• ‘A mass assassination factory’: Inside Israel’s calculated bombing of Gaza

    Permissive airstrikes on non-military targets and the use of an artificial intelligence system have enabled the Israeli army to carry out its deadliest war on Gaza, a +972 and Local Call investigation reveals.

    The Israeli army’s expanded authorization for bombing non-military targets, the loosening of constraints regarding expected civilian casualties, and the use of an artificial intelligence system to generate more potential targets than ever before, appear to have contributed to the destructive nature of the initial stages of Israel’s current war on the Gaza Strip, an investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call reveals. These factors, as described by current and former Israeli intelligence members, have likely played a role in producing what has been one of the deadliest military campaigns against Palestinians since the Nakba of 1948.

    The investigation by +972 and Local Call is based on conversations with seven current and former members of Israel’s intelligence community — including military intelligence and air force personnel who were involved in Israeli operations in the besieged Strip — in addition to Palestinian testimonies, data, and documentation from the Gaza Strip, and official statements by the IDF Spokesperson and other Israeli state institutions.

    Compared to previous Israeli assaults on Gaza, the current war — which Israel has named “Operation Iron Swords,” and which began in the wake of the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7 — has seen the army significantly expand its bombing of targets that are not distinctly military in nature. These include private residences as well as public buildings, infrastructure, and high-rise blocks, which sources say the army defines as “power targets” (“matarot otzem”).

    The bombing of power targets, according to intelligence sources who had first-hand experience with its application in Gaza in the past, is mainly intended to harm Palestinian civil society: to “create a shock” that, among other things, will reverberate powerfully and “lead civilians to put pressure on Hamas,” as one source put it.

    Several of the sources, who spoke to +972 and Local Call on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the Israeli army has files on the vast majority of potential targets in Gaza — including homes — which stipulate the number of civilians who are likely to be killed in an attack on a particular target. This number is calculated and known in advance to the army’s intelligence units, who also know shortly before carrying out an attack roughly how many civilians are certain to be killed.

    In one case discussed by the sources, the Israeli military command knowingly approved the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in an attempt to assassinate a single top Hamas military commander. “The numbers increased from dozens of civilian deaths [permitted] as collateral damage as part of an attack on a senior official in previous operations, to hundreds of civilian deaths as collateral damage,” said one source.

    “Nothing happens by accident,” said another source. “When a 3-year-old girl is killed in a home in Gaza, it’s because someone in the army decided it wasn’t a big deal for her to be killed — that it was a price worth paying in order to hit [another] target. We are not Hamas. These are not random rockets. Everything is intentional. We know exactly how much collateral damage there is in every home.”

    According to the investigation, another reason for the large number of targets, and the extensive harm to civilian life in Gaza, is the widespread use of a system called “Habsora” (“The Gospel”), which is largely built on artificial intelligence and can “generate” targets almost automatically at a rate that far exceeds what was previously possible. This AI system, as described by a former intelligence officer, essentially facilitates a “mass assassination factory.”

    According to the sources, the increasing use of AI-based systems like Habsora allows the army to carry out strikes on residential homes where a single Hamas member lives on a massive scale, even those who are junior Hamas operatives. Yet testimonies of Palestinians in Gaza suggest that since October 7, the army has also attacked many private residences where there was no known or apparent member of Hamas or any other militant group residing. Such strikes, sources confirmed to +972 and Local Call, can knowingly kill entire families in the process.

    In the majority of cases, the sources added, military activity is not conducted from these targeted homes. “I remember thinking that it was like if [Palestinian militants] would bomb all the private residences of our families when [Israeli soldiers] go back to sleep at home on the weekend,” one source, who was critical of this practice, recalled.

    Another source said that a senior intelligence officer told his officers after October 7 that the goal was to “kill as many Hamas operatives as possible,” for which the criteria around harming Palestinian civilians were significantly relaxed. As such, there are “cases in which we shell based on a wide cellular pinpointing of where the target is, killing civilians. This is often done to save time, instead of doing a little more work to get a more accurate pinpointing,” said the source.

    The result of these policies is the staggering loss of human life in Gaza since October 7. Over 300 families have lost 10 or more family members in Israeli bombings in the past two months — a number that is 15 times higher than the figure from what was previously Israel’s deadliest war on Gaza, in 2014. At the time of writing, around 15,000 Palestinians have been reported killed in the war, and counting.

    “All of this is happening contrary to the protocol used by the IDF in the past,” a source explained. “There is a feeling that senior officials in the army are aware of their failure on October 7, and are busy with the question of how to provide the Israeli public with an image [of victory] that will salvage their reputation.”
    ‘An excuse to cause destruction’

    Israel launched its assault on Gaza in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas-led offensive on southern Israel. During that attack, under a hail of rocket fire, Palestinian militants massacred more than 840 civilians and killed 350 soldiers and security personnel, kidnapped around 240 people — civilians and soldiers — to Gaza, and committed widespread sexual violence, including rape, according to a report by the NGO Physicians for Human Rights Israel.

    From the first moment after the October 7 attack, decisionmakers in Israel openly declared that the response would be of a completely different magnitude to previous military operations in Gaza, with the stated aim of totally eradicating Hamas. “The emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy,” said IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari on Oct. 9. The army swiftly translated those declarations into actions.

    According to the sources who spoke to +972 and Local Call, the targets in Gaza that have been struck by Israeli aircraft can be divided roughly into four categories. The first is “tactical targets,” which include standard military targets such as armed militant cells, weapon warehouses, rocket launchers, anti-tank missile launchers, launch pits, mortar bombs, military headquarters, observation posts, and so on.

    The second is “underground targets” — mainly tunnels that Hamas has dug under Gaza’s neighborhoods, including under civilian homes. Aerial strikes on these targets could lead to the collapse of the homes above or near the tunnels.

    The third is “power targets,” which includes high-rises and residential towers in the heart of cities, and public buildings such as universities, banks, and government offices. The idea behind hitting such targets, say three intelligence sources who were involved in planning or conducting strikes on power targets in the past, is that a deliberate attack on Palestinian society will exert “civil pressure” on Hamas.

    The final category consists of “family homes” or “operatives’ homes.” The stated purpose of these attacks is to destroy private residences in order to assassinate a single resident suspected of being a Hamas or Islamic Jihad operative. However, in the current war, Palestinian testimonies assert that some of the families that were killed did not include any operatives from these organizations.

    In the early stages of the current war, the Israeli army appears to have given particular attention to the third and fourth categories of targets. According to statements on Oct. 11 by the IDF Spokesperson, during the first five days of fighting, half of the targets bombed — 1,329 out of a total 2,687 — were deemed power targets.

    “We are asked to look for high-rise buildings with half a floor that can be attributed to Hamas,” said one source who took part in previous Israeli offensives in Gaza. “Sometimes it is a militant group’s spokesperson’s office, or a point where operatives meet. I understood that the floor is an excuse that allows the army to cause a lot of destruction in Gaza. That is what they told us.

    “If they would tell the whole world that the [Islamic Jihad] offices on the 10th floor are not important as a target, but that its existence is a justification to bring down the entire high-rise with the aim of pressuring civilian families who live in it in order to put pressure on terrorist organizations, this would itself be seen as terrorism. So they do not say it,” the source added.

    Various sources who served in IDF intelligence units said that at least until the current war, army protocols allowed for attacking power targets only when the buildings were empty of residents at the time of the strike. However, testimonies and videos from Gaza suggest that since October 7, some of these targets have been attacked without prior notice being given to their occupants, killing entire families as a result.

    The wide-scale targeting of residential homes can be derived from public and official data. According to the Government Media Office in Gaza — which has been providing death tolls since the Gaza Health Ministry stopped doing so on Nov. 11 due to the collapse of health services in the Strip — by the time the temporary ceasefire took hold on Nov. 23, Israel had killed 14,800 Palestinians in Gaza; approximately 6,000 of them were children and 4,000 were women, who together constitute more than 67 percent of the total. The figures provided by the Health Ministry and the Government Media Office — both of which fall under the auspices of the Hamas government — do not deviate significantly from Israeli estimates.

    The Gaza Health Ministry, furthermore, does not specify how many of the dead belonged to the military wings of Hamas or Islamic Jihad. The Israeli army estimates that it has killed between 1,000 and 3,000 armed Palestinian militants. According to media reports in Israel, some of the dead militants are buried under the rubble or inside Hamas’ underground tunnel system, and therefore were not tallied in official counts.

    UN data for the period up until Nov. 11, by which time Israel had killed 11,078 Palestinians in Gaza, states that at least 312 families have lost 10 or more people in the current Israeli attack; for the sake of comparison, during “Operation Protective Edge” in 2014, 20 families in Gaza lost 10 or more people. At least 189 families have lost between six and nine people according to the UN data, while 549 families have lost between two and five people. No updated breakdowns have yet been given for the casualty figures published since Nov. 11.

    The massive attacks on power targets and private residences came at the same time as the Israeli army, on Oct. 13, called on the 1.1 million residents of the northern Gaza Strip — most of them residing in Gaza City — to leave their homes and move to the south of the Strip. By that date, a record number of power targets had already been bombed, and more than 1,000 Palestinians had already been killed, including hundreds of children.

    In total, according to the UN, 1.7 million Palestinians, the vast majority of the Strip’s population, have been displaced within Gaza since October 7. The army claimed that the demand to evacuate the Strip’s north was intended to protect civilian lives. Palestinians, however, see this mass displacement as part of a “new Nakba” — an attempt to ethnically cleanse part or all of the territory.
    ‘They knocked down a high-rise for the sake of it’

    According to the Israeli army, during the first five days of fighting it dropped 6,000 bombs on the Strip, with a total weight of about 4,000 tons. Media outlets reported that the army had wiped out entire neighborhoods; according to the Gaza-based Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, these attacks led to “the complete destruction of residential neighborhoods, the destruction of infrastructure, and the mass killing of residents.”

    As documented by Al Mezan and numerous images coming out of Gaza, Israel bombed the Islamic University of Gaza, the Palestinian Bar Association, a UN building for an educational program for outstanding students, a building belonging to the Palestine Telecommunications Company, the Ministry of National Economy, the Ministry of Culture, roads, and dozens of high-rise buildings and homes — especially in Gaza’s northern neighborhoods.

    On the fifth day of fighting, the IDF Spokesperson distributed to military reporters in Israel “before and after” satellite images of neighborhoods in the northern Strip, such as Shuja’iyya and Al-Furqan (nicknamed after a mosque in the area) in Gaza City, which showed dozens of destroyed homes and buildings. The Israeli army said that it had struck 182 power targets in Shuja’iyya and 312 power targets in Al-Furqan.

    The Chief of Staff of the Israeli Air Force, Omer Tishler, told military reporters that all of these attacks had a legitimate military target, but also that entire neighborhoods were attacked “on a large scale and not in a surgical manner.” Noting that half of the military targets up until Oct. 11 were power targets, the IDF Spokesperson said that “neighborhoods that serve as terror nests for Hamas” were attacked and that damage was caused to “operational headquarters,” “operational assets,” and “assets used by terrorist organizations inside residential buildings.” On Oct. 12, the Israeli army announced it had killed three “senior Hamas members” — two of whom were part of the group’s political wing.

    Yet despite the unbridled Israeli bombardment, the damage to Hamas’ military infrastructure in northern Gaza during the first days of the war appears to have been very minimal. Indeed, intelligence sources told +972 and Local Call that military targets that were part of power targets have previously been used many times as a fig leaf for harming the civilian population. “Hamas is everywhere in Gaza; there is no building that does not have something of Hamas in it, so if you want to find a way to turn a high-rise into a target, you will be able to do so,” said one former intelligence official.

    “They will never just hit a high-rise that does not have something we can define as a military target,” said another intelligence source, who carried out previous strikes against power targets. “There will always be a floor in the high-rise [associated with Hamas]. But for the most part, when it comes to power targets, it is clear that the target doesn’t have military value that justifies an attack that would bring down the entire empty building in the middle of a city, with the help of six planes and bombs weighing several tons.”

    Indeed, according to sources who were involved in the compiling of power targets in previous wars, although the target file usually contains some kind of alleged association with Hamas or other militant groups, striking the target functions primarily as a “means that allows damage to civil society.” The sources understood, some explicitly and some implicitly, that damage to civilians is the real purpose of these attacks.

    In May 2021, for example, Israel was heavily criticized for bombing the Al-Jalaa Tower, which housed prominent international media outlets such as Al Jazeera, AP, and AFP. The army claimed that the building was a Hamas military target; sources have told +972 and Local Call that it was in fact a power target.

    “The perception is that it really hurts Hamas when high-rise buildings are taken down, because it creates a public reaction in the Gaza Strip and scares the population,” said one of the sources. “They wanted to give the citizens of Gaza the feeling that Hamas is not in control of the situation. Sometimes they toppled buildings and sometimes postal service and government buildings.”

    Although it is unprecedented for the Israeli army to attack more than 1,000 power targets in five days, the idea of causing mass devastation to civilian areas for strategic purposes was formulated in previous military operations in Gaza, honed by the so-called “Dahiya Doctrine” from the Second Lebanon War of 2006.

    According to the doctrine — developed by former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, who is now a Knesset member and part of the current war cabinet — in a war against guerrilla groups such as Hamas or Hezbollah, Israel must use disproportionate and overwhelming force while targeting civilian and government infrastructure in order to establish deterrence and force the civilian population to pressure the groups to end their attacks. The concept of “power targets” seems to have emanated from this same logic.

    The first time the Israeli army publicly defined power targets in Gaza was at the end of Operation Protective Edge in 2014. The army bombed four buildings during the last four days of the war — three residential multi-story buildings in Gaza City, and a high-rise in Rafah. The security establishment explained at the time that the attacks were intended to convey to the Palestinians of Gaza that “nothing is immune anymore,” and to put pressure on Hamas to agree to a ceasefire. “The evidence we collected shows that the massive destruction [of the buildings] was carried out deliberately, and without any military justification,” stated an Amnesty report in late 2014.

    In another violent escalation that began in November 2018, the army once again attacked power targets. That time, Israel bombed high-rises, shopping centers, and the building of the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV station. “Attacking power targets produces a very significant effect on the other side,” one Air Force officer stated at the time. “We did it without killing anyone and we made sure that the building and its surroundings were evacuated.”

    Previous operations have also shown how striking these targets is meant not only to harm Palestinian morale, but also to raise the morale inside Israel. Haaretz revealed that during Operation Guardian of the Walls in 2021, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit conducted a psy-op against Israeli citizens in order to boost awareness of the IDF’s operations in Gaza and the damage they caused to Palestinians. Soldiers, who used fake social media accounts to conceal the campaign’s origin, uploaded images and clips of the army’s strikes in Gaza to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok in order to demonstrate the army’s prowess to the Israeli public.

    During the 2021 assault, Israel struck nine targets that were defined as power targets — all of them high-rise buildings. “The goal was to collapse the high-rises in order to put pressure on Hamas, and also so that the [Israeli] public would see a victory image,” one security source told +972 and Local Call.

    However, the source continued, “it didn’t work. As someone who has followed Hamas, I heard firsthand how much they did not care about the civilians and the buildings that were taken down. Sometimes the army found something in a high-rise building that was related to Hamas, but it was also possible to hit that specific target with more accurate weaponry. The bottom line is that they knocked down a high-rise for the sake of knocking down a high-rise.”
    ‘Everyone was looking for their children in these piles’

    Not only has the current war seen Israel attack an unprecedented number of power targets, it has also seen the army abandon prior policies that aimed at avoiding harm to civilians. Whereas previously the army’s official procedure was that it was possible to attack power targets only after all civilians had been evacuated from them, testimonies from Palestinian residents in Gaza indicate that, since October 7, Israel has attacked high-rises with their residents still inside, or without having taken significant steps to evacuate them, leading to many civilian deaths.

    Such attacks very often result in the killing of entire families, as experienced in previous offensives; according to an investigation by AP conducted after the 2014 war, about 89 percent of those killed in the aerial bombings of family homes were unarmed residents, and most of them were children and women.

    Tishler, the air force chief of staff, confirmed a shift in policy, telling reporters that the army’s “roof knocking” policy — whereby it would fire a small initial strike on the roof of a building to warn residents that it is about to be struck — is no longer in use “where there is an enemy.” Roof knocking, Tishler said, is “a term that is relevant to rounds [of fighting] and not to war.”

    The sources who have previously worked on power targets said that the brazen strategy of the current war could be a dangerous development, explaining that attacking power targets was originally intended to “shock” Gaza but not necessarily to kill large numbers of civilians. “The targets were designed with the assumption that high-rises would be evacuated of people, so when we were working on [compiling the targets], there was no concern whatsoever regarding how many civilians would be harmed; the assumption was that the number would always be zero,” said one source with deep knowledge of the tactic.

    “This would mean there would be a total evacuation [of the targeted buildings], which takes two to three hours, during which the residents are called [by phone to evacuate], warning missiles are fired, and we also crosscheck with drone footage that people are indeed leaving the high-rise,” the source added.

    However, evidence from Gaza suggests that some high-rises — which we assume to have been power targets — were toppled without prior warning. +972 and Local Call located at least two cases during the current war in which entire residential high-rises were bombed and collapsed without warning, and one case in which, according to the evidence, a high-rise building collapsed on civilians who were inside.

    On Oct. 10, Israel bombed the Babel Building in Gaza, according to the testimony of Bilal Abu Hatzira, who rescued bodies from the ruins that night. Ten people were killed in the attack on the building, including three journalists.

    On Oct. 25, the 12-story Al-Taj residential building in Gaza City was bombed to the ground, killing the families living inside it without warning. About 120 people were buried under the ruins of their apartments, according to the testimonies of residents. Yousef Amar Sharaf, a resident of Al-Taj, wrote on X that 37 of his family members who lived in the building were killed in the attack: “My dear father and mother, my beloved wife, my sons, and most of my brothers and their families.” Residents stated that a lot of bombs were dropped, damaging and destroying apartments in nearby buildings too.

    Six days later, on Oct. 31, the eight-story Al-Mohandseen residential building was bombed without warning. Between 30 and 45 bodies were reportedly recovered from the ruins on the first day. One baby was found alive, without his parents. Journalists estimated that over 150 people were killed in the attack, as many remained buried under the rubble.

    The building used to stand in Nuseirat Refugee Camp, south of Wadi Gaza — in the supposed “safe zone” to which Israel directed the Palestinians who fled their homes in northern and central Gaza — and therefore served as temporary shelter for the displaced, according to testimonies.

    According to an investigation by Amnesty International, on Oct. 9, Israel shelled at least three multi-story buildings, as well as an open flea market on a crowded street in the Jabaliya Refugee Camp, killing at least 69 people. “The bodies were burned … I didn’t want to look, I was scared of looking at Imad’s face,” said the father of a child who was killed. “The bodies were scattered on the floor. Everyone was looking for their children in these piles. I recognized my son only by his trousers. I wanted to bury him immediately, so I carried my son and got him out.”

    According to Amnesty’s investigation, the army said that the attack on the market area was aimed at a mosque “where there were Hamas operatives.” However, according to the same investigation, satellite images do not show a mosque in the vicinity.

    The IDF Spokesperson did not address +972’s and Local Call’s queries about specific attacks, but stated more generally that “the IDF provided warnings before attacks in various ways, and when the circumstances allowed it, also delivered individual warnings through phone calls to people who were at or near the targets (there were more from 25,000 live conversations during the war, alongside millions of recorded conversations, text messages and leaflets dropped from the air for the purpose of warning the population). In general, the IDF works to reduce harm to civilians as part of the attacks as much as possible, despite the challenge of fighting a terrorist organization that uses the citizens of Gaza as human shields.”
    ‘The machine produced 100 targets in one day’

    According to the IDF Spokesperson, by Nov. 10, during the first 35 days of fighting, Israel attacked a total of 15,000 targets in Gaza. Based on multiple sources, this is a very high figure compared to the four previous major operations in the Strip. During Guardian of the Walls in 2021, Israel attacked 1,500 targets in 11 days. In Protective Edge in 2014, which lasted 51 days, Israel struck between 5,266 and 6,231 targets. During Pillar of Defense in 2012, about 1,500 targets were attacked over eight days. In Cast Lead” in 2008, Israel struck 3,400 targets in 22 days.

    Intelligence sources who served in the previous operations also told +972 and Local Call that, for 10 days in 2021 and three weeks in 2014, an attack rate of 100 to 200 targets per day led to a situation in which the Israeli Air Force had no targets of military value left. Why, then, after nearly two months, has the Israeli army not yet run out of targets in the current war?

    The answer may lie in a statement from the IDF Spokesperson on Nov. 2, according to which it is using the AI system Habsora (“The Gospel”), which the spokesperson says “enables the use of automatic tools to produce targets at a fast pace, and works by improving accurate and high-quality intelligence material according to [operational] needs.”

    In the statement, a senior intelligence official is quoted as saying that thanks to Habsora, targets are created for precision strikes “while causing great damage to the enemy and minimal damage to non-combatants. Hamas operatives are not immune — no matter where they hide.”

    According to intelligence sources, Habsora generates, among other things, automatic recommendations for attacking private residences where people suspected of being Hamas or Islamic Jihad operatives live. Israel then carries out large-scale assassination operations through the heavy shelling of these residential homes.

    Habsora, explained one of the sources, processes enormous amounts of data that “tens of thousands of intelligence officers could not process,” and recommends bombing sites in real time. Because most senior Hamas officials head into underground tunnels with the start of any military operation, the sources say, the use of a system like Habsora makes it possible to locate and attack the homes of relatively junior operatives.

    One former intelligence officer explained that the Habsora system enables the army to run a “mass assassination factory,” in which the “emphasis is on quantity and not on quality.” A human eye “will go over the targets before each attack, but it need not spend a lot of time on them.” Since Israel estimates that there are approximately 30,000 Hamas members in Gaza, and they are all marked for death, the number of potential targets is enormous.

    In 2019, the Israeli army created a new center aimed at using AI to accelerate target generation. “The Targets Administrative Division is a unit that includes hundreds of officers and soldiers, and is based on AI capabilities,” said former IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi in an in-depth interview with Ynet earlier this year.

    “This is a machine that, with the help of AI, processes a lot of data better and faster than any human, and translates it into targets for attack,” Kochavi went on. “The result was that in Operation Guardian of the Walls [in 2021], from the moment this machine was activated, it generated 100 new targets every day. You see, in the past there were times in Gaza when we would create 50 targets per year. And here the machine produced 100 targets in one day.”

    “We prepare the targets automatically and work according to a checklist,” one of the sources who worked in the new Targets Administrative Division told +972 and Local Call. “It really is like a factory. We work quickly and there is no time to delve deep into the target. The view is that we are judged according to how many targets we manage to generate.”

    A senior military official in charge of the target bank told the Jerusalem Post earlier this year that, thanks to the army’s AI systems, for the first time the military can generate new targets at a faster rate than it attacks. Another source said the drive to automatically generate large numbers of targets is a realization of the Dahiya Doctrine.

    Automated systems like Habsora have thus greatly facilitated the work of Israeli intelligence officers in making decisions during military operations, including calculating potential casualties. Five different sources confirmed that the number of civilians who may be killed in attacks on private residences is known in advance to Israeli intelligence, and appears clearly in the target file under the category of “collateral damage.”

    According to these sources, there are degrees of collateral damage, according to which the army determines whether it is possible to attack a target inside a private residence. “When the general directive becomes ‘Collateral Damage 5,’ that means we are authorized to strike all targets that will kill five or less civilians — we can act on all target files that are five or less,” said one of the sources.

    “In the past, we did not regularly mark the homes of junior Hamas members for bombing,” said a security official who participated in attacking targets during previous operations. “In my time, if the house I was working on was marked Collateral Damage 5, it would not always be approved [for attack].” Such approval, he said, would only be received if a senior Hamas commander was known to be living in the home.

    “To my understanding, today they can mark all the houses of [any Hamas military operative regardless of rank],” the source continued. “That is a lot of houses. Hamas members who don’t really matter for anything live in homes across Gaza. So they mark the home and bomb the house and kill everyone there.”
    A concerted policy to bomb family homes

    On Oct. 22, the Israeli Air Force bombed the home of the Palestinian journalist Ahmed Alnaouq in the city of Deir al-Balah. Ahmed is a close friend and colleague of mine; four years ago, we founded a Hebrew Facebook page called “Across the Wall,” with the aim of bringing Palestinian voices from Gaza to the Israeli public.

    The strike on Oct. 22 collapsed blocks of concrete onto Ahmed’s entire family, killing his father, brothers, sisters, and all of their children, including babies. Only his 12-year-old niece, Malak, survived and remained in a critical condition, her body covered in burns. A few days later, Malak died.

    Twenty-one members of Ahmed’s family were killed in total, buried under their home. None of them were militants. The youngest was 2 years old; the oldest, his father, was 75. Ahmed, who is currently living in the UK, is now alone out of his entire family.

    Ahmed’s family WhatsApp group is titled “Better Together.” The last message that appears there was sent by him, a little after midnight on the night he lost his family. “Someone let me know that everything is fine,” he wrote. No one answered. He fell asleep, but woke up in a panic at 4 a.m. Drenched in sweat, he checked his phone again. Silence. Then he received a message from a friend with the terrible news.

    Ahmed’s case is common in Gaza these days. In interviews to the press, heads of Gaza hospitals have been echoing the same description: families enter hospitals as a succession of corpses, a child followed by his father followed by his grandfather. The bodies are all covered in dirt and blood.

    According to former Israeli intelligence officers, in many cases in which a private residence is bombed, the goal is the “assassination of Hamas or Jihad operatives,” and such targets are attacked when the operative enters the home. Intelligence researchers know if the operative’s family members or neighbors may also die in an attack, and they know how to calculate how many of them may die. Each of the sources said that these are private homes, where in the majority of cases, no military activity is carried out.

    +972 and Local Call do not have data regarding the number of military operatives who were indeed killed or wounded by aerial strikes on private residences in the current war, but there is ample evidence that, in many cases, none were military or political operatives belonging to Hamas or Islamic Jihad.

    On Oct. 10, the Israeli Air Force bombed an apartment building in Gaza’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, killing 40 people, most of them women and children. In one of the shocking videos taken following the attack, people are seen screaming, holding what appears to be a doll pulled from the ruins of the house, and passing it from hand to hand. When the camera zooms in, one can see that it is not a doll, but the body of a baby.

    One of the residents said that 19 members of his family were killed in the strike. Another survivor wrote on Facebook that he only found his son’s shoulder in the rubble. Amnesty investigated the attack and discovered that a Hamas member lived on one of the upper floors of the building, but was not present at the time of the attack.

    The bombing of family homes where Hamas or Islamic Jihad operatives supposedly live likely became a more concerted IDF policy during Operation Protective Edge in 2014. Back then, 606 Palestinians — about a quarter of the civilian deaths during the 51 days of fighting — were members of families whose homes were bombed. A UN report defined it in 2015 as both a potential war crime and “a new pattern” of action that “led to the death of entire families.”

    In 2014, 93 babies were killed as a result of Israeli bombings of family homes, of which 13 were under 1 year old. A month ago, 286 babies aged 1 or under were already identified as having been killed in Gaza, according to a detailed ID list with the ages of victims published by the Gaza Health Ministry on Oct. 26. The number has since likely doubled or tripled.

    However, in many cases, and especially during the current attacks on Gaza, the Israeli army has carried out attacks that struck private residences even when there is no known or clear military target. For example, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, by Nov. 29, Israel had killed 50 Palestinian journalists in Gaza, some of them in their homes with their families.

    Roshdi Sarraj, 31, a journalist from Gaza who was born in Britain, founded a media outlet in Gaza called “Ain Media.” On Oct. 22, an Israeli bomb struck his parents’ home where he was sleeping, killing him. The journalist Salam Mema similarly died under the ruins of her home after it was bombed; of her three young children, Hadi, 7, died, while Sham, 3, has not yet been found under the rubble. Two other journalists, Duaa Sharaf and Salma Makhaimer, were killed together with their children in their homes.

    Israeli analysts have admitted that the military effectiveness of these kinds of disproportionate aerial attacks is limited. Two weeks after the start of the bombings in Gaza (and before the ground invasion) — after the bodies of 1,903 children, approximately 1,000 women, and 187 elderly men were counted in the Gaza Strip — Israeli commentator Avi Issacharoff tweeted: “As hard as it is to hear, on the 14th day of fighting, it does not appear that the military arm of Hamas has been significantly harmed. The most significant damage to the military leadership is the assassination of [Hamas commander] Ayman Nofal.”
    ‘Fighting human animals’

    Hamas militants regularly operate out of an intricate network of tunnels built under large stretches of the Gaza Strip. These tunnels, as confirmed by the former Israeli intelligence officers we spoke to, also pass under homes and roads. Therefore, Israeli attempts to destroy them with aerial strikes are in many cases likely to lead to the killing of civilians. This may be another reason for the high number of Palestinian families wiped out in the current offensive.

    The intelligence officers interviewed for this article said that the way Hamas designed the tunnel network in Gaza knowingly exploits the civilian population and infrastructure above ground. These claims were also the basis of the media campaign that Israel conducted vis-a-vis the attacks and raids on Al-Shifa Hospital and the tunnels that were discovered under it.

    Israel has also attacked a large number of military targets: armed Hamas operatives, rocket launcher sites, snipers, anti-tank squads, military headquarters, bases, observation posts, and more. From the beginning of the ground invasion, aerial bombardment and heavy artillery fire have been used to provide backup to Israeli troops on the ground. Experts in international law say these targets are legitimate, as long as the strikes comply with the principle of proportionality.

    In response to an enquiry from +972 and Local Call for this article, the IDF Spokesperson stated: “The IDF is committed to international law and acts according to it, and in doing so attacks military targets and does not attack civilians. The terrorist organization Hamas places its operatives and military assets in the heart of the civilian population. Hamas systematically uses the civilian population as a human shield, and conducts combat from civilian buildings, including sensitive sites such as hospitals, mosques, schools, and UN facilities.”

    Intelligence sources who spoke to +972 and Local Call similarly claimed that in many cases Hamas “deliberately endangers the civilian population in Gaza and tries to forcefully prevent civilians from evacuating.” Two sources said that Hamas leaders “understand that Israeli harm to civilians gives them legitimacy in fighting.”

    At the same time, while it’s hard to imagine now, the idea of dropping a one-ton bomb aimed at killing a Hamas operative yet ending up killing an entire family as “collateral damage” was not always so readily accepted by large swathes of Israeli society. In 2002, for example, the Israeli Air Force bombed the home of Salah Mustafa Muhammad Shehade, then the head of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing. The bomb killed him, his wife Eman, his 14-year-old daughter Laila, and 14 other civilians, including 11 children. The killing caused a public uproar in both Israel and the world, and Israel was accused of committing war crimes.

    That criticism led to a decision by the Israeli army in 2003 to drop a smaller, quarter-ton bomb on a meeting of top Hamas officials — including the elusive leader of Al-Qassam Brigades, Mohammed Deif — taking place in a residential building in Gaza, despite the fear that it would not be powerful enough to kill them. In his book “To Know Hamas,” veteran Israeli journalist Shlomi Eldar wrote that the decision to use a relatively small bomb was due to the Shehade precedent, and the fear that a one-ton bomb would kill the civilians in the building as well. The attack failed, and the senior military wing officers fled the scene.

    In December 2008, in the first major war that Israel waged against Hamas after it seized power in Gaza, Yoav Gallant, who at the time headed the IDF Southern Command, said that for the first time Israel was “hitting the family homes” of senior Hamas officials with the aim of destroying them, but not harming their families. Gallant emphasized that the homes were attacked after the families were warned by a “knock on the roof,” as well as by phone call, after it was clear that Hamas military activity was taking place inside the house.

    After 2014’s Protective Edge, during which Israel began to systematically strike family homes from the air, human rights groups like B’Tselem collected testimonies from Palestinians who survived these attacks. The survivors said the homes collapsed in on themselves, glass shards cut the bodies of those inside, the debris “smells of blood,” and people were buried alive.

    This deadly policy continues today — thanks in part to the use of destructive weaponry and sophisticated technology like Habsora, but also to a political and security establishment that has loosened the reins on Israel’s military machinery. Fifteen years after insisting that the army was taking pains to minimize civilian harm, Gallant, now Defense Minister, has clearly changed his tune. “We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly,” he said after October 7.

    https://www.972mag.com/mass-assassination-factory-israel-calculated-bombing-gaza

    #bombardement #assassinat_de_masse #Gaza #7_octobre_2023 #Israël #bombardements #AI #IA #intelligence_artificielle #armée_israélienne #doctrine_Dahiya

    via @freakonometrics

    ici aussi via @arno:
    https://seenthis.net/messages/1029469

  • #Mafias et #banques

    Retour sur l’histoire d’une saga méconnue : l’alliance que vont tisser groupes criminels organisés et #institutions_financières, des années 1920 à nos jours à l’échelle de la planète. Cette série documentaire en trois épisodes, sous forme d’enquête, plonge dans les eaux troubles de la mafia. De #Michele_Sindona, le banquier du Vatican, au cartel de #Pablo_Escobar en passant par la City et les Bahamas.

    https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/RC-024485/mafias-et-banques
    #mafia #crimalité_organisée #finance
    #documentaire #film_documentaire

  • #Interpol makes first border arrest using Biometric Hub to ID suspect

    Global database of faces and fingerprints proves its worth.

    European police have for the first time made an arrest after remotely checking Interpol’s trove of biometric data to identify a suspected smuggler.

    The fugitive migrant, we’re told, gave a fake name and phony identification documents at a police check in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, while traveling toward Western Europe. And he probably would have got away with it, too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids Interpol’s Biometric Hub – a recently activated tool that uses French identity and biometrics vendor Idemia’s technology to match people’s biometric data against the multinational policing org’s global fingerprint and facial recognition databases.

    “When the smuggler’s photo was run through the Biometric Hub, it immediately flagged that he was wanted in another European country,” Interpol declared. “He was arrested and is currently awaiting extradition.”

    Interpol introduced the Biometric Hub – aka BioHub – in October, and it is now available to law enforcement in all 196 member countries.

    Neither Interpol nor Idemia immediately responded to The Register’s questions about how the technology and remote access works.

    But Cyril Gout, Interpol’s director of operational support and analysis, offered a canned quote: “The Biometric Hub helps law enforcement officers know right away whether the person in front of them poses a security risk.”

    That suggests Interpol member states’ constabularies can send biometric data to BioHub from the field and receive real-time info about suspects’ identities.

    The multinational policing org has said that Hub’s “biometric core” combines Interpol’s existing fingerprint and facial recognition databases, which both use Idemia tech, with a matching system also based on Idemia’s biometric technology.

    Interpol and Idemia have worked together for years. In 1999, he police organization chose Idemia to develop its fingerprint database, called the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). And then in 2016, Interpol inked another contract with Idemia to use the French firm’s facial recognition capabilities for the Interpol Face Recognition System (IFRS).

    According to Idemia, the latest version of its Multibiometric Identification System, MBIS 5, uses “new generation algorithms which provide a higher matching accuracy rate with a shorter response time and a more user-friendly interface.”

    In its first phase, Interpol will use MBIS 5 to identify persons of interest (POIs) for police investigations.

    A second phase, which will take two years to become fully operational, will extend the biometric checks to border control points. During this phase the system will be able to perform up to one million forensic searches per day – including fingerprints, palm prints, and portraits.

    Interpol expects the combined fingerprints and facial recognition system will speed future biometric searches. Instead of running a check against separate biometric databases, BioHub allows police officers to submit data to both through one interface, and it only requires human review if the “quality of the captured biometric data is such that the match falls below a designated threshold.”

    To address data governance concerns, Interpol claims BioHub complies with its data protection framework. Additionally, scans of faces and hands uploaded to the Hub are not added to Interpol’s criminal databases or made visible to other users. Any data that does not result in a match is deleted following the search, we’re told.

    While The Register hasn’t heard of any specific data privacy and security concerns related to BioHub, we’re sure it’s only a matter of time before it’s misused.

    America’s Transportation Security Agency (TSA) over the summer also said it intends to expand its facial recognition program, which also uses Idemia’s tech, to screen air travel passengers to 430 US airports. The TSA wants that capability in place within ten years.

    The TSA announcement was swiftly met with opposition from privacy and civil rights organizations, along with some US senators who took issue [PDF] with the tech.

    https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/01/interpol_biohub_arrest

    #frontières #contrôles_frontaliers #technologie #empreintes_digitales #biométrie #Interpol #migrations #asile #réfugiés #Biometric_Hub #Balkans #route_des_Balkans #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Idemia #reconnaissance_faciale #passeurs #BioHub #extradition #sécurité #risque #interopérabilité #base_de_données #Automated_Fingerprint_Identification_System (#AFIS) #Interpol_Face_Recognition_System (#IFRS) #Multibiometric_Identification_System #MBIS_5 #algorithmes #persons_of_interest (#POIs) #portraits #Transportation_Security_Agency (#TSA)

  • L’erosione di Schengen, sempre più area di libertà per pochi a danno di molti

    I Paesi che hanno aderito all’area di libera circolazione strumentalizzano il concetto di minaccia per la sicurezza interna per poter ripristinare i controlli alle frontiere e impedire così l’ingresso ai migranti indesiderati. Una forzatura, praticata anche dall’Italia, che scatena riammissioni informali e violazioni dei diritti. L’analisi dell’Asgi

    Lo spazio Schengen sta venendo progressivamente eroso e ridotto dagli Stati membri dell’Unione europea che, con il pretesto della sicurezza interna o di “minacce” esterne, ne sospendono l’applicazione. Ed è così che da spazio di libera circolazione, Schengen si starebbe trasformando sempre più in un labirinto creato per isolare e respingere le persone in transito e i cittadini stranieri.

    Per l’Associazione per gli studi giuridici sull’immigrazione (Asgi) la sospensione della libera circolazione, che dovrebbe essere una pratica emergenziale da attivarsi solo nel caso di minacce gravi per la sicurezza di un Paese, rischia infatti di diventare una prassi ricorrente nella gestione dei flussi migratori.

    A fine ottobre di quest’anno il governo italiano ha riattivato i controlli al confine con la Slovenia, giustificando l’iniziativa con l’aumento del rischio interno a seguito della guerra in atto a Gaza e da possibili infiltrazioni terroristiche. La decisione è stata anche proposta come reazione alla pressione migratoria a cui è soggetto il Paese. Lo stesso giorno in cui l’Italia ha annunciato la sospensione della libera circolazione -misura prorogata- la stessa scelta è stata presa anche da Slovenia, Austria, Repubblica Ceca, Slovacchia, Polonia e Germania. Una prassi che rischia di agevolare le violazioni dei diritti delle persone in transito. “Questa pratica, così come l’uso degli accordi bilaterali di riammissione, ha di fatto consentito alle autorità di frontiera dei vari Stati membri di impedire l’ingresso nel territorio e di applicare respingimenti ai danni di persone migranti e richiedenti asilo, in violazione di numerose norme nazionali e sovranazionali”, scrive l’Asgi.

    Il “Codice frontiere Schengen” prevede che i confini interni possano essere attraversati in un qualsiasi punto senza controlli sulle persone, in modo indipendente dalla loro nazionalità. Secondo i dati del Consiglio dell’Unione europea, circa 3,5 milioni di persone attraverserebbero questi confini ogni giorno mentre in 1,7 milioni lavorerebbero in un Paese diverso da quello di residenza, attraversando così una frontiera interna. In caso di minaccia grave per l’ordine pubblico o la sicurezza interna in uno Stato membro, però, quest’ultimo è autorizzato a ripristinare i controlli “in tutte o in alcune parti delle sue frontiere interne per un periodo limitato non superiore a 30 giorni o per la durata prevedibile della minaccia grave”. Tuttavia, lo stesso Codice afferma che “la migrazione e l’attraversamento delle frontiere esterne di un gran numero di cittadini di Paesi terzi non dovrebbero in sé essere considerate una minaccia per l’ordine pubblico o la sicurezza”.

    Inoltre, anche nel caso in cui vengano introdotte restrizioni alla libera circolazione, queste vanno applicate in accordo con il diritto delle persone in transito. “La reintroduzione temporanea dei controlli non può giustificare alcuna deroga al rispetto dei diritti fondamentali delle persone straniere che fanno ingresso nel territorio degli Stati membri e, nel caso specifico dell’Italia, attraverso il confine italo-sloveno -ribadisce l’Asgi-. In particolare, il controllo non può esentare le autorità di frontiera dalla verifica delle situazioni individuali delle persone straniere che intendano accedere nel territorio dello Stato e che intendano presentare domanda di asilo”. In particolare, la sicurezza dei confini non può impedire l’accesso alle procedure di protezione internazionale per chi ne fa richieste e di riceve informazioni sulla possibilità di farlo. Infine, i controlli non possono portare a una violazione del diritto di non respingimento, che impedisce l’espulsione di una persona verso Paese dove potrebbe subire trattamenti inumani o degradanti o dove possa essere soggetta a respingimenti “a catena” verso Stati che si macchiano di queste pratiche.

    Le operazioni di pattugliamento lungo il confine tra Italia e Slovenia presentano criticità proprio in tal senso. Secondo le notizie riportate dai media e le recenti dichiarazioni del ministro dell’Interno Matteo Piantedosi, l’Italia avrebbe applicato ulteriori misure che hanno l’evidente effetto di impedire alla persona straniera l’accesso al territorio nazionale e ai diritti che ne conseguono. Già a settembre del 2023 il ministro aveva dichiarato, in risposta a un’interrogazione parlamentare, la ripresa dell’attività congiunta tra le forze di polizia di Italia e Slovenia a partire dal 2022. Sottolineando come grazie all’accordo fosse stato possibile impedire, per tutto il 2023, l’ingresso sul territorio nazionale di circa 1.900 “migranti irregolari”. “Preoccupa, inoltre, l’opacità operativa che caratterizza questi interventi di polizia: le modalità, infatti, con le quali vengono condotti sono poco chiare e difficilmente osservabili ma celano evidenti profili di criticità e potenziali lesioni di diritti”.

    Le azioni di polizia, infatti, avrebbero avuto luogo già in territorio italiano oltre il confine: una simile procedura appare in linea con quanto previsto dalle procedure di riammissione bilaterale, ma in contrasto con il Codice frontiere Schengen, che presuppone che i controlli possano essere svolti solo presso i valichi di frontiera comunicati alle istituzioni competenti. Una prassi simile è stata riscontrata lungo il confine italo-francese, dove l’Asgi ha identificato la coesistenza di pratiche legate alla sospensione della libera circolazione con procedure di riammissione informale.

    “La libera circolazione nello spazio europeo è una delle conquiste più importanti dei nostri tempi -è la conclusione dell’Asgi-. Il suo progressivo smantellamento dovrebbe essere dettato da una effettiva emergenza e contingenza, entrambe condizioni che sembrano non rinvenibili nelle motivazioni addotte dall’Italia e dagli altri Stati membri alla Commissione europea. La libertà di circolazione, pilastro fondamentale dell’area Schengen, rivela forse a tutt’oggi la sua vera natura: un’area di libertà per pochi a danno di molti”.

    https://altreconomia.it/lerosione-di-schengen-sempre-piu-area-di-liberta-per-pochi-a-danno-di-m

    #Schengen #contrôles_frontaliers #contrôles_systématiques_aux_frontières #asile #migrations #réfugiés #frontières #Europe #frontières_intérieures #espace_Schengen #sécurité #libre_circulation #Italie #Slovénie #terrorisme #Gaza #Slovénie #Autriche #République_Tchèque #Slovaquie #Pologne #Allemagne #accords_bilatéraux #code_frontières #droits_humains #droits_fondamentaux #droit_d'asile #refoulements_en_chaîne #patrouilles_mixtes #réadmissions_informelles #France #frontière_sud-alpine

    –-

    ajouté au fil de discussion sur la réintroduction des contrôles systématiques à la frontière entre Italie et Slovénie :
    https://seenthis.net/messages/1021994

  • Europe’s Nameless Dead

    As more people try to reach Western Europe through the Balkans, taking increasingly dangerous routes to evade border police, many are dying without a trace

    When hundreds of thousands of refugees crossed through the Balkans in 2015, border controls were limited and there were few fences or walls. The route was largely open.

    After several years of lull, the number of people making this journey recently increased again. Last year saw the highest number of crossings since 2015, predominantly due to ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and hostile treatment of refugees in Turkey.

    But the Balkan route has changed in the last eight years. With the help of funding from both the EU and the UK, countries in the Balkans have erected fences and built walls. When border police catch people seeking asylum, they often force them back over the border.

    Subsequently, those making the journey often take longer and more dangerous routes in order to evade the police – and the consequences can be deadly; people are freezing to death in forests, drowning in rivers or dying from sheer exhaustion.

    There is no official data on the number of dead and missing migrants in the Balkans. Efforts that have been made to collect data – for example the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project – are based mostly on media reports and are likely to be significantly underestimated.

    With RFE/RL, Der Spiegel, ARD, the i newspaper, Solomon and academics from Aston, Liverpool and Nottingham Universities, we sought to measure the scale of migrant deaths at the borders of a commonly trodden route spanning Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia. Crucially, we sought to find out what subsequently happens to the bodies of these people and what their families go through trying to find them.

    We found that the hostility people face at the borders of Europe in life continues into death. State authorities make little to no effort to identify dead migrants or inform their families, while individual doctors, NGO workers and activists do what they can to fill in the gaps. Unidentified bodies end up piled in morgues or buried without a trace.
    METHODS

    It was clear from the outset that it would be impossible to get comprehensive numbers on migrant deaths, given some bodies will never be found, particularly when people have drowned in rivers or died deep in forests.

    In Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia, we requested data from police departments, prosecutors’ offices, courts and morgues on how many unidentified bodies they had recorded in recent years. While some provided information, most failed to respond or declined to disclose the data.

    But through this process we managed to obtain data on the number of bodies known or presumed to be migrants received by six morgues near the borders along the Bulgaria-Serbia-Bosnia route. We found 155 such cases across the six facilities since the start of 2022 – the majority (92) dying this year alone.

    By speaking with forensic pathologists in Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia, we found that in each of the three countries, the legal protocol is that an autopsy must be performed on all unidentified bodies – but what happens next is less clear. Information on the deceased is fragmented and held across different institutions, with no unified system which proactively seeks to connect them with families looking for them.

    Through interviews with more than a dozen people whose family members had gone missing or died along the route, we learnt that they are left with no idea where to look or who to ask. We found WhatsApp groups and Facebook pages connecting networks of concerned families, desperately sharing photos and information about their lost loved ones. Some NGOs in Bulgaria and Serbia said they are contacted about such cases every day.

    In some cases when families approached Burgas morgue in south-eastern Bulgaria – where we recorded the highest number of migrant bodies – they were told by staff that they could only check the bodies if they paid them cash bribes. This was confirmed by multiple testimonies and NGOs operating in the area.
    STORYLINES

    RFE/RL followed the case of one Syrian father’s search for his son. Husam Adin Bibars, a refugee in Denmark, travelled to Bulgaria after his son, Majd Addin Bibars, went missing there while trying to reach Western Europe.

    After a day and a half of asking different institutions, Bibars was directed to a local police station near the Turkish border – where he was shown a photo of Majd’s lifeless body. He was told he had died of thirst, exhaustion and cold – and that he had been buried four days after his body was found.

    In an interview with ARD, the prosecutor in Yambol, a Bulgarian city close to the Turkish border, near where Majd was buried, said his body was buried after four days in keeping with their procedure of carrying out burials of unidentified migrants “fast” to free up space in the morgue.

    Some 900 kilometres away in Bosnia, iNews spoke to Dr Vidak Simić, a forensic pathologist responsible for performing autopsies on bodies found in the Drina River, which runs along the Serbian border. He said that in 2023 alone, he had examined 28 bodies presumed to be migrants, compared with five last year. The vast majority remain unidentified and are now buried in graves marked ‘NN’ – an abbreviation for a Latin term for a person with no name.

    The doctor is now working with local activist Nihad Suljić to try to help families find their missing loved ones, by checking his autopsy files to see if any unidentified bodies match the description of missing people. But he says a proper system needs to be put in place for this. “[Families] enter a painstaking process, through embassies, burial organisations, to obtain a bone sample, so that they can compare it with one of their family members,” he says.

    https://www.lighthousereports.com/investigation/europes-nameless-dead

    #mourir_aux_frontières #frontières #morts_aux_frontières #migrations #asile #réfugiés #décès #morts #Balkans #route_des_Balkans #visualisation #cartographie

    ping @reka

  • Prijelaz / #The_Passage — dedicated to our fallen comrades

    Od 14. do 21. svibnja 2021. godine u galeriji Živi Atelje DK u Zagrebu predstavljeno je spomen-platno Prijelaz / The Passage. Prijelaz / The Passage je zbirka memorijalnih portreta izrađenih od crvenog i crnog konca na botanički obojanoj tkanini koji su nastali u okviru umjetničkih istraživačkih radionica koje je osmislila i kurirala selma banich u suradnji s Marijanom Hameršak, a na kojima su sudjelovale umjetnice, znanstvenice, prevoditeljice i druge članice kolektiva Žene ženama i znanstveno-istraživačkog projekta ERIM.

    https://erim.ief.hr/en/publikacije/prijelaz-the-passage

    –-

    THE PASSAGE — dedicated to our fallen comrades

    #Selma_Banich and #Marijana_Hameršak in collaboration with Women to Women collective

    Živi Atelje DK, Zagreb, 2021

    https://selmabanich.org/index#/the-passage
    #portraits #art_et_politique #migrations #réfugiés #asile #décès #mourir_aux_frontières #morts_aux_frontières #commémoration #mémoire #textile #Balkans #route_des_Balkans

  • De nouveaux trains en région Sud, pour un meilleur service (01.12.2024)

    Mail reçu ce matin (pourquoi ai-je reçu ce message ? Mystère ! Peut-être parce qu’une fois j’ai gueulé pour la suppression d’un arrêt de bus dans la région de Briançon....)

    Madame, Monsieur,

    Pour améliorer vos déplacements, notre Région Sud est la première Région de France à ouvrir à la concurrence ses trains régionaux (TER). Pour la ligne Marseille-Toulon-Nice, la Région a confié le service à TRANSDEV qui démarrera son exploitation le 29 juin 2025 avec des trains neufs. Ce 23 novembre, la future rame qui sillonnera cet axe, a été dévoilée.

    Vous êtes aujourd’hui plus de 3,5 millions de voyageurs à emprunter cette ligne chaque année. En 2025, avec l’ouverture à la concurrence, vous serez encore plus nombreux chaque jour, atteignant 4,5 millions et progressivement 5,5 millions de voyageurs.

    Notre volonté est claire : vous offrir des déplacements avec des trains neufs plus ponctuels, plus rapides, plus confortables, plus connectés, plus sûrs et plus accessibles :

    – 16 nouveaux trains proposeront un niveau de service amélioré : 400 places, des sièges plus larges, 12 emplacements vélo par rame, un accès wifi et des espaces de restauration et de convivialité ;

    – Un gain de temps : avec 15 liaisons aller-retour par jour, soit un trafic doublé pour un prix équivalent et des amplitudes horaires adaptées à vos besoins quotidiens ;

    – Plus de sécurité : avec de la vidéo-surveillance et une présence humaine renforcée, à vos côtés.

    Les transports en TER et en cars sont une compétence prioritaire de notre Région Sud.

    Pour que vous soyez toujours plus nombreux à laisser votre voiture au bénéfice du train, nous investissons massivement dans l’offre de transport, le matériel et l’aménagement des gares et nous prenons en compte vos nouveaux besoins et vos nouveaux usages en créant par exemple de nombreux abri-vélos sécurisés.

    Madame, Monsieur, vous pouvez compter sur notre engagement total pour faciliter vos déplacements quotidiens et vous proposer des transports plus nombreux, plus fiables et plus écologiques.

    Bien sincèrement,

    Renaud Muselier
    Président de la Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
    Président délégué de Régions de France

    Transdev :


    https://www.transdev.com

    Comme si cette nouvelle me faisait plaisir...

    #région_PACA #Région_Sud #transports #trains #transport_ferroviaire #privatisation #concurrence #TER #TRANSDEV #France #sécurité #vidéo-surveillance #rame

  • Le Yoga, nouvel esprit du #capitalisme

    Le yoga est #politique.

    Pratiquante et professeure de yoga, #Zineb_Fahsi signe un essai critique sur sa discipline qui s’est fait une place dans la culture mainstream, au point d’être aujourd’hui enseignée en entreprise, dans les écoles et les hôpitaux. Car le yoga répond de façon commode aux #injonctions contemporaines de réalisation de soi : cultiver une pensée positive, libérer son «  moi  », mieux gérer ses #émotions, son sommeil, être plus efficace, plus concentré, plus résilient… Le yoga semble être la méthode miraculeuse pour résoudre les problèmes et réaliser les aspirations des individus modernes assujettis au #néolibéralisme.

    L’auteure débusque le non-dit politique véhiculé par ces discours. En valorisant le #travail_sur_soi au détriment du #changement_social, ils font porter aux individus la #responsabilité de composer avec les exigences du capitalisme, neutralisant toute remise en question du #système lui-même. Il ne s’agit pas pour Zineb Fahsi de défendre le retour à un yoga authentique mais de proposer un autre esprit du yoga, plus émancipateur.

    https://www.editionstextuel.com/livre/le_yoga_nouvel_esprit_du_capitalisme
    #yoga #développement_personnel #livre

    voir aussi :
    Comment le yoga façonne l’être néolibéral
    https://seenthis.net/messages/1013878
    via @marielle

  • #TotalÉnergies : la #carte des #projets qui vont faire flamber le climat

    La date choisie n’est pas anodine : le 18 mai 2021 coïncide avec la parution du rapport Net Zero 2050 de l’Agence internationale de l’énergie (AIE). Ce document, réalisé par une organisation intergouvernementale qui défend la soutenabilité énergétique de la planète, préconisait l’arrêt immédiat du développement ou de l’extension de tout nouveau projet pétrogazier afin de contenir le réchauffement global des températures mondiales en dessous de 1,5 °C. Fixé par les scientifiques, ce seuil permettrait d’éviter un niveau insoutenable de réchauffement, qui se traduirait par la multiplication des catastrophes naturelles. Dix jours plus tard, le 28 mai, lors de l’assemblée générale de TotalÉnergies, son PDG, Patrick Pouyanné, avait assuré vouloir transformer le groupe en « une major de l’énergie verte » pour faire face à « la révolution énergétique en cours ». Pour marquer son ambition, l’entreprise Total s’était rebaptisée TotalÉnergies.
    Feu vert pour treize projets

    Depuis, il n’y a pourtant pas eu de tournant vert, encore moins de révolution. Bien au contraire.

    Comme le montre la carte de Reporterre, TotalÉnergies a annoncé ou reçu une « décision finale d’investissement », ce qui correspond à un feu vert pour lancer la production d’hydrocarbures, pour au moins treize nouveaux projets fossiles dont la compagnie française est l’opératrice ou l’actionnaire.

    Le 1er février 2022, elle a par exemple annoncé sa décision finale d’investir dans le forage de 400 puits dans le cadre des projets pétroliers de Tilenga et Kingfisher en Ouganda, rattachés à l’oléoduc East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop), long de 1 440 kilomètres. Ils devraient rentrer en production en 2025 et atteindre une production cumulée de 230 000 barils par jour.
    Au moins une gigatonne de CO2 supplémentaire

    Quelques mois plus tôt, elle avait officialisé le lancement de la quatrième phase du projet Mero, situé en eaux profondes à 180 kilomètres des côtes de Rio de Janeiro, dans le bassin de Santos : une unité flottante de production d’une capacité de traitement liquide de 180 000 barils par jour. Son démarrage est prévu d’ici à 2025.

    Si l’on en croit les données du cabinet Rystad Energy, une société indépendante de recherche énergétique et de veille économique, communiquées à Reporterre par l’ONG Reclaim Finance, le projet North Field South, au Qatar, a obtenu sa décision finale d’investissement en 2023. Celui-ci fait partie de l’ensemble de projets North Field, pour lesquels TotalÉnergies a été sélectionné comme premier partenaire international de Qatar Energy, leur opérateur. Ils constituent, selon le Guardian et les scientifiques de l’université de Leeds, la troisième plus grosse « bombe carbone » au monde, et la première à ne pas déjà être en exploitation.

    Au total, si l’intégralité du pétrole et du gaz des projets validés par TotalÉnergies depuis mai 2021 était brûlée, cela représenterait au minimum une gigatonne de CO2 supplémentaire rejetée dans l’atmosphère. C’est 2,5 fois plus que les émissions annuelles de gaz à effet de serre de la France. L’estimation des émissions par projet provient des calculs estimatifs réalisés par Reporterre via les métriques King.
    Seize projets dans les starting blocks

    Le groupe français était, en 2022, la troisième firme mondiale ayant approuvé le plus de nouveaux projets pétrogaziers. Il était même la première entreprise privée, derrière les sociétés publiques saoudienne et iranienne.

    Reporterre a fait le choix de ne pas retenir, dans sa carte et ses calculs d’émissions, les projets ayant obtenu une décision finale d’investissement avant le 18 mai 2021, même s’ils sont entrés en phase de production entre temps. N’y figure pas, par exemple, le projet North Field East, que Total a rejoint en juin 2022, mais qui avait reçu sa décision finale d’investissement en février 2021.

    Nous avons aussi trouvé seize autres projets, au minimum, qui sont dans les starting blocks, en attente d’une décision finale d’investissement. Celle du projet d’extraction et d’exportation de gaz Papua LNG est prévue pour le début de 2024 en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée. Feu vert serait alors donné à l’installation de neuf puits, d’une usine de traitement du gaz, d’un gazoduc long de 320 kilomètres — majoritairement offshore — et de quatre trains de liquéfaction. La production, à hauteur de 6 millions de tonnes de gaz liquéfié par an, pourrait démarrer fin 2027 ou début 2028. « C’est une catastrophe pour les communautés papouasiennes, qui ont déjà les pieds dans l’eau », déclarait à Reporterre Peter Bosip, représentant du Centre pour les droits communautaires et la loi environnementale (Celcor), une ONG locale.

    « TotalÉnergies méprise autant les conclusions et recommandations scientifiques que la vie des citoyens »

    Signe d’une volonté inépuisable de poursuivre la production d’énergies fossiles, nous avons aussi relevé une soixantaine de projets d’exploration de nouveaux gisements pétrogaziers de la part de TotalÉnergies. Nous avons décidé de ne pas faire figurer les projets pour lesquels l’exploration n’a pas été probante et sur lesquels il est de notoriété publique que TotalÉnergies compte se retirer. Ces résultats sont corroborés par le rapport « Global Oil and Gas Exit List » publié le 15 novembre par l’ONG allemande Urgewald, qui montre que la compagnie française est celle qui explore ou développe de nouveaux champs dans le plus grand nombre de pays : 53.

    « Avec ces nouveaux projets pétroliers et gaziers, TotalÉnergies méprise autant les conclusions et recommandations scientifiques internationales que la vie des citoyens, dénonce Hadrien Goux, chargé de recherche et de plaidoyer carbone pour Bloom. Elle a pour réponse systématique que l’entreprise sera « neutre en carbone » à l’horizon 2050, laissant entendre que cela constitue un engagement suffisant, mais c’est faux : elle omet la nécessité de réduire ses émissions de CO2 de 45% d’ici 2030. Continuer d’investir dans les hydrocarbures est un choix criminel. »

    Le Programme de l’ONU pour l’environnement (PNUE), dans son rapport publié le 20 novembre sur l’écart entre les besoins et les perspectives en matière de réduction des émissions, pointe un décalage entre l’urgence climatique et les actions actuellement menées. Son constat est proche de celui contenu dans « l’avertissement » de Total : il montre que le monde va faire face à un réchauffement de 2,5 °C à 2,9 °C d’ici 2100.

    Mais, tandis que TotalÉnergies continue d’aller chercher du #gaz et du pétrole dans les sols, le secrétaire général de l’ONU, António Guterres, a une autre analyse. Il appelle à arracher d’urgence « les racines empoisonnées de la crise climatique : les énergies fossiles ».

    #visualisation #cartographie #industrie_pétrolière #énergie #énergies_fossiles #projets_pétroliers #pétrole #monde

  • Study: Air purifier use at daycare centres cut kids’ sick days by a third

    The results of the study at two Helsinki daycare centres are still preliminary but promising, a researcher says.

    Use of air purifiers at two daycare centres in Helsinki led to a reduction in illnesses and absences among children and staff, according to preliminary findings of a new study led by E3 Pandemic Response.

    Air purifiers of various sizes and types were placed in two of the city’s daycare centres during cold and flu seasons.

    The initial results from the first year of research are promising, according to researcher #Enni_Sanmark, from HUS Helsinki University Hospital.

    “Children were clearly less sick in daycare centres where air purification devices were used — down by around 30 percent,” Sanmark explained.

    The air purifiers were changed at two daycare centres serving as a control in the experiment, in order to rule out the effect that possible epidemic fluctuations could have on the results. The study’s next phase will continue until April.

    “We will be able to analyse whether there were only decreases in flu-type illnesses or whether the use of air purification could also help reduce stomach ailments,” Sanmark said.

    On average, daycare centre-aged children suffer 10-13 infectious illnesses every year, with each illness lasting from one to three weeks, according to the research.
    Enni Sanmark Topeliuksen leikkipuistossa.

    Meanwhile, kids between the ages of 1-3 come down with flu-like symptoms between five to eight times a year — and children also often suffer stomach bugs, on top of that. Kids are particularly prone to catching colds after returning to daycare after their summer break.

    Those illnesses are often shared by the kids’ parents and daycare staff, prompting absences from work.

    Sanmark said that employers face costs of around 370 euros for one day of an employee’s sick leave.

    “It would be a big savings if we could get rid of 30 percent of sick days spread by children, as well as the illnesses that go home to parents,” Sanmark said.

    The research aims to help build an air purification scheme that could be used at other daycare centres — namely how to get the air cleaner at such facilities in ways that aren’t too noisy, expensive or take up too much space.

    The final results of the study are expected next spring.

    “At the moment, we are cautiously positive. Daycares and schools [here] have not done this before, but of course results from around the world show that air purification can reduce pathogens in the air, so our results are in line with these findings. We’re excited and will continue our research,” Sanmark said.

    Prompted by the Covid-19 crisis, the E3 Pandemic Response project is a private and public effort that aims to “harness modern science and technology to create effective countermeasures to prevent the spreading of novel infectious diseases”.

    https://yle.fi/a/74-20062381
    #air #purificateurs #purification #Finlande #santé #maladie #transmission #enfants #école

  • La CEDU condanna l’Italia per detenzione illegale di minori stranieri nell’hotspot di Taranto
    https://www.meltingpot.org/2023/11/la-cedu-condanna-litalia-per-detenzione-illegale-di-minori-stranieri-nel

    Nuova condanna all’Italia dalla Corte europea per i Diritti umani. Oggi nell’hotspot permangono ancora 185 minori. L’ASGI chiede l’immediato collocamento in strutture adeguate e la supervisione dell’attuazione delle precedenti sentenze che, come dimostra la situazione nell’hotspot di Taranto, non hanno fatto modificare le prassi illegittime. La Corte Europea dei Diritti Umani, con la decisione del 23 novembre 2023 resa nel procedimento n. 47287/17 (caso A.T. ed altri c. Italia), ha condannato l’Italia per avere detenuto illegalmente nell’ hotspot di Taranto diversi minori stranieri non accompagnati (art. 5, parr. 1, 2 e 4 della Convenzione europea dei diritti dell’uomo), per avere utilizzato trattamenti (...)

    #Giurisprudenza_europea #Guida_legislativa #Speciale_Hotspot

  • Serco, quando la detenzione diventa un business mondiale

    Da decenni l’azienda è partner dei governi per l’esternalizzazione dei servizi pubblici in settori come sanità, difesa, trasporti, ma soprattutto nelle strutture detentive per le persone migranti. Nel 2022 ha acquisito Ors con l’idea di esportare il suo modello anche in Italia

    «Ho l’orribile abitudine di camminare verso gli spari». Si descrive così al Guardian il manager Rupert Soames. Nipote dell’ex primo ministro del Regno Unito Winston Churchill, figlio di Christopher, ambasciatore in Francia e ultimo governatore della Rhodesia – odierno Zimbabwe – e fratello dell’ex ministro della difesa conservatore Nicholas, Rupert Soames per anni è stato il numero uno della multinazionale britannica Serco, quella che il quotidiano britannico chiama «la più grande società di cui non avete mai sentito parlare».

    Serco (Service Company) è un’azienda business to government (B2G), specializzata in cinque settori: difesa, giustizia e immigrazione, trasporti, salute e servizi al cittadino. Opera in cinque continenti e tra i suoi valori principali dichiara: fiducia, cura, innovazione e orgoglio. Dai primi anni Novanta, è cresciuta prendendo in carico servizi esternalizzati dallo Stato a compagnie terze e aggiudicandosi in pochi anni un primato sulla gestione degli appalti privati. Sono arrivati poi indagini dell’antitrust inglese, accuse di frode in appalti pubblici e conseguenti anni di crisi dovuti alla perdita di diverse commesse, fino a quando il nipote di Churchill non è diventato Ceo di Serco, nel 2014. Da allora la società ha costruito un impero miliardario fornendo servizi molto diversi tra loro: dai semafori di Londra, al controllo del traffico aereo a Baghdad. La gestione dei centri di detenzione per persone migranti è di gran lunga il principale business di Serco nelle due macroaree “Europa e Regno Unito” e “Asia e Pacifico”. Ad oggi Serco ha all’attivo più di 500 contratti e impiega più di 50 mila persone in tutto il mondo. Nel 2022 ha totalizzato 4,7 miliardi di sterline in ricavi, un regalo ai suoi azionisti, tra cui i fondi d’investimento BlackRock e JP Morgan.

    –—

    L’inchiesta in breve

    Serco (Service Company) è una multinazionale britannica che fornisce diversi servizi ai governi, soprattutto nei settori della difesa, sanità, giustizia, trasporti e immigrazione, dalla gestione dei semafori di Londra fino al traffico aereo di Baghdad
    Oggi la società ha all’attivo più di 500 contratti e impiega oltre 50 mila persone in tutto il mondo. Nel 2022 ha totalizzato 4,7 miliardi di sterline in ricavi e tra i suoi azionisti ci sono fondi d’investimento come BlackRock e JP Morgan
    Il suo Ceo fino a dicembre 2022 era Rupert Soames, nipote di Winston Churchill, che ha risollevato la società dopo un periodo di crisi economica legato ad alcuni scandali, come i presunti abusi sessuali nel centro di detenzione per donne migranti Yarl’s Wood, a Milton Ernest, nel Regno Unito
    Nelle macroregioni “Europa e Gran Bretagna” e “Asia e Pacifico” il settore dove l’azienda è più presente è l’immigrazione. Su dieci centri per l’espulsione presenti nel Regno Unito, Serco oggi ne gestisce quattro
    In Australia, la multinazionale gestisce tutti i sette centri di detenzione per persone migranti attualmente attivi ed è stata criticata più volte per la violenza dei suoi agenti di sicurezza, soprattutto nella struttura di Christmas Island
    L’obiettivo di Serco è esportare questo modello anche nel resto d’Europa. Per questo, a settembre 2022 ha acquisito la multinazionale svizzera Ors, entrando nel mercato della detenzione amministrativa anche in Italia, dove la sua filiale offre servizi nel settore spaziale

    –—

    In otto anni, Soames ha portato il fatturato della società da circa 3,5 miliardi nel 2015 a 4,5 miliardi nel 2022, permettendo così all’azienda di uscire da una fase di crisi dovuta a vari scandali nel Regno Unito. Secondo il Guardian, dal 2015 al 2021 ha ricevuto uno stipendio di 23,5 milioni di sterline. «Sono molto ben pagato», ha ammesso in un’intervista. Ha lasciato l’incarico nel settembre 2022 sostenendo che fosse arrivato il momento di «esternalizzare» se stesso e andare in pensione. Ma a settembre 2023 è stato nominato presidente di Smith & Nephew, azienda che produce apparecchiature mediche. Al suo posto è arrivato Mark Irwin, ex capo della divisione Regno Unito ed Europa e di quella Asia Pacific di Serco.

    Poco prima di lasciare l’incarico, Soames ha acquisito la multinazionale svizzera Ors, leader nel settore dell’immigrazione in Europa. L’operazione vale 39 milioni di sterline, a cui Serco aggiunge 6,7 milioni di sterline per saldare il debito bancario accumulato da Ors. L’acquisizione, per Serco, avrebbe consentito «di collaborare e supportare i clienti governativi in tutta Europa, che hanno un bisogno continuo e crescente di servizi di assistenza all’immigrazione e ai richiedenti asilo». Con Ors, società appena giunta anche nel sistema di gestione dei centri di detenzione in Italia, Serco vuole «rafforzare la nostra attività europea, raddoppiandone all’incirca le dimensioni e aumentando la gamma di servizi offerti».

    In Europa i centri di detenzione per migranti sono infatti in aumento, soprattutto in Italia, dove, scrive in un report l’Agenzia dell’Unione europea per l’asilo (Euaa), i milioni previsti per queste strutture sono 5,5 nel 2023, 14,4 per il 2024 e 16,2 nel 2025. Degli scandali di Ors, abbiamo scritto in una precedente puntata: «Non accettiamo le accuse di “cattiva gestione” dei servizi offerti da Ors – scrive Serco via mail a IrpiMedia, rispondendo alla richiesta di commento per questa inchiesta -. I casi spesso ripetuti dai media e citati dalle ong risalgono a molto tempo fa e sono stati smentiti più volte». Serco tuttavia riconosce che «in un’azienda con più di 2.500 dipendenti, che opera in un settore così delicato come quello dell’immigrazione, di tanto in tanto si commettono degli errori. È importante riconoscerli rapidamente e correggerli immediatamente». A giudicare dalle inchieste giornalistiche e di commissioni parlamentari nel Regno Unito e in Australia, Paese dove gestisce tutte le strutture detentive per migranti, non è però quello che ha fatto Serco negli anni.

    Yarl’s Wood e le prime accuse di violenze sessuali

    Serco nel 2007 vince l’appalto dell’Home Office, il ministero dell’Interno britannico, per la gestione del centro di espulsione Yarl’s Wood, a Milton Ernest, della capienza di circa 400 persone, fino al 2020 in maggioranza donne. Nel 2013, le detenute iniziano a denunciare il personale per abusi e violenze sessuali. Continui sguardi da parte dello staff, che entrava nelle stanze e nei bagni durante la notte, rapporti non consensuali, palpeggiamenti e ricatti sessuali in cambio di aiuto nelle procedure per i documenti o della libertà, tentativi di rimpatrio delle testimoni, sono alcune delle segnalazioni delle donne del centro, raccolte in alcune inchieste del The Observer. Secondo l’ong Women for Refugee Women molte delle donne rinchiuse nel centro avevano già subito violenze e dovevano essere considerate soggetti vulnerabili.

    Alla richiesta di replica del giornale, la società aveva negato l’esistenza di «un problema diffuso o endemico» a Yarl’s Wood, o che fosse «in qualche modo tollerato o trascurato». «Ci impegniamo a occuparci delle persone nei centri di espulsione per immigrati con dignità e rispetto, in un periodo estremamente difficile della loro vita», ha detto l’azienda a IrpiMedia, riferendo che «ogni volta che vengono sollevate accuse vengono svolte indagini approfondite» (nel caso di Yarl’s Wood condotte dall’ispettorato per le carceri tra il 2016 e il 2017) e che «dal 2012 a Yarl’s Wood non ci sono state accuse di abusi sessuali». Nonostante le denunce, il licenziamento di alcuni dipendenti per condotte inappropriate, la morte sospetta di una donna, i numerosi casi di autolesionismo e i tentativi di suicidio, nel 2014 l’Home Office ha nuovamente aggiudicato l’appalto, del valore di 70 milioni di sterline e della durata di otto anni, a Serco.
    Il mondo avrà ancora bisogno di carceri

    «Il mondo – scriveva Soames nel report annuale del 2015, appena arrivato in Serco – avrà ancora bisogno di prigioni, di gestire l’immigrazione, di fornire sanità e trasporti». Il Ceo dispensava ottimismo nonostante gli scandali che avevano appena travolto la società. Ha avuto ragione: gli appalti si sono moltiplicati.

    Oltre la riconferma della gestione di Yarl’s Wood, nel 2020 Serco si è aggiudicata per 277 milioni di sterline il centro di detenzione Brook House, vicino all’aeroporto di Gatwick, e nel 2023 il centro di Derwentside con un contratto della durata di nove anni, rinnovabile di un anno, del valore di 70 milioni di sterline. Su dieci centri per l’espulsione presenti nel Regno Unito, dove la detenzione amministrativa non ha limiti temporali, Serco oggi ne gestisce quattro.
    Derwentside ha preso il posto di Yarl’s Wood come unico centro detentivo per donne senza documenti nel Regno Unito: con 84 posti, il centro si trova in un luogo isolato nel nord dell’Inghileterra, senza servizi, trasporti e con una scarsa connessione per il telefono. «Le donne vengono tagliate fuori dalle famiglie e dalle comunità, ci sono davvero poche visite da parte dei parenti», spiega a IrpiMedia Helen Groom, presidentessa della campagna che vuole l’abolizione del centro. Ma qualcosa sta per cambiare, dice: «All’inizio dell’anno prossimo dovrebbe diventare un centro di detenzione per uomini, e non più per donne. Probabilmente perché negli ultimi due anni sono stati occupati solo la metà dei posti». Il 18 novembre i movimenti solidali e antirazzisti britannici hanno organizzato una manifestazione per chiedere la chiusura del centro.

    https://twitter.com/No2Hassockfield/status/1727643160103301129

    Brook House è invece stato indagato da una commissione di esperti indipendenti costituita su richiesta dell’allora Home Secretary (ministra dell’Interno) Preti Patel a novembre 2019. Lo scopo era approfondire i casi di tortura denunciati da BBC Panorama, avvenuti tra il primo aprile e il 31 agosto 2017, quando a gestire la struttura era la multinazionale della sicurezza anglo-danese G4S. I risultati del lavoro della commissione sono stati resi pubblici sia con una serie di audizioni sia con un report del settembre 2023. Qui si legge che Brook House è un ambiente che non riesce a soddisfare i bisogni delle persone con problemi psichici, molto affollato, simile a un carcere. Si parla di un «cultura tossica» che crea un ambiente malsano dove esistono «prove credibili» di abusi sui diritti umani dei trattenuti. Accuse che non riguardano Serco, ma per la commissione d’inchiesta che monitora il centro ci sono «prove che suggeriscono che molti dei problemi presenti durante il periodo di riferimento persistono nella gestione di Brook House da parte di Serco».

    Secondo la commissione alcuni dipendenti che lavoravano nella gestione precedente ricoprono ora ruoli di grado più elevato: «[C]iò mette inevitabilmente in dubbio il grado di integrazione dei cambiamenti culturali descritti da Serco». I dati della società mostrano un aumento nell’uso della forza per prevenire l’autolesionismo, continua la presidente della commissione, e «mi preoccupa che si permetta l’uso della forza da parte di agenti non formati». Dall’inizio della gestione, «abbiamo apportato miglioramenti significativi alla gestione e alla cultura del centro», ha replicato Serco a IrpiMedia.

    –-

    I principali appalti di Serco nel mondo

    Serco lavora con i ministeri della Difesa anche negli Stati Uniti e in Australia. La collaborazione con la marina americana è stata potenziata con un nuovo contratto da 200 milioni di dollari per potenziarne l’infrastruttura tecnologica anti-terrorismo. In Australia fornisce equipaggi commerciali per la gestione di navi di supporto della Marina a sostegno della Royal Australian Navy. Ha inoltre collaborato alla progettazione, costruzione, funzionamento e manutenzione della nave australiana RSV Nuyine, che si occupa della ricerca e dell’esplorazione in Antartide. Dal 2006 supporta i sistemi d’arma a corto raggio Typhoon, Mini Typhoon e Toplite e fornisce formazione accreditata alla Royal Australian Navy. Infine offre supporto logistico e diversi servizi non bellici all’esercito australiano in Medio Oriente, grazie a un contratto da 107 milioni di dollari che inizierà nel 2024.

    Serco negli Usa e Australia lavora anche nel settore sanitario. Negli Stati Uniti, la società si è aggiudicata un contratto da 690 milioni di dollari con il Dipartimento della Salute, portando avanti anche in questo caso una collaborazione che va avanti dal 2013, quando gestiva per 1,2 miliardi di dollari l’anno il sistema di assistenza sanitaria noto come Obamacare. In Australia Serco gestisce 21 servizi non sanitari del Fiona Stanley Hospital, un ospedale pubblico digitale, come il desk, l’infrastruttura di rete, i computer, l’accoglienza, il trasporto dei pazienti, le risorse umane, grazie a un contratto da 730 milioni di dollari australiani (435 milioni di euro) rinnovato nel 2021 per sei anni. Nel 2015, l’azienda era stata multata per un milione di dollari australiani (600 mila euro) per non aver raggiunto alcuni obiettivi, soprattutto nella pulizia e nella logistica.

    C’è poi il Medio Oriente, dove Serco lavora dal 1947. Impiega più di 4.500 persone in quattro Paesi: gli Emirati Arabi Uniti, l’Arabia Saudita, il Qatar e l’Iraq. Qui, Serco opera in diversi settori, tra cui i servizi antincendio e di soccorso, i servizi aeroportuali, il settore dei trasporti e il sistema ferroviario. In Arabia Saudita gestisce da tempo 11 ospedali, ma la società sta già individuando nuove opportunità nelle smart cities e nei giga-progetti del Regno Saudita. È del 10 maggio 2023 la notizia che Serco agirà come amministratore dei servizi di mobilità sostenibile nella nuova destinazione turistica visionaria del Regno, il Mar Rosso. La crescita di progetti sauditi porterà questo Paese a rappresentare oltre il 50% dei ricavi di Serco in Medio Oriente entro il 2026.

    –-

    Australia, il limbo dei detenuti 501

    L’Australia è un Paese famoso per la sua tolleranza zero verso la migrazione irregolare. Questo però non ha impedito al sistema detentivo per migranti di crescere: un’interrogazione parlamentare del 2020 rivela che la detenzione dei richiedenti asilo costa ancora poco più di due miliardi e mezzo di dollari australiani, 1,2 miliardi di euro. Tra chi può finire in carcere, dalla riforma del Migration Act del 2014, ci sono anche i cosiddetti detenuti 501, persone a cui è stato revocato il permesso di soggiorno per una serie di motivazioni, come condanne a oltre dodici mesi, sospetta associazione con un gruppo coinvolto in crimini di rilevanza internazionale o reati sessuali su minori.

    «Potrebbero anche non aver commesso alcun crimine, ma si ritiene che abbiano problemi di carattere o frequentino persone losche», spiega l’avvocata Filipa Payne, fondatrice di Route 501, organizzazione che ha seguito i casi di molti “501”. Chi rientra in questa casistica si ritrova quindi a dover scontare una doppia reclusione: dopo il carcere finisce all’interno di un centro di detenzione, dove sono rinchiusi anche i richiedenti asilo, in attesa di ottenere una risposta definitiva sul visto. Queste persone, che oggi rappresentano circa l’80% dei trattenuti, spesso vivono in Australia da diversi anni, ma non hanno mai richiesto o ottenuto la cittadinanza.

    «È molto peggio della prigione perché almeno lì sai quando uscirai – racconta dal Melbourne Immigration Detention Centre James, nome di fantasia, un ragazzo di origine europea che vive in Australia da oltre 30 anni -. È tutto molto stressante e deprimente, passo la maggior parte del tempo nella mia stanza». Dopo aver passato poco più di un anno in carcere per furto, sta scontando una seconda reclusione nei centri gestiti da Serco come detenuto 501 perché, come i richiedenti asilo, non ha in mano un permesso di soggiorno per restare in Australia. Da quando è uscito dal carcere, James ha vissuto in quattro diversi centri di detenzione gestiti da Serco, dove si trova rinchiuso da quasi dieci anni. Fino a una storica sentenza della Corte Suprema australiana dell’8 novembre 2023, la detenzione indefinita non era illegale e ad oggi, secondo i dati del Refugee Council of Australia, i tempi di detenzione in media sono di oltre 700 giorni, quasi due anni.

    Chi come James si trova incastrato nel sistema, può solo sperare di ottenere un documento per soggiornare in Australia, che può essere concesso in ultima istanza dal ministero dell’Immigrazione. Altrimenti «non ci sarà altra soluzione per me che quella di tornare al mio Paese d’origine. Non parlo la lingua, tutta la mia famiglia è qui, la mia vita sarebbe semplicemente finita. Sarebbe molto difficile per me, forse non vorrei più vivere», dice James.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN8mAkEBMgU&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Firpimedia.irpi.eu%2

    Christmas Island, «un posto orribile»

    Serco arriva in Australia nel 1989 e dopo vent’anni vince un contratto di cinque anni, rinnovato nel 2014, da 279 milioni di dollari australiani (169 milioni di euro) per la gestione di tutte le strutture di detenzione per migranti dell’Australia continentale e quella di Christmas Island, un’isola più vicina all’Indonesia che all’Australia, funzionale al trattamento delle richieste d’asilo fuori dal continente, in un territorio isolato. «È un posto orribile, dove ho visto molta violenza. Ho visto persone tagliarsi con le lamette, impiccarsi, rifiutarsi di mangiare per una settimana», ricorda James, che è passato anche da Christmas Island. Lo scorso 1 ottobre, la struttura è stata chiusa per la seconda volta dopo le raccomandazioni del Comitato delle Nazioni Unite per i Diritti Umani, ma potrebbe nuovamente essere riaperta.

    Tra il 2011 e il 2015, l’epoca di maggiore utilizzo del centro, ci sono state diverse proteste, rivolte, scioperi della fame. Tra il 2014 e il 2015, 128 minori detenuti hanno compiuto atti di autolesionismo, 105 bambini sono stati valutati da un programma di sostegno psicologico “ad alto rischio imminente” o “a rischio moderato” di suicidio. Dieci di loro avevano meno di 10 anni.

    Dopo una visita effettuata nel 2016, alcuni attivisti dell’Asylum Seeker Resource Centre hanno segnalato la mancanza di un’adeguata assistenza sanitaria mentale e una pesante somministrazione di psicofarmaci, che aiutano anche a sopportare l’estremo isolamento vissuto dai trattenuti. Anche James rientra in questa categoria: «Ho iniziato a prendere il mio farmaco circa sette anni fa. Mi aiuta con l’ansia e la depressione ed è molto importante per me».

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvLLcBSpigg

    Come si gestisce la sicurezza nei centri

    Marzo 2022: l’emittente neozelandese Maori Television mostra video di detenuti di un centro di Serco contusi e sanguinanti legati con una cerniera ai mobili di una sala da pranzo. «Se quelle guardie avessero fatto quello che hanno fatto ai detenuti fuori dal centro di detenzione, sarebbe stato considerato un crimine. Ma poiché si tratta di sicurezza nazionale, è considerato appropriato. E questo non va bene», spiega l’avvocata di migranti e detenuti “501” Filipa Payne a IrpiMedia. “Quelle guardie” sono agenti di sicurezza scelti da Serco su mandato dell’Australian Border Force.

    Anche gli addetti alla sicurezza, in Australia, sono gestiti dal privato e non dalle forze dell’ordine nazionali. Serco precisa che prima di iniziare a operare, seguono un corso di nove settimane che comprende «gestione dei detenuti, consapevolezza culturale, supporto psicologico, tecniche di allentamento dell’escalation, controllo e contenzione». Al team si aggiunge una squadra di risposta alle emergenze, l’Emergency Response Team (ERT), che agisce nei casi più complessi. Sono «agenti appositamente addestrati a gestire le situazioni il più rapidamente possibile per evitare l’escalation degli incidenti», afferma la società via mail. Secondo gli attivisti userebbero delle pratiche discutibili: «Le braccia vengono sollevate dietro la schiena, la persona viene gettata a terra, messa in ginocchio e ammanettata da dietro da diversi membri del personale».

    I Centri di permanenza per il rimpatrio (Cpr) in Australia e in Italia, un confronto

    Dal 2018 a marzo 2023 sono stati registrati quasi 800 episodi di autolesionismo, secondo Serco usati come «arma di negoziazione» nei vari centri gestiti dalla società, e 19 morti. Sarwan Aljhelie, un rifugiato iracheno di 22 anni, è deceduto al suo quarto tentativo di suicidio riaprendo il tema della sorveglianza e del supporto mentale alle persone trattenute. Circa tre settimane prima era stato trasferito senza preavviso dal centro di Villawood a quello di Yongah Hill, nei pressi di Perth, a più di tremila chilometri di distanza dalla sua famiglia e dai suoi tre figli. Mohammad Nasim Najafi, un rifugiato afghano, avrebbe invece lamentato problemi cardiaci per due settimane, secondo alcuni suoi compagni, prima di morire per un sospetto infarto.

    In Australia, Serco continua comunque a gestire tutti i sette centri di detenzione attivi e, nonostante il calo del fatturato del 5% – da 540 a 515 milioni di euro – segnalato nel rapporto di metà anno, la compagnia ha annunciato di essere «lieta di aver prorogato il contratto per la gestione delle strutture di detenzione per l’immigrazione e i servizi per i detenuti fino al dicembre 2024». «Siamo fortemente impegnati a garantire un ambiente sicuro e protetto per i detenuti, i dipendenti e i visitatori. I nostri dipendenti si impegnano a fondo per garantire questo obiettivo, spesso in circostanze difficili», scrive la società.

    –—

    La storia di Joey

    Joey Tangaloa Taualii è arrivato in Australia dall’isola di Tonga nel 1975 con i suoi genitori. Oggi ha 49 anni, 12 figli e 5 nipoti, ma è rinchiuso dall’inizio del 2021 nel Melbourne Immigration Detention Centre (MIDC), uno dei sette centri di detenzione per persone migranti gestiti da Serco in Australia. Il suo profilo rientra nella categoria dei detenuti 501, come James.

    La riforma è arrivata quando Joey era appena entrato in carcere dopo una condanna a otto anni per aver aggredito, secondo quanto racconta, un membro di una banda di motociclisti nel 2009. Nonostante viva in Australia da 48 anni, non ha mai ottenuto la cittadinanza, credendo erroneamente che il suo visto permanente avesse lo stesso valore. Ora è in attesa di sapere se potrà tornare dalla sua famiglia ma non ha garanzie su quanto tempo potrà passare recluso.

    «È un posto costruito per distruggerti», dice. Dopo quasi tre anni nel MIDC è diventato difficile anche trovare un modo per passare il tempo. Le attività sono così scarne da sembrare concepite per «bambini» e non c’è «nulla di strutturato, che ti aiuti a stimolare la mente», racconta. Joey preferisce restare la maggior parte del tempo all’interno della sua stanza ed evitare qualsiasi situazione che possa essere usata contro di lui per influenzare il riottenimento del visto. «Ci sono persone deportate in altri continenti, che non hanno famiglia, e allora scelgono di tentare il suicidio», afferma, pensando alla possibilità di essere rimpatriato a Tonga. Parla dalla sua stanza con l’occhio sinistro bendato. La sua parziale cecità richiederebbe un intervento, che sostiene di stare aspettando da due anni.

    L’ultima speranza risiede nella bontà del governo, di solito più aperto verso le persone che vivono in Australia da diversi anni. Per quello, però, ci sarà da aspettare e non si sa per quanto tempo ancora: «Ho frequentato l’asilo, le scuole elementari e le scuole superiori in Australia, i miei genitori sono stati nella stessa casa per 45 anni a Ringwood, dove siamo cresciuti giocando a calcio e a cricket e abbiamo pagato le tasse. Questo è il motivo per cui i 501 si sono suicidati e sono stati deportati. Le nostre lacrime e le nostre preghiere non cadranno nel vuoto».
    –-

    https://irpimedia.irpi.eu/cprspa-serco-ors-multiservizi-globale
    #Serco #ORS #asile #migrations #réfugiés #rétention #détention_administrative #business #privatisation #Italie #Rupert_Soames #Yarl’s_Wood #Australie #Christmas_island #UK #Angleterre #Brook_House #Derwentside

    –—

    ajouté au fil de discussion sur la présence d’ORS en Italie :
    https://seenthis.net/messages/884112

    lui-même ajouté à la métaliste autour de #ORS, une #multinationale #suisse spécialisée dans l’ « #accueil » de demandeurs d’asile et #réfugiés :
    https://seenthis.net/messages/802341

  • El mar. El muro

    Agost del 2023, missió del vaixell Astral d’#Open_Arms al Mediterrani central. Les periodistes Mercè Folch i Anna Surinyach acompanyen voluntaris i tripulació durant una setmana intensa en què els rescats s’encavalquen els uns darrere dels altres. En pocs dies, l’ONG ha pogut salvar la vida de més d’un miler de persones. D’altres no han tingut la mateixa sort i se’ls ha perdut la pista per sempre.

    https://www.ccma.cat/3cat/proleg/audio/1188520

    #naufrage #sauvetage #audio #podcast #migrations #asile #réfugiés #Méditerranée #mer_Méditerranée

  • Le #Niger défie l’Europe sur la question migratoire

    En abrogeant une #loi de 2015 réprimant le trafic illicite de migrants, la junte au pouvoir à Niamey met un terme à la coopération avec l’Union européenne en matière de contrôles aux frontières.

    En abrogeant une loi de 2015 réprimant le trafic illicite de migrants, la junte au pouvoir à Niamey met un terme à la coopération avec l’Union européenne en matière de contrôles aux frontières.

    L’épreuve de force est engagée entre le Niger et l’Union européenne (UE) sur la question migratoire. La junte issue du coup d’Etat de juillet à Niamey a fait monter les enchères, lundi 27 novembre, en abrogeant une loi datant de 2015, pénalisant le #trafic_illicite_de_migrants.

    Ce dispositif répressif, un des grands acquis de la coopération de Bruxelles avec des Etats africains, visant à endiguer les flux migratoires vers la Méditerannée, est aujourd’hui dénoncé par le pouvoir nigérien comme ayant été adopté « sous l’influence de certaines puissances étrangères » et au détriment des « intérêts du Niger et de ses citoyens ».

    L’annonce promet d’avoir d’autant plus d’écho à Bruxelles que le pays sahélien occupe une place stratégique sur les routes migratoires du continent africain en sa qualité de couloir de transit privilégié vers la Libye, plate-forme de projection – avec la Tunisie – vers l’Italie. Elle intervient au plus mauvais moment pour les Européens, alors qu’ils peinent à unifier leurs positions face à la nouvelle vague d’arrivées qui touche l’Italie. Du 1er janvier au 26 novembre, le nombre de migrants et réfugiés ayant débarqué sur le littoral de la Péninsule s’est élevé à 151 312, soit une augmentation de 61 % par rapport à la même période en 2022. La poussée est sans précédent depuis la crise migratoire de 2015-2016.

    Inquiétude à Bruxelles

    La commissaire européenne aux affaires intérieures, la Suédoise Ylva Johansson, s’est dite mardi « très préoccupée » par la volte-face nigérienne. La décision semble répondre au récent durcissement de l’UE à l’égard des putschistes. Le 23 novembre, le Parlement de Strasbourg avait « fermement condamné » le coup d’Etat à Niamey, un mois après l’adoption par le Conseil européen d’un « cadre de mesures restrictives », ouvrant la voie à de futures sanctions.

    « Les dirigeants à Niamey sont dans une grande opération de #chantage envers l’UE, commente un diplomate occidental familier du Niger. Ils savent que le sujet migratoire est source de crispation au sein de l’UE et veulent ouvrir une brèche dans la position européenne, alors qu’ils sont asphyxiés par les #sanctions_économiques décidées par la Communauté économique des Etats d’Afrique de l’Ouest [Cedeao]. Il ne leur a pas échappé que l’Italie est encline à plus de souplesse à leur égard, précisément à cause de cette question migratoire. »
    Mais le #défi lancé par la junte aux pays européens pourrait être plus radical encore, jusqu’à s’approcher du point de rupture. « La décision des dirigeants de Niamey montre qu’ils ont tout simplement abandonné toute idée de négocier avec l’UE à l’avenir, souligne une autre source diplomatique occidentale. Car un retour en arrière serait extrêmement difficile après l’abrogation de la loi. Ils montrent qu’ils ont choisi leur camp. Ils vont désormais nous tourner le dos, comme l’ont fait les Maliens. Ils ont abandonné leur principal point de pression avec l’UE. »

    Si l’inquiétude monte à Bruxelles face à un verrou migratoire en train de sauter, c’est le soulagement qui prévaut au Niger, où les rigueurs de la loi de 2015 avaient été mal vécues. Des réactions de satisfaction ont été enregistrées à Agadez, la grande ville du nord et « capitale » touareg, carrefour historique des migrants se préparant à la traversée du Sahara. « Les gens affichent leur #joie, rapporte Ahmadou Atafa, rédacteur au journal en ligne Aïr Info, installé à Agadez. Ils pensent qu’ils vont pouvoir redémarrer leurs activités liées à la migration. »

    Les autorités locales, elles aussi, se réjouissent de cette perspective. « Nous ne pouvons que saluer cette abrogation, se félicite Mohamed Anako, le président du conseil régional d’#Agadez. Depuis l’adoption de la loi, l’#économie_régionale s’était fortement dégradée. »

    Il aura donc fallu huit ans pour que le paradigme des relations entre l’UE et le Niger change du tout au tout. Le #sommet_de_La_Valette, capitale de Malte, en novembre 2015, dominé par la crise migratoire à laquelle le Vieux Continent faisait alors face dans des proportions inédites, avait accéléré la politique d’externalisation des contrôles aux frontières de l’Europe. Les Etats méditerranéens et sahéliens étaient plus que jamais pressés de s’y associer. Le Niger s’était alors illustré comme un « bon élève » de l’Europe en mettant en œuvre toute une série de mesures visant à freiner l’accès à sa frontière septentrionale avec la Libye.

    Satisfaction à Agadez

    A cette fin, le grand architecte de ce plan d’endiguement, le ministre de l’intérieur de l’époque – #Mohamed_Bazoum, devenu chef d’Etat en 2021 avant d’être renversé le 26 juillet – avait décidé de mettre en œuvre, avec la plus grande sévérité, une loi de mai 2015 réprimant le trafic illicite de migrants. Du jour au lendemain, les ressortissants du Sénégal, de Côte d’Ivoire, du Mali ou du Nigeria ont fait l’objet d’entraves administratives – le plus souvent en contradiction avec les règles de #libre_circulation prévues au sein de la Cedeao – dans leurs tentatives de rallier Agadez par bus en provenance de Niamey.
    Dans la grande ville du Nord nigérien, le gouvernement s’était attaqué aux réseaux de passeurs, au risque de fragiliser les équilibres socio-économiques. L’oasis d’Agadez, par où avaient transité en 2016 près de 333 000 migrants vers l’Algérie et la Libye, a longtemps profité de ces passages. Ultime porte d’accès au désert, la ville fourmillait de prestataires de « services migratoires » – criminalisés du jour au lendemain –, guidant, logeant, nourrissant, équipant et transportant les migrants.

    Avec la loi de 2015, « l’ensemble de la chaîne de ces services à la migration s’est écroulé », se souvient M. Anako. Le coup a été d’autant plus dur pour les populations locales que, dans les années 2010, la floraison de ces activités était venue opportunément compenser l’effondrement du tourisme, victime des rébellions touareg (1990-1997 et 2007-2009), puis du djihadisme. A partir de 2017, Agadez n’était plus que l’ombre d’elle-même. Certains notables locaux se plaignaient ouvertement que l’Europe avait réussi à « imposer sa frontière méridionale à Agadez ».

    Aussi, l’abrogation de la loi de 2015 permet à la junte de Niamey de faire d’une pierre deux coups. Outre la riposte à l’Europe, elle rouvre des perspectives économiques dans une région où les partisans du président déchu, M. Bazoum, espéraient recruter des soutiens. « Il y a à l’évidence un “deal” pour que les Touareg d’Agadez prêtent allégeance à la junte », relève le diplomate occidental.

    https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2023/11/28/le-niger-defie-l-europe-sur-la-question-migratoire_6202814_3212.html
    #externalisation #asile #migrations #réfugiés #abrogation #contrôles_frontaliers #coopération #arrêt #UE #EU #Union_européenne #économie #coup_d'Etat #loi_2015-36 #2015-36

    ping @karine4

  • Cette #hospitalité_radicale que prône la philosophe #Marie-José_Mondzain

    Dans « Accueillir. Venu(e)s d’un ventre ou d’un pays », Marie-José Mondzain, 81 ans, se livre à un plaidoyer partageur. Elle oppose à la #haine d’autrui, dont nous éprouvons les ravages, l’#amour_sensible et politique de l’Autre, qu’il faudrait savoir adopter.

    En ces temps de crispations identitaires et même de haines communautaires, Marie-José Mondzain nous en conjure : choisissons, contre l’#hostilité, l’hospitalité. Une #hospitalité_créatrice, qui permette de se libérer à la fois de la loi du sang et du #patriarcat.

    Pour ce faire, il faut passer de la filiation biologique à la « #philiation » − du grec philia, « #amitié ». Mais une #amitié_politique et proactive : #abriter, #nourrir, #loger, #soigner l’Autre qui nous arrive ; ce si proche venu de si loin.

    L’hospitalité fut un objet d’étude et de réflexion de Jacques Derrida (1930-2004). Née douze ans après lui, à Alger comme lui, Marie-José Mondzain poursuit la réflexion en rompant avec « toute légitimité fondée sur la réalité ou le fantasme des origines ». Et en prônant l’#adoption comme voie de réception, de prise en charge, de #bienvenue.

    Son essai Accueillir. Venu(e)s d’un ventre ou d’un pays se voudrait programmatique en invitant à « repenser les #liens qui se constituent politiquement et poétiquement dans la #rencontre de tout sujet qu’il nous incombe d’adopter ».

    D’Abraham au film de Tarkovski Andreï Roublev, d’Ulysse à A. I. Intelligence artificielle de Spielberg en passant par Antigone, Shakespeare ou Melville, se déploie un plaidoyer radical et généreux, « phraternel », pour faire advenir l’humanité « en libérant les hommes et les femmes des chaînes qui les ont assignés à des #rapports_de_force et d’#inégalité ».

    En cette fin novembre 2023, alors que s’ajoute, à la phobie des migrants qui laboure le monde industriel, la guerre menée par Israël contre le Hamas, nous avons d’emblée voulu interroger Marie-José Mondzain sur cette violence-là.

    Signataire de la tribune « Vous n’aurez pas le silence des juifs de France » condamnant le pilonnage de Gaza, la philosophe est l’autrice d’un livre pionnier, adapté de sa thèse d’État qui forait dans la doctrine des Pères de l’Église concernant la représentation figurée : Image, icône, économie. Les sources byzantines de l’imaginaire contemporain (Seuil, 1996).

    Mediapart : Comment voyez-vous les images qui nous travaillent depuis le 7 octobre ?

    Marie-José Mondzain : Il y a eu d’emblée un régime d’images relevant de l’événement dans sa violence : le massacre commis par le Hamas tel qu’il fut en partie montré par Israël. À cela s’est ensuite substitué le tableau des visages et des noms des otages, devenu toile de fond iconique.

    Du côté de Gaza apparaît un champ de ruines, des maisons effondrées, des rues impraticables. Le tout depuis un aplomb qui n’est plus un regard humain mais d’oiseau ou d’aviateur, du fait de l’usage des drones. La mort est alors sans visages et sans noms.

    Face au phénomène d’identification du côté israélien s’est donc développée une rhétorique de l’invisibilité palestinienne, avec ces guerriers du Hamas se terrant dans des souterrains et que traque l’armée israélienne sans jamais donner à voir la moindre réalité humaine de cet ennemi.

    Entre le visible et l’invisible ainsi organisés, cette question de l’image apparaît donc extrêmement dissymétrique. Dissymétrie accentuée par la mise en scène des chaînes d’information en continu, qui séparent sur les écrans, avec des bandes lumineuses et colorées, les vues de Gaza en ruine et l’iconostase des otages.

    C’est avec de telles illustrations dans leur dos que les prétendus experts rassemblés en studio s’interrogent : « Comment retrouver la paix ? » Comme si la paix était suspendue à ces images et à la seule question des otages. Or, le contraire de la guerre, ce n’est pas la paix − et encore moins la trêve −, mais la justice.

    Nous assistons plutôt au triomphe de la loi du talion, dont les images deviennent un levier. Au point que visionner les vidéos des massacres horrifiques du Hamas dégénère en obligation…

    Les images deviennent en effet une mise à l’épreuve et une punition. On laisse alors supposer qu’elles font suffisamment souffrir pour que l’on fasse souffrir ceux qui ne prennent pas la souffrance suffisamment au sérieux.

    Si nous continuons à être uniquement dans une réponse émotionnelle à la souffrance, nous n’irons pas au-delà d’une gestion de la trêve. Or la question, qui est celle de la justice, s’avère résolument politique.

    Mais jamais les choses ne sont posées politiquement. On va les poser en termes d’identité, de communauté, de religion − le climat très trouble que nous vivons, avec une indéniable remontée de l’antisémitisme, pousse en ce sens.

    Les chaînes d’information en continu ne nous montrent jamais une carte de la Cisjordanie, devenue trouée de toutes parts telle une tranche d’emmental, au point d’exclure encore et toujours la présence palestinienne. Les drones ne servent jamais à filmer les colonies israéliennes dans les Territoires occupés. Ce serait pourtant une image explicite et politique…

    Vous mettez en garde contre toute « réponse émotionnelle » à propos des images, mais vous en appelez dans votre livre aux affects, dans la mesure où, écrivez-vous, « accueillir, c’est métamorphoser son regard »…

    J’avais écrit, après le 11 septembre 2001, L’#image peut-elle tuer ?, ou comment l’#instrumentalisation du #régime_émotionnel fait appel à des énergies pulsionnelles, qui mettent le sujet en situation de terreur, de crainte, ou de pitié. Il s’agit d’un usage balistique des images, qui deviennent alors des armes parmi d’autres.

    Un tel bombardement d’images qui sème l’effroi, qui nous réduit au silence ou au cri, prive de « logos » : de parole, de pensée, d’adresse aux autres. On s’en remet à la spontanéité d’une émotivité immédiate qui supprime le temps et les moyens de l’analyse, de la mise en rapport, de la mise en relation.

    Or, comme le pensait Édouard Glissant, il n’y a qu’une poétique de la relation qui peut mener à une politique de la relation, donc à une construction mentale et affective de l’accueil.

    Vous prônez un « #tout-accueil » qui semble faire écho au « Tout-monde » de Glissant…

    Oui, le lien est évident, jusqu’en ce #modèle_archipélique pensé par Glissant, c’est-à-dire le rapport entre l’insularité et la circulation en des espaces qui sont à la fois autonomes et séparables, qui forment une unité dans le respect des écarts.

    Ces écarts assument la #conflictualité et organisent le champ des rapports, des mises en relation, naviguant ainsi entre deux écueils : l’#exclusion et la #fusion.

    Comment ressentir comme un apport la vague migratoire, présentée, voire appréhendée tel un trop-plein ?

    Ce qui anime mon livre, c’est de reconnaître que celui qui arrive dans sa nudité, sa fragilité, sa misère et sa demande est l’occasion d’un accroissement de nos #ressources. Oui, le pauvre peut être porteur de quelque chose qui nous manque. Il nous faut dire merci à ceux qui arrivent. Ils deviennent une #richesse qui mérite #abri et #protection, sous le signe d’une #gratitude_partagée.

    Ils arrivent par milliers. Ils vont arriver par millions − je ne serai alors plus là, vu mon âge −, compte tenu des conditions économiques et climatiques à venir. Il nous faut donc nous y préparer culturellement, puisque l’hospitalité est pour moi un autre nom de la #culture.

    Il nous faut préméditer un monde à partager, à construire ensemble ; sur des bases qui ne soient pas la reproduction ou le prolongement de l’état de fait actuel, que déserte la prospérité et où semble s’universaliser la guerre. Cette préparation relève pour moi, plus que jamais, d’une #poétique_des_relations.

    Je travaille avec et auprès d’artistes − plasticiens, poètes, cinéastes, musiciens −, qui s’emparent de toutes les matières traditionnelles ou nouvelles pour créer la scène des rapports possibles. Il faut rompre avec ce qui n’a servi qu’à uniformiser le monde, en faisant appel à toutes les turbulences et à toutes les insoumissions, en inventant et en créant.

    En établissant des #zones_à_créer (#ZAC) ?

    Oui, des zones où seraient rappelées la force des faibles, la richesse des pauvres et toutes les ressources de l’indigence qu’il y a dans des formes de précarité.

    La ZAD (zone à défendre) ne m’intéresse effectivement que dans la mesure où elle se donne pour but d’occuper autrement les lieux, c’est-à-dire en y créant la scène d’une redistribution des places et d’un partage des pouvoirs face aux tyrannies économiques.

    Pas uniquement économiques...

    Il faut bien sûr compter avec ce qui vient les soutenir, anthropologiquement, puisque ces tyrannies s’équipent de tout un appareil symbolique et d’affects touchant à l’imaginaire.

    Aujourd’hui, ce qui me frappe, c’est la place de la haine dans les formes de #despotisme à l’œuvre. Après – ou avant – Trump, nous venons d’avoir droit, en Argentine, à Javier Milei, l’homme qui se pose en meurtrier prenant le pouvoir avec une tronçonneuse.

    Vous y opposez une forme d’amitié, de #fraternité, la « #filia », que vous écrivez « #philia ».

    Le [ph] désigne des #liens_choisis et construits, qui engagent politiquement tous nos affects, la totalité de notre expérience sensible, pour faire échec aux formes d’exclusion inspirées par la #phobie.

    Est-ce une façon d’échapper au piège de l’origine ?

    Oui, ainsi que de la #naturalisation : le #capitalisme se considère comme un système naturel, de même que la rivalité, le désir de #propriété ou de #richesse sont envisagés comme des #lois_de_la_nature.

    D’où l’appellation de « #jungle_de_Calais », qui fait référence à un état de nature et d’ensauvagement, alors que le film de Nicolas Klotz et Élisabeth Perceval, L’Héroïque lande. La frontière brûle (2018), montre magnifiquement que ce refuge n’était pas une #jungle mais une cité et une sociabilité créées par des gens venus de contrées, de langues et de religions différentes.

    Vous est-il arrivé personnellement d’accueillir, donc d’adopter ?

    J’ai en en effet tissé avec des gens indépendants de mes liens familiaux des relations d’adoption. Des gens dont je me sentais responsable et dont la fragilité que j’accueillais m’apportait bien plus que ce que je pouvais, par mes ressources, leur offrir.

    Il arrive, du reste, à mes enfants de m’en faire le reproche, tant les font parfois douter de leur situation les relations que je constitue et qui tiennent une place si considérable dans ma vie. Sans ces relations d’adoption, aux liens si constituants, je ne me serais pas sentie aussi vivante que je le suis.

    D’où mon refus du seul #héritage_biologique. Ce qui se transmet se construit. C’est toujours dans un geste de fiction turbulente et joyeuse que l’on produit les liens que l’on veut faire advenir, la #vie_commune que l’on désire partager, la cohérence politique d’une #égalité entre parties inégales – voire conflictuelles.

    La lecture de #Castoriadis a pu alimenter ma défense de la #radicalité. Et m’a fait reconnaître que la question du #désordre et du #chaos, il faut l’assumer et en tirer l’énergie qui saura donner une forme. Le compositeur Pascal Dusapin, interrogé sur la création, a eu cette réponse admirable : « C’est donner des bords au chaos. »

    Toutefois, ces bords ne sont pas des blocs mais des frontières toujours poreuses et fluantes, dans une mobilité et un déplacement ininterrompus.

    Accueillir, est-ce « donner des bords » à l’exil ?

    C’est donner son #territoire au corps qui arrive, un territoire où se créent non pas des murs aux allures de fin de non-recevoir, mais des cloisons – entre l’intime et le public, entre toi et moi : ni exclusion ni fusion…

    Mon livre est un plaidoyer en faveur de ce qui circule et contre ce qui est pétrifié. C’est le #mouvement qui aura raison du monde. Et si nous voulons que ce mouvement ne soit pas une déclaration de guerre généralisée, il nous faut créer une #culture_de_l’hospitalité, c’est-à-dire apprendre à recevoir les nouvelles conditions du #partage.

    https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/culture-et-idees/271123/cette-hospitalite-radicale-que-prone-la-philosophe-marie-jose-mondzain
    #hospitalité #amour_politique

    via @karine4

    • Accueillir - venu(e)s d’un ventre ou d’un pays

      Naître ne suffit pas, encore faut-il être adopté. La filiation biologique, et donc l’arrivée d’un nouveau-né dans une famille, n’est pas le modèle de tout accueil mais un de ses cas particuliers. Il ne faut pas penser la filiation dans son lien plus ou moins fort avec le modèle normatif de la transmission biologique, mais du point de vue d’une attention à ce qui la fonde : l’hospitalité. Elle est un art, celui de l’exercice de la philia, de l’affect et du lien qui dans la rencontre et l’accueil de tout autre exige de substituer au terme de filiation celui de philiation. Il nous faut rompre avec toute légitimité fondée sur la réalité ou le fantasme des origines. Cette rupture est impérative dans un temps de migrations planétaires, de déplacements subjectifs et de mutations identitaires. Ce qu’on appelait jadis « les lois de l’hospitalité » sont bafouées par tous les replis haineux et phobiques qui nous privent des joies et des richesses procurées par l’accueil. Faute d’adopter et d’être adopté, une masse d’orphelins ne peut plus devenir un peuple. La défense des philiations opère un geste théorique qui permet de repenser les liens qui se constituent politiquement et poétiquement dans la rencontre de tout sujet qu’il nous incombe d’adopter, qu’il provienne d’un ventre ou d’un pays. Le nouveau venu comme le premier venu ne serait-il pas celle ou celui qui me manquait ? D’où qu’il vienne ou provienne, sa nouveauté nous offre la possibilité de faire œuvre.

      https://www.quaidesmots.fr/accueillir-venu-e-s-d-un-ventre-ou-d-un-pays.html
      #livre #filiation_biologique #accueil

  • Recycled plastics contain more chemicals than original plastics, study finds

    An examination of recycled plastic pellets from several countries found they contain hundreds of hazardous chemicals, according to this recent study published by Data in Brief (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352340923008090)

    In short:

    - The study detected 491 chemicals in recycled pellets, with evidence to suggest the presence of an additional 170 compounds.
    - The chemicals found included plastic additives as well as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and industrial chemicals.
    - When compared to original (unrecycled) pellets of the same type of plastic, the recycled pellets contained more chemicals in higher amounts.

    Key quote:

    “Plastics act as a Trojan horse, absorbing chemicals in contact with them, with the potential for these compounds to be later released into the environment.”

    – Study coauthor Dr. Eric Carmona Martínez, via direct correspondence

    Why this matters:

    Hazardous substances can contaminate plastics at any point during their lifecycle, and because companies are not required to monitor the composition of their plastics, recycled products contain an unknown number of chemicals. As a result, recycled plastics are potentially more toxic than their original counterparts, highlighting the need for policies that gate how these plastics can be used.

    https://www.ehn.org/recycled-plastics-contain-more-chemicals-than-original-plastics-study-finds-266

    #plastique #plastique_recyclée #recyclage #toxicité

  • « Tout a brûlé, que vais-je manger demain ? » La #Bolivie dévastée par les #incendies

    En #Amazonie bolivienne, les incendies sévissent depuis des mois. Trop longtemps laissés seuls face au drame, les locaux se sont organisés avec les moyens du bord, dérisoires.

    « L’État a mis beaucoup trop de temps à réagir et maintenant, il se félicite de prendre les mesures adéquates. Sauf que c’est trop tard, les dégâts sont irréversibles », affirme Valéria Kiesekamp, habitante de Rurrenabaque, la plus grosse ville de la zone touchée par les feux. Après plus de quatre mois d’incendies dans le département du Béni et de La Paz, en Amazonie, le gouvernement bolivien a enfin pris la décision de demander l’aide internationale, lundi 20 novembre.

    L’incendie serait parti d’un chaqueo. Une pratique ancestrale de la culture indigène qui consiste à brûler intentionnellement une terre pour la rendre à nouveau fertile. Cependant, avec la sécheresse et l’absence de pluie, le feu n’a pas pu être éteint et à la mi-novembre, les flammes se sont intensifiées dans la zone autour de la rivière Béni, qui couvre le parc national Madidi et la réserve du Pilon Lajas. Ces deux parcs naturels abritent l’une des biodiversités les plus riches du monde. Il aura fallu attendre que des maisons soient détruites pour que le gouvernement réponde aux demandes des locaux.

    Depuis le samedi 11 novembre, six habitations de la communauté de Buena Vista ont brûlé dans la municipalité de San Buenaventura, qui se trouve un peu plus au nord du pays, enfoncée dans la jungle. « Ici, il y avait ma maison », montre Albertina Gomez. Au sol, un tapis de cendres. Difficile même d’imaginer qu’il y avait une habitation. « Il n’y a plus rien », dit-elle avant de repartir en larmes. Il aura suffi d’une seule braise emportée par le vent pour que la propriété de cette Bolivienne âgée de soixante ans s’embrase. Plus loin, des débris de verre jonchent le sol. Un ventilateur n’a pas fini de fondre. Les maisons de ce bourg sont presque toutes désertes depuis bientôt deux semaines. Les habitants ont été évacués dans les communautés voisines. La fumée âcre, elle, persiste.
    3,3 millions d’hectares partis en fumée

    La communauté a aussi perdu ses plantations. Des champs de cacao, de bananes, il ne reste rien. C’est Dario Mamio qui constate les pertes au lendemain du premier sinistre : « Qu’allons-nous manger demain ? Ce que je devais bientôt récolter a disparu. Il n’y a plus rien, tout a brûlé, que vais-je manger demain ? » Il s’essuie les yeux d’un revers du bras. La nuit a été longue. Il a lutté contre les feux jusqu’à l’aube. Sur son visage, des traces de cendres noires commencent à s’effacer avec la sueur. Une semaine plus tard, le village reste très menacé par les flammes, il s’agit même d’une des zones les plus critiques du département. C’est d’ailleurs là-bas que doit se concentrer l’aide internationale coordonnée notamment avec le Venezuela ou encore la France.

    Depuis le début de l’année, la Bolivie a perdu plus de 3,3 millions d’hectares à cause des incendies. L’État a longtemps minimisé la situation de catastrophe dans laquelle se trouve la région et a même accusé les indigènes de répandre des fausses informations. L’aide qui avait été envoyée jusque-là par le gouvernement, c’est-à-dire quelques pompiers en renfort et trois hélicoptères, était loin d’être suffisante. Alors les communautés locales ont été contraintes de se mobiliser, entre elles, jour et nuit pour tenter de contrôler les incendies.

    « Si je ne le fais pas, qui va défendre nos terres ? Sûrement pas l’État ! »

    Rapidement, les habitants ont organisé un système de rondes. « Toutes les activités ont été suspendues. Tous ceux capables de marcher plusieurs heures et de résister à la chaleur sont actuellement occupés par les feux. On ne peut pas se permettre de continuer la vie normalement », nous raconte Teresa, l’une des bénévoles qui ont lutté contre le feu autour de Rurrenabaque. À ses côtés, Nils Rodriguez, étudiant de vingt ans a passé plusieurs nuits à défendre le centre animalier de la Cruz Verde. « Si je ne le fais pas, qui va défendre nos terres ? Sûrement pas l’État ! » s’indigne-t-il, le regard fatigué.

    Non loin du centre de la Cruz Verde, Miguel de la Torre arrosait sa maison comme tous les matins depuis le début de l’incendie avant d’aller prêter main forte. « Voir qu’une infrastructure en ciment a pu brûler, ça fait très peur, imaginez avec nos cabanes traditionnelles. En deux minutes, il n’y aura plus rien. » Perché sur son toit, il explique qu’autour du Béni, les habitations sont construites à partir de matériaux naturels issus de la jungle, bambou, feuilles de palmiers séchées, bois, et donc facilement inflammables.
    « Je ne peux pas aller au front, alors j’aide en seconde ligne »

    Malgré l’aide internationale, qui a commencé à soulager les locaux, la tension n’est pas redescendue. « Tant qu’il y aura du feu, on continuera de lutter », dit Luz de Sure. Sur les rives de la rivière, les citadins de Rurrenabaque se sont aussi organisés. Luz et Valeria achetaient des vivres avec des dons et naviguaient quotidiennement sur le Béni pour semer à plusieurs entrées de la forêt, des bouteilles d’eau et de quoi grignoter pour aider les volontaires à tenir. « C’est une zone de guerre, nous a déclaré Luz. Je ne peux pas aller au front, alors j’aide en seconde ligne. »

    Sur place, les militants environnementaux s’accordent à dire que la région va connaître une crise alimentaire importante à la suite de ces feux. Les locaux s’inquiètent aussi pour la faune et la flore. De nombreux animaux ont été retrouvés calcinés. Et, avec la saison des pluies qui arrive, tout ce qui a brûlé va tomber dans la rivière et intoxiquer ces eaux vitales pour les indigènes.

    https://reporterre.net/Tout-a-brule-que-vais-je-manger-demain-La-Bolivie-devastee-par-les-incen

    #forêt #Rurrenabaque #chaqueo #sécheresse #rivière_Béni #plantations #cacao #bananes #agriculture #crise_alimentaire

  • La plus grande #enquête participative sur l’#extrême_droite en #France
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jnwq4-cdHw&t=1s

    Aidez nous à combattre l’extrême droite

    StreetPress.com est un #média indépendant d’investigation. Nous voulons mener la plus grande enquête jamais réalisée sur l’extrême droite et ses groupuscules radicaux. Selon nos estimations, il y aurait en plus du RN présent sur tout le territoire, près de 150 groupes actifs en France. Ils forment un maillage militant dense et s’en prennent partout dans l’hexagone à tous ceux qui ne collent pas à leur vision rance de la France.

    Nous avons décidé de ne pas les lâcher. Nous sommes convaincus que la connaissance est le premier outil de lutte contre les haineux et les violents.

    Nous avons donc décidé d’enquêter sur chacun de ces 150 #groupuscules et les milliers de membres qui les composent, dévoiler les noms de ceux qui les financent et leurs réseaux politiques. C’est un travail titanesque que nous ne pourrons mener seul. Unissons nos forces.

    ► Chacun d’entre vous peut nous aider, de manière anonyme s’il le souhaite.

    https://riposte-extremedroite.streetpress.com

    #StreetPress

    • [Street press] Johan Weisz-Myara@joweisz
      https://twitter.com/joweisz/status/1730184462531538952
      THREAD TRES TRES VENERE 🤬

      Mon whatsapp chauffe. Vous êtes des dizaines à me demander pourquoi @StreetPress est down depuis près de deux heures.

      L’explication est + flippante que la question 🧶👇

      Car qui a coupé StreetPress à votre avis ? 👇

      Non, @StreetPress n’a pas été censuré par une décision de justice.

      Non ce n’est pas un hacker qui aurait poussé nos admins système ou notre développeur dans leurs retranchements. 👇

      Oui, c’est bien @Scaleway_fr - un hébergeur français - pas un Gafa, qui a décidé de bloquer nos IP sous 48h 😱

      Bloquer un site d’information agréé par la Commission Paritaire des Publications et Agences de Presse, en 3 clicks ? C’est très simple 👇

      Voici ce qu’il s’est passé pour @StreetPress
       : Lundi, un internaute qui apparaît dans un sujet sur des néonazis qui s’entraînent dans les catacombes (ça ne s’invente pas) nous demande de le flouter - chose que l’on fait dans la foulée. 👇

      Mardi, le même internaute signale notre sujet à Youtube, des réseaux sociaux et notre hébergeur, donc.
      Le seul qui va nous bloquer en 48h, c’est donc notre hébergeur
      @Scaleway_fr qui nous envoie un mail mystique, du type « abuse #0876XXXXXXXX » 👇

      Mardi et mercredi, on taffe du matin au soir pr une grosse enquête à sortir jeudi matin :

      La semaine, ils bossent à l’Assemblée 🇫🇷 pour des députés RN, le week-end, ils militent pour des groupuscules violents 🥊🔥
      https://streetpress.com/sujet/1701278537-rassemblement-national-rn-radicaux-identitaires-monarchistes

      Allez la lire, elle est dingue. [...] Ces radicaux occupent aussi des postes-clés au sein du RNJ, la section jeunesse du...

      Jeudi matin, on sort l’enquête. Une heure plus tard
      @Scaleway_fr nous coupe.

      Encore une fois, sans décision de justice.

      L’#hébergeur bloque en 48 heures un site d’info français qui emploie 17 journalistes.

      Un site d’information politique et générale agréé par la CPPAP. 👇
      Ce fonctionnement à l’américaine pose un immense problème de censure et de liberté d’informer.

      Je pose ça ici, et je suis preneur de vos avis et retours
      @laquadrature @gandi_net @N0thing2Hide @RSF_inter

      je ne pige pas bien car les pages du site restent accessibles.. (coup de pub ?)
      sinon, c’est couillon de ne pas choisir un hébergeur de confiance situé à l’étranger (surtout pour payer un hébergeur qui appartient à X Niel, si j’ai bien compris), histoire qu’il soit moins sensibles à des campagnes politiques hostiles, ou moins contraint de collaborer avec le police et la justice française.

      en lançant leur enquête ils ont dit s’être formé en cybersécurité mais le sens politique parait leur faire au moins partiellement leur fait défaut.

      #internet #fafland

  • Les #expulsions ont des conséquences délétères sur la vie des #enfants

    L’Observatoire des expulsions des lieux de vie informels dénonce, dans son rapport annuel, des opérations qui compromettent la #scolarité des enfants et le #suivi_médical des #femmes_enceintes, à cause de l’#errance forcée qu’elles provoquent.

    Des femmes enceintes qui ne peuvent pas bénéficier d’un suivi médical continu, des enfants brutalement retirés de l’école, des mineur·es isolé·es démuni·es et traumatisé·es : les conséquences des expulsions des personnes occupant des lieux de vie informels sont multiples et délétères.

    C’est la conclusion du cinquième rapport annuel de l’Observatoire des expulsions de lieux de vie informels (#squats, #bidonvilles et #campements, #caravanes, #voitures ou camions) publié mardi 28 novembre. Il regroupe huit associations indépendantes, parmi lesquelles le Collectif national droits de l’homme Romeurope, la Fondation Abbé Pierre ou encore Médecins du monde.

    Elles ont recensé, entre le 1er novembre 2022 et le 31 octobre 2023, date du début de la trêve hivernale, 1 111 expulsions sur le territoire national, dont 729 pour le littoral nord (Calais, Pas-de-Calais, Dunkerque dans le Nord).

    Si les expulsions sur le littoral nord ont diminué de 58 %, elles ont augmenté de 24 % en un an sur le reste du territoire, outremer inclus, et concerné en moyenne 74 personnes chaque jour.

    85 % de ces expulsions sont dites « sèches », car elles n’ont donné lieu à aucune solution d’hébergement ou de relogement. 14 % ont donné lieu à des mises à l’abri pour au moins une partie des habitant·es. 1 % seulement ont donné lieu à un dispositif d’insertion, un hébergement stable ou un logement, pour au moins une partie des habitant·es, détaille l’Observatoire.

    L’organisme explique qu’il est difficile d’avoir des données précises sur les enfants mais compte cette année 5 531 enfants expulsés (contre 3 212 l’année précédente). Ce chiffre est très largement sous-estimé, a-t-il précisé lors de la conférence de presse de présentation du rapport.
    Le suivi compromis des grossesses

    Cette année, l’Observatoire s’est focalisé sur les conséquences concrètes des expulsions sur la vie des enfants et de leurs mères. Il rappelle que « la précarité, et en particulier l’absence de logement, est depuis longtemps identifiée par la littérature scientifique comme un facteur de risque lors de la grossesse ».

    Les chiffres sont éloquents. Une femme enceinte devrait avoir accès à sept consultations prénatales et à trois échographies au moins, rappelle Médecins du monde.

    Or, plus d’une femme enceinte sur trois rencontrées par les équipes des programmes fixes de Médecins du monde en France en 2022 présente un retard de suivi de grossesse, comme la quasi-totalité des femmes enceintes rencontrées par le programme de médiation en santé du Comité pour la santé des exilés (Comede) en Île-de-France. Un écart majeur avec la population générale, parmi laquelle moins de 5 % des personnes enceintes sont dans ce cas.

    Les associations soulignent que les suivis médicaux et de grossesse sont déjà erratiques d’ordinaire. Notamment parce que l’ouverture de droits à une couverture maladie exige une domiciliation administrative. Les démarches, surtout avec la barrière de la langue, peuvent être délicates. Certaines personnes peuvent aussi perdre des papiers dans la cohue des expulsions impromptues.

    Ces dernières insécurisent aussi les futures mères, qui cherchent « en premier lieu à répondre à des besoins de stricte survie », quitte à sacrifier leur santé.

    « Il y a des personnes qu’on va perdre de vue à la suite des expulsions. Elles vont se réinstaller beaucoup plus loin, dans une autre commune, à l’autre bout d’une métropole, a détaillé Antoine Bazin, coordinateur Médecins du monde à Toulouse, devant la presse. Et les suivis par les PMI [centres de Protection maternelle et infantile – ndlr] de secteur, par exemple, pour les femmes enceintes, les suivis par des médecins traitants si on peut en avoir, ou par des centres de santé, vont être rendus plus compliqués parce que les personnes vont être isolées. »

    Les expulsions compliquent aussi le suivi de pathologies. Dans son rapport, l’Observatoire rapporte comment une opération de dépistage de la tuberculose dans un bidonville du Val-d’Oise, au printemps 2023, après la découverte d’un cas sur le lieu de vie et quatre hospitalisations d’enfants, a été compromise par des expulsions successives.

    Même chose pour les campagnes de vaccination ou le repérage des cas de saturnisme, dus à une exposition au plomb pouvant affecter le développement psychomoteur des enfants.

    Par ailleurs, la vie quotidienne d’un enfant vivant dans un lieu de vie informel est aussi bouleversée par l’instabilité provoquée par les expulsions. La scolarité de ces enfants mais aussi leur équilibre mental et psychique sont ébranlés. En 2022, l’Unicef avait déjà alerté sur l’état de santé mentale dégradé des enfants sans domicile.

    Les expulsions sont de plus en plus violentes (voir l’opération « Wuambushu » à Mayotte), dénonce l’Observatoire. Antoine Bazin, de Médecins du monde, explique que les enfants sont les « acteurs passifs » de ces événements et vont vivre la violence intrinsèque au déroulement des opérations d’expulsions. En « vraies éponges », ils vont en conserver des souvenirs qui peuvent avoir des conséquences sur leur construction psychique.

    Julie Bremont, représentante du Comité de pilotage interassociatif MNA Nord-Littoral, confirme : « Les expulsions sont en elles-mêmes un moment très générateur d’anxiété et de peur pour les jeunes. Déjà, de par la violence du dispositif, avec des dizaines de camions de CRS et des policiers en uniforme. Ces opérations d’expulsion sont très souvent accompagnées de violences verbales et physiques. »
    Décrochages scolaires

    De son côté, Célia Mougel, coordinatrice de l’Observatoire des expulsions, souligne que 77 % des expulsions recensées (en dehors du Nord littoral) ont eu lieu pendant l’année scolaire, ce qui, évidemment, produit des décrochages, des déscolarisations, notamment quand on sait que pour réinscrire un enfant, il faut au moins six mois. Si les municipalités coopèrent, ce qui n’est pas toujours le cas.

    Contraindre ces familles à quitter leur lieu de vie et leur point d’ancrage entraîne des effets à long terme sur les enfants. Ils rencontrent alors des difficultés dans la continuité pédagogique, un sentiment d’exclusion ou encore des problèmes d’apprentissage.

    Le cas d’un collégien, Alex, raconté dans le rapport, le prouve. Le garçon aura vécu trois expulsions qui lui auront fait perdre une année scolaire entière. Aujourd’hui, à 12 ans, Alex et sa famille dorment sous un pont en Seine-Saint-Denis et il n’est plus scolarisé.

    Pour toutes ces raisons, l’Observatoire enjoint aux pouvoirs publics de suspendre les expulsions pendant l’année scolaire, pour éviter l’exclusion scolaire et le décrochage des enfants en cours d’année. Manuel Domergue, de la Fondation Abbé Pierre, considère qu’il faudrait aussi déployer davantage de médiateurs scolaires dans ces lieux de vie informels.

    Le reste du temps, les associations estiment qu’aucune expulsion ne devrait avoir lieu sans qu’un diagnostic social préliminaire (l’instruction du 25 janvier 2018 qui le recommandait n’est pas respectée), un accompagnement social global et des solutions de relogement dignes, adaptées et pérennes n’aient été mis en place. Cela pour permettre « une sortie des bidonvilles par le haut ».

    https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/281123/les-expulsions-ont-des-consequences-deleteres-sur-la-vie-des-enfants
    #enfance #mineurs #statistiques #chiffres #2022 #expulsions_sèches #santé_mentale #SDF #sans-abrisme #sans-abris #déscolarisation

  • LA CONDITION DES PERSONNES EXILÉES A PARIS : 8 ANNÉES DE VIOLENCES POLICIÈRES ET INSTITUTIONNELLES

    Trois ans après l’expulsion brutale d’un campement de 500 tentes #place_de_la_République, nous vous partageons le premier #rapport du #CAD (#Collectif_Accès_au_Droit), qui documente les violences policières envers les personnes exilées à Paris et dans sa proche périphérie.

    Ce travail, basé sur le recueil de 448 #témoignages recensés depuis 2015 et sur une enquête flash réalisée ces dernières semaines auprès de 103 personnes exilées, démontre que ces violences constituent depuis 8 ans la condition des personnes exilées à Paris.

    https://collectifaccesaudroit.org/rapport

    #sans-papiers #migrations #France #violences_policières #harcèlement #violence #violence_systémique #violences_institutionnelles #campement #destruction #nasse #nasse_mobile #Paris

    ping @isskein @karine4

  • Aumento di arrivi alle Canarie. Dall’inizio dell’anno più di 1.000 le persone disperse

    La principale causa è la repressione delle proteste in Senegal.

    A partire dallo scorso maggio 2023 il collettivo spagnolo Caminando Fronteras ha registrato un nuovo importante aumento di sbarchi alle isole Canarie dovuto principalmente alla situazione politica in Senegal, da dove partono la maggior parte delle imbarcazioni. Come sempre accade, proporzionalmente all’aumento di approdi, aumenta anche il numero di morti e dispersi. La risposta del governo spagnolo è la promessa di maggiore controllo sulle coste africane di partenza, mentre le strutture di “accoglienza” sono al collasso e non forniscono le condizioni minime di igiene e abitabilità.

    Secondo le ricerche di Caminando Fronteras le persone scomparse sono già più di mille dall’inizio dell’anno. Solo nel mese di giugno sono scomparse 3 imbarcazioni con oltre 300 persone a bordo. La maggior parte delle imbarcazioni che stanno raggiungendo le Canarie in questi mesi partono dal Senegal, a causa di una situazione politica sempre più tesa, che vive ora una fase particolarmente acuta.

    Migliaia di persone stanno protestando per la stretta autoritaria messa in atto dall’attuale presidente Macky Sall in vista delle prossime elezioni presidenziali che si terranno a febbraio 2024. Dalla fine di maggio in particolare, la situazione è peggiorata notevolmente e diverse organizzazioni senegalesi per la protezione dei diritti umani hanno denunciato arresti di massa che stanno colpendo anche un gran numero di adolescenti.

    La repressione è molto dura, attualmente si contano circa due mila arresti e 16 persone uccise durante le proteste. Tra le persone detenute si contano anche numerosi minori, motivo per cui negli ultimi due mesi, il numero di bambini e adolescenti che viaggiano sui cayucos è aumentato, rappresentando in alcuni casi fino al 40% delle persone che scelgono di partire a bordo di queste tradizionali imbarcazioni da pesca. Anche donne e intere famiglie stanno iniziando a imbarcarsi in misura sempre maggiore.

    Le autorità spagnole concentrano la loro azione sugli arrivi, ma non sulla pericolosa rotta che divide il Senegal dalle Canarie, attualmente quella che provoca più morti. Il viaggio da Kafountine, in Senegal, al Hierro, l’isola delle Canarie più vicina, può durare anche due settimane. Si tratta di un viaggio molto lungo, in cui le persone sono esposte alle forti correnti dell’oceano, alle condizioni meteorologiche avverse e alla possibilità di imprevisti o guasti al motore. Per queste ragioni la rotta verso le Canarie continua ad affermarsi come una delle più pericolose e con il più alto tasso di mortalità.

    L’azione statale rispetto al soccorso e alla ricerca dei dispersi presenta grosse falle, dal momento che non esiste nessun protocollo per la ricerca dei dispersi in mare e che le operazioni di salvataggio risultano attraversate e ostacolate dalle politiche razziste implementate dal governo spagnolo. Dal 2018 esiste infatti un protocollo specifico per il salvataggio delle persone che naufragano a bordo delle pateras, diverso dal protocollo di salvataggio per il resto delle persone che si trovano a rischio in mare.

    Questo protocollo è fortemente deficitario in termini di mezzi e di azione, ciò obbliga gli operatori e le operatrici di Salvamento marítimo a una differenziazione di tipo razzista nelle operazioni di salvataggio. Molte morti si sarebbero potute evitare, per esempio, se si fossero attivati i mezzi di soccorso nel momento dell’avvistamento delle imbarcazioni invece di aspettare che queste naufragassero. Queste gravi mancanze nel soccorso e nella ricerca dei dispersi non sono un caso, bensì una precisa strategia per tentare di invisibilizzare questa situazione nel discorso pubblico e il governo la mette in atto impunemente, sulla pelle di migliaia di persone che potevano invece essere salvate, la cui vita viene considerata niente più che una moneta di scambio per le proprie esigenze politiche.

    Anche una volta arrivate le persone continuano a essere oggetto di razzismo e maltrattamento istituzionale. A El Hierro, dove sta arrivando la maggior parte di persone in questi mesi, i mezzi per gestire l’accoglienza sono scarsi. Le persone vengono trattenute sulle darsene dei porti, in spazi sovraffollati e in cui le condizioni di vita sono ridotte al minimo. Anche i lavoratori e le lavoratrici delle ONG hanno denunciato la difficile situazione, soprattutto durante le ondate di caldo, in cui le persone sono state costrette a permanere diversi giorni sedute sul cemento in attesa di essere identificate e trasferite in altre isole.

    A tutta questa situazione il governo risponde attraverso la solita retorica del bisogno di un maggiore controllo migratorio. Le misure promesse dal ministro dell’interno Marlaska, riconfermato dopo le ultime elezioni, comprenderebbero anche un aereo della Guardia Civil che sorvoli costantemente le coste africane per identificare le partenze. Questo controllo non sarebbe funzionale ad attività di soccorso, come dimostrano i numerosi casi di omissione di soccorso da parte delle autorità spagnole denunciati da Caminando Fronteras, di cui uno documentato il 20 giugno scorso dall’emittente radio CadenaSER 1.

    Una volta in più assistiamo a come le politiche di controllo, non potendo fermare le migrazioni, siano solamente un dispositivo funzionale alla criminalizzazione e al confinamento delle persone migranti, e di come si rivelino uno strumento di violenza che provoca ogni anno la morte di migliaia di persone che potevano invece essere salvate. I tentativi di insabbiamento di queste morti da parte del governo spagnolo dimostrano la disumanità con cui vengono gestite le frontiere e l’opportunismo politico con cui i governi europei rigirano a proprio favore queste tragedie, di cui sono i responsabili, per mettere in campo nuovi strumenti per la persecuzione delle persone migranti.

    1. Está dentro de la zona SAR nuestra”: la SER accede a las grabaciones de Salvamento Marítimo del último naufragio en la ruta canaria, Cadenaser (22 giugno 2022): https://cadenaser.com/nacional/2023/06/22/esta-dentro-de-la-zona-sar-nuestra-la-ser-accede-a-las-grabaciones-de-sal

    https://www.meltingpot.org/2023/11/aumento-di-arrivi-alle-canarie-dallinizio-dellanno-sono-gia-piu-di-1-000

    J’avais loupé ce protocole raciste:

    Dal 2018 esiste infatti un protocollo specifico per il salvataggio delle persone che naufragano a bordo delle pateras, diverso dal protocollo di salvataggio per il resto delle persone che si trovano a rischio in mare.

    Questo protocollo è fortemente deficitario in termini di mezzi e di azione, ciò obbliga gli operatori e le operatrici di Salvamento marítimo a una differenziazione di tipo razzista nelle operazioni di salvataggio.

    –-> deepl translation:

    « En effet, depuis 2018, il existe un protocole spécifique pour le sauvetage des naufragés à bord des pateras, qui diffère du protocole de sauvetage du reste des personnes en danger en mer.

    Ce protocole est gravement déficient en termes de moyens et d’action, ce qui oblige les opérateurs du Salvamento marítimo à une #différenciation_raciale dans les opérations de sauvetage. »

    #route_atlantique #asile #migrations #réfugiés #Canaries #îles_Canaries #statistiques #chiffres #Sénégal #répression #Caminando_Fronteras #Macky_Sall #cayucos #Kafountine #Hierro #mourir_en_mer #frontières #morts #décès #mortalité #secours #pateras #Salvamento_marítimo #racisme #sauvetage_différencié #contrôles_frontaliers

  • Priced out by imports, Ghana’s farmers risk death to work in Italy

    Farmers in Ghana say cheap Italian tomatoes are ruining their businesses. Many have travelled to seek work abroad.

    Adu Poku was a farmer in Ghana. It was all he’d ever known. The maize, okra and tomatoes he grew had brought in enough money to pay for his wedding, and to prepare for the birth of his twins. But then everything changed.

    A mining company came and took over most of his land, and what he grew on the patch he had left was no longer enough to make ends meet. Cheap tomatoes from Italy had flooded the market and driven prices down. Most people in the area were struggling, and few could still afford to eat the more expensive local produce. If Adu kept farming, he was afraid he was going to starve.

    He heard that people were travelling to Italy, and there they were earning enough to keep their families alive back in Ghana. He decided he had no choice but to try his luck as well. What happens after such a decision is made is the focus of this series.

    Adu is one of six Ghanaians who tell the stories of their attempts to get Europe. All risked death in search of a better future, and many of them witnessed their travelling companions die along the way. These six men are still alive to tell us what they saw.
    The economics of survival

    This series sheds light on how, in the age of globalisation, agricultural exports from rich countries impact livelihoods and migration in poorer ones.

    We’re not the first to report on stories like this. The documentary Displaced: Tomatoes and Greed from Deutsche Welle and the results of the Modern Marronage research project both corroborate the series’ main point. But here you will hear it straight from the people experiencing it, in their own words. Their message is simple: people are leaving Ghana’s Bono region, once the country’s bread basket, because canned and frozen foods from abroad are causing their farms to fail.

    For them, the taste of this is made more bitter by what happens next. Farming is what these men know, so in Europe they often end up producing the products that had made their livelihoods unviable in the first place. They become the problem they’re trying to escape. On top of all this, their lack of papers makes them highly vulnerable in Europe. Exploitation, violence, dismal living and working conditions, precarity, and deportation are all commonplace for people in their position. All our contributors who made it were eventually detained and sent back. Getting their security back isn’t part of the bargain, despite the risks they take to get it.

    That is, if they get there. Many never make it all the way. For several of our contributors, the journey ended in Libya, where they were arrested after failing in their attempts to cross the sea. They describe their time in detention as “torture”, but what they had experienced up until that point wasn’t much better. In order to pay for their sea crossing, most had spent weeks, months, sometimes even years labouring on construction sites, trying to save money while running the gauntlet of abusive employers, kidnappers, robbers, and armed actors every single day.

    https://cdn2.opendemocracy.net/media/images/ghanamigrantsmap3.width-1025.jpg

    Giving in to ‘voluntary return’

    Once caught, all our contributors eventually chose to be ‘voluntarily returned’ to Ghana. Usually this is done by the International Organization for Migration – the UN body in charge of coordinating such repatriations. What they say about that experience highlights the ethically ambiguous nature of the idea.

    Voluntary returns are often presented as humanitarian. Proponents say they are good because they help people exit bad situations, even if they take migrants away from their goal rather than toward it. And to make that easier to accept, coordinators often offer migrants various kinds of support if they cooperate. This can include work and skills training, as well as capital to start small businesses or to invest in old ones.

    Researchers have long argued that migrants’ experiences of voluntary return are often very different to what is being advertised. Our contributors confirm this.

    To start with, they take issue with how the whole process is framed. They say that ‘voluntary’ is a strange word to use when their only alternative is continued detention in Italy or abuse by their Libyan jailers. That is a choice in name only, rather than saying ‘yes’ to something they want.

    They also believe they were misled – they claim they were offered substantially more help than they ended up receiving. They got a plane trip to Ghana and a bus ticket back to their home villages, but not the support for a fresh start that they believe they were promised. As a result, most returned worse off to the same situation they had left.

    Except for getting out of jail, nothing had been solved by voluntary return. Instead, it had exacerbated the challenges. Even after they were back for a year, our contributors said they were still facing worse socio-economic economic hardship, marginalisation, and vulnerability than before they first decided to travel. And the only solution they could see for that is more travel.

    Returning people back to an on-going problem isn’t a solution. Our contributors call instead for safe and accessible travel options, equal rights, and dignity for all. They also call for their home government, the international system, and the EU to change practices and policies so that a dignified life at home is possible.

    https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/priced-out-by-imports-ghanas-farmers-risk-death-to-work-in-italy-migr

    #Ghana #Italie #tomates #exploitation #migrations #prix #mines #extractivisme #terres #industrie_agro-alimentaire #exportation #importation #économie_de_survie #Bono #livelihoods #migrerrance #itinéraire_migratoire #retour_volontaire

    –—

    voir aussi le très bon webdoc (que j’avais mis sur seenthis en 2014):
    The dark side of the Italian tomatos

    https://seenthis.net/messages/270740

    ping @_kg_

    • Tomatoes and greed – the exodus of Ghana’s farmers

      What do tomatoes have to do with mass migration? Tomatoes are a poker chip in global trade policies. Subsidized products from the EU, China and elsewhere are sold at dumping prices, destroying markets and livelihoods in Africa in the process.

      Edward still harvests tomatoes. But he is no longer on his own fields in Ghana. He now works on plantations in southern Italy under precarious conditions. The tomatoes he harvests are processed, canned and shipped abroad - including to Ghana, where they compete with local products. The flood of cheap imports from China, the US and the EU has driven Ghana’s tomato industry to ruin. Desperate farmers find themselves having to seek work elsewhere, including in Europe. For many, the only route available is a dangerous journey through the desert and across the Mediterranean. Ghana is a nation at peace, a democracy with free elections and economic growth. Nonetheless, tomato farmer Benedicta is only able to make ends meet because her husband regularly sends her money from his earnings in Italy.

      A former tomato factory in Pwalugu, Ghana, illustrates the predicament. This factory once helped secure the livelihood of tomato farmers across the region. Today it lies empty, guarded by Vincent, a former employee who hopes to keep it from falling into ruin. In the surrounding region, the market for tomatoes has collapsed and most farmers are no longer growing what could easily be Ghana’s ‘red gold’. An agricultural advisor is trying to help local tomato farmers, but has little by way of hope to offer. Conditions like this are what drive local farmers to cut their losses and head for Europe. Once in Italy, migrants from Ghana and other African countries are forced to live in desperate conditions near the plantations. They work as day laborers for extremely low wages, helping to grow the very tomatoes that are costing people back home their work and livelihoods. These days, canned tomatoes from China, Italy and Spain are available for purchase on the market of Accra. Some may call this free trade. But economist Kwabena Otoo says free trade should open doors; not destroy people’s lives.

      Every two seconds, a person is forced to flee their home. Today, more than 70 million people have been displaced worldwide. The DW documentary series ‘Displaced’ sheds light on the causes of this crisis and traces how wealthy industrialized countries are contributing to the exodus from the Global South.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlPZ0Bev99s

      #reportage #vidéo

    • I left Ghana to farm in Italy. I was exploited in both places

      Kojo risked his life mining in Ghana. He went to Italy for better opportunities, but was shocked by what he saw.

      Kojo Afreh was a farmer and miner in Ghana before he decided to travel to Italy. He hoped that by finding work abroad, he could support his family and eventually marry the mother of his child. But his journey didn’t go to plan. Kojo is one of six migrant workers who told us about their experiences of migration for this series. An explanation of how we produced this interview can be found at the end.

      Raphel Ahenu (BTS): Hello Kojo, thank you for meeting me today. Can you tell me about yourself?

      Kojo Afreh: I’m 27 years old. I have a child but am no longer with the mother. I come from a family of maize farmers, and that was what I was doing for seven years before I travelled.

      My farm was small – I never had the money to invest in something bigger. I was also working in galamsey (small-scale, illegal mining) in order to supplement my income from the farm.

      Raphel: Why did you decide to leave Ghana?

      Kojo: Hardship! I was really struggling. I never had enough money. Galamsey mining is dangerous as well. Bad accidents happen and sometimes people lose their lives. My parents were always worried about me.

      My lack of finances was having a big impact on me. The mother of my child couldn’t marry me because of it – her parents didn’t think I could take care of her even though we had a child together. This situation was so sad and frustrating to me. I decided I had to change something.

      Down in the mining pits, all people spoke about was going overseas. Lots of people were leaving the area, so I decided to join them. I asked my older siblings and parents to help me with the trip, and they put some money together for me. It wasn’t exactly a loan, but they expected me to return the favour by helping them out once I was settled in my new life. They told me not to forget about them when I got there.

      Raphel: What was the journey like?

      Kojo: I joined a car going through Burkina Faso to Niger. One man in the group had travelled that way before and knew where to go. That was good, since it meant we didn’t have to pay anyone to take us.

      Then we had to get out and trek until we got to the edge of the Sahara Desert, where we were met by a pickup truck. There were about 30 people in that car. We each had to bring enough drinking water and food for the journey. Once we ran out, that was it.

      It’s a dangerous route: the desert is scorching hot and so windy. There are no trees for miles. It’s like walking on the sea: there’s simply nothing there.

      Finally, we made it to Libya. I stayed with a group of Ghanaians for about five months, where I did all sorts of jobs to make some money for the boat crossing. Then the opportunity came to leave Libya and we got on a boat crossing to Sicily.

      A lot of things happened on that journey, but I can’t talk about them. They’re too painful.

      Raphel: What was life like in Italy?

      Kojo: When we arrived, the Italian authorities processed us and sent us to a reception centre. From there I called some people who had told me they would help me when I got there. They collected me and took me to Piacenza in northern Italy, where I started working on farms in the countryside. There were a few of us doing whatever work we could find, mostly harvesting potatoes and tomatoes.

      Honestly, it was not great. The work was hard and I was lonely – I felt very far from my people. Our supervisors also treated us badly. They often cheated us out of our wages. I was told that workers are meant to receive €100 a day, but we never got more than €40. When we complained, they said it was because they had deducted food and tool costs. We didn’t have papers, so we couldn’t report them to anyone.

      Despite this, I was still able to send some money back home to repay my family and to buy a small plot of land. And in some ways, the work in Italy was still better than what I was doing in Ghana. Galamsey mining was so dangerous.

      Raphel: When did you get sent back?

      Kojo: I was in Italy for about two years, moving from place to place for work. I worked in Puglia, Campania, Foggia and several other places. I was always careful because I didn’t have papers. But, one day some labour inspectors showed up at a farm I was working on.

      My Italian was not very good, so a man who had been there for longer spoke for all of us. He explained to us that the inspectors thought we were slaves and were offering to assist us if we cooperated with them.

      The inspectors said they would help us get our papers and protection. We agreed and they took us away. We did all they asked. We told them where we’d worked, the pay we had received, and the names of the people we had worked for. Only then did we realise they’d tricked us and were planning to deport us.

      Raphel: You couldn’t stay like they’d promised?

      Kojo: No, we couldn’t. The police told me that because I left the processing centre without permission, I had broken the rules and therefore couldn’t get protection.

      I was taken to an immigration centre for deportation. I didn’t have anything with me – all my money and possessions were still where we’d been staying when the inspectors took us away. Fortunately, I had been transferring money home regularly, so I didn’t lose everything. But I had to leave behind around €300.

      In the detention centre, we were told that we would receive some money if we agreed to go back voluntarily. I felt I had no option but to take the offer. It was my choice, but at the same time it was not my choice.

      Raphel: What was the offer?

      Kojo: They gave me a ticket to Ghana and €1,600. In exchange, I wouldn’t be able to receive a visa for Italy or Europe for 10 years.

      I came back just before the Covid-19 pandemic. I wasn’t able to earn anything during the lockdown, so all the money I had saved quickly disappeared. Suddenly, I was back where I started.

      Hustling for work in Italy is hard, but it’s better than what I have in front of me right now. I’m working in the galamsey mines again, and am trying to raise enough money to return to Italy. This time I hope I will be more successful.

      Raphel: Can you tell me about the association you’re part of in your area?

      Kojo: There’s a movement for people like me who have been returned from Italy and Libya by the UN and IOM. We are trying to get these organisations to honour the promises they made to us.

      When they sent me back, they said they would help me stay in Ghana if I agreed to voluntary return. That’s why I cooperated. But they’re not helping me. I am on my own, and it’s the same for the others who were sent back.

      Most of us say that if we ever go back to Europe or North Africa, we will not agree to voluntary return. We now know they just tell us what we want to hear so that we agree to come back.

      The association meets every once in a while, but we haven’t achieved much because things are tough for everyone. People are thinking about how to afford food, not about what to do with this group.

      Raphel: In the meantime, do you have any requests for the government or local authorities in Ghana?

      Kojo: Yes, I want the authorities to offer people like me more support. I’ve been back for nearly four years and it’s been so difficult financially. I’m still supporting my child and the mother of my child. But I will never earn enough to actually be with them.

      https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/i-left-ghana-to-farm-in-italy-i-was-exploited-in-both-places-migratio

      #choix

  • War-related sexual and gender-based violence in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia: a community-based study

    Introduction. #Sexual_and_gender-based_violence (#SGBV) during armed conflicts has serious ramifications with women and girls disproportionally affected. The impact of the conflict that erupted in November 2020 in Tigray on SGBV is not well documented. This study is aimed at assessing war-related SGBV in war-affected Tigray, Ethiopia.

    Methods: A community-based survey was conducted in 52 (out of 84) districts of Tigray, excluding its western zone and some districts bordering Eritrea due to security reasons. Using a two-stage multistage cluster sampling technique, a total of 5171 women of reproductive age (15-49 years) were randomly selected and included in the study. Analysis used weighted descriptive statistics, regression modelling and tests of associations.

    Results: Overall, 43.3% (2241/5171) of women experienced at least one type of gender-based violence. The incidents of sexual, physical and psychological violence, and rape among women of reproductive age were found to be 9.7% (500/5171), 28.6% (1480/5171), 40.4% (2090/5171) and 7.9% (411/5171), respectively. Of the sexual violence survivors, rape accounted for 82.2% (411/500) cases, of which 68.4% (247) reported being gang raped. Young women (aged 15-24 years) were the most affected by sexual violence, 29.2% (146/500). Commonly reported SGBV-related issues were physical trauma, 23.8% (533/2241), sexually transmitted infections, 16.5% (68/411), HIV infection, 2.7% (11/411), unwanted pregnancy, 9.5% (39/411) and depression 19.2% (431/2241). Most survivors (89.7%) did not receive any postviolence medical or psychological support.

    Conclusions: Systemic war-related SGBV was prevalent in Tigray, with gang-rape as the most common form of sexual violence. Immediate medical and psychological care, and long-term rehabilitation and community support for survivors are urgently needed and recommended.

    Keywords: community-based survey; health policy; injury; public health.

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37479499

    #viols #viol_de_guere #Tigray #Ethiopie #guerre #conflit_armé #femmes #filles #genre #article_scientifique #statistiques #chiffres

    Un article du Washington Post sur ce sujet (#paywall):
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/26/ethiopia-tigray-rape-survivors-stigma