On the 19th of October 61 sans-papiers were deported back to Pakistan and Afghanistan on a charter flight form Athens airport.
within the first nine months of 2011 five deportation flights have been completed from Athens returning a total of 335 sans-papiers to Nigeria, Egypt and Santo Domingo. 
see: article in To Vima newspaper (in Greek)
information with, about and for refugees in Greece
Tag Archive for 'fortress europe'
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“We wanted to cross the border at the river in two boats. We were many people and two boats. We entered the second boat. 13 persons in a boat for 3! For some reason our boat got into a slipstream. It turned around and we all fell into the water. It was night. Some of us hold on to the boat and reached the Turkish coast. Me and my daughters were carried away by the stream together with another woman and three men. We couldn’t swim. I was struggling to keep myself over the water level in order not to drown. I just heard my daughter shouting: Mum, help me! Then the Turkish border guards found us and pulled me out of the water. I told them about the others and they searched some hours for them without any results. After release from detention in Turkey we crossed again into Greece and went directly to the police. We told them that we lost our children and asked for help. They brought us into another prison.”
S. looking for his friend Saaid in the river
Continue reading ‘lostatborder’
Athens, 28th of September 2011
Terror and Fear in the Open Sea
In the open sea close to Zakynthos a group of 65 Afghan and Iraqi-Kurdish refugees experienced days of terror and fear when they were trying to reach the Italian shore. They were in serious danger of death by drowning and starvation when their boat went into distress. Among them were many children and families. One of them lost his life, while trying to save himself by swimming. Two others took their last breaths in the hospital, following their rescue after 11 days on the open sea.
refugees in an overcrowded boat trying to find a safe haven
The tragic story of refugees and migrants who are forced to leave behind their home due to war, poverty and persecution takes no end. Among the refugees in the boat many had already lost relatives on the sea and land borders on their way from Afghanistan and Iraq through other countries and until here. Their tragic stories continue in Greece, a country, which in the name of crisis and a repressive migration policy of Fortress Europe denies providing refugees with their basic rights, with a functioning reception infrastructure and integrating them into social and economical life. This gives the extreme-right a leeway to target them both ideologically and in practice on the streets and to use them as scapegoats of a policy of poverty and misery. It leads the refugees and migrants to a further quest for a safe life in another country – whatever it may cost.
This incident is not rare but it is a tough reality with many victims. Many boats in distress, many deaths at the borders – and the European governments are well aware of it.
Following this tragedy some of the survivors returned to Athens, among them a single father with his two small kids (4-6 years old) in his arms, searching for some corner on the squares and streets of Athens. In their hands the deportation order, which the police authorities gave them without asking where they will go or what they will eat. Nobody asked them if they need protection or if they want to claim asylum.
Respectfully,
On Friday, September 23, a small boat that was trying to get to Italy carrying 65 Kurds and Afghans sans-papiers, broke 90 miles southwest of the island of Zakynthos. When port police reached the vessel only 32 immigrants were aboard. A helicopter participating in the rescue operation managed to save 30 immigrants that have fallen in the sea. Late in the afternoon, the same helicopter discovered the bodies of 3 sans-papiers who drowned at sea.
Human Rights Watch published today, on the 21st of September 2011 a report about the Frontex operation in Evros underlining the international responsibility on the human rights violations against sans-papiers and asylum seekers in the detention centres of the region.
paranoiex securitex frontex
The EUs dirty hands
The EUs Dirty Hands: Frontex Involvement in Ill-Treatment of Migrant Detainees in Greece
Frontex reacted immediately with a press release:
FRONTEX’S REACTION TO HRW REPORT
Warsaw, 21 September 2011 – Frontex welcomes the revised report of HRW and is satisfied to note that its comments on the original draft were taken on board. The report now highlights an issue, which we agree, is of great importance.
A Frontexian in Evros
We would like to recall that Frontex fully respects and strives for promoting Fundamental Rights in its border control operations which, however, do not include organization of, and responsibility for, detention on the territory of the Member States, which remains their exclusive remit.
Continue reading ‘Frontex heavily criticised by Human Rights Watch for their involvement in Evros – and PR response by Frontex’
Will there be again border guards at the internal EU borders? France and Denmark have temporarily recovered their border control guards. Now the EU-commission has made a proposal for the reintroduction of internal border controls under specific circumstances and preconditions.
According to the proposal of the 16th of September, decisions on the reintroduction of internal border controls at specific European borders should be made by the commission in the near future and not by the member states themselves. Germany, Spain and France already announced their disagreement. While the commission wants to hinder the solo of EU-member states, these insist on the national sovereignty rights.
Continue reading ‘Debate about reintroduction of internal border controls in the EU: The EU-Commission wants to take the decisions itself’
Fountain to remember the dead and the missing at the Greek-Turkish border in Tichero (Northern Greece)
John lost his wife Jane and Tahera her husband Bashir in the Evros River. They represent hundreds of other migrants who drowned in the water, were killed by landmines or are still missing. Their dead bodies were treated disrespectfully: In 2010 we discovered a mass grave in Sidero where the corpses could not be identified. We returned to give back a piece of dignity to the dead and also those who survived.
Continue reading ‘Giving back names and dignity to lost migrants’
On Saturday afternoon immigrants held in the detention center of Fylakio, Evros, set fire to mattresses.
Border police forced the inmates out of the building, where they were guarded by riot police units, while fire brigade that arrived from the city of Orestiada managed to put out the fire.
One immigrant was transferred by ambulance to the Medical Center of Orestiada.
This revolt is only one of many. Immigrants detained in Fylakio and other detention centres and prisons have been struggling for their freedom and access to their basic rights ever since.
greek article in Preza TV 6th of September 2011
Only recently the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) denounced that for almost a month, there has been no medical care to immigrants and asylum seekers in detention in Evros region.
Meanwhile, greek navy and coast police keep searching for survivors from early Saturday shipwreck near the island of Kefalonia. Unfortunately the number of dead will probably rise to 19.
see also:
http://clandestinenglish.wordpress.com/
Following the huge eviction of the jungles of Igoumenitsa at the 9th of June, Patras became the second war region in the governments cruel fight against the sans-papiers who are trying to leave the country. The government seems to set a clear sign that the ports of exit towards Italy are now a no-go for refugees and migrants. Will the Apartheid ruling Igoumenitsa come to Patras now? It seems so.
We have no place to stay anymore. We have to sleep at the seaside under the sky. The police is coming everyday to hunt us in order that we leave Patras. We have been hunted in Komunisia before. We have been hunted at the border,in Athens, at work… One by one we get crazy now. Some of us try to leave Greece back to Turkey. But they don´t let us go there too. They hunt us again and again. Now one of my friends got lost in Evros while he was trying to cross the river in the direction of Turkey. We believe he died. In one or two days we will be all crazy!