fåglar flyger

ASYLNYTT

Aktuellt nyhetsbrev

Fridh advokatbyrå

Sponsrad av Fridh Advokatbyrå

ARKIV:

Nya regler och lagförslag

Flyktinggrupper, landpraxis

Gränser: passage och hinder

Mottagande av asylsökande

Asylutredning och procedur

Skäl för och emot tillstånd

Tvång, hot och deportationer

Papperslösa, gömda, utvisade

Stöd och solidaritet

EU:s flykting- och gränspolitik

Allmänt om migration, statistik

Integration och uppföljning

Debatt och partipolitik

Kultur, personer, diverse

Flyktinggruppernas Riksråd, FARR

menybox Asylnytt startsida Praxisnotiser Kalender FARR:s hemsida

Asylnytt - Arkiv

Gränser: passage och hinder

Gränsövervakning kring Medelhavet

Klipp från media

Länk till information från myndigheter och organisationer

Arkiveringsdatum 220619:

AYS 22-06-11:

Grekland/ Immediate evacuation from the Evros islet is a matter of urgency till sidans topp

For more than 48 hours we have again been in contact with a group of 28 Kurdish refugees from Syria (among them several children) who are stranded on an islet in the river Evros near Soufli.

Alarm Phone Statement:

These people have been suffering for days despite a decision of the European Court of Human Rights which was issued on 3rd June 2022, stating "under Rule 39, that the applicants should not be removed until further notice and be provided with food, water and adequate medical care as needed until further notice."

What is clear to us, as we stand together and maintain contact with the people on the islet, is that we are again witnessing how the group have become victims of political power games played on their back.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

ECRE News 22-06-17:

Grekland/ Authorities Ignore ECtHR interim measures and distress calls till sidans topp

Greek authorities continue to ignore interim measures by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) as well as distress calls. Turkiye deemed a safe third country by Greece for Afghans and Syrians has increased efforts to return refugees to these countries. Greece continues to apply "systematic detention of asylum seekers" despite mounting international critique.

As Greek authorities are again under scrutiny over systematic pushbacks, new incidents continue to be reported. A report from the UN Special Rapporteur Human Rights of Migrants recently confirmed that: "In Greece, pushbacks at land and sea borders have become de facto general policy". In an Opinion piece Pavlos Eleftheriadis professor of law at the University of Oxford describes how "The rule of law is sinking in Greek waters," urging the Greek government to act as it "can't, in good faith, continue to ignore pushback allegations".

Meanwhile, reports of Greek authorities continue to ignore interim measures by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) alerts to people on the move stranded in the Evros region along the borders of Turkiye. The region is the scene of tension between the neighboring countries and recently Greek authorities denied involvement in a shooting at the Evros border reportedly killing an Afghan national inside Turkish territory - Turkish media alleged shots were fired from within Greece.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

InfoMigrants 22-06-07:

Frankrike/ 'Illegal methods': Shadow zones employed by French police on Italian soil till sidans topp

What exactly is this outpost set up by the French authorities on Italian soil, close to the border with France? Police agents there hold migrants they pick up before they can enter France illegally for a few hours. Migrants who are held in this place receive a document refusing them entry to France and are handed over to the Italian police. Local migrant rights associations have denounced the process, saying it is illegal.

There is an outpost of the French border police (PAF) on Italian soil. What goes on there might astonish you. When Guillaume Gontard, a French Senator from the Ecology party (Écologie Les Verts de l'Isčre) went to visit on May 16, he was surprised to find out about the existence of such a place.

The outpost itself is housed in a rectangular block with windows. It is set into the toll booths at the entrance to the Fréjus tunnel which links Italy with France and is situated on the winding road through the Alps which takes you towards the Italian village of Bardonecchia. The outpost is shared between the French police and the Italian authorities.

It is to this place that migrants who are intercepted before they are able to enter French territory without papers are taken. The majority of them are stopped on a bus which crosses the French Italian border regularly. "It is all quite make-shift: There is one big room, with desks and computers and a long black bench," Guillaume Gontard told InfoMigrants.

If you want to hear more about the border region you can listen to the InfoMigrants podcast, Tales from the Border ?? Subscribe to Tales from the Border, and listen to previous episodes here.

Refusal of entry to France

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 220607:

TT-AFP / Squid 22-05-25:

Medelhavet/ 70 saknas efter båtolycka på Medelhavet till sidans topp

Minst 70 människor saknas sedan en överfull båt med migranter sjunkit utanför Tunisien, enligt landets kustbevakning.

Båten kapsejsade utanför hamnstaden Sfax. Runt 100 människor befann sig ombord.

- Enligt den inledande utredningen lämnade den uppblåsbara båten kusten i Zuwara i Libyen på söndagskvällen med runt 100 personer ombord, säger Houcem Eddine Jebabli, talesperson för tunisiska nationalgardet.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

ECRE News 22-05-15: Malta continues to ignore distress alerts leaving people at the mercy of so-called Libyan coast guard, civilian SAR operators save lives (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

TT / Squid 22-05-24:

Grekland/ Grekland stoppade 590 migranter till sidans topp

Grekland hindrade minst 590 migranter från att olagligen ta sig in på grekiskt vatten från grannlandet Turkiet.

Migranterna ska enligt ett uttalande från Greklands kustbevakning ha befunnit sig i segelbåtar och uppblåsbara gummibåtar i östra Egeiska havet.

Enligt kustbevakningen tros migranterna tidigare ha varit på väg mot grekiskt vatten vid olika tillfällen men upptäckts och fått vända tillbaka.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 220518:

SvT Utrikes 33-04-29:

Medelhavet/ UNHCR: Tusentals drunknade på väg till EU förra året till sidans topp

Fler än 3 000 människor som försökte korsa Medelhavet och Atlanten för att nå Europa förra året drunknade eller försvann, beräknar FN:s flyktingorgan UNHCR.

Det har räknat till 3 077 dödsfall, vilket är ungefär dubbelt så många som under 2020.

(...)

Hela inslaget (Extern länk)

ECRE News 22-04-29: Despite civilian rescues death toll continues to rise, Interceptions and returns to Libya, Cyprus' only registration centre overcrowded (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

AYS 22-05-06:

Grekland/ Survivors of a shipwreck in Greece facing 439 years in prison till sidans topp

On May 5, Kheiraldin, Abdallah and Mohamad - survivors of the shipwreck that took place near Paros island on Christmas Eve - were sentenced to a total of 439 years in prison by a Greek court on Syros island.

Kheiraldin was sentenced to 187 years as the "captain", Abdallah and Mohamad each to 126 as the "mechanic" and the "assistant". Even though the court, who acknowledged that they are not smugglers that acted for profit, dropped the charges of "being part of a criminal organization" and did not impose life sentences, the three fathers were still convicted for "facilitating unauthorized entry". In the case of Kheiraldin, he tried three times to reach Greece by land but was turned back each time by EU border guards, which led him to take the boat, states Borderline Europe.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

ECRE News 22-05-13:

Spanien/ Rescues and tragedies as Spain strengthen cooperation with Morocco till sidans topp

Despite numerous rescue operations by Salvamento Marítimo, at least 28 people died in the Atlantic on 9 May - another 44 lives lost off Western Sahara on 8 May. Spain and Morocco has agreed to strengthen cooperation on migration deterrence.

On 9 May Spanish rescue helicopters from Salvamento Marítimo managed to rescue 13 people clinging on to an inflatable boat in the Atlantic off the Canary Islands. However, at least 28 people from the boat, that had been at sea for four days, had disappeared in the Atlantic ocean when it turned over due to harsh weather before rescuers arrived.

The day after on 10 May Salvamento Marítimo rescued 57 people including three children of sub-Saharan descent on an inflatable boat attempting to reach the Canary Islands. Further, Salvamento Marítimo reported of an emergency landing of one of its maritime rescue planes on Lanzarote - the plane had lost an engine while searching for people in distress on the Atlantic.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 220429:

TT / Squid 22-04-16:

Medelhavet/ Båt kapsejsad utanför Libyen - Minst 35 döda till sidans topp

Minst 35 personer tros ha omkommit i samband med att en båt kapsejsat utanför Libyens kust, uppger FN:s migrationsorgan IOM.

Träbåten förliste av okänd anledning på fredagen utanför Sabratha i landets västra del. Staden är en vanlig avreseplats för migranter som, i flykt från krig och fattigdom, ger sig ut på den farliga resan över Medelhavet till Europa.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 220413:

ECRE 22-04-08:

Medelhavet/ Rescues continue to rise on the deadliest sea route to Europe till sidans topp

Rescue activity ongoing but death toll in the Mediterranean continue to raise. Pope Francis denounced abuse of migrants during his visit to Malta after the country's refusal to disembark survivors and condemned EU complicity in abuse in Libya. More than 350 returns to Libya in one week bring total number of returns to over 3,450 so far this year. Chaos and conflict in Libya fuels migrant smuggling.

IOM reports 318 dead or missing migrants on the central Mediterranean route in 2022 so far. In March alone, the NGO hotline Alarm Phone reported 131 dead or missing migrants on the central Mediterranean.

On 2 April, following their departure from Libya, 90 people drowned after several days at sea in an overcrowded boat, "one of the worst shipwrecks involving migrants in recent years" the UN said. The commercial tanker Alegria 1 rescued the only four survivors that reported being at sea for at least four days.

"None of the survivors should be returned to a place where they face detention, abuse and ill-treatment. Libya is not a safe place", Médecins Sans Frontičres (MSF) stated urging disembarkation in Malta or Italy. Two days later MSF confirmed that the four had been returned to Libya. The 113 people rescued on 30 March by the MSF operated vessel Geo Barents are still awaiting disembarkation.

Between 29 and 30 March, the German NGO Sea-Eye 4 rescued 106 people, including 22 minors. After Malta denied disembarkation for the 106 survivors, the Sea Eye 4 confirmed that on 5 April the rescued migrants had been finally disembarked in Augusta, Italy.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

TT / AB 22-04-09: Minst 13 döda efter migrantbåtar kapsejsade utanför Tunisien (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 220324:

SvT Utrikes 22-03-17:

Medelhavet/ Minst 70 migranter befaras döda i Medelhavet till sidans topp

Minst 70 migranter har omkommit eller befaras vara döda sedan de rapporterats saknade utanför Libyens kust. Uppgiften kommer från FN-organet IOM, som samlat information från 27 februari till 12 mars.

22 migranter har återfunnits döda, sedan deras båtar har förlist under troliga försök att nå Europas kust. Ytterligare 47 migranter saknas.

(...)

Hela inslaget (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

AYS 22-03-18:

Grekland/ A final blow for Frontex boss Leggeri? till sidans topp

A Hellenic Coast Guard cutter,towing a dinghy full of people towards Turkey, and then casting them adrift, without an engine, on the other side of the EU's maritime border: these are images that anyone involved in migrant rights has seen and imagined over and over. But this time, these images are coming from the EU's Border Guards themselves. The photos of the pushback, taken by a Frontex airplane on 18-19 April 2020, were obtained by Lighthouse Reports and Der Spiegel. They could just be the final blow to Frontex's boss, Fabrice Leggeri: they prove that Frontex knew early on about a pushback, covered it up, and even lied to EU lawmakers.

The case was reported within Frontex as a "possible violation of Fundamental Rights", but Fabrice Leggeri intervened, backed by Germany and France, to clear Greece of all responsibility. This cover-up is now at the center of an investigation by the EU's anti-fraud watchdog, OLAF, which recommends disciplinary action against 3 Frontex senior officials - and sources told Lighthouse Reports that Leggeri is one of them.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

The Guardian 22-03-18:

Grekland/ Refugees convicted of steering boats to appeal against life sentences till sidans topp

Two Afghans jailed for 50 years who say traffickers forced them to steer boats among asylum seekers convicted of people smuggling

Hanad Abdi Mohammad is haunted by nightmares.

They start as soon as he opens his eyes in a cell in the squat, whitewashed prison building on the Greek island of Chios.

"I have the same thought whenever I wake and that is 'When will I taste freedom again?'" said the Somali. "I think of my wife and children. It fills me with hope."

His recurring nightmare is about the event that prompted his conviction for people smuggling and staggering 146-year jail sentence.

Mohammad, 28, recently recalled how human traffickers abandoned the dinghy carrying him and other refugees shortly after the craft left the shores of Turkey.

"It was a terrible night," he told a visiting delegation of MEPs and journalists in the prison director's office. "I was sitting right next to the smuggler when he threatened me, saying 'you drive'. I now realise that if I hadn't we would all have drowned."

In another cell less than 10 metres away were two Afghan men, Amir Zahiri and Akif Rasuli, also in their 20s and similarly serving life sentences. In September 2020 both were found guilty of "facilitating illegal entry" of undocumented refugees and "provoking a shipwreck" and convicted for 50 years.

They, too, have protested their innocence, insisting they are genuine refugees who have been wrongly accused of crimes they did not commit.

On Friday, the pair were to appeal against their jail terms before a three-member court sitting in Lesbos. After hours of waiting, the men were told the hearing would be postponed until 7 April.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 220304:

TT / AB 22-02-21:

Medelhavet/ Influerare tar selfies på farliga migrantresan till sidans topp

När den tunisiska influeraren Chaima Ben Mahmoude korsade Medelhavet i hopp om ett bättre liv i Europa dokumenterade hon båtfärden och lade upp på sociala medier.

Filmerna har setts av tiotusentals personer och mötts av både kritik och hyllningar.

Omkring 23 000 personer som försökt ta sig till Europa har enligt organisationen Missing Migrants Project omkommit eller försvunnit på Medelhavet sedan 2014.

Det hindrade inte 21-åriga Chaima Ben Mahmoude från att lägga upp en film från den rangliga träbåten på sociala medier, där hennes rödmålade läppar syns mima till en låt medan hon glatt vinkar tillsammans med ett tjugotal andra nordafrikanska migranter.

Det är inte första gången liknande innehåll från den livsfarliga färden uppmärksammas på sociala medier. I november lade en 18-årig kvinna, även hon ursprungligen från Tunisien, ut en liknande video från smuggelbåten på havet, där hon mimar till samma låt.

Tillsammans har de två influerarna nästan två miljoner följare fördelade på både Tiktok och Instagram. Filmerna från båtresorna har kritiserats för att ge en glamoriserad bild av den farliga rutt som förra året uppskattas ha tagit cirka 2 000 liv. Men de unga kvinnorna försvaras också i kommentarsfälten.

"Ska hon skämmas? Det är snarare vi som ska. Hon lyckades ta sig till Italien, medan vi alla är fast här i Tunisien", skriver en användare på Tiktok.

Livrädd

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

AYS 22-02-18:

Grekland/ Two men thrown overboard by Hellenic coastguard and drowned till sidans topp

highlight a new brutal pushback practice

An investigation coordinated by Lighthouse Reports has looked into the deaths of two men, from Ivory Coast and Cameroon, whose bodies washed up on Turkish shores in September 2021. The research confirms accusations that the men were thrown into the Aegean sea by members of the Hellenic coast guard without any liferaft or lifejacket, after having arrived on the island of Samos. Throwing people overboard and telling them to swim to Turkey is becoming a regular practice of the coastguard, whistleblowers told the journalists: public tenders for new liferafts to replace those used for illegal pushbacks might raise questions.

The testimony of Ibrahim (an alias), a former member of the Cameroonian navy, was central to piecing together what happened to the two deceased men, Sidy Keita and Didier Martial Kouamou Nana. On 15 Septembers 2021, a group of 36 people crossed from Turkey to Samos, and were immediately found and arrested by Greek authorities. Eight people managed to hide in the bushes. The others were beaten, strip-searched and violently pushed back at sea on two engineless liferafts.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

ECRE News 22-02-18:

Grekland/ Aegean Sea unmonitored as crackdown on civil society continues till sidans topp

The German NGO Mare Liberum has been forced to leave the Aegean Sea. This leaves the strait, well documented to be the scene of violent pushbacks, without civilian monitoring. Violent pushbacks from Greece continue, alongside reports of collective deportations from Turkey to Syria. The new EU-funded camp on Lesvos will be located in a protected, wildfire-prone area.

Greek authorities have long imposed severe restrictions and intimidation measures on NGOs supporting migrants and refugees. After facing two years of "obstacles and hurdles" the NGO Mare Liberum announced on 10 February that is unable to continue its monitoring of the Aegean Sea, leaving the strait without civilian monitoring. Like other civilian solidarity organisations, Mare Liberum faced new rules for registration of NGOs that ECRE has declared incompatible with international and EU law.

The controversial NGO registry imposed severe restrictions and conditions on organisations active in the competence areas of the Hellenic coast guard. "We are devastated to leave the sea strait between Turkey and Greece again to the ruthless actions of the Hellenic Coast Guard and Frontex who are perpetrating human rights violations and border crimes on a daily basis," the organisation stated.

Further, two Greek Helsinki Monitor staff have been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for three years, by an Athens court. The two men, who were leaders of the NGO, were charged with "falsely accusing" an Orthodox bishop of racist hate speech. The charges has been met with concern including from Human Rights Watch, the European Implementation Network (EIN) and Amnesty International. The latter stated: "The ruling poses a direct threat to the right to freedom of expression and has a chilling effect on human rights defenders advocating against racism and hate speech".

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

IOM 22-02-18: IOM Concerned about Increasing Deaths on Greece-Turkey Border (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 220215:

ANF 22-01-18:

Turkiet/ Refugees tortured on the border with Iran till sidans topp

Refugees continue to flee war and poverty even in winter. Many are from Afghanistan and they are trying to cross the Turkish-Iranian border into the Kurdish province of Van. Some freeze to death in the high mountains. The AKP/MHP government uses refugees as a means of exerting pressure on Europe and has massive border fortifications financed by the EU. Refugees who climb the walls and fall into the hands of the Turkish army are repeatedly subjected to serious human rights violations, including torture.

In January, three people captured by Turkish forces were illegally turned back across the Iranian border and have been frozen to death on the other side of the border. Some of the refugees who have been victims of torture have turned to the Wan Bar Association.

"Iran and Turkey do not accept refugees"

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Sveriges Radio Ekot 22-01-25:

Medelhavet/ Migranter har frusit ihjäl på flyktingbåt i Medelhavet till sidans topp

Sju migranter rapporteras ha frusit ihjäl ombord på en båt på väg mot den italienska ön Lampedusa natten till idag.

Det rapporterar den italienska nyhetsbyrån Ansa.

Enligt borgmästaren för Lampedusa ska det funnits omkring 280 migranter ombord på båten, främst från Bangladesh och Egypten.

Hela inslaget (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

TT / AB 22-02-03:

Grekland/ Turkiet: Fler ihjälfrusna hittade vid gränsen till sidans topp

Ytterligare sju döda människor har hittats nära gränsen mot Grekland, meddelar turkiska myndigheter.

Tolv personer hittades ihjälfrusna i området under onsdagen, enligt rapporter från Turkiet, som uppgav att dödsfallen inträffat efter att migranter tryckts tillbaka in i Turkiet av grekiska gränsvakter. Grekland har avvisat uppgifterna.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

AYS 22-02-06:

Grekland/ AYS Special from Greece: "I cannot swim." till sidans topp

Today is a global day of CommemorAction for people who have died, gone missing or forcibly disappeared on their journeys across borders. In Greece and throughout the world there will be acts of commemoration and resistance at the end of a week that has seen two further reports of violent deaths at the border.

'I cannot swim' were the last words of a young man before he was thrown overboard by the Hellenic Coast Guard into the Aegean on the 31st of January 2022. He has been missing since. Below is the video of his cousin's testimony. They were given life jackets too small for them and left in the water. His cousin believes that he has drowned.

Further reports of 19 deaths came through on 2nd and 3rd February 2022 at the Greek-Turkish land border in the Evros Region. They had died of exposure, having had their clothes and shoes taken from them. Greece and Turkey both blame each other for their deaths and are using these lost lives to further political aims on both sides. The remains were found on the Turkish side of the border, suggesting that they had been pushed back from Greece. The Migration minister, Notis Mitaraki, continues to deny that pushbacks and border violence take place.

In cases of pushbacks in the Aegean, where people are left adrift on life rafts, or are pushed into the river in the Evros region, this violence can be understood as attempted murder. This violence is not limited to border regions, but extends throughout the territory, as people are abducted and subsequently pushed back from deep in the interior of the territory and in urban centers. The perpetrators are Greek police officers, border guards, military officers, and their co-conspirators. They are supported by the Greek state, ministry of migration, and other government institutions that either deny that pushbacks are happening, or deny their illegality. - Open Assembly against Pushbacks and Border Violence Press Conference

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

ECRE 22-02-11:

Grekland/ UNHCR calls for urgent investigation as more bodies are recovered in Evros till sidans topp

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) calls for an urgent investigation after another seven frozen bodies were found in the Evros region, bringing the total number of deaths to 19. A Thessaloniki court has a vindicated a Syrian family of responsibility for a tent fire and order the Greek state to pay the family damages for the serious injuries suffered by their children. Meanwhile, local protestors have been arrested for arson after protests on Lesvos over the establishment of a new EU-funded camp.

Following the 12 deaths of people on the move near the Greek border on 2 January, another seven bodies has been recovered in the area by Turkish authorities. The 19 deaths are reportedly the consequence of pushback operations by Greek authorities in which people were left without shoes and stripped of their clothes in freezing temperatures on the Turkish side of the border.

European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson expressed "shock" over the deaths reported on 2 January and stated she would raise the issue with the Greek government. Despite mounting evidence, the latter continues to reject pushback reports as "propaganda and false allegations".

Following the latest recovery of an additional seven bodies UNHCR has called for an urgent investigation and is urging for states to act to protect the lives, rights and safety of refugees and migrants. Hundreds of protestors in the Turkish and Greek capitals of Athens and Istanbul decried the deaths.

"People were stripped of their clothes and their belongings were taken. They were left to die and the whole world remains silent about this," said chairman of the humanitarian aid group IHH, further calling on the European Parliament to: "take action on this issue as soon as possible and stop this cruel attitude that commits these crimes against humanity".

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

AYS 22-01-29:

Malta/ Tourist boats were turned into "floating prisons" in the pandemic till sidans topp

A constitutional case against Malta's government members has revealed how four tourist sightseeing boats were turned into quarantine ships described as "floating prisons" in only a few days, after Malta closed its ports in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Thirty-two people have sued the government, saying their detention onboard those ships was illegal and constituted a breach of their fundamental rights.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

Malta Today 22-01-26: Tourist boat registration changed days before it became floating detention facility (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

ECRE News 22-02-04:

Spanien/ Political infighting leaves Lanzarote arrivals in overcrowded facility till sidans topp

A dispute between local and national administrations has prevented the opening of a two million euro reception facility in Lanzarote leaving arrivals in an overcrowded facility. Two alleged smugglers have been sentenced for nine deaths that occurred on an ill-fated voyage from Southern Morocco in March last year. More than 2,200 people arrived - either after rescue at sea or on their own - in the Canary Islands in the second half of January, marking a trend of increased arrivals that continued in the first days of February.

Hundreds of people have been disembarked on Lanzarote after rescue or have arrived by their own accord after arduous journeys from Africa's coast. Spanish law requires they remain in police custody for up to 72 hours upon arrival. On Lanzarote, people are being held in an "overcrowded facility with no showers even though there is a brand new 2.1 million euro centre sitting empty nearby", according to Spanish newspaper El País.

On 25 January at least 400 people were held in a cockroach-infested, insanitary and overcrowded facility without showers or adequate ventilation. One warehouse used is reportedly full of leaks, with observers stating: "it's like it's raining inside". New arrivals are forced to remain in these inadequate facilities while the local and central government battle over opening of a brand new, EU-funded facility that has been empty since October.

The interior ministry led the construction of the new site, but local authorities say the health and safety paperwork is incomplete. One police source said: "It is inexplicable that there is [the new centre] near the port where the migrant boats arrive, yet we have to keep people inside a warehouse full of vermin [...] The conditions in [the old facility] are deplorable. It's a disaster".

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 220125:

AYS 22-01-04:

Grekland/ AYS Special from Serbia, Turkey and Greece: Cubans on the move till sidans topp

Though it is seldom reported on, hundreds of Cubans have arrived in the Balkans and Greece in recent months. Often arriving via Russia, they have faced violence and difficulty in accessing asylum and have even been pushed into Turkey having never before been there.

Cubans have been present on the Balkan route for at least a decade, but numbers seem to have increased sharply in the past couple of years. No data is available documenting this phenomenon, but it is increasingly visible to teams in the field as well as organisations providing legal support to asylum seekers in Belgrade.

Eduardo Castano, an asylum seeker who arrived 5 years ago in Belgrade and was granted a subsidiary protection by Serbian authorities, states that getting refugee status in Serbia is literally impossible. He waited for about 2 years to complete the process. Having applied once and appealed a negative decision, he received another negative decisions and was granted subsidiary (humanitarian) protection instead. He reports a general lack of understanding among the Cuban community in Serbia of what the asylum process is, but a fair number of people would like to stay and settle down in Serbia unlike other communities who use Serbia as a transit country towards the Schengen area.

In Greece, Cubans are not recognised as asylum seekers, and even if they were to attempt to file an asylum claim, they must now do so either at a hotspot on one of the islands or near the Evros border, which is non sensical for someone who is not using any of those routes, or through Skype which does not have a Spanish service and is notoriously difficult to get through on, sometimes taking years.

On the 29 October 2021, approximately 85 Cubans accidently ended up trying to leave on the same plane from Zakynthos to Milan. They were beaten, detained, and told to leave the territory without the opportunity to apply for asylum.

Reasons for Leaving and Routes

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

SvT Utrikes 22-01-09:

Grekland/ Treårings kropp återfunnen utanför grekisk ö till sidans topp

Kroppen av ett litet barn hittades i Egeiska havet under lördagen, två veckor efter två dödliga olyckor i området där båtar med migranter tagit in vatten, uppger AP.

Offret hittades utanför ön Naxos och myndigheterna uppskattade sent på lördagen att barnet, som var 85 centimeter lång, var ungefär tre år gammal.

Kroppen kommer att föras till Pireus, en hamn i huvudstaden Aten, för rättsmedicinsk undersökning.

Under torsdagen hittades fyra andra kroppar som tillhörde en man, en kvinna och två yngre flickor, tre utanför Naxos och en utanför den närliggande ön Paros.

Olyckorna i december

(...)

Hela inslaget (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

ECRE News 22-01-14:

Grekland/ deadly end to 2021, pushbacks prevent arrivals till sidans topp

2021 ended with a series of shipwrecks in Greek waters that caused the deaths of more than 30 people. As the number of pushbacks from Greece nearly doubled in 2021, the number of arrivals to the islands is at the lowest in nine years with people pushed towards other, more deadly routes. The Closed Controlled Access Facility in Samos (CCF) has come under renewed criticism and legal scrutiny.

At least 30 people lost their lives in three shipwrecks in Greek waters over the week of Christmas while more than 160 people were rescued by the Hellenic Coast Guard. On 21 December a boat sank south of the Aegean island of Folegandros. 13 people including children survived the shipwreck: 12 were rescued by the Hellenic Coast Guard and one was found by a passing vessel after 24 hours in the water. While the bodies of three dead were recovered, the exact number of people on-board the boat is unclear and reported to be somewhere between 30 and 50. According to survivors, 17 people remain missing and four badly decomposed bodies including one child were recovered on 6 January. On 23 December another boat sank after striking an islet of the island of Antikythera in southern Greece. 90 survivors were stranded overnight on the islet as harsh weather conditions reportedly prevented a rescue operation. Later, 11 bodies were recovered. Further, on 24 December somewhere between 40 and more than 60 people were rescued after a sailboat overturned northwest of Paros. 16 people lost their lives during the tragic shipwreck. Three survivors have been charged with murder by Greek authorities, reportedly over their alleged responsibility of "an accident at sea, intentional manslaughter and membership in a criminal organization". The Greek government places the blame for the tragedies on human smugglers, who they call "ruthless killers". Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum also called on Notis Mitarachi to "redouble its efforts to prevent illegal departures".

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

AYS 22-01-17:

Grekland/ 25,000 people lost in Greek statistics till sidans topp

Statistics in Greece raise questions over what's happening there. While the government celebrated to not have more than 9000 new arrivals in 2021 - the lowest number since 2015 - the Hellenic Coast Guard counted more than 29,000 rescued in the Mediterranean. While half of the official arrivals came by land, it remains unclear what happend with the approximately 25.000 people rescued by HCG. On one hand, this could be another indication for illegal pushbacks ordered by the Greek government.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

TT / AB 22-01-03:

Spanien/ Tusentals migranter omkom på väg till Spanien till sidans topp

Fler än 4 000 migranter omkom eller försvann när de försökte ta sig till Spanien från Afrika med båt i fjol. Över 90 procent av de drabbade var på väg mot Kanarieöarna.

Sammanlagt var det 4 404 personer som omkom eller försvann under fjolåret jämfört med 2 170 året innan, enligt en sammanställning av den spanska asylrättsorganisationen Caminando Fronteras.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

ECRE News 22-01-14:

Spanien/ One in five Canary journeys end deadly, rescue service restarts reporting till sidans topp

A Spanish NGO says 4,404 people lost their lives trying to reach Spain from Africa in 2021. The dramatic rise in deaths is thought to be linked to EU and member states efforts to clampdown on migration via the Mediterranean. The Spanish civil rescue service, Salvamento Marítimo (SM), has returned to tweeting rescue reports after a long hiatus period in which only NGOs and journalists reported on operations. A legal change to work and residency requirement for unaccompanied youths has allowed "hundreds of young people" to map out their future.

NGO Caminando Fronteras says deaths on sea migration routes to Spain in 2021 were double those recorded of 2020. More than 4,400 deaths lives were lost, including 205 children: 91 per cent of these deaths took place on the Atlantic Route. This indicates that between one in six and one in five of people attempting the crossing lose their lives. The International Organization for Migration (IOM), which records death statistics for all maritime routes to Europe, indicates a much more conservative number of 955 dead on the Canary route and another 324 deaths in the Western Mediterranean. Official statistics however struggle to account for the 94 per cent of bodies that are never recovered.

2021 was a year of increased sea migration across all routes to Europe when compared to 2020, a year in which the global pandemic limited mobility. Numbers on the Atlantic route however have remained high for the last two years, with roughly 23,042 arrivals in 2021 and 23,025 in 2020. This represents an increase of roughly 900 per cent when compared to 2019. According to Caminando Fronteras, the steep rise in journeys and deaths since 2019 is a direct result of European efforts to curb migration in the Mediterranean. These include funding Libyan authorities to conduct interceptions at sea and run infamous detention centres. According to Sara Prestianni from EuroMed Rights, attempts to "block off" certain routes - namely the Eastern and Central Med - have only led people fleeing poverty and violence to find seek out other, more risky routes.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

TT / AB 22-01-17:

Spanien/ Över 40 befaras drunknade utanför Marocko till sidans topp

Minst 43 migranter befaras ha drunknat när deras båt kapsejsade utanför Tarfaya vid Marockos södra kust. Det uppger den spanska asylrättsorganisationen Caminando Fronteras. Bland de döda finns tre spädbarn.

Båten var på väg mot Kanarieöarna, tio mil från Tarfaya, när olyckan inträffade.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 211231:

SvT Nyheter 21-12-25:

Medelhavet/ Tredje dödsolyckan på en vecka i Medelhavet till sidans topp

Minst 16 migranter har hittats döda i samband med en båtolycka i Medelhavet i närheten av den grekiska ön Paros sent under julaftonskvällen. Det är den tredje dödsolyckan inom loppet av bara några dagar.

Bland de döda fann kustbevakningen tre kvinnor och ett spädbarn. 63 personer kunde räddas vid olyckan, uppger Athens News Agency.

(...)

Hela inslaget (Extern länk)

TT / Squid 21-12-24: Elva döda efter grundstötning i Medelhavet (Extern länk)

TT / AB 21-12-21: Över 160 drunknade migranter senaste veckan (Extern länk)

TT / AB 21-12-26: Döda migranter sköljdes upp vid Libyens kust (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

SvT Nyheter 21-12-25:

Grekland/ Tredje dödsolyckan på en vecka i Medelhavet till sidans topp

Minst 16 migranter har hittats döda i samband med en båtolycka i Medelhavet i närheten av den grekiska ön Paros sent under julaftonskvällen. Det är den tredje dödsolyckan inom loppet av bara några dagar.

Bland de döda fann kustbevakningen tre kvinnor och ett spädbarn. 63 personer kunde räddas vid olyckan, uppger Athens News Agency.

(...)

Hela inslaget (Extern länk)

TT / Squid 21-12-24: Elva döda efter grundstötning i Medelhavet (Extern länk)

TT / AB 21-12-21: Över 160 drunknade migranter senaste veckan (Extern länk)

TT / AB 21-12-26: Döda migranter sköljdes upp vid Libyens kust (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Sveriges Radio P1-morgon 21-12-22:

Cypern/ Cypern anklagar Turkiet för migrantvåg till sidans topp

Cypern har under det gångna året sett en brant ökning av antalet nya asylsökande.

Cyperns inrikesminister anklagar Turkiet för att ligga bakom migrantvågen.

Hör Filip Kotsambouikidis, Ekots Östeuropakorrespondent, rapportera om situationen i Cypern. I inslaget hörs även Cyperns inrikesminister Nikos Nouris.

- Det Litauen upplevt de senaste 6 månaderna, har Cypern upplevt de senaste 5 åren, säger Nikos Nouris, som är inrikesminister i den cypriotiska mitten-högerregeringen.

Han jämför situationen på Cypern med den för Belarus grannländer, dit migranter som sägs ha flugits in av Belarus diktator Alexander Lukasjenka använts för att sätta press på grannländerna. Något som EU kallat en hybridattack. Grekcyprioterna anklagar nu alltså Turkiet för att göra samma sak mot dom.

- Det klart att Turkiet har instrumentaliserat migrationen, och dirigerar människosmugglingen mot Cypern, på daglig basis.

Cypern har enligt regeringens egna siffror länge varit det EU-land som hanterar flest asylansökningar i förhållande till sin folkmängd. De asylsökande utgör nu 4,4 procent av befolkningen på Cypern, som har drygt en miljon invånare.

Det är många gånger högre än i andra, vad Nikos Nouris kallar "länder i frontlinjen", det vill säga Grekland, Italien, Spanien och Malta, där antalet asylsökande inte ens uppgår till en procent av befolkningen.

Och i år har antalet nyanlända dessutom ökat kraftigt jämfört med förra året. En delförklaring är enligt Nouris att Grekland bevakar sina gränser allt hårdare.

Situationen har satt Cypern under hård press, säger Nikos Nouris.

- Speciellt i år är situationen kritisk, den kan betraktas som en force majeure-situation. Vi är under hård press.

Cypern är inte förmöget att ta hand om alla migranter, asylansökningarna läggs på hög och återvändandet för de som får avslag fungerar inte, säger Nikos Nouris.

(...)

Hela inslaget (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

AYS 21-12-18:

Italien/ Opposing deportation to Libya is not a crime, Italian high court says till sidans topp

A highly-anticipated court verdict was announced this Thursday by Italy's highest court, which ruled in favor of two people on the move, saying that their actions taken to oppose their own deportation to Libya from an Italian ship back in 2018 were justifiable.

The December 16 ruling from the Supreme Court of Cassation overturns a previous sentence issued by Palermo's Court of Appeal, which had convicted the accused, known as "T." and "I.", for crimes of aiding and abetting illegal immigration, violence, and forceful resistance to a public official. On June 3 of last year, that court had sentenced T. and I. to three years and six months in prison, with a fine of 52,000 euros.

The defendants' lawyers, Fabio Lanfranca and Serena Romano, said in a statement that they were "very satisfied with this important statement" from the high court, which "reaffirm[s] that the enforcement of human rights is based on the rules of international law which ensures the protection of human life and is not a state authority matter."

"[R]escue operations at sea which result in the return of survivors to Libya constitute a breach of the principle of non-refoulement and violate the rights of the people rescued who should be taken to a place of safety where their lives are no longer in danger and respect of their fundamental rights is guaranteed," the lawyers continued.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 211210:

ECRE News 21-12-03:

Spanien/ Multifaceted insecurity drives dangerous journeys, women flee violence till sidans topp

Perilous journeys to Spain's Canary Islands, driven by instability in northwest Africa, have left rescuers busy. Not only are women increasingly forced to take to the sea as a result of gender-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM), they are frequently exposed to sexual violence, trafficking and other gender-specific crimes whilst on the move. The court in Ceuta has thrown out the case of a 16 year old child pushed back from Spain to Morocco on 19 May on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

Multiple groups of people attempting to seek asylum in Spain via the Canary Islands have been assisted by rescue teams. According to analysts, the rise in numbers on this route is driven by the destabilising economic and political effects of the Covid pandemic, insecurity in northwest Africa and the worsening climate crisis.

On 27 November, Spain's rescue service Salvamento Marítimo (SM) rescued 134 people from 3 vessels in waters off the Canary Islands. One of these rescues concerned a capsized boat from which four bodies were recovered and four people were listed as missing. The same day, Morocco intercepted 59 asylum seekers and recovered the body of a man who lost his life on the journey. Moroccan officials also intercepted 155 people who were attempting to board boats to cross to Spain.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 211122:

AYS 21-11-21:

Seventy-five lives lost at sea till sidans topp

This week, at least 75 people lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea. As stated by UNHCR spokeswoman Safa Msehli on Saturday, the shipwreck occurred on Wednesday. Fifteen survivors were rescued in time by local fishermen. Their friends, family members and travel companions would still be alive if their lives were of any value to European politicians.

Thanks to civilian rescue efforts, 375 people were rescued from distress by the Sea Watch4, in six different operations between Thursday and Sunday:

During one of the rescue operations, the Sea Watch4 had a dangerous encounter with the so-called Libyan Coast Guards. In audio material published by Sea Watch, one can hear the Libyans talking to them via radio, warning them to get back or otherwise they will be taken to Libya or shot at the civilian rescue ship.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

TT / AB 21-11-18:

Grekland/ Anklagade flyktingvolontärer i domstol till sidans topp

Rättegången mot 24 personer som anklagats för brott relaterade till människosmuggling medan de volontärsarbetade för att rädda flyktingar vid grekiska ön Lesbos har inletts.

Åtalet har kritiserats av människorättsgrupper som Human Rights Watch och Amnesty International, som menar att grekiska myndigheter kriminaliserar räddningsarbete.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

Sveriges Radio Studio Ett 21-11-28: https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/volontarer-infor-ratta (Extern länk)

ECRE News 21-11-19: International outcry over farce trial of rescuers (Extern länk)

Sveriges Radio P1-morgon 21-12-08: Intervju med en av de åtalade männen, irländaren Sean Binder (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

AYS 21-11-14:

Frankrike/ AYS Special from Brianįon - Solidarity at the Border till sidans topp

Brianįon, on the French-Italian border, is one of the first cities of arrival for people on the move coming from Italy to France. The reception situation is increasingly dire and unequal mobilities are starkly drawn.

During 2021, the number of people who need accommodation has risen consistently. The town has seen up to 60 arrivals a day of people who cannot continue the journey due to high transport costs and the COVID-19 pass. As a result, there are almost no options left for people on the move.

The volunteer-run refuge in the Terrasses Solidaires building has been temporarily closed to new arrivals since October 24th,as for weeks it has hosted more than 200 people, while its capacity is 80, and neither security nor a dignified stay could be guaranteed any more.

The refuge volunteers and other local activists demand that authorities finally take on their responsibilities to host people.

This attempt at a "power struggle" with the French state resulted in a two-night occupation of the Brianįon SNCF railway station by activists and people on the move. The only response from the authorities was the evacuation of these places, and, once again, the arrival of nearly 200 additional " gendarmes mobiles" (riot police) in the Brianįon area, as well as the transfer of 10 additional border police in Montgenčvre, swelling the number of police officers to nearly 400 individuals. Furthermore, the train station office closed, which made it difficult for people on the move to buy tickets to move on to other places. The regional authority "prefecture" also stopped the Red Cross from conducting COVID-19 tests for half a day, which meant that people could not take long-distance trains. Alongside this was the very real fear that people could be transferred to detention centres. Consequently, the parish of Saint Catherine has generously welcomed all people at risk.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

TT / SvT 21-11-07:

Malta/ Räddningsfartygens kritik mot Malta: "Ignorerar nödanrop" till sidans topp

Det tyska räddningsfartyget Sea-Eye 4 med 800 migranter ombord har fått tillstånd att lägga till i Rom.

"Efter många svåra timmar av väntan fick vi äntligen goda nyheter," skriver de på Twitter.

Samtidigt ligger ytterligare fartyg med flera hundra migranter utanför Italiens kust utan besked.

Det tyska räddningsfartyget Sea-Eye 4 har räddat 800 migranter i medelhavet de senaste dagarna, 400 av dem räddades från en träbåt redan i torsdags. Fartyget styrde därefter mot Lampedusa, Italien men där tog det stopp.

"På bara 48 timmar räddade vårt team över 800 personer. Bland de överlevande finns barn, gravida kvinnor och skadade. För alla måste den exceptionella situationen upphöra omedelbart," skrev de på Twitter på fredagen.

Manar EU-länder att skyndsamt agera

Men sent på lördagen fick fartyget positiva besked.

(...)

Hela inslaget (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Expressen 21-11-05:

Spanien/ Kaos på flygplatsen - passagerare flydde till sidans topp

Kaos bröt ut på flygplatsen i Mallorcas huvudstad Palma på fredagskvällen.

Passagerare flydde från ett flygplan som nödlandat och människor sprang längs landningsbanorna.

All trafik stoppades under flera timmar.

Flygplatsen i Palma de Mallorca, Son Sant Joan, stoppade all trafik av säkerhetsskäl under flera timmar på fredagskvällen. Enligt Diario de Mallorca tvingades ett flygplan på väg från Marocko till Turkiet nödlanda på flygplatsen efter en påstått medicinsk nödsituation ombord.

När patienten skulle föras bort med ambulans lyckades ytterligare 20-talet personer ta sig av planet och sprida sig över flygplatsen.

Källor till El Pais bekräftar att polisen arbetar efter hypotesen att det handlar om en planerad aktion, där målet är att ta sig in i Spanien illegalt.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 211104:

AYS 21-10-24:

Medelhavet/ AYS Special from Greece, where saving lives is illegal till sidans topp

An interview with Nassos Karakitsos.

On the 18th of November the first trial will be held on Lesvos for Nassos Karakitsos, Sara Mardini and Sean Binder. They were originally arrested in 2018 and accused of people smuggling, money laundering, espionage and membership of a criminal organisation while working and volunteering with Emergency Response Centre International, ERCI. 25 more people from other groups were also charged.

At the time, Sara was well known for bringing her own boat to shore with her sister Yusra. Having fled Syria via Lebanon they had taken a boat from Izmir. When the motor stopped and they were at risk of capsizing the two sisters got into the water and started to swim. Sara returned to Lesvos as a volunteer while Yusra went on to compete in the Rio Olympics with the first ever refugee team. Sean was also a volunteer as he had a background in search and rescue. Nassos Karakitsos was the field director and based on the island. He began as a volunteer on the 5th of January 2016 utilising his skills learnt as a maritime security officer and during a brief stint in the Navy. He was meant to stay on Lesvos for 15 days, in the end he remained for 2 years.

On his very first day a boat came in with a very elderly man and Nassos knew he would stay. The older people who arrived had left entire lives behind and often had physical disabilities.

How strong do you have to be to make that choice?

In the beginning it was just two people on the coastline waiting for boats. At this point in 2016 there were still an average of 40 boats arriving per day. Over the years ERCI operated, they supported 1000s of people to safety. As they grew, they got boats of their own so they could rescue people in distress. Everything was co-ordinated with the Coast Guard because they were better equipped to save lives at sea.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

ECRE News 21-10-15: More deaths and returns to Libya, EU cooperation with coast guard (Extern länk)

ECRE News 21-10-22: 500 people await disembarkation, NGO acquitted for refusing Libya return, Boat-drivers scapegoated in Italy (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

AYS 21-10-24:

Medelhavet/ More than 450 rescued in the Med by Geo Barents till sidans topp

MSF reported a very busy weekend for the rescue ship the Geo Barents.

On Sunday, 296 people were being treated onboard the vessel. Medical and psychological support was offered to the men, women and children onboard. A further 95 people were rescued from a boat on Saturday that was moments away from disaster. The boat was about to be intercepted by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard. If this had happened, the passengers would have been returned to violence and torture in Libya.

Additionally, 71 people were also rescued from a boat in distress on Sunday. Thanks to a collaboration between MSF and AlarmPhone, the rubber boat, which was taking on water in harsh weather conditions, was detected and assisted.

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Sveriges Radio Ekot 21-11-01:

Grekland/ 400 migranter på Kos - anlänt via turkiskflaggat fartyg till sidans topp

Knappt 400 migranter har anlänt till den grekiska ön Kos i ett turkiskflaggat fartyg.

Fartyget fick tillstånd att gå i land på ön efter att de sänt ut en nödsignal då de fått problem. Fartyget är ett av de största med migranter som anlänt till Grekland på flera år, vanligtvis anländer de i mindre gummibåtar.

Grekland kritiserar nu Turkiet för att ha brutit mot de flyktingavtal man slöt med EU 2016 och kräver att migranternas hemländer samarbetar för att migranterna ska kunna skickas tillbaka.

Hela inslaget (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Social Europe 21-10-21:

Cypern/ Refugees fleeing Lebanon look to Europe-but Europe looks away till sidans topp

Katarzyna Rybarczyk

In a case study of human desperation, state failure drives refugees to Cyprus, only to meet pushbacks and a numbed European conscience.

Lebanon faces one of the world's worst crises, with its currency losing more than 90 per cent of its value and four out of five Lebanese living in poverty. Amid rapidly deteriorating living conditions, increasing food prices and fuel shortages, thousands have been leaving the country in hopes of starting new lives abroad.

Not only Lebanese citizens have been trying to flee, however. In recent years, Lebanon has become home for 1.5 million Syrian refugees, who now yet again have to seek protection elsewhere. For some that means embarking on a perilous journey through the Mediterranean to the coast of Cyprus.

Last year Cyprus and Lebanon signed a deal which allows Cyprus to send back people who reach its border by boat. The agreement has been criticised by the international community as it violates the principle of non-refoulement, which guarantees that no human should be sent back to a country where they would face cruel treatment and harm.

Numerous challenges

Over the last decade, Lebanon has been dealing with numerous social and political challenges which have put considerable strain on the country's economy. In October 2019 tens of thousands took to the streets to demand social and economic rights and an end to corruption.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

TT / AB 21-10-24:

Italien/ Påven vädjar: Sänd inte migranter till Libyen till sidans topp

Påve Franciskus vädjar om att den praxis som innebär att migranter sänds tillbaka till Libyen eller andra osäkra länder, och där utsätts för "omänskligt våld", omedelbart ska upphöra.

Det var efter söndagsbönen på Petersplatsen i Vatikanstaten i Rom som påven gjorde det känslosamma uttalandet.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

ECRE News 21-10-15:

Spanien/ Atlantic route and Spain: At least 1,400 people rescued over seven days till sidans topp

Seven days of consecutive rescue operations off Spain's Canary Islands have saved at least 1,400 people is distress at sea since 8 October. Spanish authorities have arrested 16 people charged with smuggling asylum seekers from the Canaries to the Spanish mainland. The chartering of "emergency" ferries to return Algerians in August is alleged to have given rise to breaches on non-refoulement.

Multiple daily rescues have saved a minimum of 1380 lives in the Atlantic between 8 and 14 October. At least three rescues took place on 8 October, with boats carrying 37, 69 and 24 people brought to shore. The latter rescue of 24 people was marked by tragedy as those onboard reported ten lives lost during the crossing - the bodies had to be thrown overboard. Eight of the survivors were hospitalised, some of whom had to be evacuated via helicopter. The next day Spanish civil rescuers Salvamento Marítimo saved 49 people south of Fuerteventura.

On 10 October, groups of 40, 54 and 37 people were rescued. Spanish rescue personnel then saved 121 people from two different boats on 11 October, of whom all were of sub-Saharan African origin. All 121 were disembarked at Puerto del Rosario on Fuerteventura. The following day, a further 91 people were found in distress on two boats roughly 140km south of Gran Canaria. Spanish officials also rescued "about 70" people in two inflatable boats off Fuerteventura, according to La Provincia.

At least five boats were rescued on 13 October, saving the lives of 187 people. It was first reported that 55 people were rescued at dawn: later in the morning, EFE said 73 people were disembarked in Arrecife, without clarifying if these were separate incidents. At midday, NGO Heroes del Mar reported that a boat with 52 people was missing after setting out from Morocco at 5am two days earlier.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

ECRE News 21-10-22: Atlantic route and Spain: More death as crisis, conflict, and failed EU policies drive Canary Island crossings (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 211018:

ECRE News 21-10-08:

Cypern/ Families separated by pushbacks to Lebanon - Cyprus calls for solidarity till sidans topp

Unlawful pushback practices from Cyprus to Lebanon have generated cases of family separation which the Cypriot Government refuses to address. These returns have raised concern as Syrian refugees in Lebanon face dire conditions and potential chain-refoulement to Syria. Speaking ahead of the EU Home Affairs Council in Luxembourg, Cyprus says it will present its own proposals and continue to press for "fair allocation" of arrivals to Europe.

As Syrians face rapidly deteriorating living conditions in Lebanon, many are seeking to flee to Europe. Those arriving in Cyprus are facing pushbacks. NGOs and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) say such pushbacks are generating family separation and breaching international law. When a boat was intercepted at sea on 22 August, a heavily-pregnant 25-year old Syrian woman was taken to Cyprus while her husband and two children - aged one and three - were returned to Lebanon. After giving birth to her son the next day, she urged the Cypriot authorities to "show compassion" and allow her to be reunited with her family. In response, the government has said that only those with refugee status can benefit from family reunification. Yet, of the 7,700 Syrians arriving in Cyprus seeking asylum since 2018, less than two per cent have been granted refugee protection. On 21 September, Interior Minister Nicos Nouris rejected calls for family reunification, saying that "it would it would mean that should the 24,000 asylum seekers currently in the Republic request that we bring the rest of their families here, then we'd have to bring them over."

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 211006:

ECRE News 21-09-24:

Grekland/ Illegal pushbacks continue as arrivals drop under "Strict but Fair" policy till sidans topp

Against a backdrop of systematic pushbacks, the number of arrivals to the Aegean islands has decreased by almost 80%. Meanwhile, Minister of Migration and Asylum Notis Mitarakis is praising the efficiency of a "strict but fair immigration policy" defined by prevention and deterrence measures. The inauguration of the first of five new EU-funded "closed controlled" camps on Samos has been met with much criticism from local authorities and NGOs, as well as concern from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

New incidents continue to add to the ever-mounting evidence of systematic and illegal pushbacks by Greek authorities. On 18 September, 19 asylum seekers from Somalia and Sierra Leone were pushed back from Samos. The same day 65 people were allegedly pushed back in waters off Santorini. On 20 September, 32 people including children were reportedly pushed back to Turkey "according to regular procedures" off Tainaros where their boat was adrift. On 23 September the NGO hotline Alarm Phone reported that 130 were adrift on a boat with a broken engine in the Ionian Sea in Greek waters between Italy and Greece. According to the organisation: "They've been at sea for 4 days and cannot be reached for over 6 hours. Relatives are very worried".

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

SvT Sport 21-09-22:

Portugal/ Operation Soccer Balls har lyckats till sidans topp

Afghanistans flicklandslag är evakuerat till Portugal, där spelarna och deras familjer fått asyl.

- De kan inte tro att det är sant, att de lyckats ta sig ut ur Afghanistan, säger Farkhunda Muhtaj, kapten för damfotbollslandslaget i Afghanistan och som hjälpt spelarna att fly talibanerna.

Sedan talibanerna tog över makten i Afghanistan har laget och deras familjer varit på flykt. Rädda för vad som kommer hända med deras liv, eftersom talibanerna förbjudit kvinnor och flickor att utöva sport.

(...)

Hela inslaget (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

ECRE news 21-09-24:

Spanien/ Mass expulsion to Morocco alarms NGOs and Ombudsman till sidans topp

125 people have been pushed back to Morocco from a Spanish enclave in North Africa, despite more than 90 the people having made written requests to seek asylum in Spain. Eight bodies have washed up on the shores in Southern Spain, believed to belong to people who set off on the dangerous Western Mediterranean crossing from Morocco or Algeria.

Early on 20 September, 125 people of sub-Saharan origin crossed into Peņķn de Vélez de la Gomera, a rocky Spanish peninsula separated from Morocco by a narrow sand bridge. The group included 60 women, seven children, and people with injuries and other medical conditions. ECRE member organisation CEAR and NGO hotline Alarm Phone reported that the people presented a written list of 90 names of those seeking asylum to Spanish soldiers, who did not respond. A statement from CEAR, supported by seven other rights groups, urged authorities to comply with Spanish, European and international law by processing the people's asylum applications and transferring them to a safe place. The Spanish Ombudsman issued a "reminder of legal duties" to the Interior Ministry, asking the government not to expel asylum seekers.

After several hours during which Spanish authorities took no action to assist the people, CEAR expressed fear that "the Spanish Government will authorize the hot return of refugees who are in a situation of special vulnerability, without access to due procedures, in breach of the principle of non-refoulement established in the Geneva Convention as essential guarantee of the right to asylum". This premonition was realised on the evening of the same day when Spanish soldiers handed the group over to more than two hundred Moroccan military police. Spokesperson for NGO Caminando Fronteras Helena Maleno Garzķn called this a "collective and violent expulsion" and noted that the people had also contacted the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) about their claim to seek asylum.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

IOM 21-09-24: Alarming Loss of Life on Way to Canaries Worsens in 2021 (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

ECRE News 21-10-01:

Spanien/ Atlantic Route: Fears about poor reception conditions on Lanzarote till sidans topp

As arrivals to the Canary Islands continue apace, emergency services, volunteers, and journalists have raised concerns about the lack of reception facilities on Lanzarote. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says almost 800 people lost their lives on the Canary route between January and August 2021. The increase in journeys on this route over the last month has been linked to both favourable weather conditions and instability in countries of origin.

Boats continue to arrive and be rescued at sea off the Canary Islands, the Spanish archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa. The busiest day of the last seven days was 26 September, when 340 people arrived in eight boats. Aboard one of these boats, a woman died after being rescued by Salvamento Marítimo (SM), Spain's civil rescue service. The day before, SM rescued 166 people in five separate operations in waters off Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. On 26 September Moroccan authorities rescued 58 people including a child in distress on a wooden boat off the Tan Tan port. The incident happened one day after the arrest of six alleged human smugglers, one a police officer. During the operation police detained 49 people including nine children attempting to disembark for the Atlantic. On 27 September, 39 people were rescued and brought to Arrecife (Lanzarote) in the early morning: later, another 42 people arrived in El Hierro. The second tragedy of the week was recorded on 30 September when two men were found dead during the rescue of 48 people by SM. These tragedies illustrate the perilous nature of such journeys from Senegal, Mauritania, or Morocco, as does the disappearance of a boat that left from Dakhla (Morocco) with 27 women, 8 children, and 15 men aboard.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 210921:

ECRE news 21-09-17:

Medelhavet/ More than 23,000 people returned to unsafe Libya this year till sidans topp

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as of 11 September 23,601 people on the move have been returned to Libya in 2021, where murder, torture and rape continues to be the order of the day. Arrivals to Italy continue, with UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) figures showing more than 40,000 arrivals this year as of mid-September. Despite intense civilian search and rescue efforts, 1,103 people have died or gone missing on the central Mediterranean route so far in 2021. The start of September also marked a busy time for Spanish rescuers in the Western Mediterranean.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Dagens Nyheter 21-09-13:

Grekland/ Grekland "dumpar flyktingar till havs" - får skarp EU-kritik till sidans topp

I väntan på en kommande flyktingvåg från Afghanistan skärper Grekland sin gränsbevakning. Och rapporterna om att landet dumpar flyktingar i havet, i strid mot folkrätten, blir allt tätare och allt mer väldokumenterade.

Nu kräver EU-kommissionen att Grekland stoppar de illegala avvisningarna.

"De såg inte mycket i mörkret, men de befann sig i någon sorts hamn. Poliser i militäruniform och rånarluvor tvingade upp dem på en gråvit båt, troligen tillhörande den grekiska kustbevakningen."

Historien handlar om tre flyktingar, två män och en kvinna, som i förra veckan greps efter ett dygn på den grekiska ön Samos. Den berättas av den norska hjälporganisationen Aegean Boat Report, som fortsätter:

"Under natten kördes de ut till havs i hög fart, och efter cirka 30 minuter stannade båten. De tre slängdes i vattnet och fick order att simma i land. Även med flytväst är detta extremt farligt och kan bara betecknas som ett mordförsök."

Vittnesmålet, inklusive foton från Samos och Turkiet, handlar om en så kallad pushback - att migranter som redan har anlänt berövas rätten att söka asyl och istället avvisas, till exempel genom att dumpas till havs.

Detta strider mot folkrätten och mot FN:s flyktingkonvention. Men Grekland använder metoden regelbundet, enligt en lång rad rapporter som den från Samos. De illegala avvisningarna har dokumenterats av bland andra Europarådet och New York Times.

Av rapporternas frekvens att döma tycks avvisningarna ske allt oftare. Samtidigt stålsätter sig Grekland för en väntad ny flyktingvåg från Afghanistan. Ett 27 kilometer långt stålstängsel har just byggts färdigt längs landgränsen mot Turkiet, och 1 200 nya gränsvakter ska anställas.

Premiärminister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sa i en intervju i juli att han är emot själva termen "pushback".

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Keep talking Greece 21-09-17:

Grekland/ launches international campaign against Afghan migration with EU funding till sidans topp

Greece's Migration and Asylum Ministry assigned a company for a campaign to convince Afghan citizens not to try and reach Greece. The campaign is financed at 75% with EU funding.

The campaign worth 73,532 euros (including Value Added Tax) has a duration of 3 months and will include videos and online banners, promotion on several social media targeting 4 million impressions, but also ads on Afghan newspapers.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 210904:

Aftonbladet 21-08-24:

Turkiet/ Bygger jättemur - för att stoppa flyktingarna till sidans topp

Tusentals människor försöker fly talibanernas skräckvälde.

Nu snabbreser Turkiet en tre meter hög betongmur - för att stoppa dem.

- Våra gränser är omöjliga att passera, säger provinsguvernören Mehmet Emin Bilmez till Reuters.

Skräcken för talibanväldet är stor i Afghanistan. Den senaste veckan har tusentals människor förtvivlat försökt komma med något av evakueringsflygen från huvudstaden Kabul.

De flesta av landets invånare saknar dock såväl pass som visum till andra länder.

För dem återstår oftast bara en flyktväg - att smugglas ut över en landgräns.

De senaste åren har tiotusentals afghaner lyckats ta sig genom Iran till Turkiet som fungerat som språngbräda för den vidare flykten mot Grekland och Europa.

Men nu tycks den glipan hastigt vara på väg att täppas till.

Diken och taggtråd

Människor på flykt möts nu allt oftare av en tre meter hög vit betongmur längs den turkiska gränsen.

I dag täcker muren ungefär en tredjedel av den 54 mil långa gränsen, enligt AP. Men bygget har intensifierats med talibanernas framryckning och maktövertagande. Redan till årsskiftet ska ytterligare 64 kilometer vara klara.

Resten av den bergiga gränsen täcks tills vidare av taggtråd, djupa diken och dygnet runt-patrullerande säkerhetsvakter - allt för att förhindra det av många fruktade inflödet av flyktingar från Afghanistan.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

The New Humanitarian 21-08-03: The Afghan refugee crisis brewing on Turkey's eastern border (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

AP yyy 21-08-24:

Turkiet/ 'Afghan:' Migrant graves in Turkey testify to border perils till sidans topp

Plain concrete gravestones painted with a number and the word "Afghan" are all that mark the final resting places of dozens of unidentified migrants who died trying to enter Turkey through the rugged mountainous border with Iran.

Hundreds of people escaping conflict or poverty, mostly from Afghanistan but also from other countries in the region, have died over the years risking the perilous crossing. Some succumbed after exposure to extreme weather conditions, others died in accidents as their smugglers tried to evade authorities in trucks and boats crammed with people.

Those whose identities remain unknown are buried in dirt lots in special sections of cemeteries around Turkey's eastern Van province, which borders Iran. Their grave markers bear a number corresponding with their forensic file and - if it's known - their nationality or date of death.

"During the passage of irregular migrants ... there may be those who freeze at the border line in winter. There may be people who drown in a stream. From time to time, there are people who lose their lives in traffic accidents," Van's Gov. Mehmet Emin Bilmez told The Associated Press.

Following autopsies to determine the cause of death and DNA tests, the bodies are kept in the morgue for a fortnight in the hope that a relative or an embassy will claim them.

"If no one takes responsibility for them within 15 days, then the metropolitan municipality takes the body from the morgue, buries it in the cemetery (for the unidentified) and gives it a number," Bilmez explained.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Dagens Nyheter 21-08-26:

Turkiet/ Turkiet: Inga fler afghanska flyktingar hos oss till sidans topp

President Recep Tayyip varnar EU och Iran för att "stjälpa över" den afghanska flyktingkrisen på Turkiet. De första av hundratusentals afghanska migranter som flydde västerut undan talibanerna nådde under veckoslutet den iransk-turkiska gränsen, där de skickas tillbaka av turkiska styrkor innan de fått möjlighet att söka asyl.

Under ett telefonsamtal med den grekiske premiärministern Kyriakos Mitsotakis på söndagen protesterade Erdogan mot Greklands planer på att skicka afghanska migranter tillbaka till Turkiet. Grekland har försvarat sig med att det bedömer Turkiet som en säker plats för flyktingar.

Erdogan lovade på måndagen att sätta "totalt stopp för det illegala migrantflödet" från Afghanistan. För honom är frågan nära kopplad till den turkiska inrikespolitiken och regerande AKP:s allt sämre resultat i mätningarna. En av regimens mest sårbara punkter är opinionens växande motstånd mot migranter och flyktingar.

De nära fyra miljoner syrier som fann en fristad i Turkiet under inbördeskriget har blivit allt mindre populära i takt med ekonomins kräftgång under coronapandemin. Oppositionspartierna anklagar Erdogan för att ha släppt in en och en halv miljon afghaner. Presidenten slår fast att högst trehundratusen afghaner befinner sig i landet.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

The Prisma 21-08-02:

Medelhavet/ The many faces of a shipwreck till sidans topp

Exposed to ascertain responsibility for the death of 130 people in the central Mediterranean Sea. Border forensic's facts reconstruction.

Alarm Phone

On April 22, 130 people lost their lives off the coast of Libya.

In order to ascertain the possible criminal relevance of the conduct that configured the shipwreck, the representatives of some organizations and some lawyers [the Comitato Nuovi Desaparecidos, the Open Arms Foundation, the Associazione Studi Giuridici sull'Immigrazione Asgi, Alarm Phone, Mediterranea Saving Humans, Arci, Progetto Diritti and, on their own, Senator Gregorio De Falco, lawyers Alessandra Ballerini, Emiliano Benzi, Michele Calantropo, Stefano Greco, Serena Romano, Arturo Salerni] have submitted a complaint addressed to the Prosecutor's Office of Rome.

Border Forensic recently reconstructed the story in a newly released paper, you can find it here.

It is essential to focus on the specific role of the public and private, national and European, actors operating in the central Mediterranean, who, with their active or omissive behavior, contribute in a decisive way to configure the shipwrecks.

To briefly review some of the salient events that took place between April 21 and 22 is necessary to give a political sense to yet another collective death at sea and reflect on the responsibilities of the institutions involved.

Thanks to Alarm Phone we have timely news of the very difficult conditions in which, since April 21, the dinghy with 130 people on board was sailing.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

AYS yyy 21-08-13:

Medelhavet/ Anyone carrying a cell phone in the Med may soon be under surveillance till sidans topp

The (so called) Libyan Coast Guard operates with valuable information that comes directly from the sky. The unstoppable flow of data, images and coordinates entering the Eurosur Fusion Service platform, a system managed by Frontex, capable of generating intelligence reports, is now turned against humans.

Large companies specializing in intelligence have found a gold mine in the management of data to be provided to states committed to locking down borders, Mediterranea writes.

As we have been reporting, Frontex is extensively using the benefits of technological and AI developments for their securitisation that ultimately ends up with people losing lives at the EU borders and not that many solutions for a humane approach in sight. The plan, as announced earlier, is the selling of data collected by spying from space. Data would be sold not only to states, but also to private individuals if they are willing to pay. It involves "the interception of radio waves emitted by maritime radars, Ais transponders, satellite phones and, potentially, of other assets, with geolocation of the equipment." Even though the Agency says it is only in a "pilot project" phase and that they "are not intercepting any communications," the entire project is allegedly subject to secrecy constraints.

All devices that emit waves can be monitored.

As Mediterranea team explains - aid for Libya's efforts to push back migrants now comes directly from space.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

TT / VK 21-08-21:

Grekland/ Grekisk gränsbarriär mot Turkiet klar till sidans topp

Grekland har i veckan färdigställt en fyra mil lång gränsbarriär mot Turkiet. Man har även installerat ett nytt automatiserat övervakningssystem, för att upptäcka och stoppa flyktingar och migranter som försöker ta sig in i EU-landet.

Den massiva och taggtrådsförsedda barriären - som i tidigare tappning var betydligt kortare - byggdes färdigt kort efter att talibanerna tagit kontroll över Afghanistan.

Extremiströrelsens maktövertagande har gett upphov till farhågor om en ny flyktingvåg och en upprepning av 2015 års flyktingkris i EU, då över en miljon migranter och flyktingar tog sig in i unionen.

"Vi kan inte vänta"

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

BBC News 21-08-09:

Malta/ The teenagers pulled from the sea and accused of terrorism till sidans topp

Lamin squints at the sun as he points across the harbour. "This place reminds me of the worst day of my life," he says.

It is where he was handcuffed by Maltese soldiers and led away to a maximum-security prison. He was only 15 at the time and, unknown to him, a suspected terrorist.

It was just a misunderstanding, he thought. Once everyone realised what had happened, he would be freed. But that was two years ago. Today Lamin, from Guinea in West Africa, stands accused of hijacking the ship that rescued him at sea and brought him to Europe.

This alleged act of terrorism could put him in jail for the rest of his life.

So how did a child refugee end up in Malta facing accusations of such a crime? For six months I have been investigating this curious case. It is a story of fear, desperation and of being in the wrong place at the wrong time - as a small country decided to take an almighty stand.

1px transparent line

Perilous journey

Lamin had never envisaged making the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean. He ran away from home aged 13 because of a family feud. After making it through the baking Algerian desert - passing the bodies of others who hadn't survived - he was convinced by a friend he'd find work in Libya. There, he cleaned houses for three months for no pay, until his boss offered to help him travel to Europe.

As they set off from the Libyan coast, Lamin remembers the dinghy in which he was travelling deflating. But it was too late to back out, and smugglers were shooting from the shore at him and the other 100-plus people on board. Soon, there was no air left inside the dinghy.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

TT / Squid 21-08-17:

Spanien/ 47 migranter döda utanför Mauretanien till sidans topp

47 migranter har omkommit utanför Mauretaniens kust, rapporterar FN:s migrationsorganisation IOM på tisdagen.

Migranternas båt hade enligt IOM "med stor sannolikhet" lagt ut från västsahariska al-Ayun den 3 augusti med siktet inställt mot spanska Kanarieöarna.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

UNHCR 21-08-18: Boat tragedy off North Africa's coast reminder of perilous sea journeys (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 210808:

AYS 21-07-19:

Grekland/ In blow to solidarity efforts, human smuggling case opened on Lesvos till sidans topp

Two Greek-language news sites announced yesterday that the government had "dismantled a trafficking ring [a smuggling ring] which involves 4 NGO members & 6 'third country nationals.'" The individuals are said to be from Norway, the UK and other European countries, as well as from Syria and Afghanistan, but their identities have not yet been disclosed to the public.

We will remind you that the criminalization of solidarity work in Greece has a long, sordid history stretching back to 2015. The arrest of Sarah Mardini, the Syrian swimmer who returned as an aid worker to Lesvos, is perhaps the most high-profile case.

Back last fall, the Greek government announced they were accusing a total of 35 aid workers of four NGOs in Greece of migrant smuggling and spying. Authorities at the time said the alleged 'crimes' dated back to June 2019, with a special focus on the period of high arrivals on Lesvos in August of that year.

Alarm Phone wrote in a press release last October on the announcement that

Even though the press statement does not name the NGOs or the individuals, there were several media reports stating that the Alarm Phone is among the groups that are targeted. For the time being, we refrain from publicly commenting on the ongoing investigation. Instead, we want to point out the real crimes which are ongoing!

The group noted their relationship with the Hellenic Coast Guard "has never been as complicated as it is right now", and continued:

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

France24 21-07-23:

Medelhavet/ When Europe turns a blind eye: Life and death in the Mediterranean till sidans topp

In the spring of 2021, FRANCE 24 went on board the Ocean Viking, the migrant rescue ship of the European NGO SOS Méditerranée. Off the coast of Libya, we filmed both successful rescue missions and others that ended in tragedy, while observing how the authorities interacted with the vessel's staff.

In the Mediterranean, the years go by and almost nothing changes. In 2021, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 955 people have already died trying to reach Europe by sea - twice as many as during the same period last year. NGOs believe these figures are no doubt an underestimate.

According to the 1974 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), coastal states have a legal obligation to organise and assist searches in the event of a distress signal. However, since 2016, civil society groups have been plugging the gap.

On April 21, the Ocean Viking began a race against time to try to rescue a dinghy in distress amid a storm, with nearly 130 people on board. But without assistance from the competent authorities, the vessel arrived too late at the scene of a fatal shipwreck.

A few days later, 236 survivors, including 119 minors, were rescued from two other inflatable boats on which they were adrift, before being transported to a port on the European continent. Among them were men, women and children fleeing the hell for migrants that is Libya.

In this documentary, FRANCE 24 brings you an in-depth look at the reality for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean in search of a better life.

Se dokumentären (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

TT / AB 21-08-01:

Medelhavet/ Hundratals migranter räddade på Medelhavet till sidans topp

Omkring 400 människor som försökt ta sig över Medelhavet räddades utanför Libyens kust under natten till söndagen. Detta efter att deras överfyllda träbåt börjat ta in vatten.

Två hjälporganisationer som har räddningsbåtarna Sea-Watch 3 och Ocean Viking i området, deltog i insatsen som enligt vittnen tog sex timmar.

Migranterna kommer framför allt från Marocko, Bangladesh, Egypten och Syrien.

Enligt Internationella migrationsorganisationen (IOM) har fler än 1 100 människor avlidit på Medelhavet i år.

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

TT / AB 21-07-26: Minst 57 drunknade vid Libyens kust (Extern länk)

Aftonbladet 21-08-01: "Jag har tagit mig ur helvetet, nu återstår bara ett helsicke" (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

AYS 21-08-04:

Medelhavet/ The 'Standoff' in the Central Mediterranean over Search and Rescue till sidans topp

1,174. That's the number of recorded deaths in the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2021. In July alone, 252 people lost their lives in these waters.

But the NGO search and rescue ships working to mitigate the terrible effects of the EU's border policies are facing additional challenges to the daily problem of how to locate, reach and rescue those in distress at sea. The 'standoff at sea,' as SOS Mediterranee put it? Disembarkation: how to get people safely and quickly off the rescue ships.

Getting the people who have been rescued into a port of safety has been a problem for NGO ships for years, surely, as authorities often leave these ships in limbo, waiting for days with hundreds of people on board - many with severe health conditions - before they are assigned a port.

The dramatic rescues of the past week, however, and the publicity around the terrible medical condition of the people aboard should have led to a different outcome this time - one would hope. Several people were evacuated from the ships due to severe burns, and one pregnant woman and her partner also were allowed to leave the ship. The condition of the remaining 553 survivors on the Ocean Viking and the 257 on the Sea Watch 3, however, are far from good.

In a press release, SOS Mediterranee called for an immediate port of safety for its passengers. The group also called on EU Member States to "reactivate a disembarkation and relocation mechanism supporting coastal states in coordinating disembarkations."

"All 553 survivors, including 119 minors, four pregnant women and a three-month-old baby, suffer in the sweltering heat on the deck of Ocean Viking. They urgently need to disembark in a place of safety, as do the 257 survivors currently onboard the Sea Watch 3," the group wrote in its statement.

Luisa Albera, the search and rescue coordinator onboard the Ocean Viking, said the following:

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

TT / Squid 21-08-06:

Spanien/ Migranter drunknade på väg till Kanarieöarna till sidans topp

Omkring 40 migranter befaras ha mist livet sedan båten de färdades i kapsejsade på väg till Kanarieöarna, enligt den spanska asylrättsorganisationen Caminando Fronteras.

"Tragedi. 42 människor, varav 30 kvinnor, åtta barn och fyra män, dog när deras båt kapsejsade utanför Dakhla", skriver organisationen på Twitter.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 210720:

TT / AB 21-07-05:

Medelhavet/ Över 200 har räddats på Medelhavet i dagarna till sidans topp

Räddningsfartyget Ocean Viking har räddat 203 migranter på Medelhavet de senaste dagarna, skriver den humanitära organisationen SOS Mediteranée på sociala medier och tillägger att 67 av dem är barn.

De 203 personerna har räddats under fyra olika insatser sedan i torsdags och kommer från Egypten, Gambia, Libyen, Sydsudan, Syrien och Tunisien.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

AYS 21-07-15:

Italien/ Italy votes to renew collaboration with the criminal Libyan Coast Guard till sidans topp

Italy's cooperation mission with the Libyan Coast Guard, which will be gradually transferred to the European mission Irini, has received confirmation as the Italian parliament voted with 361 votes in favor, 34 against and 22 abstentions. Renewing cooperation with - and funding for - the so-called Libyan Coast Guard is on.

The approved proposal asks the government to "facilitate training and training activities both in Italy and in Libya and taking into account that the gradual assignment to the Irini mission of the training and training function of the Libyan naval units responsible for controlling maritime borders will be possible once a Memorandum has been signed between Irini and the Libyan authorities relating to training activities in the field of combating human trafficking", as ironic as it sounds.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

InfoMigrants 21-07-09: Libyan prisons: 'If you stay too long, the Libyans sell you and nobody knows what happens to you' (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Expressen 21-07-13:

Spanien/ Historien bakom den omtalade bilden på flyktingbarnet till havs till sidans topp

Med sitt fyra veckor gamla spädbarn fastsurrat på ryggen försökte Naima Bakkali simma till säkerhet, i en desperat flykt från hemlandet Marocko.

Nu berättar hon om den traumatiska dagen då de båda var nära att drunkna.

- Jag insåg att jag inte orkade mer. Jag hade ingen kraft kvar, säger hon till TV4 Nyheterna.

Det var i maj som bilden blev viral där en spansk sjöräddare simmade in mot land med ett spädbarn i sina armar. Barnets mamma, Naima Bakkali, 30, hade flytt från Marocko över vattnet i hopp om att nå säkerhet i spanska enklaven Ceuta. På sin rygg hade hon bundit fast sitt fyra veckor gamla barn, och de var båda nära att stryka med.

Nu berättar Naima Bakkali själv om det dramatiska händelseförloppet.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 210701:

Svenska Dagbladet 21-06-17:

Grekland/ Ljudkanoner används för att stoppa migranter till sidans topp

Greklands nya ljudkanoner som ska stoppa migranter ljuder lika högt som en jetmotor - och orsakar stor smärta. Migranter som försöker ta sig från Turkiet till den grekiska övärlden i sommar möts av en fysisk mur, digitala barriärer och militärt motstånd.

Ljudkanonerna, som är fästa på militärfordon, är bara en del av ett storskaligt testande av nya, digitala och fysiska barriärer som Grekland installerat längs med sin omkring 200 kilometer långa vatten- och landgräns mot Turkiet.

Satsningen inleddes under hösten förra året. Det var efter att Turkiets president Recep Tayyip Erdogan i vredesmod meddelat att turkiska gränsvakter inte längre skulle hindra migranter från att ta sig till Grekland.

Enligt ett avtal mellan EU och styret i Ankara från 2016 ska Turkiet mot betalning stoppa migranter från att avsegla från turkiska kustlägen mot Grekland, eller vandra över landgränsen mellan Turkiet och Bulgarien.

Men Erdogan gjorde efter en konfrontation med Grekland över gränsdragningar i Medelhavet allvar av ett ofta upprepat hot mot EU: han öppnade gränserna västerut, mot EU.

Turkiska myndigheter ordnade till och med skjuts till turkiska kustlägen och gränsorter för hågade migranter.

Men migranterna - de allra flesta inte syriska flyktingar utan afghaner, iranier, afrikaner och andra som länge uppehållit sig i Turkiet illegalt i väntan på att ta sig till Europa - möttes på grekisk mark av taggtråd och beväpnade gränsvakter. Tre personer omkom i tumultet som uppstod.

Grekland började strax därefter att bygga en 26 kilometer lång mur i betong och galvaniserat stål, som nu löper både på land och i vatten längs gränsen mot Turkiet.

Man införskaffade också drönare, fler radarsystem, kameror och rörelsedetektorer samt militärtanks och patrullbåtar till att bevaka ankomsten av migranter.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

TT-Reuters / Squid 21-06-23:

Grekland/ Amnesty: Grekland tvingar bort flyktingar med våld till sidans topp

Grekland använder våld, hot och närmast tortyrliknande metoder för att tvinga tillbaka migranter till Turkiet. Det hävdar Amnesty International i en ny rapport.

Människorättsorganisationen har samlat vittnesmål från flyktingar som har sökt sig in i Europa via gränsen mellan Turkiet och Grekland, och en stor majoritet av de intervjuade uppger att de har utsatts för våld eller sett andra misshandlas med bland annat sparkar och batongslag.

Detta ska enligt Amnesty även ha drabbat flyktingar med asylstatus som levt i Grekland i över ett år.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

Amnesty International 21-06-23: Violence, lies, and pushbacks - Refugees still denied safety at borders (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Sveriges Radio Ekot 21-06-17:

Italien/ Migrationen tar fart när coronarestriktionerna minskar till sidans topp

De senaste dygnen har cirka tusen migranter kommit till den italienska ön Lampedusa, då migrationen åter tar fart när coronarestriktionerna minskar.

Vår migrationskorrespondent Alice Petrén på plats på Lampedusa rapporterar om hur de nyanlända sätts i karantän i 14 dagar och testas två gånger eftersom oron är stor för att muterade covid-varianter ska komma in med migranterna.

Italien kräver mer solidaritet från andra EU-länder för att ta ansvar för de asylsökande. Migrationen blir åter en fråga på EU:s toppmöte mellan stats- och regeringschefer, vilket hålls nästa vecka.

Hela inslaget (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

InfoMigrants 21-06-18:

Italien/ Italy announces humanitarian corridor to bring 500 migrants from Libya till sidans topp

Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese has announced the signing of a protocol to bring 500 people from Libya to Italy. She also called for Europe to hold "constructive dialogue" on migration.

Italy is to sign a protocol to bring 500 migrants from Libya to Italy. The move was announced by the Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese during a conference in Rome called "Governing Migration: The Best Practice of Humanitarian Corridors."

The accord involves the UNHCR and will also be managed with Rome's Community of Sant'Egidio and the Waldensians. Participants at the conference included Perugia-Cittā della Pieve Archbishop and Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) President Gualtiero Bassetti, and Community of Sant'Egidio President Marco Impagliazzo.

Lamorgese says problem isn't only for arrival countries

During the conference, Lamorgese reiterated some concepts that the Italian government has consistently defended. She said Europe needs a "constructive dialogue" because the problem of migration "cannot be handed over to arrival countries alone".

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

ECRE 21-06-25:

Medelhavet/ SAR blocked as death count mounts and returns to Libyan "hell" continue till sidans topp

According to the latest update from the European Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) due to red-tape and criminalization by European authorities only two civilian vessels are currently carrying out rescue missions. At least four people including an eight-year old boy died when a boat carrying more than 40 people capsized off the Canary Islands on 17 June. 18 people are believed to have drowned following a shipwreck off Libya on 20 June. More than 14,000 people so far in 2021, have been intercepted and returned to detention in Libya where Médecins Sans Frontičres (MSF) have been forced to suspend its activities in government run detention centres due to ongoing violence against detainees and recent reports have emerged of children being sexually abused by guards.

The June 2021 Update - Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in the Mediterranean and fundamental rights from FRA reveals that: "Due to ongoing criminal and administrative proceedings, vessel seizures, as well as mandatory maintenance work" only six of 19 civilian search and rescue assets currently operate and out of these only two vessels perform SAR operations ('Geo Barents' and 'Ocean Viking'). Nine vessels from the civilian search and rescue fleet are blocked in ports pending legal proceedings, four are docked for other reasons including mandatory maintenance work. The FRA update quotes the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for estimates of 813 people having died or gone missing crossing the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe in 2021 as of 15 June - an average of almost five people per day. The NGO hotline Alarm Phone reported on a shipwreck on 20 June off Libya believed to have cost the life of 18 people.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Sveriges Radio 21-06-30:

Medelhavet/ Gravarna vid Dödens hav - Alice Petrén blickar tillbaka till sidans topp

Medelhavet kallas ofta Dödens hav eftersom många flyktingar och migranter drunknar, när de försöker att ta sig över det i båtar mot Europa. Dödligheten har till och med stigit under de senaste åren.

Färre personer sätter sig numera i båtarna jämfört med toppåren 2015 och 2016, men bland de som ändå trotsar farorna är det numera allt fler som omkommer. Ansvariga EU-ledare har många gånger, efter större olyckor, upprepat att det aldrig ska få ske igen, men samtidigt har de dragit in på räddningsinsatserna i Medelhavet.

Den farligaste rutten går från Tunisien eller Libyen mot Italien och Malta, den så kallade Centrala Medelhavsrutten. På den vägen ligger också den lilla italienska ön Lampedusa

Hela inslaget (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 210616:

The Guardian 21-06-03:

Medelhavet/ 'A question of dignity': the pathologist identifying migrants drowned till sidans topp

Dr Cristina Catteneo made it her mission to put a name to each man, woman and child found in the overcrowded hulls of sunken boats bound for Europe

At a glance, Dr Cristina Cattaneo assessed the lifeless body on the floor of an abandoned Sicilian hospital - a thin, young Eritrean refugee about 180cm tall. While most of the corpse was intact, his face and hands were skeletonised, probably the work of sea animals.

It was the morning of 3 July 2015, and this was the first body to be recovered by a navy robot after a shipwreck on 18 April that year, which left more than 1,000 people dead.

They came from Eritrea, Senegal, Mauritania, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Mali, the Gambia and Somalia. They had been trying to reach Europe from north Africa onboard a fishing boat with a capacity of about 30 passengers, which sank in the night after colliding with a Portuguese freighter that had approached to offer assistance. Only 28 people survived.

The vast majority of corpses were in the hull, wedged 400m deep on the sea floor. The boy's cadaver was one of 13 the Italian authorities had found in the water and managed to recover using a mechanical claw. He was wearing a black jacket and sweatshirt, jeans and trainers. His remains were placed in a body bag and labelled with an identification number in white ink: PM3900013.

His identity is still unknown, like most of the hundreds of other victims. There is no official death toll but about half of the thousands of asylum seekers who have died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean lie in unmarked graves in Italy's cemeteries.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

AYS 21-06-13:

Medelhavet/ 2610 people rescued, 1000 people returned, 200 still at sea till sidans topp

Between Friday and Saturday, MSF's rescue vessel GeoBarents carried out 7 rescues. Since then 410 people have been on board.

Four of the rescue operations were carried out in Maltese waters, but the island's authorities refused to give MSF any support or a place of safety. Alarm Phone reported they were in contact with three more boats in the area on Saturday. At least one other boat carrying 100 people has contacted Alarm Phone on Sunday and are still missing.

1200 people also arrived to Lampedusa over 24 hours between Saturday and Sunday. They were brought to the small Italian island in 16 different operations, media report.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

ECRE 21-06-04: As European Migration Control Efforts in North-Africa Continue and EU Rejects Responsibility for Death at Sea - People Keep Dying (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

AYS 21-06-15:

Medelhavet/ 'Saved' to be sent to certain detention and torture till sidans topp

Several organisations engaging in search and rescue missions at sea have reported that the people rescued by the merchant ship Vos Triton were then transferred against their will to a Libyan vessel and sent back to Libya, thus returned to conditions of detention, torture, and rape.

This occurs at the same time as Italy and Malta refused to provide a port to the rescue vessel Geo Barents', with 410 rescued people on board. These ongoing situations at sea are just a few of those that Sea Watch has been reporting on, and is a burning issue across the Mediterranean, despite being actively ignored by the EU:

In addition to the #VosTriton case, #Seabird sighted 9 other boats: 1 was pulled back - probably involving a #Frontex drone. 2 were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard. 1 with smoking engine will probably be intercepted soon too.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Border Criminologies Blog 21-06-03:

Grekland/ Weaponizing refugees: Constructing the other through fear and danger till sidans topp

Evgenia Kouniaki

The moments of 2015, when we witnessed European and Greek solidarity with refugees turned gradually into a dystopia forming the crisis of February-March 2020, with images of hatred and racist violence on the Aegean islands and the Evros borders flooding the media. While Turkey was invading Syria's northern borders, the media and the official - European and national - political leadership spoke of Erdogan's invasion to Europe using refugees as a weapon. Similar to how the "crisis" of 2015-2016 was used to "legitimize" the need of even greater border "protection", through surveillance, detention, and increased returns, the February-March crisis was used for the reinforcement of border militarization. This post attempts to capture how these two 'crises' continue to shape migration and asylum policy in Greece and in the European Union.

The new Pact on Asylum and Immigration, reinforces not only questionable border procedures but also the externalization of refugee management through readmission agreements, equivalent to the EU- Turkey Joint Declaration, which the Greek government requested to be replicated at the land borders of Evros. In this context, reception and detention centers at the land borders will become key migration management tools, resembling the situation on the Aegean islands.

The concentration of 13,000 people in Kastanies, Evros in February/March 2020 was confronted violently (by both sides) with widespread use of chemicals, two killings and illegal pushbacks in which "self-appointed" groups related to far-right organizations in Greece, Germany and Austria participated.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

The New Humanitarian 21-06-02:

Italien/ A Sicilian fishing town, and the perils of Italy's migration deal with Libya till sidans topp

We follow the law of the sea. For us, these are not migrants; they are simply people stranded at sea that we must help.'

Over the past decade, the Sicilian fishing town of Mazara del Vallo has had a front-row seat to witness escalating EU efforts to curb migration across the Mediterranean, but its fishermen have paid their own high price for Europe's strategy and its dealings with Libya.

Mazara's fishermen have rescued thousands of asylum seekers and migrants in distress. They have also been targeted by the Libyan Coast Guard for fishing in waters that Libya considers its own.

Pietro Russo, a 66-year-old fisherman from the town, has been sailing the central Mediterranean since he was 17. "Even we, as EU citizens, have experienced the brutality of the Libyan Coast Guard on our own skin, so we know what migrants desperate to leave Libyan prisons feel," Russo told The New Humanitarian.

2021 is shaping up to be the deadliest year in the central Mediterranean since 2017. At least 640 people have drowned or gone missing following shipwrecks, and more than 14,000 asylum seekers and migrants have reached Italy - a ratio of one death for about every 22 people who survive the crossing.

In comparison, around 1,430 people had died or disappeared in the central Mediterranean by the end of May 2017, and more than 60,000 had arrived in Italy - a ratio of 1 death for every 42 arrivals.

This year, more than 8,500 asylum seekers have also been intercepted by the EU-backed Libyan Coast Guard and returned to detention centres in Libya, European navies have largely withdrawn from search and rescue activities, and NGOs trying to help migrants - facing numerous bureaucratic hurdles - are struggling to maintain a consistent presence at sea.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

ECRE 21-06-02:

Spanien/ Investigations into "Hot Returns, Concerns Over Treatment of Children till sidans topp

The Public Prosecutor's Office has opened investigations into the so-called "hot return" of children from Ceuta to Morocco as Spanish Ombudsman Francisco Fernández Marugán visits Ceuta and Melilla. Meanwhile, the situation of children in the Canary Islands continues to be a matter of concern. New arrivals via the Atlantic Route continue while hundreds of people are currently missing en route to the Canary Islands and a Mauritanian boat with fourteen deceased bodies on board was found floating in Caribbean waters.

The Public Prosecutor's Office has opened investigations into the so-called "hot return" of children from Ceuta to Morocco following the arrival of 8,000-10,000 people in Ceuta between 17-19 May amid a diplomatic stand-off between Morocco and Spain. The investigations follow a complaint filed by the NGO Coordinadora de Barrios regarding the case of Aschraf, a 16-year-old boy who swam to the enclave on 19 May using empty plastic bottles to stay afloat and who was illegally returned to Morocco the same day by the military and civil guards deployed on Tarajal beach. According to Aschraf, he was returned twice that day as he had initially made it to the enclave on 18 May already and stayed one night in a shelter, El Diario reports. Referring to Aschraf's return that was captured on video, Coordinadora de Barrios emphasised in its complaint that the child's crying and asking soldiers for protection should have stopped his return under the principle of non-refoulement. "There is no more evidence of mistreatment than a child crying, terrified, asking for understanding ("You have to understand us") and asking for protection ("They are going to beat me"), reads the complaint.

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Arkiveringsdatum 210603:

SvT Utrikes 21-05-20:

Spanien/ Bebis var nära att drunkna - räddades av polis till sidans topp

Bilden på Juan Francisco Valle i det spanska civilgardet som räddar ett spädbarn i vattnet utanför den spanska enklaven Ceuta sprids som en löpeld på sociala medier världen över.

41-årigen visste inte om den stelfrusna bebisen levde eller inte när han genomförde insatsen. Källor inom civilgardet bekräftar att spädbarnet är vid liv, men avslöjar inte var det befinner sig just nu, skriver tidningen El País.

Juan Francisco Valle har arbetat inom en specialenhet för sjöräddning inom Guardia Civil i tolv år.

Barnet vars bild nu sprids på nätet ska ha varit fastsurrad på sin mors rygg, då hon simmande försökte ta sig till den spanska exklaven från Marocko.

Ökade spänningar

Tusentals människor som illegalt har tagit sig över gränsen till spanska Ceuta har skickats tillbaka till Marocko.

Situationen vid gränsen har ökat de diplomatiska spänningarna mellan regeringarna i Madrid och Rabat.

De späs på av att en västsaharisk självständighetsledare vårdas i Spanien.

(...)

Hela inslaget (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

SvT Utrikes 21-05-21:

Spanien/ Spanien skickar trupper till Ceuta till sidans topp

Över 8 000 personer har tagit sig från Marocko över gränsen till spanska Ceuta sedan i måndags. Spänningarna mellan de två länderna fortsätter att öka. Nu skickar Spanien militära trupper till Ceuta, uppger The New York Times.

Trupper och helikoptrar syntes i Ceuta under dagen, ett resultat av Spaniens reaktion på att tusentals migranter tagit sig över gränsen från Marocko. I början av veckan hade över 8 000 personer, varav 2 000 är barn, på något sätt - oftast genom att simma eller via uppblåsbara flottar - tagit sig till spanska Ceuta.

(...)

Hela inslaget (Extern länk)

ECRE News 21-05-21: 8000 arrivals in Ceuta amid diplomatic stand-off with Morocco, ombudsman calls for protection of unaccompanied children (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

TT / AB 21-05-21:

Spanien/ Hon överlevde tre veckor i drivande träbåt till sidans topp

17-åriga Aicha såg en efter en duka under av törst. Av 59 hoppfulla som i en träbåt gett sig av ut i Atlanten var till slut bara hon och två till vid liv.

- Vi orkade inte ens kasta kropparna överbord.

På högsta EU-nivå tas tonårsflickans berättelse upp som ett akut exempel på den tragiska migrantsituationen.

Träbåten gav sig av från Mauretaniens ökenkust i början av april. Målet var Kanarieöarna, i hopp om att hitta en bättre framtid i EU.

- Efter två dagar hade vi inget vatten, ingen mat, berättar Aicha för BBC.

- Efter fyra dagar var bränslet slut.

De 59 människorna ombord var i världshavets dyningars våld och började driva rakt västerut. De blev svagare och svagare.

- Det fanns män som inte orkade resa sig, som skrek efter vatten, "snälla ge mig vatten", minns Aicha, som kommer från Elfenbenskusten.

- Vi använde en sko för att ge dem lite havsvatten.

Hörde helikopter

Dagarna gick, passagerare började dö.

- I början bad vi böner. Men till slut inte.

Dagarna under den heta tropiska solen blev till veckor.

- Vi hade inte ens ork att kasta kropparna överbord.

Men så, efter 22 dygn, surret av helikopterblad. Kanarieöarnas gränsbevakning hade siktat båten. Den spanska räddningsstyrkan trodde knappt sina ögon.

- Vi var 500 kilometer sydväst om El Hierro. Längre kan inte helikoptern flyga, säger piloten Alex Gķmez.

Världens ände

(...)

Hela artikeln (Extern länk)

till innehållsförteckningen innehåll

Källor: Informationen på denna sida är hämtad från följande källor (externa länkar): EU (kommissionen, ministerrådet, parlamentet och domstolen), Europarådet (mr-kommissionären, domstolen, kommittén mot tortyr), FN:s flyktingkommissariat UNHCR, FN:s kommitté mot tortyr m.fl. FN-organ, Sveriges Radio, SvT, andra svenska media via Nyhetsfilter och pressmeddelanden via Newsdesk, utländska media till exempel via Are You Syrious och Rights in Exile, internationella organisationer som Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, ECRE, Statewatch och Picum, organisationer i Sverige som Rädda Barnen, Asylrättscentrum, Svenska Amnesty, FARR och #vistårinteut samt myndigheter och politiska organ som Migrationsverket, Sveriges domstolar, JO, Justitiedepartementet m.fl. departement och Sveriges Riksdag.

Bevakning: Hjalte Lagercrantz och Sanna Vestin. Sammanställning: Sanna Vestin. Asylnytt är ett ideellt projekt. Sponsring avser prenumerationsavgifter. Tips emottages tacksamt.