The Legal Center Lesvos regularly publishes report on the current situation for migrants on Lesvos. Here is their latest report on January 2018:
VIOLATIONS OF RIGHTS EXPOSED AT EUROPE’S BORDERS
At the close of 2017 in the period since our last report, the inhumane treatment of migrants in Lesvos continues to be widely reported on and denounced by refugees and migrants, solidarityactivists, the media, and human rights organizations. In response to this pressure, in November and December roughly 3000 asylum seekers were transferred from Lesvos to mainland Greece and Crete. However during the same time period approximately the same number of individuals arrived to Lesvos from Turkey.Continue reading January 2018 Report on Rights Violations and Resistance in Lesvos→
The number of people who agree to “voluntary” return from Greece to their country of origin with the programme of “Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration” of the “International Organization for Migration” (IOM) is significantly higher than the number of deportations to Turkey since the EU-Turkey statement.
What happens to migrants who sign up for the IOM return programme during the process and after the return to their home countries? Why do asylum seekers agree to leave Europe again?
The observation of several cases reveals that many migrants face detention and serious physical and mental harm during and after their participation in the programme of “Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration”.
Musaferat – a collective active on Lesvos against the deportation practise – published an insightful summary of the events during the last month on Lesvos. From the unbearable living conditions in Moria, iltreatment of minor refugees, deportations and ‘voluntary returns’ and policy violence against protests.
Via Akşam (link in Turkish) – 101 foreign people were caught in Izmir’s Dikili and Çeşme districts, while they were trying to cross into Greece.
The coast guards stopped a boat, which was detected in the district of Dikili. 71 people, including 65 Syrian and 6 Afghan nationals, were caught. Then, the coast guards moved to the Çeşme district on the notice that a group of irregular migrants was about to cross into Greece. The guard caught 30 of the Syrians who were in the boat. Continue reading 101 migrants were stopped in the Aegean Sea→
Via Ekathimerini– In a bid to reduce overcrowding at migrant reception centers on the Aegean islands, the government is to propose to Turkey that asylum seekers who are not high on the list of eligibility for protection be transferred to camps on the mainland and subsequently to Turkey, Kathimerini understands.
“We are asking that we be allowed to conduct returns either directly from the islands or from the mainland in the context of the EU-Turkey joint statement,” a government official told Kathimerini, referring to a deal between Brussels and Ankara signed in March 2016 aimed at curbing migrant smuggling across the Aegean. Continue reading Athens to propose transfer of migrants to Ankara→
Statewatch published letters about the EU-Turkey Deal that had been exchanged between the European Commission, the Turkish and the Greek government between April and July 2016!
EU-TURKEY DODGY DEAL: Letters between the Commission and the Turkish and Greek governments April-July 2016 (pdf)https://t.co/mJ5vE8P4bP
Via Hurriyet Daily News (Article from 27th December 17) – The European Union has finished contracting three billion Euros that will be used for Syrian refugees in Turkey, the head of the EU delegation in Ankara has announced, informing that all these funds will be distributed under 72 separate projects.
“Yesterday we signed the very last contract with the KfW which means that now the entire amount of three billion euros we offered in 2016 are now contracted, legally bound and being implemented,” Ambassador Christian Berger told reporters on Dec. 27.
Via Aljazeera – Closed borders, racism, xenophobic attacks, rejected asylum applications, poverty and lengthy waits. These experiences are what many refugees and migrants in Greece say defined 2017 for them. More than 60,000 refugees and migrants are trapped in Greece due to sealed borders across the so-called Balkan route and the March 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union, which was sculpted to stem the flow of displaced people to Europe. Continue reading Refugees in Greece reflect on another year of waiting→
Welcome2Europeupdated their information on Turkey and added information for migrants who have been intercepted back to Turkey at sea or land and for those who have been readmitted/deported to Turkey from Greece.
For now the information are available in English. Arabic, Farsi and French will follow soon.
OpenTheIslands video on the unbearable situation in the EU-hotspot Moria on Lesvos. Winter is approaching and thousands of refugees are still trapped in the horrible conditions of Moria
