Author Archive for momo

Page 28 of 52

“Confined like animals”, no water or heating: so is the Greek Guantanamo / Delta World about Corinth

Cramped, without warm clothes, no hot water, no heating, in appalling hygiene conditions, malnourished, without barely access to medicines, in a legal situation uncertain and subject to harassment and occasional beatings.

They are the conditions in which Greece maintains several thousand immigrants and undocumented refugees, in the so-called”detention for foreigners”, which are so degrading to inmates of one of them, of Corinth, ironically call it with the same name of the notorious us base: Guantanamo.

“They kept us locked up like animals. We don’t have rights”, complains Ali Hasan, an Afghan fleeing from their country and who remains detained for two months along with 800 others in the center of Corinth, a former military barracks.

Continue reading ‘“Confined like animals”, no water or heating: so is the Greek Guantanamo / Delta World about Corinth’

Press Release by the Movement of Samos concerning detention conditions

Samos 07.12.12 – Movement for the Human rights – Solidarity to Refugees

PRESS RELEASE

Following the visit of members of the Movement in the coast guard facilities where 41 persons – among them eight newly arrived women and seven children mainly coming from Syria – are hold, and where we were asked to offer our support with clothing and hygiene articles, we noticed the following:

In this informal detention place of the Samos coast guards’ special forces men, women and children are closed up together with three penal detainees and one unaccompanied minor who is waiting since long time to be transferred into a special reception centre for minors.
The detention place is absolutely unsuitable and the detention conditions are miserable. There are no matresses, blankets, hygiene articles and there is only one toilette. The newly arrived Syrian refugees came wet and exhausted without being offered dry clothes or food.
The treatment by the authorities and the abolute lack of protection that the Greek government is encountering them with are reminding of darker periods when the informal detention centre of Kapnokoptiriou was still in function – a warehouse of souls.
The coast guard – the responsible ones for the detention – told us that they had requested support from all local authroities without receiving any responds.

SILENCE IS COMPLICITY

LETS NOT LOSE OUR HUMANITY DUE TO CRISIS

Revolt in Amigdaleza detention center

On December 1st migrants detained in Amigdaleza detention center started a protest against the detention conditions and demanding their freedom. It is not the first time and will not be the last time of protests in Amigdaleza and other detention centers.
In The night of that Saturday, the detainees gathered in the yard pulling the fence and shouting slogans for freedom.

The protest was encountered with Riot police who “convinced” the protestors to return silently into their cells.
Continue reading ‘Revolt in Amigdaleza detention center’

Protest of migrants in Fylakio detention center

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

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.
Continue reading ‘Syrians report push-backs in Evros’

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

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.
Continue reading ‘Vote No on the EU “Reception” Directive! Flight is no crime!’

Statistics on Xenios Zeus police raid for the period 4.8.12.-4.12.12 – Attica and Evros

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.
Continue reading ‘Statistics on Xenios Zeus police raid for the period 4.8.12.-4.12.12 – Attica and Evros’

Deportations of the last 20 years

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.
Continue reading ‘Deportations of the last 20 years’

The father in detention, the 5-year-old alone at home!

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.
Continue reading ‘The father in detention, the 5-year-old alone at home!’

UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants on the situation in Greece

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.
Continue reading ‘UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants on the situation in Greece’