosting them and were reported missing thereafter. The so called “protective detention” is supposed to be the better alternative than leaving them on the streets. This kind of “protection” is not wanted by any of them.
Currently only around 350 places are available in 12 reception centres all over Greece while there are nearly 200 registered unaccompanied minors waiting in detention for a place in order to get released. The new government has announced to focus on the creation of reception centers and the release of vulnerable groups like unaccompanied minors from detention.
The minors held in Lithi demand their immediate freedom.
Minors should receive special protection and not long and repeated detention!
NO PRISONS!
FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IS EVERYBODYS’ RIGHT!
update:
On Friday 20, 2014 two minors were brought to hospital.
The hunger strike continued until the evening.