HarekAct offers a topical and chronological collection of news on the EU-Turkish border regime under this section. We link to external newspapers and websites and do not hold the copyright.
Views and opinions expressed in the articles published on HarekAct are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of all editorial board members.
Via Balkan Insights – Serbia has extradited a Kurdish activist, Cevdet Ayaz, to Turkey, despite the UN Committee Against Torture saying Serbia should not forcibly remove him until procedures before this body ended.
“His brother called me this morning from Istanbul and told me he got information from the police station that Ayaz was extradited,” his lawyer, Ana Trkulja, said on Tuesday. Continue reading Serbia Ignores UN and Extradites Kurd to Turkey
Via CNN Türk (Link in Turkish) – 83 migrants who were about to cross the Mediterranean to Italy from Çanakkale were caught and three people were detained because of smuggling. Among the migrants were 38 men, 18 women and 27 children. The three people arrested where an Ukranian captain and two sailors.
OpenTheIslands Network – The situation for refugees in Lesvos remains critical. As weather conditions worsen and winter approaches, Moria camp still ‘houses’ three times more people than capacity allows. With a capacity of around 2300 people, Moria camp now has almost 7000 people inside. From the promised 5000 transfers to the mainland until December 15th only a few hundred actually happened so far. If and how it will be possible to transfer several thousand people in the next five days is a questions yet to be answered.
Continue reading Unrealisable promises? #OpenTheIslands Lesvos Update (11.12.2017)
Deutsche Welle in Turkish reports about the issue of forced and second marriage of Syrian women in Turkey, a phenomenon which started to be widespread in Turkey. A website called “Syrian Women” is giving advice to Turkish men on how to find and marry Syrian women.
“Syrian women wanting to marry – what are Syrian women like? – how are Syrian women dressed?” The website is full of sexist stereotypes of women, who had to migrate from Syria Turkey:
“Syrian women are delicate beings like our women. The number of young men who want to get married to Syrian women has increased and the desire of married men who want to be with Syrian women has increased as well. Since Syrian women do not set official marriage conditions, men can start living with them”.
Continue reading On forced and second marriage of Syrian women in Turkey
More Information on the Trials against the Academics for Peace: http://www.barisicinakademisyenler.net/
#HandsOffMyColleagues
#Academics4Peace
Via Ekathimerini – The mayor of the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos has filed suit against all responsible parties over the conditions at the Moria refugee and migrant processing center, claiming that the law is being broken at the government-run facility, which is supervised by the military.
His action comes two days after foreign media published videos shot covertly inside the camp and showing the squalor and cramped conditions to which thousands of refugees and migrants are being subjected. Continue reading Lesvos mayor files suit over conditions at Moria migrant camp
Via Daily Sabah– Greece’s controversial “pushback” of migrants caught near the Turkish border led to the death of a Pakistani migrant, Turkish media outlets reported.
The 18-year-old man, identified as M.G., was among a group of migrants who snuck into Greece from Turkey. Greek border authorities sent him and the others back illegally via the Evros (Meriç) river and, according to fellow migrants, M.G. fell into the icy water. He was pulled back to the safety of the boat but became ill after being exposed to frigid temperatures. Continue reading Migrant dies of hypothermia after being pushed back at the Greek-Turkish land border
Via Ekathimerini – A group of 32 Turkish citizens who reached Chios island on the weekend are expected to apply for political asylum in Greece, Kathimerini understands.
All state workers or teachers, the Turks claimed they feared persecution in their country, where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a purge of the civil service and armed forces after a failed coup in 2016. Continue reading Group of 32 Turkish civilians set to seek political asylum in Greece
Via ECRE – The NGO Refugees International has published a report entitled “I Am Only Looking for My Rights: Legal Employment Still Inaccessible to Refugees in Turkey”. Through a field research, refugees’ testimonies and an analysis of the applicable legal and policy provisions, the report examines the challenges and consequences that refugees face when they seek employment in Turkey. Continue reading The reality of legal employment to refugees in Turkey: lack of access and discrimination
Via Evrensel (Report in Turkish) – Amnesty International launched a campaign to end the refugee policy that holds refugees on the Greek islands. Because of the “Readmission Agreement” signed between the European Union and Turkey, the refugees who have been kept on Greek islands since 20 months and have not been given any permission to cross into mainland Greece, are trying to shelter in tents. They are exposed to the hardship when it comes to accessing basic needs such as clean water and health care services. Amnesty International Refugee Rights Coordinator Volkan Görendağ states that Amnesty International is launching a campaign to make the Greek government end its policy on the islands and allow asylum seekers to move to mainland Greece.