Lesvos Fights Against its Role as Europe’s “Open Air Prison”

Author: Valeria Hänsel

The Greek island of Lesvos is going through a period of strong protests. Across all political camps, the people on the island refuse to carry out the European policy measures which are transforming Lesvos into an open-air prison for refugees on the edge of Europe. Groups that are strongly divided by ideological convictions, including local left wing, moderate and right wing groups, refugees and international activists share one concern: They oppose the situation created by the EU-Turkey statement.

While right wing groups are driven by racist sentiments, the majority of protesters does not longer accept the dehumanizing living conditions in the European “Hotspot Camp” Moria.  More than 6.000 people are forced to live in overcrowded containers or in small summer tents and are exposed to wind and weather without adequate protection. Some have been forced to live under these conditions for more than 18 months and six people have died in Moria during the last winter.

To make this situation visible and fight for freedom of movement, there have been several protests marches and refugees have occupied space on the central Sappho Square in Lesvos’ capital Mytilene for the whole of November. When the police evicted the square, they occupied the local office of the ruling party SYRIZA with the support of local antifascists.

Continue reading Lesvos Fights Against its Role as Europe’s “Open Air Prison”

Turkey’s national folk dancers seek asylum in Hungary after attending dance contest

Via The Turkey Purge – Eleven Turkish folk dancers have reportedly sought asylum in Hungary after attending a dance contest in the country, Doğan News Agency reported on Dec. 5.

A group of 16 dancers from the Ankara Kent Child and Youth Folk Dances Association reportedly left Turkey several days ago in order to participate in a folk dance contest in Budapest titled “Farewell to Summer” between Nov. 5 and Nov. 10. Continue reading Turkey’s national folk dancers seek asylum in Hungary after attending dance contest

Post-deportation risks under the EU-Turkey statement : what happens after readmission to Turkey?

In the frame of a research project coordinated by the University of Utrecht on the impact of the EU-Turkey Statement for refugees in Turkey and Greece a new policy paper was published! This part focuses on the situation for refugees once returned to Turkey:

“This policy brief examines whether asylum seekers readmitted from Greece to Turkey after the EU-Turkey Statement as of April 2016 were able to access effective protection in Turkey thereafter. The EU has long collaborated with countries of origin and transit in the form of migration compacts, readmission agreements and Memoranda of Understanding. The EU-Turkey Statement is different from prior forms of agreements because of the use of the safe-third-country concept. As a result, Greece can reject asylum applications of people who passed through Turkey as being inadmissible and shift the responsibility of merit assessments to Turkey.”

Proceed to the paper here

“We are not looking for providing jobs at home. We are aiming to create a safe environment or safe jobs outside of our houses.”

Syrian Women’s multiple burden at the labour market and at home.

by Rejane Herwig

Often imagined to be Syrian women’s only profession in Turkey: sewing at home.

The living conditions of Syrians in Turkey are for a majority very poor and tend to have a negative effect on a psychological as well as a physical level. Looking at those through a gender lens renders visible that such circumstances often have even more severe effects on women. Continue reading “We are not looking for providing jobs at home. We are aiming to create a safe environment or safe jobs outside of our houses.”

The Memories of the Dead will not be erased with Black Paint

Via W2EU – In the night of the 24th of November 2017, by the harbour of Thermi on Lesvos Island, unidentified persons vandalised the memorial that we had erected there in 2013. It carries the names of those who had drowned on their journeys to Europe. Two wooden paddles hold the plaque with the names of the dead and the memorial looks out to the sea, dedicated to those of all ages and backgrounds, whose lives ended at sea. Continue reading The Memories of the Dead will not be erased with Black Paint

Migrant solidarity network on the resistance of saya-workers across Turkey

Via Migrant Solidarity Network – There has been news coming related to the strikes of saya (shoe-upper) workers from all corners of Turkey since more than a month. Saya workers organized boycotts and strikes in many cities from Konya to Manisa, from İzmir to Adana and from İstanbul to Antep because of following reasons: Non-covered employment without job security, bad working conditions and long working hours and ill-payments etc. Continue reading Migrant solidarity network on the resistance of saya-workers across Turkey

Memorial to drowned refugees vandalised on Greek island

Via Middle East Eye – Vandals have damaged a memorial on the Greek island of Lesbos to refugees who lost their lives trying to reach safety in Europe, rights groups said on Thursday.

Black paint was poured on the memorial, which was erected in 2013 on the east coast of Lesbos after 20 refugees drowned trying to reach the island in the winter of 2012. In 2015, hundreds more would die in the Aegean Sea as over a million people – mainly fleeing the Syrian civil war – crossed to Greece from Turkey.

“One can only wonder what the perpetrators were thinking of, insulting the memory of people who were so unjustly lost”

– Iva Vougiouka-Frangou, head of local support group Continue reading Memorial to drowned refugees vandalised on Greek island

4 die as car crammed with migrants dives off cliff in Greece

via Associated Press / Washington Post – Four people died during a police chase in northern Greece when an overcrowded smuggler’s car carrying eight migrants, including two in the trunk, plunged off a 90-foot cliff, authorities said Wednesday.

Health officials said the other four migrants and the Pakistani driver of the car were injured in the accident late Tuesday near the town of Kavala, east of Thessaloniki. Continue reading 4 die as car crammed with migrants dives off cliff in Greece

Two men, believed migrants, killed in Greece

Via Ekathimerini  – Greek authorities say two people believed to be migrants who crossed the border from Turkey illegally have been killed after being hit by a passenger train in northeastern Greece.

Police said Monday the two were hit in the Evros border region Sunday night by a train traveling between the city of Alexandroupolis and Dikaia. Their nationalities were not immediately known. Continue reading Two men, believed migrants, killed in Greece