Via Hurriyet Daily News – At least 547 undocumented migrants have been caught trying to reach Europe or enter Turkey illegally across the country, security officials said on Nov. 16.
The migrants were caught in the northwestern province of Edirne, Aegean province of İzmir, Central Anatolian province of Sivas, southern province of Hatay and the eastern province of Van. Continue reading More than 500 undocumented migrants captured across Turkey
Via Gazete Duvar (Link in Turkish) – In Muğla, Bodrum, A fight arose between smugglers and 15 people who wanted to pass to Greece, because of the delay of the travel and the price. Following the denounce, police raided a hotel and arrested 5 smugglers, and 15 Syrian and Iraqi.
Via Birgün (link in Turkish) – The EU who said to give 3 billion Euro to Turkey in the frame of the EU-Turkey day for refugees, has recently paid its 2.9 billion. 1.6 billion Euro of this amount were allocated for education, health, municipality infrastructure, socioeconomic programs and migration governance. 300 million Euro were given to the Ministry of National Education and another 300 million Euro of its was given to Ministry of Health. UNICEF claims that although a large amount of money was allocated for education, 390 billion school-age refugees are still not provided with educational opportunities. 2
Via AlJazeera – Dutch journalist Sakir Khader, who was detained on Monday at the Greek-Turkish border, has been released from police custody in Greece.
Khader, who was reporting on refugees crossing into Greece via Turkey, was handed a suspended five-month prison sentence on Tuesday for entering a restricting military area near the town of Didymoteicho without permission, Greek police told Al Jazeera. Continue reading Greece releases Dutch reporter ‘taken for smuggler’
Turkey’s state-run news agency ‘Anadolu Agency’ reports on Friday that more 258 migrants have been arrested during anti-trafficking operations in provinces of Aydin, Mugla, Edirne and Hatay when they either tried to reach Europe or attempted to enter Turkey using illegal routes. Continue reading AA: More than 250 undocumented migrants held in Turkey
** German version below / Deutsche Version weiter unten **
This newsletter has been published as part of the bordermonitoring.eu newsletter, which is – for now – available in German only.
The EU Commission has presented its 7th report on the EU-Turkey deal in September – and celebrates that, according to their estimation, still relatively few refugees arrive in Greece, while almost 10,000 Syrians have been resettled in the EU. In the light of the more than three million Syrians having found their way into Turkey, 10,000 people is a ludicrously little contribution of a political community of 500 million EU citizens. We have already reported on the negative consequences of the dirty deal in our first newsletter.
Via Hurriyet (Link in Turkish) – Istanbul Fatih Municipality sent a notice to the restaurants in Fatih-Yusufpaşa in 2016, noting that only Latin alphabets could be used in the signs. Mohamed Nizar Bitar, owner of a fast-food restaurant who does not want to change his Arabic writing label, has started a legal process against the municipality.
Via Keep Talking Greece – Authorities on the island of Lesvos stand before a mystery as the bodies at least two children were washed ashore in the less than 24 hours. A third body was discovered later on Saturday. No information about age or sex so far, as coast guard members were heading to the area as this post was written. Continue reading Bodies of two refugee children washed ashore on Lesvos island
Via Sea-Watch – BREAKING: Turkish Coast Guards attack refugees!