Tag Archive for 'syrian'

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Push-back of 150 Syrians in Evros: An eye-witness speaks out

Efymerida ton Sindakton published today a witness account of one of the Syrians who had disappeared on November 12th in Evros.

Read also respective announcement of UNHCR

We implored them for help, they threw us in the river
by Dimitris Angelidis
potami-sinora-apagoreumeni-zoni-342x230

International report – catapults

The systematic and extended application of the illegal practice of readmissions has been registered in a series of reports by international organisms and organizations in the last years. Nevertheless the Greek authorities ostentatiously ignore the allegations, creating a regime of impunity which closes their eyes when it comes to massive violations of fundamental rights of migrants and refugees.
According to the report of Amnesty International “Frontier Europe” which was published in July, the Commissioner Malmstrom expressed her big concern for the allegations and stated that if they are proved or continue “it is possible to lead to a suspension or termination of a part of or of all Frontex operations in the Greek-Turkish borders”.
The commissioner could have been more strict in her statements, if they wouldn’t reflect Europe’s shift into a more conservative migration and refugees’ policy. “Migrants who manage to cross the European borders, are often victims of push-backs” reported on Monday three international organizations on a common press release with the Hellenic League for Human Rights, that accuses the EU for promoting practices that penalize migrants and invest in border control, instead of creating reception structures. Continue reading ‘Push-back of 150 Syrians in Evros: An eye-witness speaks out’

Chronicle of a state crime: The death of a Syrian mother and her two children in Samos

Referring to the “accidental” death of Lamis Abounahi and her two children, 3-year-old Undai and 9-month-old Layal, due to a fire on the mountains of Samos.

Early in the morning of the 21st of July, an inflatable boat heading from Turkey to Greece abandons Syrian refugee Wasim Abounahi, his wife Lamis, their two children, Undai and Layal and their friends Jihad Kelani and Mohammad Basis on a rocky shore on the island of Samos.

The refugees climb up the steep mountain side and hide in a near-by forest until dark. Lamis is very sick and worn out, so they decide to use their only cellphone, to call the emergency number of the Turkish authorities (7777) and ask for help -Kelani speaks very good English. The Turks trace their cellphone signal and answer back soon after to inform them on their position, giving them the emergency number of the Greek authorities (112). The refugees fail to reach 112, so they ask the Turks to contact the Greek authorities for them. Indeed, after a few minutes they receive a call from a Greek cell, Kelani explains to the woman on the other side of the line the dire straits they’re in and they agree to light a small fire on the edge of the rock so that the lifeboat can spot them. oikogeneia-Syrioi-nekroi-280x250
Continue reading ‘Chronicle of a state crime: The death of a Syrian mother and her two children in Samos’

al jazeera / Bridge to nowhere: Syrian refugees in Greece

Bridge to nowhere: Syrian refugees in Greece
Abuse and a cash-strapped government make it a difficult destination for those fleeing the war.
fotos: anna psaroudakis

Athens, Greece – Passage to Greece was probably easier for Daoud Abdo and his family than for most Syrian refugees. It took the family of five just two weeks to travel by bus to Istanbul and cross the Evros river, which forms Europe’s southeastern-most land border. But the journey was still fraught with danger.c8b6a3a576c11c5bcdd99807ba173974

Daoud said he and his wife fell off a platform over the river that they were walking across and into the marshes. It was raining and the swamp surrounding the Evros was deep. Daoud is convinced they would have drowned that day, were it not for a group of refugees from Bangladesh.
Continue reading ‘al jazeera / Bridge to nowhere: Syrian refugees in Greece’

159 migrants in distress at sea saved near Calabria

Yesterday the 159 migrants from Afghanistan, Syria and Egypt had started from turkey some days earlier heading towards italy when their ship got at distress at sea close to the Calabrian coast. Among them were 8 children, one newborn and four women. Four migrants had to be transferred to hospital.

proto thema (in greek)

video: syrian refugees in greece 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdkrgIJ-5Ok&feature=player_embedded#!

Video: The plight of Syrian refugees in Greece

Published on Apr 9, 2013
The plight of Syrian refugees in Greece as reflected through their stories. How they arrived in Greece, under what circumstances were imprisoned, what they expected and what they found at last.

The 29-year old Syrian woman named Jihan recounts the sufferings of her family, on the small room they share to live in Athens.

Video by Christos Stamos

DW: Syrian Families Greek Odyssee

Syrians are currently the second-largest refugee group to cross illegally into the European Union. Most of them arrive in Greece.

DW’s Marine Olivesi accompanied one Syrian-Palestinian family on their arduous adventure.

Sixteen Syrians minus a baby girl are putting their shoe laces back on. The extended family has just been released from the police station of Mitilini, on the Greek island of Lesbos.
“Did you eat in the prison?,” asks local activist Efi Latsoudi. “Did they give you food regularly?”
“Bad food,” answers one of the teenagers.
“And how many days did you stay inside?”
“Four days.”
“With the kids?”
“Yes, with the kids.”0,,16697052_401,00
Continue reading ‘DW: Syrian Families Greek Odyssee’

Lesvos: More refugees dying on dangerous routes to asylum in Europe

Another refugee boat with 15 passengers got lost only three months after the tragedy that cost the lives of 21 refugees in December of last year on Lesvos island. Eight Syrian refugees a lost in the sea between Turkey and Lesvos. Six corpses were already found on the coast of the island. Relatives have arrived to look out for their beloved. One 17-year-old pregnant woman from Syria has been already recognised.
Last Friday the Greek coast guard had found already three of the corpses – of one woman and two children near Eressos beach. It seems the small boat got in distress only a few days earlier while the corpses were brought to the coast by the strong winds of the days. Saturday afternoon relatives of lost refugees reported to the police of Lesvos the disappearance of eight Syrians (two men, a woman, two minors and three children). They had started their dangerous journey in Dikili in Turkey but they never arrived. On Sunday another three corpses were found. Unfortunately the corpses are not to be recognised anymore since they were many days in the sea.

Meanwhile refugees continue to arrive on the island. On Monday 63 refugees were arrested my LEsvos police. Another 16 Afghans had spent some nights in the park of Mytilini city since the police was denying to register / arrest them. The local solidarity network “The village of all-together” supplied the homeless refugees with blankets, clothes and food.

efimerida ton sindakton (in greek)

lesvos news (in greek)
embros (in greek)
tvxs (in greek)

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL – PRESS RELEASE
20 March 2013

Refugees dying on dangerous routes to asylum in Europe

In a case highlighting the risks people take when fleeing conflict in their countries to seek refuge in Europe, the authorities of Lesvos continue their search for the bodies of asylum-seekers who had attempted to reach the Greek island.

Since last Friday, they have found the bodies of six Syrian nationals including a 17-year-old pregnant woman and a mother with her young children. They are now searching for the bodies of three more Syrian nationals whose families had reported missing to the island authorities after the nine attempted to cross from Turkey on 6 March 2013.

Lesvos is one of the main crossings for migrants and refugees trying to enter the European Union via the Greek mainland. Last December, 21 people (mostly Afghans) drowned close to the shores of the island, after the boat they were in capsized.

Since last summer, people fleeing the conflict in Syria have featured among those attempting the crossing, including many families with young children.

“As Greece is tightening the border controls in Evros, including the completion of a 10.5km fence last December, people take more and more dangerous routes. This was a tragedy waiting to happen,’’ said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s Director of the Europe and Central Asia Programme.

“It is vital that the Greek authorities ensure protection to all asylum-seekers reaching the country. Instead, the Greek asylum system is grossly failing them. People who flee conflict, including many Syrians and Afghans who make it to the shores of Lesvos, are detained in police stations in overcrowded and poor conditions or in many cases left destitute to sleep in the streets.’’

“The Greek authorities should also take urgent measures to improve the reception conditions of those arriving at its shores and end the detention of asylum-seekers. In addition, Syrian nationals with no papers fleeing the conflict, must not be detained or issued with deportation orders and the authorities should proceed with a fair and effective examination of their asylum claims.”

“It is very painful to watch the same tragedy repeating in the shores of our own island,” said Efi Latsoudi, a local activist and member of the ‘Village of altogether’ – an initiative run by of volunteers who step in when state support for refugees and migrants is not available.

Wall Street Journal: Syrians Find No Refuge in Greece.

By MATINA STEVIS

LESVOS, Greece—On this Aegean island’s shores, Syria’s refugee crisis is crashing up against Greece’s migrant-policy mess.

Mohamed Simo, a 28-year-old Web designer from Aleppo, Syria, wanted to avoid the limbo of refugee camps of Turkey and Jordan, so he paid smugglers to bring him to Europe. After what he said was a harrowing journey from Turkey in a sinking plastic boat on a cold February night, he washed up in this tourist haven and was detained by local police.Image.image003.jpg@01CE2485.E7C7E2D0
Continue reading ‘Wall Street Journal: Syrians Find No Refuge in Greece.’

AI & MSF: Syria refugees in Greece face lack of ‘humanitarian’ help

Doctors Without Borders and Amnesty International lashed out on Thursday at Greece’s treatment of Syrian refugees fleeing their war-ravaged homeland, with many locked up as illegal immigrants or reportedly facing police brutality.

“There is a total lack of a humanitarian response and solidarity” in Greece towards Syrian asylum-seekers, Willem de Jonge, general director of Doctors Without Borders in Greece, told AFP on the sidelines of a press conference.

Continue reading ‘AI & MSF: Syria refugees in Greece face lack of ‘humanitarian’ help’