Via The Turkey Purge – A former police chief, identified as E.S., was detained along with his wife and two children while they were allegedly escaping to Greece. Former vice president of the intelligence department at Eskisehir Police Headquarters, E.S. and his family were stopped by gendarmerie in Edirne’s Ipsala district. Continue reading Former police officer, wife, 2 children detained near Greek border
Category Archives: News Digest
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.
Guideline booklets prepared for integration of Syrian students in Turkey
Via Hürriyet Daily News – The Education Ministry has prepared guideline booklets for Syrians under temporary protection status in Turkey to inform them about counseling services in order to facilitate students’ integration. Continue reading Guideline booklets prepared for integration of Syrian students in Turkey
4 children, 8 adults detained near Turkey’s Greek border
Via The Turkey Purge – At least 12 people were detained near Turkey’s Greek border in the western province of Edirne, according to state-run Anadolu news agency. Anadolu said Friday that gendarmerie stopped 12 people in a prohibited military zone in Yeni Karpuzlu neighborhood in Edirne.
The detainees were identified as A.S., a former public servant who was dismissed from the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK); A.S., a former public servant at the Ministry of Family and Social Policies; H.İ.İ, a former chemistry teacher dismissed from his/her job at a high school; E.I., an agricultural engineer dismissed from the District Directorate of Agriculture in Ankara’s Golbasi district; and S.K., a high school personnel. Continue reading 4 children, 8 adults detained near Turkey’s Greek border
Greece to accelerate the return of refugees to Turkey
Via T24 (Link in Turkish) – The Greek government is preparing a legislative amendment, which includes the assessment of asylum requests of asylum seekers in the country. This legislative amendment, which is due to be discussed in parliament next week, is supposed to speed up the returning of asylum seekers to Turkey.
Greek gov’t aims to speed up migrant returns to Turkey
Via Ekathimerini – The Greek government is planning to amend a law governing the process of granting asylum to refugees next week! The aim is to accelerate the process of returning migrants to Turkey, which had been one of the goals of a deal that was struck last year between Ankara and the European Union but which is being inadequately enforced.
On Wednesday, Greece’s asylum service said its staff have processed 33,021 applications for asylum since March 2016, when the Turkey-EU deal was signed. The fact that rejected asylum claims are often appealed, and that reviews of those appeals take months, appears to be the main reason that thousands of applications remain pending, and thousands of migrants remain cooped up in state camps. Continue reading Greek gov’t aims to speed up migrant returns to Turkey
Joint Announcement by the Panhellenic Network of Antiracist and Solidarity Collectivities: Freedom to the 35 arrested at Moria
In Solidarity with the 35 people arrested after uprisings in Moria camp in July 2017, we repost this Joint Statement by the Panhellenic Network of Antiracist and Solidarity Collectivities:
“On 18/7/17 refugees and immigrants, victims of wars but also extreme poverty or persecutions in their countries, demonstrated in Moria, protesting for the failing to have their substantiated asylum claims examined, resulting in them being held in the infamous Lesvos hot spot for a very long time in which, indicatively, killed at least 5 people last winter, due to the unacceptable living conditions as well as the dozens of suicide attempts reported. Continue reading Joint Announcement by the Panhellenic Network of Antiracist and Solidarity Collectivities: Freedom to the 35 arrested at Moria
Greece to speed up migrant transfer after Turkey deal
Via EurActiv – Greece will speed up the relocation of thousands of migrants from its overcrowded islands to the mainland before the onset of winter after reaching a deal with Turkey, a key ally in helping to tackle Europe’s migration crisis, government sources said yesterday (11 December).
Athens persuaded Ankara last week to accept migrant returns, including Syrian refugees, from the mainland and not just from the Aegean islands as previously agreed under a 2016 EU-Turkey pact, a government source told AFP. Continue reading Greece to speed up migrant transfer after Turkey deal
EU Supports Migration Management In Turkey
Via Delegation of the European Union to Turkey– A project aiming to support the Turkish authorities in the management of migration, funded by the European Union and Turkey jointly, is having its kick start today. The project brings together the Directorate General for Migration Management (DGMM) and IOM so as to address various challenges faced in ensuring the orderly and humane management of migration. The kick-off event will be attended by the General Director of DGMM, Mr. Abdullah Ayaz, the Chief of Mission of IOM in Turkey, Mr Vladimer Gvilava, and the Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Turkey, Minister Gabriel Munuera Vinals, as well as other representatives and stakeholders, including experts from European countries and international organisations. Continue reading EU Supports Migration Management In Turkey
German Foreign Ministry rejects additional winter aid for refugees on Greek islands
Via Keep Talking Greece – The German Foreign Ministry has made it clear that it will not provide additional winter assistance to refugees on the Aegean islands. In a related question from German newspapers, the foreign ministry replied that “responsibility for accommodating and feeding refugees falls under the jurisdiction of each country.”
According to dpa, the Foreign Ministry recalled that Berlin recently funded the installation of 135 heated containers for a total of 800 people in two camps in the Thessaloniki region and that the EU has allocated up to now 1.4 billion euros to tackle the refugee crisis in Greece.
Continue reading German Foreign Ministry rejects additional winter aid for refugees on Greek islands
Large Number of Migrants and Refugees Leave from Lesvos; Migration Ministry’s Decongestion Plan in Full Progress
Via Greekreporter – Lesvos island decongestion plan is in full progress. 408 persons have left the island in the last 24 hours. 152 refugees and migrants left on Friday evening from the port of Piraeus while another 256 left with the ferry “Nissos Samos” on Saturday for the port of Heraklio, Crete. Continue reading Large Number of Migrants and Refugees Leave from Lesvos; Migration Ministry’s Decongestion Plan in Full Progress