Tag Archives: Mediterranean crossings

HarekAct Reporting

Shedding Light on the Maritime Border between Turkey and Greece – Changes in the Border regime in the Aegean Sea since the EU-Turkey Deal

Reporting from the kritnet conference in Göttingen – Part 2

The HarekAct editorial board attended the 16th kritnet conference in Göttingen between 11-13th of May. It was a very good occasion to share and exchange knowledge, meet our friends, activists and colleagues again and discuss future projects and plans. We took part in the workshop titled “Post 2015 Border Regime – Re-Stabilization of the European Border Regime after the ‘Long Summer of Migration’”. We discussed the extension of borders into the cities following the example of Istanbul; the state of the border regime and public debate on migration in Turkey; and the impact and future of the EU-Turkey statement for both Greece and Turkey. Besides the individual inputs, we had a rich collective discussion with various perspectives, information and experiences brought by activists, researchers and professionals from Germany, Turkey, Greece and Kurdish region, and we are looking forward to keep building on the ideas we had as well as the connections we built there.

Although with a little bit of delay, now we would like to share our contributions to the workshop one by one. Enjoy the inputs presented by HarekAct editors in written and updated form in our blog. Keep posted!

copyright: Moritz Richter

by Lisa Groß

Disobedient Border Crossings…

Since the EU-Turkey Deal, the number of clandestine border crossings has dropped substantially, and the agreement is still deterring many migrants from crossing the Aegean Sea. But that’s not the whole picture: Since April 2016, more than 60.000 people made it across the Aegean, and boats are still landing on the islands on an almost daily basis, despite augmented border control. Recently, the number of migrants arriving on the Greek Aegean islands via the sea are increasing again. While around 3.200 people arrived between April and May 2017, the number almost doubled during the same period in 2018, with circa 6.000 migrants making it safely to Greece. This year up until mid-June, circa 13.000 migrants have crossed from Turkey to Greece, with most of the boats still arriving on Lesvos island (ca. 7.000) (see UNHCR).

In the following text, I will take a closer look at the changes and dynamics in the Aegean Sea following the EU-Turkey Deal. Although border patrol agents are increasing their capacities, we are still witnessing many disobedient border crossings and a civil society which continues to report about rights violations at sea. Continue reading Shedding Light on the Maritime Border between Turkey and Greece – Changes in the Border regime in the Aegean Sea since the EU-Turkey Deal →

News Digest

3 babies die in capsized boat in northwest Turkey

Via Ahval News –  A boat carrying Turkish asylum seekers trying to fled to Greece capsized en route to Greek Island of Lesbos, Cumhuriyet newspaper reported on Sunday.

The boat was carrying 16 people , including those allegedly linked to the Gülen movement, which Turkey accuses of orchestrating the coup attempt in 2016. Six people including three babies were drowned after the boat sank off Ayvalık in northwest Turkey. Nine people were rescued by the coast guard, while one person is still missing.

Continue reading 3 babies die in capsized boat in northwest Turkey →

News Digest

#AgathonisiShipwreck: The case file

Via Refugee Support Aegean – On 16 March 2018, a refugee boat sank near the Greek island of Agathonisi. Sixteen persons perished and at least three are missing. The survivors and relatives’ testimonies along with text messages sent to the Greek coastguard point towards a significant delay from the side of the Greek authorities in launching a search and rescue operation.

>From the early days of the tragedy, Refugee Support Aegean provides legal and psychological support to the shipwreck survivors and relatives of those who lost their lives. In this detailed case file, you can see how this tragedy unfolded.

Read the full story here >>

Continue reading #AgathonisiShipwreck: The case file →

News Digest, Other Resources

Study by the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament published

The EU-Turkey Statement and the Greek Hotspots – A Failed European Pilot Project in Refugee Policy

The Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament recently published a study focusing on the detrimental impact that the EU-Turkey Statement and the implementation of the “hotspot approach” in Greece is having on the rights of refugees and migrants arriving. The study finds that the current procedures and practices for processing asylum applications on the Greek islands under the EU-Turkey statement violate the applicants’ right to asylum and due process.

The study can be downloaded here.

News Digest

Shipwreck off Antalya: 9 Migrants Drowned

Via New York Times [abstracts] – In Turkey, the Coast Guard said that nine migrants, including six children, had drowned in an accident off the country’s Mediterranean coast.

The migrants’ boat capsized early Sunday morning near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya, according to the Turkish Coast Guard, which said it had recovered nine bodies and rescued four other migrants. A fifth was saved by a passing fishing vessel.

Continue reading Shipwreck off Antalya: 9 Migrants Drowned →

News Digest

EU warns of new surge in asylum seekers from Turkey

Via Hurriyet Daily News (16th May 2018) – The EU warned on May 16 that asylum seeker arrivals from Turkey have surged this year and called on member countries to act urgently on pledges of support for the bloc’s border force.

The European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, said 15,457 people had arrived via Turkey on Greece’s sea and land borders through March, nine times higher than the same period last year. Continue reading EU warns of new surge in asylum seekers from Turkey →

News Digest

Turkish coast guard says 7 Afghan migrants die on sea crossing to Greece

Via Ekathimerini (15.05.18) – Turkey’s coast guard says seven Afghan nationals died, including three children, while trying to cross into Greece, but that it managed to rescue 13 people from the sinking boat.

In a statement Tuesday, it said a rescue ship and helicopter were dispatched late Monday near the western province of Canakkale following a tip. A half-sunk 6-meter fiber boat was found.

Continue reading Turkish coast guard says 7 Afghan migrants die on sea crossing to Greece →

News Digest

borderline-europe report from the island of Lesvos

In April 2018, borderline-europe members Doro Bruch, Jan Dunkemölle und Nora Freitag visited Lesvos for two weeks to gain an overview on the current situation for migrants in the island. They talked to lawyers, NGO workers, refugees and activists.

Stage2 camp in the North of Lesvos

Their report is aimed at providing insights on the current situation of refugees on the island and giving links to related information plattforms. The report focuses firstly on spotting, i.e. monitoring of the coasts for the documentation of sea rescue and arrivals over the sea from the Turkey and secondly, the accommodation and care of refugees on the island.

To continue reading the whole report in German, click here!

News Digest

Humanitarian workers acquitted of ‘crime’ of helping refugees

Via New Internationalist – After a two-year wait, five humanitarian volunteers who wanted to help refugees land safely have been acquitted. Tim Baster and Isabelle Merminod report from Lesbos

As the judge announced her decision late in the afternoon, there was a pause in the court in Mytilini, the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos, as translators did their work. Then the packed public gallery erupted. Some 50 cheering and clapping spectators invaded the stuffy court room, pushing aside startled policemen and court officials.

Two humanitarian volunteers from Denmark, Salam Aldeen and Mohammad Abbassi and three from Spain, Enrique Rodríguez, Manuel Blanco and Julio Latorre, arrested on 14 January 2016, had been finally acquitted of the charge of attempting to traffic asylum seekers. The volunteers came from the Spanish PROEM-AID and the Danish Team Humanity,two of the many humanitarian NGOs working to help people arrive safely in Lesbos. The three Spanish volunteers are professional firefighters.

Salam Aldeen handing a child who had been rescued from the dinghy to other volunteers. Volunteers take care of the children, until the parents manage one by one to leave the boat. 16 December 2015, Lesbos, Greece.
Salam Aldeen handing a child who had been rescued from the dinghy to other volunteers. Volunteers take care of the children, until the parents manage one by one to leave the boat. 16 December 2015, Lesbos, Greece. All photos: (c) Isabelle Merminod

Continue reading Humanitarian workers acquitted of ‘crime’ of helping refugees →