In Samos hot spot and corinth pre-removal detention center refugees are protesting devastating living conditions and lacking access to asylum procedures as well as long waiting periods.
copyright: Hessam Ghafelpour
copyright: Generation outside of Afghanistan
interview from Corinth
The first two corpses were found on Sunday 13th of January at 9 o ‘clock in the morning by fishermen in two different beaches of the island Chios. A third corpse was found by the coast guard around 2pm at yet another beach. According to first information by the Coroner the persons died of drowning within the last 48 hours before being found.
At the meantime on Saturday 12th of January three migrants were found alive on the island Panagia Oinousson inside fish cages. They are from Palestine and Iran. As two of them reported they had tried to reach Chips island from Cesme in turkey in the night of Thursday. Their boat turned around and they swam for more than 10 hours to reach the island. It is yet unknown if there were more persons inside the same boat.
While trying to cross the landborder between Greece and Turkey in Evros (nearby Feres), three sans-papiers died close to the river Evors/ Maritza.
An Iranian women (50 years old) and her 12-year-old son were found at the coast. The third person was a man from Africa approx. 25-30 years old. He was found near to Petrades/ Didimoticho. As it seems all of them died due to the cold weather after trying to swim through the river.
As announced by a GCR Press Release from the 31st of October 2011 the authorities of Evros and Rhodopi prefectures continue to readmit persons in need of international protection to Turkey where they are exposed to the danger of refoulement to their countries of origin.
On the 25th of September three Iranian detainees from Fylakio detention centre were readmitted to Turkey. They had informed the authorities about their wish to claim asylum. A GCR lawyer had sent a fax also informing the authorities about their cases. However, their claims were never registered.
On the 10th of October two Iranian nationals from Sapes detention centre in Rhodopi and on the 24th of October another two Iranian detainees were readmitted to Turkey although the authorities had been informed also in their cases by a GCR lawyer about their wish to claim asylum. In these cases the police misguided the detainees giving them papers to sign in Greek which they could not understand. The detainees thought they are signing their asylum claims, however, what they really signed was a declaration that they do not wish to apply for asylum.
See: Press Release GCR (in Greek)
Announcement of the protesting refugees (in Greek) 
The Afghan and the Irani hunger strikers call for a common protest infront of the Ministry of the Protection of the Citizen at the 9th of May 2011. 
In their common declaration they denounce the under-functioning of the asylum committees and the ongoing policy of zero asylum recognitions. Although the government had announced that 17 committees would start their work in the proceeding of asylum claims in the beginning of 2011 there are until now only 3 working and even these have additional technical and practical problems such as lacking money for ink!
Call for common protest by Afghan and Iranian refugees (in Greek)