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  • Grèce : nouvelle extension du confinement dans les #camps de demandeurs d’asile

    En Grèce, les autorités ont à nouveau prolongé le confinement des principaux camps de demandeurs d’asile pour 15 jours supplémentaires, soit jusqu’au 21 juin. C’est la troisième fois que ce confinement est prolongé depuis le mois de mai, officiellement en raison de la lutte contre la pandémie de coronavirus. Un virus qui a pourtant relativement épargné le pays, où moins de 200 victimes ont été recensées depuis le début de la crise sanitaire.

    C’est début mai que le confinement de la population grecque a été levé. Depuis, celui-ci se poursuit pourtant dans les centres dits « d’accueil et d’identification » de demandeurs d’asile. Des camps où s’entassent au total près de 35 000 personnes et qui se situent sur cinq îles de la mer Égée - à l’image de #Moria sur l’île de #Lesbos - ou à la frontière terrestre avec la Turquie, comme le centre de l’#Evros.

    Officiellement, il s’agit pour les autorités grecques de lutter contre la propagation du coronavirus. Or, parmi l’ensemble des demandeurs d’asile, seuls quelques dizaines de cas ont été signalés à travers le pays et aucune victime n’a été recensée.

    Avant la crise sanitaire, la tension était vive en revanche sur plusieurs îles qui abritent des camps, en particulier à Lesbos fin février et début mars. Une partie de la population locale exprimait alors son ras-le-bol, parfois avec violence, face à cette cohabitation forcée.

    Athènes a d’ailleurs l’intention de mettre prochainement en place de premiers centres fermés ou semi-fermés. Notamment sur l’île de Samos et à Malakassa, au nord de la capitale. La prolongation répétée du confinement pour plusieurs dizaines de milliers de demandeurs d’asile semble ainsi s’inscrire dans une logique parallèle.

    http://www.rfi.fr/fr/europe/20200607-gr%C3%A8ce-nouvelle-extension-confinement-les-camps

    #asile #migrations #réfugiés #extension #prolongation #confinement #coronavirus #covid-19 #Grèce #camps_de_réfugiés

    ping @luciebacon @karine4 @isskein

    • Νέα παράταση εγκλεισμού στα ΚΥΤ των νησιών με πρόσχημα τον κορονοϊό

      Αν δεν υπήρχε ο κορονοϊός, η κυβέρνηση θα έπρεπε να τον είχε εφεύρει για να μπορέσει να περάσει ευκολότερα την ακροδεξιά της ατζέντα στο προσφυγικό.

      Από την αρχή της εκδήλωσης της πανδημίας του κορονοϊού η κυβέρνηση αντιμετώπισε την πανδημία όχι σαν κάτι από το οποίο έπρεπε να προστατέψει τους πρόσφυγες και τους μετανάστες που ζουν στις δομές, αλλά αντιθέτως σαν άλλη μια ευκαιρία για να τους στοχοποιήσει σαν υποτιθέμενη υγειονομική απειλή. Εξού και δεν πήρε ουσιαστικά μέτρα πρόληψης και προστασίας των δομών, αγνοώντας επιδεικτικά τις επείγουσες συστάσεις ελληνικών, διεθνών και ευρωπαϊκών φορέων.

      Δεν προχώρησε ούτε στην άμεση εκκένωση των Κέντρων Υποδοχής και Ταυτοποίησης από τους περισσότερους από 2.000 πρόσφυγες και μετανάστες που είναι ιδιαίτερα ευπαθείς στον κορονοϊό - άνθρωποι ηλικιωμένοι ή με χρόνια σοβαρά προβλήματα υγείας. Αντιθέτως, ανέβαλε στην πράξη με προσχηματικές αοριστολογίες ή και σιωπηρά για τουλάχιστον δύο μήνες τη σχετική συμφωνία που είχε κάνει το υπουργείο Μετανάστευσης και Ασύλου με την κυρία Γιόχανσον στις αρχές Απριλίου.

      Με άλλα λόγια, αν δεν υπήρχε ο κορονοϊός, η κυβέρνηση θα έπρεπε να τον είχε εφεύρει για να μπορέσει να περάσει ευκολότερα την ακροδεξιά της ατζέντα στο προσφυγικό. Στην πραγματικότητα, αυτό ακριβώς κάνει ο υπουργός Μετανάστευσης και Ασύλου : χρησιμοποιεί την πανδημία του κορονοϊού για να παρατείνει ξανά και ξανά την καραντίνα σε δομές. Ιδίως στα Κέντρα Υποδοχής και Ταυτοποίησης στα νησιά, όπου εξελίχθηκαν σε φιάσκο οι άτσαλες και βιαστικές απόπειρες του υπουργού Νότη Μητασράκη και του υπουργού Προστασίας του Πολίτη Μιχάλη Χρυσοχοΐδη να επιβάλουν με επιτάξεις, απευθείας αναθέσεις και άγρια καταστολή έργα πολλών δεκάδων εκατομμυρίων ευρώ για τη δημιουργία νέων Κέντρων Υποδοχής και Ταυτοποίησης, πολλαπλάσιας χωρητικότητας από ατυτή των σημερινών.

      Η επιβολή καραντίνας στα ΚΥΤ στα νησιά ξεκίνησε στις 24 Μαρτίου, αρκετά πριν την επιβολή καραντίνας στο γενικό πληθυσμό, και από τότε ανανεώνεται συνεχώς. Το Σάββατο 20 Ιουνίου οι υπουργοί Μηταράκης και Χρυσοχοΐδης έδωσαν άλλη μια παράταση υγειονομικού αποκλεισμού των ΚΥΤ μέχρι τις 5 Ιουλίου, οπότε και θα συμπληρωθούν 3,5 μήνες συνεχούς καραντίνας. Τουλάχιστον για τα μάτια των ξενοφοβικών, καθώς στην πράξη οι αρχές αδυνατούν να επιβάλουν καραντίνα σε δομές που εξαπλώνονται σε μεγάλη έκταση έξω από τους οριοθετημένους χώρους των ΚΥΤ.

      Οι υπουργοί ανακοίνωσαν επίσης παράταση της καραντίνας στις δομές της Μαλακάσας, της Ριτσώνας και του Κουτσόχερου, όπου είχαν εμφανιστεί κρούσματα πριν από πολλές εβδομάδες, και έκτοτε δεν υπάρχει ενημέρωση για νέα κρούσματα μέσα στις δομές, παρόλο που έχει παρέλθει προ πολλού το προβλεπόμενο χρονικό όριο της καραντίνας.

      Πρόκειται για σκανδαλωδώς προκλητική διαχείριση, επικοινωνιακή και μόνο, τόσο του προσφυγικού και μεταναστευτικού όσο και του ζητήματος του κορονοϊού.

      https://www.efsyn.gr/node/248622

      #hotspot #hotpspots

      –—

      Avec ce commentaire de Vicky Skoumbi, reçu le 21.06.2020 via la mailing-list Migreurop :

      Sous des prétexte fallacieux, le gouvernement prolonge une énième fois les mesures de restriction de mouvement pour les résidents de hotspots dans les #îles et pour trois structures d’accueil au continent, #Malakasa, #Ritsona et #Koutsohero. Le 5 juillet, date jusqu’à laquelle court cette nouvelle #prolongation, les réfugiés dans les camps auront passés trois mois et demi sous #quarantaine. Je rappelle que depuis au moins un mois la population grecque a retrouvé une entière liberté de mouvement. Il est fort à parier que de prolongation en prolongation tout le reste de l’été se passera comme cela, jusqu’à la création de nouveaux centres fermés dans les îles. Cette éternisation de la quarantaine -soi-disant pour des raisons sanitaires qu’aucune donné réel ne justifie, transforme de fait les hotspots en #centres_fermés anticipant ainsi le projet du gouvernement.

      #stratégie_du_choc

    • Pro-migrant protests in Athens as Greece extends lockdown

      Following protests in Athens slamming the government for its treatment of migrants, the Greek government over the weekend said it would extend the COVID-19 lockdown on the migrant camps on Greek Aegean islands and on the mainland.

      Greece has extended a coronavirus lockdown on its migrant camps for a further two weeks. On Saturday, Greece announced extension of the coronavirus lockdown on its overcrowded and unsanitary migrant camps on its islands in the Aegean Sea for another fortnight.

      The move came hours after some 2,000 people protested in central Athens on Saturday to mark World Refugee Day and denounced the government’s treatment of migrants.

      The migration ministry said migrants living in island camps as well as those in mainland Greece will remain under lockdown until July 5. It was due to have ended on Monday, June 22, along with the easing of general community restrictions as the country has been preparing to welcome tourists for the summer.

      The Greek government first introduced strict confinement measures in migrant camps on March 21. A more general lockdown was imposed on March 23; it has since been extended a number of times. No known coronavirus deaths have been recorded in Greek migrant camps so far and only a few dozen infections have surfaced. Rights groups have expressed concern that migrants’ rights have been eroded by the restrictions.

      On May 18, the Greek asylum service resumed receiving asylum applications after an 11-week pause. Residence permits held by refugees will be extended six months from their date of expiration to prevent the service from becoming overwhelmed by renewal applications.

      ’No refugee homeless, persecuted, jailed’

      During the Saturday protests, members of anti-racist groups, joined by residents from migrant camps, marched in central Athens. They were holding banners proclaiming “No refugee homeless, persecuted, jailed” and chanting slogans against evictions of refugees from temporary accommodation in apartments.

      More than 11,000 refugees who have been living in reception facilities for asylum seekers could soon be evicted. Refugees used to be able to keep their accommodation for up to six months after receiving protected status.

      But the transitional grace period was recently reduced significantly: Since March of this year, people can no longer stay in the reception system for six months after they were officially recognized as refugees — they only have 30 days.

      Refugee advocacy groups and UNHCR have expressed concern that the people evicted could end up homeless. “Forcing people to leave their accommodation without a safety net and measures to ensure their self-reliance may push many into poverty and homelessness,” UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic said last week.

      The government insists that it is doing everything necessary “to assure a smooth transition for those who leave their lodgings.”

      Moreover, UNHCR and several NGOs and human rights groups have spoken out to criticize the Greek government’s decision to cut spending on a housing program for asylum seekers by up to 30%. They said that it means less safe places to live for vulnerable groups.

      Asylum office laments burden, defends action

      In a message for World Refugee Day, the Ministry for Migration and Asylum said Greece has found itself “at the centre of the migration crisis bearing a disproportionate burden”, news agency AFP cites.

      “The country is safeguarding the rights of those who are really persecuted and operates as a shield of solidarity in the eastern Mediterranean,” it added.

      Government officials have repeatedly said Greece must become a less attractive destination for asylum seekers.

      The continued presence of more than 36,000 refugees and asylum seekers on the islands — over five times the intended capacity of shelters there — has caused major friction with local communities who are demanding their immediate removal.

      An operation in February to build detention centers for migrants on the islands of Lesbos and Chios had to be abandoned due to violent protests.

      Accusations of push-backs

      Greece has also been repeatedly accused of illegal pushbacks by its forces at its land and sea borders, which according to reports have spiked since March.

      On land, a Balkans-based network of human rights organizations said migrants reported beatings and violent collective expulsions from inland detention spaces to Turkey on boats across the Evros River. In the Aegean, a recent investigation by three media outlets claims that Greek coast guard officers intercept migrant boats coming from Turkey and send them back to Turkey in unseaworthy life rafts.

      Athens has repeatedly denied using illegal tactics to guard its borders, and has in turn accused Turkey of sending patrol boats to escort migrant boats into its waters.

      According to UNHCR, around 3,000 asylum seekers arrived in Greece by land and sea since the start of March, far fewer people than over previous months. Some 36,450 refugees and asylum seekers are currently staying on the Aegean islands.

      https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/25521/pro-migrant-protests-in-athens-as-greece-extends-lockdown

      #résistance

    • Greek government must end lockdown for locked up people on Greek islands

      COVID-19-related lockdown measures have had an impact on the lives of everyone around the world and generated increasing levels of stress and anxiety for many of us. However, the restriction of movement imposed in places like Moria and Vathy, on the Greek islands, have proven to be toxic for the thousands of people contained there.

      When COVID-19 reached Greece, more than 30,000 asylum seekers and migrants were contained in the reception centres on the Greek islands in appalling conditions, without access to regular healthcare or basic services. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) runs mental health clinics on the islands.

      In March 2020, a restriction of movement imposed by the central government in response to COVID-19 has meant that these people, 55 per cent of whom are women and children, have essentially been forced to remain in these overcrowded and unhygienic centres with no possibility to escape the dangerous conditions which are part of their daily life.

      Despite the fact that there have been zero cases of COVID-19 in any of the reception centres on the Greek islands, and that life has returned to normal for local people and tourists alike, these discriminatory measures for asylum seekers and migrants continue to be extended every two weeks.

      Today, these men, women and children continue to be hemmed in, in dire conditions, resulting in a deterioration of their medical and mental health.

      “The tensions have increased dramatically and there is much more violence since the lockdown, and the worst part is that even children cannot escape from it anymore,” says Mohtar, the father of a patient from MSF’s mental health clinic for children. “The only thing I could do before to help my son was to take him away from Moria; for a walk or to swim in the sea, in a calm place. Now we are trapped.”

      MSF cannot stay silent about this blatant discrimination, as the restriction of movement imposed on asylum seekers dramatically reduces their already-limited access to basic services and medical care.

      In the current phase of the COVID-19 epidemic in Greece, this measure is absolutely unjustified from a public health point of view – it is discriminatory towards people that don’t represent a risk and contributes to their stigmatisation, while putting them further at risk.

      “The restrictions of movement for migrants and refugees in the camp have affected the mental health of my patients dramatically,” says Greg Kavarnos, a psychologist in the MSF Survivors of Torture clinic on Lesbos. “If you and I felt stressed and were easily irritated during the period of the lockdown in our homes, imagine how people who have endured very traumatic experiences feel now that they have to stay locked up in a camp like Moria.”

      “Moria is a place where they cannot find peace, they cannot find a private space and they have to stand in lines for food, for the toilet, for water, for everything,” says Kavarnos.

      COVID-19 should not be used as a tool to detain migrants and refugees. We continue to call for the evacuation of people, especially those who belong to high-risk groups for COVID-19, from the reception centres to safe accommodation. The conditions in these centres are not acceptable in normal times however, they have become even more perilous pits of violence, sickness, and misery when people are unable to move due to arbitrary restrictions.

      https://www.msf.org/covid-19-excuse-keep-people-greek-islands-locked

    • La Grèce prolonge à nouveau le confinement dans les camps de migrants

      Athènes a annoncé vendredi une prolongation jusqu’à la fin du mois d’août du confinement dans les camps de migrants installés sur ses îles et le continent. Le pays connaît une hausse du nombre d’infections mais aucun décès n’a encore été enregistré dans les camps de migrants.

      Les camps de migrants de Grèce resteront confinés au moins jusqu’à la fin du mois d’août. Vendredi 31 juillet, le ministère des Migrations a déclaré que le confinement – entré en vigueur le 21 mars – sera prolongé jusqu’au 31 août "pour prévenir l’apparition et la diffusion des cas de coronavirus". Il s’agit de la 6e prolongation du confinement des camps de migrants, alors que la population grecque, elle, est sortie du confinement le 4 mai dernier.

      La Grèce, avec 203 décès dus au Covid-19, n’a pas été aussi sévèrement touchée que d’autres pays européens et aucun décès n’a été enregistré dans les camps de migrants.

      Mais ces derniers sont surpeuplés, en mer Egée particulièrement. Plus de 26 000 demandeurs d’asile y vivent, pour une d’une capacité d’accueil de moins de 6 100 places. Une situation qui génère de plus en plus de tensions avec la population locale.

      Néanmoins, la prolongation du confinement des seuls camps de migrants ne constitue pas moins une discrimination manifeste des droits des personnes migrantes, ont dénoncé de nombreuses ONG dans un communiqué publié le 17 juillet.

      “Nous sommes de plus en plus inquiets car les températures montent, nous sommes au milieu de l’été, et les migrants sont obligés de vivre dans des espaces saturés avec trop peu d’accès à l’hygiène, l’eau manque ainsi que les produits sanitaires dans la plupart des camps. Il y a un donc un risque que ces prolongement indéterminés provoquent d’importants problèmes sanitaires au sein des camps puisque les gens ne peuvent même plus sortir pour se faire soigner ou acheter des médicaments et des produits de première nécessité”, a indiqué à InfoMigrants Adriana Tidona, chercheuse spécialiste des questions migratoires en Europe pour Amnesty International.
      Augmentation du nombre de cas

      Si les autorités grecques veulent que les migrants restent dans des camps, elles invitent les touristes à venir dans le pays. Les aéroports grecs et les frontières ont ainsi été rouverts aux touristes étrangers. Or, ces mesures se sont accompagnées d’une augmentation du nombre de cas de Covid-19 dans le pays.

      Depuis le 1er juillet, plus de 340 cas confirmés ont été enregistrés parmi les près de 1,3 million de voyageurs entrant en Grèce, a indiqué mardi la protection civile

      Mardi, la Grèce a annoncé qu’elle rendait le masque obligatoire dans les magasins, les banques, les services publics et la quasi-totalité des lieux clos, en réponse à une résurgence des infections.


      https://www.infomigrants.net/fr/post/26383/la-grece-prolonge-a-nouveau-le-confinement-dans-les-camps-de-migrants

    • Grèce : prolongation du confinement dans les camps de migrants

      Plus de 24.000 demandeurs d’asile sont logés dans des camps insalubres, d’une capacité d’accueil de moins de 6100 places.

      La Grèce a annoncé vendredi 28 août une prolongation jusqu’au 15 septembre du confinement imposé aux migrants dans les camps aux portes d’entrée de l’Europe, sur les îles et à la frontière terrestre du pays, qui connaît une résurgence des cas de coronavirus. Le confinement des camps, entré en vigueur le 21 mars, sera prolongé jusqu’au 15 septembre « pour empêcher l’apparition et la propagation des cas de coronavirus », a déclaré le ministère des Migrations.

      La présence de plus de 24.000 demandeurs d’asile dans des camps insalubres, d’une capacité d’accueil de moins de 6100 places, situés sur les cinq îles de la mer Égée, est une source d’inquiétude pour les autorités.

      Mais les ONG ont plusieurs fois dénoncé l’enfermement des demandeurs d’asile dans ces structures qui ne sont pas adaptées pour mettre en place les mesures barrières nécessaires. Les nouveaux arrivants sur les îles grecques sont par ailleurs placés en quarantaine dans des structures séparées pour ne pas prendre le risque de contaminer tout le camp. Alors que les arrivées s’étaient taries pendant le confinement, elles ont repris légèrement pendant l’été.

      Dans la nuit de jeudi à vendredi, les gardes-côtes grecs ont entrepris une opération de sauvetage d’un voilier au large de l’île de Rhodes avec à bord 55 migrants. Mercredi, la police portuaire avait déjà effectué une opération similaire au large de l’île de Halki et avait secouru 96 personnes. Pour la troisième journée consécutive, des recherches se poursuivent pour retrouver un homme de 35 ans et son fils de 4 ans, portés disparus depuis le naufrage selon la mère de l’enfant. La Grèce, avec 254 décès dus au Covid-19, n’a pas été aussi sévèrement touchée que d’autres pays européens, et aucun décès n’a été enregistré dans les camps de migrants.

      https://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/grece-prolongation-du-confinement-dans-les-camps-de-migrants-1-20200828

    • More camps locked down

      Migrant reception centers in #Thiva, central Greece, and Serres, in the country’s north, have been put on lockdown following outbreaks of the coronavirus.

      The lockdowns were announced on Saturday in a joint decision by the ministries of Migration, Citizens’ Protection and Health and are to remain in force until October 9 when they will be reviewed.

      Migrant facilities in Elaionas, Malakasa, Oinofyta, Ritsona, Schistos, Koutsohero and Fylakio, on the mainland, and on the islands of Samos and Leros are also under lockdown following outbreaks there.

      On Lesvos, following the destruction of the Moria camp in fires earlier this month, migrants have been transferred to a temporary facility where Covid-19 infected residents have been segregated.

      https://www.ekathimerini.com/257425/article/ekathimerini/news/more-camps-locked-down

  • Malta sets up center in Libya to fight irregular migration - InfoMigrants
    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#Malte#centrederetention#Libye

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/25188/malta-sets-up-center-in-libya-to-fight-irregular-migration

    The government of Malta has signed an agreement with Libya to combat irregular immigration across the Mediterranean. The Maltese-funded plans involve the setting up of coordination centers in the Libyan capital Tripoli and the Maltese capital Valletta.

  • Asylum seekers illegally returned from Italy to Slovenia, NGOs claim

    Two migrant-aid organizations are accusing authorities in northeastern Italy of illegally returning asylum seekers to Slovenia. They also claim that readmission procedures between Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia prevent people from asking for asylum in the EU.
    The Italian Consortium of Solidarity (ICS) and Catholic charity Caritas in Trieste published a statement on May 28, saying that they were strongly concerned about “the implementation of informal readmissions of migrants” from Italy to Slovenia.

    The two organizations provide housing to immigrants in the province of Trieste in northeastern Italy, near the border with Slovenia.

    ICS and Caritas said that it is illegal for authorities to return those who intend to apply for asylum. They said asylum requests must be registered before authorities check whether the applicant might have applied in another EU country. Under the Dublin Regulation, asylum seekers can be transferred back to the first EU country where they were registered.

    Migrants ’illegitimately sent away from EU’?

    ICS and Caritas also claimed that readmission procedures between Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia enabled authorities to “illegitimately turn away... those who have entered to apply for protection” from European Union territory. These people, “are subjected to grave violence throughout the so-called Balkan route,” they said in their statement.

    Pierpaolo Roberti, the security councilor of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, where Trieste is located, responded to the statement, saying that authorities will “move ahead with informal readmissions.” He said that the police and the prefect had his “full support.” Roberti belongs to the far-right League party, which is known for its harsh anti-migrant policies.

    He said he hopes that “as many people as possible continue to be readmitted to Slovenia and, in addition, that we strive to totally stop that migration flow.”


    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/25114/asylum-seekers-illegally-returned-from-italy-to-slovenia-ngos-claim
    #Slovénie #Italie #push-back #push-backs #renvois #frontière_sud-alpine #refoulements #refoulement #Alpes #frontières #asile #migrations #réfugiés

    ping @isskein

    • AYS Special: Italian Court StopsDeportation to Slovenia, Meanwhile Pushbacks Continue

      Italy has become the latest link in chain push backs where literally thousands of people — often violently — end up in the overcrowded camps of Bosnia and Serbia.

      Contradictory approaches in Italy

      An Italian court stopped deportation to Slovenia on the grounds that there is a risk for an asylum seeker to be subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment due to the high possibility of him (or her) being further expelled to Croatia and then to Bosnia or Serbia. However, although the court stopped the deportation of a single individual, collective push-backs from Italy are becoming increasingly common in the months since the judgement made by the court in Genova (April 7th). Thus Italian courts are acknowledging the cruel and inhumane treatment that a returnee is subjected to but, on the other hand, the Italian government is massively increasing the scope of push-backs to Slovenia, as is evident in the recent decision to deploy the army with police jurisdiction.

      16.000 people were returned to Croatia from Slovenia in the last two years.

      These are people who were caught and were processed in police stations with charges of illegal border crossing. When a person asks for asylum in slovenia, he is often faced with threats or the asylum claim is simply ignored and in the official records he is reported as an “economic migrant” — a category invented by the Ministry of Interior and the Police and not encompassed by any law. If one is classified as an “economic migrant” who has no interest to seek asylum, he can be returned to Croatia under a bilateral readmission agreement from 2006.

      The Court in Italy is concerned over systemic deficiencies in the Slovene asylum system and finds real risk for an asylum seeker to be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment if deported to Slovenia. Meanwhile, reports of daily informal deportations from theItalian — Slovene border are becoming more and more common.

      COURT RULING: “…the risk of the applicant being subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment in Slovenia seems justified …

      In early April a court in Genoa, Italy found that:

      “Based on the submitted documentation and additional information obtained by this court proprio motu, the applicant’s complaint — given the conditions of receiving refugees in Slovenia and systemic shortcomings in the asylum procedure — seems justified. (…)

      In this case, the risk of the applicant being subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment in Slovenia seems justified (…) The data collected raise serious concerns about the reception and asylum system currently in force in Slovenia and in general about the atmosphere of cultural intolerance and discrimination prevailing in civil society, among government leaders and between police forces towards foreigners who have entered the country illegally, who have lodged or intend to lodge an application for international protection.”

      The complaint was lodged by a Pakistani asylum seeker, represented by Alessandra Ballerini, who had first filed the application for international protection in Slovenia and was consequently expected to be deported from Italy to Slovenia according to the Dublin regulation.

      The complaint stipulated that such a deportation would violate, inter alia, paragraph 2 of Article 3 of the Dublin Regulation due to systemic deficiencies in the asylum system in Slovenia. The court agreed and refused to deport the asylum seeker to Slovenia, “because of the danger that he would be treated there contrary to fundamental humanitarian principles and contrary to the provisions of Article 4 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights”.

      As reported by Primorski dnevnik, the judges came to this conclusion taking into account reports of non-governmental organizations on the deteriorating treatment of migrants in Slovenia in the past two years and a 2018 report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which confirms allegations by non-governmental organizations of collective expulsions and violence against migrants in the Balkan region, including Croatia and Slovenia.

      Reports of several Slovenian and International NGOs and civil society actors (Amnesty International, Are You Syrious?, InfoKolpa, Border Violence Monitoring Network) highlight the issue of the Slovenian police authority’s illegal restrictions of access to asylum and practice of forced returns of asylum seekers without a proper assessment of whether their human rights would be violated in other countries via an informal procedure and without the possibility to appeal the deportation (push-backs).

      This was shown by several fact-finding missions: a survey from 2018 by Amnesty International obtained testimonies of 51 people in Velika Kladuša and Bihać in BiH, who were returned to the hands of the Croatian authorities by the Slovenian police, despite the fact that they wanted to apply for asylum in Slovenia.

      Report on illegal practices of collective expulsion at the Slovene-Croatian border by InfoKolpa documents numerous cases of groups of migrants rejected by Slovenian police and returned to Croatia and further to Bosnia despite explicitly showing intention to file for asylum in Slovenia between 11th September and 7th November 2018 via an Alarmphone report; reports by No Name Kitchen and Balkan Violence Monitoring show collective expulsion and violent return of asylum seekers to the Bosnian border surrounding Velika Kladuša as a routine occurrence initiated by Croatian and Slovenian police forces.

      In one year there were 4,653 out of a total of 9,149 intercepted migrants that were collectively deported to Croatia. The above-mentioned reports also cite further official statistics from the Slovenian police, which show a change in practice between May and June 2018, when returns to Croatia increased sharply, while at the same time the number of people applying for asylum dropped severely. Police statistic from police station of a border town Črnomelj state that in May 2018, 371 of the 379 migrants considered (97.88% of all) applied for asylum; after receiving different instructions from the Chief of police, in June only 13 of the 412 migrants, ie 3.15%, lodged an asylum application.

      NGOs accuse the Slovenian government and police of preventing refugees from filing asylum applications and of carrying out collective forced returns without a proper and individual assessment of whether their human rights will be violated in other countries and without the possibility of appeal.

      Returns to Croatia are carried out on the basis of a controversial bilateral agreement between the two countries from 2006 (when Croatia was not yet a member of European Union), which enables informal returns under an abbreviated procedure. According to the court in Genoa, such an abbreviated procedure violates Slovenia’s human rights obligations.

      These findings are further corroborated by an official 2018 report of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which confirms allegations by non-governmental organizations of collective rejection and violence against migrants in the Balkan region, including Croatia and Slovenia.

      Primorski dnevnik cites the court decision featuring portions of NGO reports, saying:

      “Threats, violence, abuse of power and denial of fundamental rights have become common practice at border police stations, and collective deportations to Croatia are repeated daily with the support and awareness of senior police and government officials, despite the high risk of further police violence and theft in Croatia.”

      Slovenian daily newspaper Dnevnik asked Slovenian police for comments on the judgement, and they replied that their procedures were legal and professional, that the guidelines for the work of police officers had already been made public and that UNHCR had not discovered any irregularities when visiting police stations. The Ministry of the Interior replied that they were fully implementing EU legislation in the field of international protection, and that they were not aware of the ruling and could not comment on it.

      Though there was a decrease of irregular entries into Slovenia during the past few months there was an increase of record irregular entries recorded by Italian authorities. This has resulted in minor diplomatic tension between the countries where Slovenia has been dismissed as not being diligent enough in their Schengen gatekeeping duties.
      We suspect that there are two reasons that Italian authorities are recording an increase of border crossings:

      First, as InfoMigrants reported, as part of covid-19 measure the Italian authorities announced temporary legalisation of undocumented residents. We suspect that this might be a reason for a greater number of people reporting themselves and, thus, creating a spike in official records. Connected with this reason might be the Covid-19 measures as traveling became more difficult a greater number of people might be pressed to weather the virus in border municipalities (such as Trieste).

      Migrants (as well as border tensions with Slovenia) are traditionally a convenient distraction for the Italian government(s) in time(s) of crisis. To show its commitment to regulating the frontier the Italian government deployed the armed forces to aid police in intercepting migrants via the last stretch of the Balkan route. As Uroš Škerl reported for the daily newspaper Dnevnik in the last month Italy returned more people than in the previous four months combined (29 compared to 27 from January to April). In a statement for Dnevnik Gianfranco Schiavone of the NGO Consorzio Italiano di Solidarietà — Ufficio Rifugiati Onlus stated:

      “What is new in the last week is that the Italian police started to return people for whom we are convinced that they have the same circumstances as their colleagues that applied for asylum and stayed in Italy.”

      These returns are now conducted with the aid of the armed forces whose deployment the interior ministry justified as “an answer on illegal migrations”. Schiavone is skeptical of the military as they are not trained to conduct border patrols and handle asylum seekers adding: “this is all just political theater”.

      This latest act of EU migration policy melodrama has actors that are less fortunate than others. According to Dnevnik there have been three groups of people (14,17,8) returned to Slovenia and we suspect that at least one of these groups (if not all) has ended up in Velika Kladuša (BIH). A video emerged with a statement of a member of one of these groups containing claims of violent treatment during the Italy-BIH pushback was published recently by a migrant/activist: “This boy who left his fingerprints in Trieste and applied for asylum ، was deported to Slovenia and gradually back to hell”.

      So, on the one hand, Italian courts have found that push backs are cruel and inhumane, yet at the same time the same government has doubled down on its commitment to condemning people to this fate that its own courts find inhumane and cruel.

      Although the condemnation of deportation is a necessary first step, unless this idea is used to hold the security forces to account for their oppression and torture of people, it will remain a hollow ruling. Europeans like to look down on the USA due to their police violence on minorities, state hypocrisy towards its own values and their border walls. Maybe we should stop looking across the ocean and look closer to home.

      Written by: Iza Thaler and Miha Turk from InfoKolpa

      Find daily updates and special reports on our Medium page.

      If you wish to contribute, either by writing a report or a story, or by joining the info gathering team, please let us know.

      We strive to echo correct news from the ground through collaboration and fairness. Every effort has been made to credit organisations and individuals with regard to the supply of information, video, and photo material (in cases where the source wanted to be accredited). Please notify us regarding corrections.

      If there’s anything you want to share or comment, contact us through Facebook, Twitter or write to: areyousyrious@gmail.com

      https://medium.com/are-you-syrious/ays-special-italian-court-stops-deportation-to-slovenia-meanwhile-pushbacks-
      #refoulements_en_chaîne

    • Even from Trieste, Italy.

      “Working every day in the street with people-on-the-move has allowed medical volunteers in Trieste to witness the worsening situation at the Italian border with Slovenia. Here is a sum-up of the radical changes in the last two months, highlighting growing repression towards transit groups and a spike in pushbacks from Italian territory. The events are relayed in three distinct stages: from the start of the pandemic, the development of tighter police controls, and finally the expansion of pushbacks through the dubious “informal readmission” process”

      https://www.borderviolence.eu/news-from-trieste-covid-19-and-pushbacks

      Reçu via la mailing-list de Migreurop, le 15.06.2020

    • The Slovenian Administrative Court issued a judgement confirming that the Slovenian police committed chain pushbacks (https://www.cms.hr/hr/pravna-pomoc-azil-i-statusna-pitanja/slovenski-sud-potvrdio-hrvatska-sudjelovala-u-lancanom-nezakonitom-protjerivanju) in which Croatia also participated, as a result of which a person seeking international protection in Slovenia ended up in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the judgement, the young man identified as J.D. must be returned to Slovenia, he must be given the opportunity to seek asylum again and he must be paid compensation in the amount of € 5,000. This judgement demonstrated the importance of the work of Infokolpa, a civic initiative and a member of the Border Violence Monitoring Network, which played a key role in gathering evidence. Namely, in the judgment, the Slovenian court relied on their reports and the reports of other organisations within the BVMN, as well as media reports. It is precisely in such cases that the importance of independent reports and the importance of documenting violent pushbacks of refugees can be seen.

      However, in addition to warning of the illegal actions of the Slovenian police, this judgement also proves the role of the Croatian police in chain pushbacks of refugees to Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is time for the Croatian authorities to conduct effective investigations and make concrete efforts to stop this illegal practice.

      The brutality of pushbacks from Croatia was also experienced by a group of 16 refugees who were tortured and humiliated for five hours by unknown perpetrators in late May before being pushed back to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Precisely because of this inhumane and illegal treatment of people in search of safety, the Centre for Peace Studies filed a criminal complaint (https://www.cms.hr/hr/azil-i-integracijske-politike/cms-podnio-kaznenu-prijavu-koja-je-poveznica-policije-i-naoruzanih-nasilnika-u-c) with the State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia against unknown perpetrators who tortured the group. Eight armed men in unmarked black uniforms and with balaclavas on their heads, which according to the description given by the victims may belong to a special unit of the Ministry of the Interior, the so-called “Corridor” operation (https://net.hr/danas/hrvatska/zastrasujuca-devijacija-akcije-koridor-policija-sve-dogovara-na-whatsappu-a-pose), treated in an inhumane manner people in search of protection. Armed men wearing black tied the refugees to trees, shot at their heads and feet, beat them with everything they could get their hands on, took all of their belongings under threat of death, and in the end humiliated them by rubbing mayonnaise, ketchup and sugar into the wounds they had previously inflicted. Then, they handed the refugees, some of whom could not walk due to their serious injuries, over to the police, while the police officers then pushed them back to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The victim’s testimonies suggest a cooperation between the perpetrators in black and the police. The Centre for Peace Studies once again stressed the importance of promptly conducting an effective and independent investigation into these crimes and sanctioning the perpetrators.

      Reçu via la mailing-list Inicijativa Dobrodosli, mail du 29.07.2020

      #Croatie #refoulements_en_chaîne #Balkans #route_des_Balkans #justice #corridor_operation

    • Slovénie : la justice reconnaît l’illégalité des expulsions vers la Croatie et la Bosnie-Herzégovine

      C’est un précédent de taille : le tribunal administratif de Ljubljana a donné raison à un jeune Camerounais qui demandait l’asile en Slovénie, mais que la police a illégalement expulsé en Croatie, et qui s’est finalement retrouvé dans les camps de Velika Kladuša et Bihač, en Bosnie-Herzégovine.

      La justice slovène a confirmé dans son verdict (https://www.borderviolence.eu/wp-content/uploads/PRESS-KIT-FOR-INTERNATIONAL-MEDIA.pdf) rendu public le 17 juillet dernier que la police slovène avait commis une expulsion illégale, à laquelle la Croatie a également participé, et à la suite de quoi un Camerounais de 23 ans, J. D., qui voulait demander une protection internationale en Slovénie, s’est retrouvé en Bosnie-Herzégovine.

      J. D., qui fait partie d’une minorité anglophone persécutée au Cameroun, a été détenu deux jours durant par la police slovène. Bien qu’il ait demandé l’asile à trois reprises, sa requête n’a jamais été prise en compte. Il a d’abord été illégalement expulsé vers la Croatie, puis vers la Bosnie-Herzégovine. À la suite de la décision du tribunal administratif de Ljubljana, il a désormais le droit de revenir en Slovénie et d’y demander l’asile. L’État slovène a été condamné à lui verser une indemnité de 5000 euros. Ce jugement n’est toutefois pas définitif, l’État ayant la possibilité de faire appel devant la Cour suprême.

      L’affaire a été suivie par InfoKolp, membre du Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN). Dans son verdict, la justice slovène s’appuie sur un rapport de 50 pages remis en mai 2019 par InfoKolp, ainsi que sur des rapports du BVMN et de divers médias, dont Radio Študent, présente dans les camps de Velika Kladuša et de Bihač, dans le nord-ouest de la Bosnie-Herzégovine. Ce verdict constitue un important précédent qui établit les violations en série des droits de l’Homme, mais aussi l’existence d’une « chaîne » d’expulsions illégales « systématiques et routinières », selon les termes de l’avocat du plaignant, depuis la Slovénie vers Bosnie-Herzégovine avec l’aide de la police croate.

      “Une « chaîne » d’expulsions illégales « systématiques et routinières ».”

      Ce verdict confirme également ce que les ONG et institutions soulignent depuis des années : des expulsions illégales de réfugiés et de migrants ont lieu, auxquelles de nombreux pays de l’Union européenne participent. Il s’agit donc d’un indicateur fort pour les institutions européennes de ce qui se passe sur le territoire de l’UE, ainsi qu’à ses frontières extérieures et intérieures, à savoir des violations des droits de l’Homme et de l’État de droit. L’affaire étaie en outre les témoignages de milliers de réfugiés et de migrants qui ont subi des violences, expulsions illégales et violations du droit d’asile, alors que les autorités croates refusent toujours de mener des enquêtes.

      Depuis le début de l’année 2018, la police slovène a renvoyé en Croatie quelque 20 000 personnes qui ont subi des mauvais traitements de la part de la police croate. Dans le meilleurs des cas, elles ont été débarquées d’une fourgonnette à la frontière avec la Bosnie-Herzégovine, mais le plus souvent, elles ont été insultées, battues et torturées par la police.

      https://www.courrierdesbalkans.fr/Slovenie-la-justice-reconnait-une-chaine-d-expulsions-illegales-v

    • Italy-Slovenia border: ASGI’s open letter to the Italian government and UNHCR

      Background

      On July the 24th 2020, in the Italian Parliament’s lower Chamber, Undersecretary Variati on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior answered urgent questions by MP Riccardo Magi on the situation of the so-called “informal readmissions” of foreign citizens at the border between Italy and Slovenia. The response provided by the government in a note is exceptionally troubling, since it clearly violates principles of domestic and EU law on basic human rights. It should be stressed that the note contains a number of contradictions and provides no legal or case-law grounds for what it asserts.

      Before briefly examining the note’s content, it is worth recalling that “readmission” is a simplified procedure allowing a States to send a foreign citizen back at the border to the country s/he came from, when the foreigner does not meet the criteria for admission into the destination country. The basis for these actions is contained in bilateral States agreements, which must not conflict with European and international provisions on movement of people, the right to international protection and fundamental rights.

      Unregulated readmissions

      First of all, the Ministry has openly confirmed that informal readmissions do take place (without any written decision provided to the interested party), which obviously prevents the person to appeal the measure. The Ministry justified this modus operandi by making generic reference to “consolidated practices” of “accelerated readmission procedures”. As already highlighted in the open letter (still unanswered) that ASGI sent to the Government CCing UNHCR on June 5th, the expression “readmissions without formalities” contained in the bilateral Agreement between Italy and Slovenia for the readmission of persons at the border, signed in Rome on September 3rd 1996, certainly cannot be understood as implying no obligation to issue a written decision, as it is indisputable that the action taken by public security with forced accompaniment in Slovenia has effects on the legal situation of the person. Instead, it should be correctly understood in the sense that the procedures for reporting and coordinating readmission operations between the Italian and Slovenian authorities can take place without procedural burdens.

      Irrelevance of the application for international protection

      The assertion that readmissions by foreign citizens are applied “even if the intention to seek international protection has been expressed” is disconcerting. The right to international protection is a fundamental right and access to the asylum procedure and the identification of the country in charge of examining the application are regulated by EU law, notably by the Dublin III Regulation which states that “Member States shall examine any application for international protection lodged by a third-country national or a stateless person on the territory of any Member State, including at the border and in the transit areas”. The obligation for the Member State to register the application for international protection lodged at the border must be respected in all circumstances, even in cases where the applicant has crossed the border of a Member State irregularly from another Member State. The criteria of competence which establish which country will have to examine the asylum application are precisely indicated in the Regulation which in any case strictly excludes that the principles and procedures contained in the inter-state Readmission Agreements may apply.

      Subsequently, the text takes on ambiguous and contradictory tones, reassuring that “all the irregular migrants found are informed, through an interpreter, of the possibility to request international protection”, specifying that a special information booklet is distributed for this purpose. This assertion not only is contradicted by numerous testimonies collected, in Italy and abroad, but in any case would be a pointless exercise, in light of the imminent fate (i.e. readmission) that awaits also those who express their intention to seek asylum. As a further confirmation of this, the ministerial note states that “if the conditions for the readmission request are met and the same is accepted by the Slovenian authorities, there will be no formalization of the request in the police headquarters”. Declaring one’s intention to seek protection therefore produces no apparent legal effect and, consequently, entails no obligation for the Italian authorities, since if Slovenia accepts the readmission application “by completing and sending a special form in which the elements supporting the application are indicated” the foreign citizen is readmitted to Slovenia like those who have not asked for protection, therefore as an irregular foreigner. The note also does not consider that in this case the foreigner would be readmitted to Slovenia as an asylum seeker, thus opening the way to chain rejections as it has already happened in a number of cases.

      Risk of “chain” refoulements

      In relation to this practice, documented by numerous international reports, the Ministry of Interior merely replies that “Slovenia and Croatia are members of the European Union” and consequently “they are to be considered intrinsically safe countries, in terms of human rights and international conventions on the matter”. ASGI expresses serious concerns about the Slovenian and Croatian asylum systems and, above all, about the possibilities of effective access to the asylum procedure. According to Eurostat data, in the first four months of 2020, Croatia registered 400 applications for international protection, equal to 0.3% of the EU total. In Slovenia there were 490 applications registered against 6840 asylum applications registered in Italy. Furthermore, as already highlighted in the ASGI note of June 5th 2020, the right of States to reject or expel those who are not entitled to enter or remain on national territory, albeit lawful as an expression of the principle of state sovereignty, finds specific limits in that States have not only the obligation to recognize, guarantee and protect the human rights of people under their jurisdiction, but also the duty to respect human rights treaties and not to transform them into ineffective norms. The Italian government cannot pretend to ignore that migrants readmitted from Italy to Slovenia and then from Slovenia to Croatia are subsequently transferred coercively to Serbia or Bosnia-Herzegovina, that these operations take place without any written decisions being adopted and served on the foreigners and that migrants are subjected to brutal violence by both the Croatian police and members of private militias. The practice of chain refoulements was also recently recognized by the Slovenian Administrative Court which on July 16th recognized the unlawfulness of the readmission from Slovenia to Croatia and then from Croatia to Bosnia of an asylum seeker. The Slovenian judge ruled that the police had not informed the interested party of his right to apply for international protection, in clear violation of national and EU law. The readmission also violated the ban on collective expulsion because the applicant was not notified of a removal order, nor was he given legal and linguistic assistance before his readmission to Croatia. As regards chain refoulement, the ruling found “sufficiently reliable reports on the possible risks from the point of view of article 3 of the ECHR” both in Croatia, where the applicant was initially removed, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he was subsequently rejected.

      Likely ineffectiveness, against the background above, of a service to assist migrants at border crossings

      Lastly, the note ends with the reassurance that an assistance service for foreigners in the province of Trieste will be soon activated and will be operated by CIR (Consiglio Italiano per i Rifugiati). In light of the above considerations (i.e. the substantial uselessness of the application for international protection in order to prevent the readmission mechanism), it is highly questionable whether such a service would have any effectiveness and foreign citizens could access it.

      Conclusion

      In conclusion, the note with which the Ministry of the Interior made known its position on the so-called informal readmissions of foreign citizens, including asylum seekers, on the Italian-Slovenian border, represents an ideological endorsement of unlawful procedures implemented in total contempt for domestic and EU law. Despite the controversial and sometimes obscure asylum policy in Italy, so far there hasn’t ever been such a flagrant infringement of the legality, one that may make Italian and European institutions face possible responsibilities for violations of fundamental rights taking place on the border with Slovenia.

      Due to this very serious situation

      ASGI asks the Italian government

      to immediately end the practices of unlawful readmissions at the Italian-Slovenian border;
      to give precise indications to the peripheral government offices to respect the right of asylum and in particular the effective right to access the territory and request international protection adequately;
      to report urgently before the Parliament on the situation at the eastern border by providing all the necessary data and specifically reporting on the operating procedures with which the readmissions have so far been implemented.

      ASGI asks UNHCR

      to take an open public position on the note of the Italian Government in relation to the readmissions of applicants for international protection. For understandable reasons related to its mandate, UNHCR often operates through actions of moral suasion that do not take a public dimension. However, situations, such as that covered by this analysis, require that public opinion, institutions and associations have the full right to know UNHCR’s position on such serious events taking place in the territory of the European Union;
      to implement effective direct monitoring of the situation on the eastern border which has so far been completely lacking, in the awareness that the illegal situation described has already led to the rejection of hundreds of asylum seekers and that stopping this situation must become a top priority on the part of the United Nations agency responsible for defending the very existence of the right to asylum.

      For further information, please refer to the ASGI note of June 5th 2020 and to the recent dossier “La rotta balcanica” (“The Balkan Route”) by the Network “Rivolti ai Balcani”.

      https://en.asgi.it/informal-readmissions-balkan-route-asgi-letter-government-unhcr

    • Cries for help from the Balkan Route. Access to asylum remains a problem in Slovenia.

      “They don’t care about us. We have reached the refugee shelter several times, and they send us back to Croatia.”

      This is part of a message I received on Whatsapp on July 29 from 19-year-old Mohammed from Morocco who was writing from a center in south west Slovenia where he was being held in detention.

      Mohammed explained that he had previously managed to enter Slovenia several times, crossing over the mountains, but was pushed back initially to Croatia, and then again to Bosnia and Herzegovina or Serbia. This illegal deportation practice has been documented in recent years by a number of human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and the Council of Europe, as well as some European parliamentarians.

      NGOs and human rights collectives including Amnesty International and Border Violence Monitoring Network have also said that since July 2018, people on the move have been denied their legal right to apply for asylum by Slovenian police, who have been part of an illegal chain of push backs from the EU, along Italy and Croatia to Bosnia or Serbia.

      Mohammed further told me that since July 19 he had been held alongside a number of other potential asylum seekers in the Aliens Center in #Postojna, a town in Slovenia midway between Ljubljana and the Italian border.

      Usually, people held in this center are in the process of being deported after their asylum claims have been denied, or their stay in the country has been deemed illegal, as defined by the Aliens Act. However, until recently, asylum seekers and those wanting to seek asylum like Mohammed were not being placed there unless there were specific circumstances where they were deemed a flight risk or a danger to public order.

      Through text messages, photos and videos, some of those inside the center managed to reach out to journalists like myself, as well as to some NGOs, and civil society groups.

      A group of activists subsequently organized protests on August 25 in an attempt to raise awareness about what is going on, supporting ongoing protests being held within the center by those being held in detention. They warned the public about this practice by the Slovenian police and drew parallels with the so-called Hungarian model of locking people up during their asylum process.

      Threats and deportations

      The center in Postojna where people are being detained consists of a large hangar-like building that has only lately been equipped with 14 containers. Each has six beds. Additionally, there are two sanitary containers serving as bathrooms and toilets.

      The official capacity of the complex is 180 beds, but the number of those locked-up varies daily. At the beginning of August, through email correspondence, police said that 145 people were held in the center, including 42 in the process of deportation and 65 who had requested asylum but who had not yet received an official response..

      Out of the total number, 38 individuals were registered asylum seekers.

      A few days later, police reported that 142 individuals were being held in the center, including 111 asylum seekers.

      People held in Postojna claim that when they were brought in, police told them they would be quarantined due to the pandemic.

      The General Police Directorate denied that the center in Postojna is being used as a form of quarantine, claiming that only basic medical check-ups are carried out. But in answer to questions, they also state that “the majority stays there for more than 14 days,” the quarantine period recommended by the World Health Organization for those who have been in close contact with somebody with COVID-19.

      https://vimeo.com/453221076

      Messages from those in the center claimed that even the right to request asylum was being denied, despite promises by police upon entering the center that everyone would get a chance to apply.

      Some, like Mohammed, say they have already gone through the experience of being deprived of the right to apply for asylum, and then being deported from the EU, back to the Balkans. They say they reached out to appeal for help after being threatened with deportation to Croatia 10 days after being taken to the center.

      In one of these messages sent to a local NGO, X. from Morocco wrote that the living conditions in the center are “terrible.”

      “They put us in a closed place, some people have been here 28 days and others 25 days without knowing what will happen with us,” he wrote.

      “They take out some and leave some in, even though we have the same case and were arrested in the same circumstances. There is no logic and no law. Some leave without proof of identity, while others are sentenced to three months.

      “There’s patients here and the medical care is not good, some friends are scared about what will happen with us and others are thinking of killing themselves here.”

      https://vimeo.com/453221292

      Violation of asylum laws

      The Ombudsperson’s Office in Slovenia has warned on several occasions about the problematic role of border police in asylum procedures and about the role of Postojna’s Aliens Center, which is officially considered a detention facility.

      Furthermore, in its reports the Office acknowledges that families and children were amongst those previously detained there, a controversial practice it calls to be abolished.

      The men who are currently locked up in Postojna complain of further irregularities, including accusing the translators working for the police as being corrupt and unprofessional. These echo similar claims cited by organizations including Amnesty International Slovenia, while the Ombudsperson’s office has also mentioned it in one of its reports and called on the government to react.

      Saša Zagorc, a professor of constitutional law at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana and a member of the Odysseus Network with other experts on asylum, says that to date little has been done to address the concerns.

      “Systemic problems and irregularities when it comes to deprivation of personal liberty in Slovenia have been known and well analyzed for at least five years,” he says.

      Depriving those wanting to seek asylum of liberty is considered a measure of last resort under international law and is legal only after an individual’s specific circumstances have been taken into account and possible milder measures considered. But Professor Zagorc emphasizes a systemic lack of alternative measures in Slovenia.

      Self-organized activist collective Work-group for Asylum — part of the Ambasada Rog collective that has been working with refugees and migrants in Slovenia for years — issued a statement saying that deprivation of liberty of people who seek asylum is now used in Slovenia as a rule, and not as an exception, as stipulated in law.

      The Interior Ministry denies these allegations.

      Not standard police procedure

      The videos and photos that appeared in the public and the media at the end of July, shortly after protests within the camp, created public pressure. Three days after I received the first message from Mohammed, the men in Postojna reported they had been visited by a group of officials from the Interior Ministry with two different interpreters.

      However, three weeks later, on August 21, they still remained locked up and deprived of their liberty, with no legal counsel.

      In answer to my questions about the broader framing of the current situation in Postojna, the Ombudsperson’s Office said that part of the problem is a lack of systemic access to free legal counsel for some people deprived of their liberty in the Aliens Center.

      The official response from the Interior Ministry is that the men’s detention in Postojna might “not be a standard police procedure,” but that all police actions are lawful.

      Standard police procedure is to take asylum seekers to Ljubljana’s Asylum Center, where they have freedom of movement after a few days of quarantine and an initial interview. The Interior Ministry said that their officials can, and do, conduct first interviews with people who wish to apply for asylum in Ljubljana’s Asylum Center, as well as at other police stations.

      They explained that the asylum requests can be “deemed obviously unfounded if an individual comes from a so-called safe third country.” Such procedures aim to speed up deportations of individuals whose asylum requests have been denied.

      Human rights organizations, including the Council of Europe, however, have warned that even in such expedient procedures individual circumstances need to be considered and these may make asylum claims valid even when an applicant is from a so-called safe third country.

      The police practices are reflected in official statistics. According to the Interior Ministry, in the first half of 2020, 64 out of 120 asylum requests were rejected as “obviously unfounded.” In the same period last year, 30 out of 51 asylum requests were denied as “obviously unfounded.”

      Police instructions, exposed last month by Slovenian media, reveal that as a rule, asylum seekers are now to be taken to Postojna in an apparent attempt to speed up deportations, not to Ljubljana’s Asylum Center.

      In a phone conversation with a representative of the Legal-Informational Centre for NGOS, I find out that since late May and June they have been overwhelmed with filing legal motions to appeal the detention of asylum seekers in Postojna.

      Interior Ministry data shows that this year, police have deprived 75 potential asylum seekers of their liberty, 69 of which were in June alone. The administrative court this year annulled 35 of these measures.

      Meanwhile, based on a request made by right wing politicians in Italy, additional Italian army troops are to be deployed to the border with Slovenia. Some troops were already deployed in May, while the idea of having the army is supported by far right groups on both sides of the border.

      In Slovenia, Interior Minister Aleš Hojs, a member of the right wing SDS party, openly welcomed the idea.

      For now, the struggle of people in Postojna and Slovenian civic society continues. In one of his messages sent to the activists, X. wrote:

      “We are not criminals — we are humans. The difference between us and other people is just the paper — we are people without papers and that does not mean we are not good people.”

      https://kosovotwopointzero.com/en/cries-for-help-from-the-balkan-route

  • IOM launches appeal to support displaced and migrant Syrians amid COVID-19 pandemic - InfoMigrants
    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#OIM#refugie#syrien#aide

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/25110/iom-launches-appeal-to-support-displaced-and-migrant-syrians-amid-covi

    The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has urged donors from around the world to support the vital needs of some 3 million Syrians suffering under the global coronavirus pandemic after nearly a decade of civil war. Roughly 1.3 million Syrians are considered to have been internally displaced this year alone, while 1.7 million are freshly registering are refugees abroad.

  • Queer refugees : LGBT+ organizations struggle to provide support amid coronavirus - InfoMigrants
    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#LGBT#Allemagne

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/24999/queer-refugees-lgbt-organizations-struggle-to-provide-support-amid-cor

    Support structures for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender refugees often rely on in-person meetings. That’s one of the reasons why measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have hit queer refugees particularly hard. We spoke to LGBT+ refugee advocates in Germany about the situation, and where people can still get help.

  • Olympic Refuge Foundations launches initiatives to help refugees amid coronavirus crisis- InfoMigrants
    Sports can help refugees and displaced people cope with the coronavirus pandemic, the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) and UN refugee agency UNHCR have said in a joint statement. They announced the launch of several new sports initiatives, aimed at helping young people.
    Thomas Bach, the chair of the ORF and the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said they are worried about the growing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental health of refugees and others uprooted by war, violence and persecution in the statement published on Tuesday.

    #Covid-19#Sport#Société_civile#Jeux_olympiques#migrant#migration

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/24894/olympic-refuge-foundations-launches-initiatives-to-help-refugees-amid-

  • EASO warns of uptick in migration in response to COVID-19 crisis - InfoMigrants

    A report published by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) says that there could be increases in asylum applications in the EU in the future. The document highlights that the threat of the novel coronavirus spreading in lower income countries could lead to a rise in migration.

    #Covid-19#Moyen-Orient#Europe#Iraq#Syrie#Frontière#Crise_migratoire#Demandeur_asile#Aide_humanitaire#ONU#migrant#migration

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/24733/easo-warns-of-uptick-in-migration-in-response-to-covid-19-crisis

  • Frontex expects more migrants will try to enter EU from Turkey - Info-Migrants
    The European Union border agency Frontex expects a large number of migrants to attempt to cross the border from Turkey into Greece after Turkey lifts coronavirus restrictions. Turkey closed its borders in mid-March as a measure against the pandemic.

    #Covid-19#Turquie#Gréce#frontière#FRONTEX#politique#migrant#migration#réfugié#territoire

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/24629/frontex-expects-more-migrants-will-try-to-enter-eu-from-turkey

  • Le gouvernement grec s’apprête à expulser 10 000 réfugiés des appartements et autres structures d’accueil où ils sont logés.

    –-> source en grec : https://www.efsyn.gr/ellada/dikaiomata/244153_shedio-exosis-10000-prosfygon

    Traduction reçue par Vicky Skoumbi via la mailing-list Migreurop, le 21.05.2020 :

    Comment les réfugiés expulsés du #squat occupé de la rue Thémistokleous (centre-ville d’#Athènes) se sont retrouvés dans la rue, toujours dans le quartier d’#Exarchia, mais cette fois comme #SDF ?

    Des sources policières pointe le ministère de l’Immigration et de l’Asile comme responsable de fait que sept familles de réfugiés reconnus comme tels, n’ont pas été transférés vers des structures d’hébergement appropriées, mais se sont retrouvées jetées dans la rue, étant obligés de passer la soirée du lundi sur la place d’Exarcheia.

    Il s’agit d’une cinquantaine de personnes, parmi lesquelles des bébés et de très jeunes enfants, dont un avec un grave problème cardiaque nécessitant une intervention chirurgicale. On craint même que l’incident ne soit en fait une sorte de répétition générale, le prélude à échelle réduite de ce qui va suivre bientôt et notamment dans deux semaines. Notis Mitarakis, ministre de la politique migratoire, a décidé d’expulser fin mai plus de 10 000 réfugiés des logements et des appartements de la Grèce continentale, ce qui fait craindre le pire : nous allons revoir très probablement les places et les parcs d’Athènes et d’autres grandes villes de nouveau se remplir de réfugiés désespérés sans abri.

    Commençons par le commencement. Jusqu’à lundi matin, les sept familles vivaient dans le squat pour réfugiés du 58 Thémistokleous à Exarchia. La police en tenue anti-émeute a pris d’assaut lundi matin l’immeuble, en forçant les portes des chambres ils ont menacé les réfugiés en pointant leur arme contre leur tête. Ceux-ci n’ont eu que dix minutes pour faire leurs valises et ont été emmenés à #Petrou_Ralli (La section ‘étrangers’ de la Préfecture d’Athènes) pour vérification d’identité. Douze d’entre eux n’avaient pas de papiers et sont actuellement détenus en vue d’une expulsion, par ailleurs fort improbable, du pays.

    Décision prise

    Les sept familles des réfugiés reconnus comme tels avaient des papiers en règle et ont été "libérées", selon des sources policières. La vérité est, bien sûr, qu’elles ont été « laisséss sans abri ». À la question de "Ef.Syn." pour quelles raisons ce qui se faisait dans le passé à savoir le relogement des réfugiés expulsés d’un squat à une structure d’accueil, n’a pas été fait dans ce cas, où les familles n’avaient nulle part où se loger ni les moyens de subvenir à leurs besoins, les sources policières ont répondu que cela "était une question de politique d’immigration" et ont pointé le Ministère comme responsable.

    Les familles sont revenues à Exarchia, le quartier qu’elles connaissaient un peu. Elles ont été repérées tard lundi soir par des passants assis sur la place, à côté des valises avec leurs affaires, affamées et désespérées. Un réseau de solidarité a été rapidement mis en place et des solutions d’hébergement temporaire ont été trouvées chez des familles athéniennes et sur le terrain de jeu d’un autre immeuble occupé, toujours à Exarchia.

    Mais une question urgente s’impose : quelle est cette politique qui, après avoir jeté dans la rue les personnes dans le besoin, les abandonne à leur sort à la recherche des places et des parcs pour y passer la nuit ? Est-ce une politique juste ? Est-ce une politique conforme à la législation ? Et surtout, quels résultats crée-t-elle ?

    Ces questions nous concernent tous, et non seulement les réfugiés laissés sans toit. Fin mai, la menace de l’’expulsion de structures et d’appartements plane au-dessus de la tête de plus de 10 000 réfugiés, reconnus comme tels un mois auparavant, car, selon une décision récente du Ministère, les réfugiés après la fin de la procédure d’asile ne peuvent continuer à vivre à des structures et des appartements alloués à eux que pendant un mois, au lieu de six auparavant. Cette décision a été prise par le Ministère il y a quelques mois, mais a été reportée à fin mai en raison de la pandémie.

    Selon les ONG, l’expulsion locative concerne 300 réfugiés d’#Eleonas (un camp en #Attique), 2 200 d’autres camps, 600 des hôtels et 7 400 des appartements du programme #ESTIA et d’autres programmes d’hébergement comme #HELIOS. Étant donné que l’aide financière –les allocations aux réfugiés- devrait également être coupée, étant donné aussi que les programmes de préparation à l’accès au marché du travail, à l’inclusion sociale et à l’inscription aux programmes de protection sociale n’ont pas été mis en application, le résultat de telles expulsions devrait être vraiment désastreux. Et non seulement pour les réfugiés eux-mêmes. La mise en œuvre de cette décision d’expulsion va faire réapparaître en plein centre-ville les images de la période d’avant la création des structures d’hébergement, pendant laquelle les réfugiés laissés sans abri étaient obligés de dormir sur les places publiques et les parcs.

    Frénésie xénophobe

    Bien entendu, personne ne s’attendrait à ce qu’un gouvernement qui s’enorgueillit de la généralisation des opérations de détention, de dissuasion et de refoulement et qui dégrade le processus d’asile puisse se soucier du sort des réfugiés. Cependant, on s’attendrait à ce que sa frénésie xénophobe ne la conduise pas à un point tel qu’elle mette en danger la cohésion sociale, l’image et la paix civile des villes. Parce qu’on n’arrive pas à croire que ce gouvernement mettrait en œuvre une stratégie de tensions et viserait précisément à créer des tensions sociales en alimentant le sentiment d’insécurité afin de les exploiter politiquement.

    Peu importe à quel point M. Mitarakis essaie de présenter sa décision comme preuve d’une politique audacieuse, en réalité c’est tout le contraire. C’est un mouvement de panique face à l’impasse dans laquelle il est arrivé. D’une part, s’impose en toute urgence la nécessité des décongestionner des îles où se situe sa circonscription. D’autre part, la mansuétude du gouvernement face à des groupes xénophobes d’extrême-droite les laisse faire et notamment leur donne libre cours à empêcher par des actions violentes la création de nouvelles places d’hospitalité dans la Grèce continentale. Le ministre choisit donc de libérer des places vacantes à tout prix. Il semble que M. Mitarakis ait décidé de tout sacrifier pour assurer sa réélection dans sa circonscription à Chios.

    Mobilisation solidaire

    Face à cette politique désastreuse, la municipalité d’Athènes, les collectifs et organisations antiracistes actifs en faveur des réfugiés se mobilisent. Lundi, lors d’une réunion entre KEERFA (Mouvement Unissons contre le Racisme et la Menace Fasciste) et Melina Daskalaki, présidente du Conseil municipal pour l’intégration des immigrants et des réfugiés. Mme Daskalaki a informé les organisations que la municipalité discutait avec les organismes impliqués dans les programmes de logement ESTIA et HELIOS et notamment UNHCR et IOM. Elle a également déclaré qu’elle transmettrait au maire la demande de KEERFA d’utiliser les immeubles vides de la municipalité et les bâtiments repris par l’Etat à cause d’impayés d’impôts.

    #Grèce #migrations #asile #réfugiés #expulsions #logement #hébergement #camps_de_réfugiés #hôtels

    • On refugees to be soon evicted from offered housing

      In an interview to Sto Kokkino, young Afghan boy Soai, whose 7-member family will be asked to leave their offered accommodation on May 31, spoke in perfect Greek – as a result of his school attendance - about their ordeal as nobody is willing to rent them a house as his father cannot work due to a health problem, also inherited to one of Soai’s siblings. Also present in the interview, Vasiliki Katrivanou, coordinator of social policy at the Greek Council for Refugees, raised the alarm over a lack of planning and alternative solutions adding that this decision will affect some 8,000 refugees.

      In an op-ed at Efimerida ton Syntakton, Katrivanou noted that 8,000 recognized refugees will be on the streets by end of May, explaining that the number of affected refugees could reach 16,000 by the end of June. She stressed that things will be tragic for them without any support, knowledge of Greek, integration policies, access to public services, health system, and UNHCR’s cash assistance that helped them for six months to find a house and work, while noting that Helios, the only available program that could be of some help to some 5,000 to learn Greek and be assisted in finding a job and a house, has encountered many challenges with less than 2,000 refugees being able to use its services since June 2019. She stressed the climate of violence, xenophobia, and racism that could be raised in such a situation. Islands should be decongested, she claimed, but at what cost, adding that this should not be achieved by letting refugees on the streets. At the same time, EU funding could be used for integration programs rather than the construction of closed centers.

      Avgi argued that the said eviction was postponed by two months’ time due to coronavirus with the Migration Minister having announced back in March that 10,000 recognized refugees will be affected, but no progress has been made since as concerns integration issues faced by refugees. Many issues arise (such as where these people will go amidst the coronavirus pandemic, how will they manage to rent a house which depends on the bank, on AFM, on bureaucratic obstacles, when will they have access to welfare as part of their integration, what will happen with refugees suffering from incurable illnesses or disabilities), for which solutions must be found in just a week when exits will start. The ministry’s plan to have exits of recognized refugees each month to help with the decongestion of the islands will lead to thousands of homeless recognized refugees filling the mainland. It is noted that in order to avoid that, municipalities and organizations are asking for a transitional plan. Speaking to Avgi, Nikoletta Kyrana, ESTIA program coordinator in ARSIS NGO on the islands, stressed that Helios integration program has not succeeded in solving integration issues, such as issuing AFM to recognized refugees in order to be able to find a house and a legal job. UNHCR running ESTIA program with the assistance of NGOs reportedly estimates that in the first phase, this month, exits will affect 7,500 recognized refugees, stressing that it is not clear yet which vulnerable cases will be exempted, an issue that is still under discussion between organizations and the Ministry.

      According to sources, Avgi noted that a meeting is expected between UNHCR and the Labor Ministry to solve some bureaucracy issues relating to access of recognized refugees to benefits that are foreseen by law and could help refugees with serious disabilities to make ends meet. Kyrana noted that there is no extension provided any more for families with children at school until the end of the school year, with 45% of refugees staying in apartments managed by ARSIS being children going to school. According to UNHCR sources, exits will affect disproportionately some municipalities, for example in Tripoli the 40% of hosted refugees. The situation will also be difficult in Attica, as 300 need to leave Elaionas until Sunday. In Athens, 139 refugees will need to leave from apartments managed by ARSIS.

      stokokkino.gr: https://www.stokokkino.gr/article/3383/B.-Katribanoy:-H-kybernhsh-tha-petaksei-ston-dromo-8.000-prosfyges.html, Avgi, Efimerida ton Syntakton, 25 May: https://www.efsyn.gr/stiles/apopseis/244936_ston-dromo-hiliades-anagnorismenoi-prosfyges)

      Migration Minister meets with Athens Mayor Bakoyannis in view of exit of thousands of refugees

      Migration and Asylum Minister Notis Mitarakis met on Tuesday (26/6) with Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis. According to Mitaraki’s post on the social media, the meeting focused on ways to limit the repercussions of the migration crisis in Athens as well as issues related with asylum seekers hosting issues and integration of those granted asylum. The related press release notes that they met to discuss “ways to mitigate the impact of the migration crisis in the capital, as well as issues around accommodation of asylum-seekers and integration of those who have received international protection.”

      As Efimerida ton Syntakton reports the meeting was held in light of the programmed exit in the coming week of 300 recognized refugees from Elaionas site and some 2,500 from ESTIA apartments in the capital, and of 10,000 in total in the mainland. The daily comments on the vagueness of the press release, adding that no more information on what was discussed has been made public. According to the daily, following the latest evacuation of a squat in Exarchia that left seven refugee families in the streets, Elaionas site offered in the aftermath to provide them with accommodation.

      (amna.gr, amna.gr/en, ekathimerini.com, efsyn.gr, gr.euronews.com, newsbeast.gr, mitarakis.gr, 26 May:
      https://www.amna.gr/ota/article/460719/Sunantisi-tou-NMitaraki--me-ton-K-Mpakogianni
      https://www.amna.gr/en/article/460678/Migration-Min-Mitarachi-meets-with-Athens-mayor-Bakoyannis
      https://www.ekathimerini.com/253057/article/ekathimerini/news/mitarakis-bakoyannis-discuss-migration
      https://www.efsyn.gr/ellada/dikaiomata/245130_synantisi-mitaraki-mpakogianni-enopsei-tis-exosis-hiliadon-prosfygon
      https://gr.euronews.com/2020/05/26/synanthsi-mitaraki-mekosta-mpakogianni
      https://www.newsbeast.gr/politiki/arthro/6321539/tet-a-tet-mitaraki-mpakogianni-gia-ton-periorismo-ton-synepeion-tis-metana
      https://www.mitarakis.gr/gov/migration/6145-%CF%83%CF%85%CE%BD%CE%AC%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%83%CE%B7-%CF%85%CF%80%C

      Reçu via la mailing-list de Migreurop, le 27.05.2020

    • 11,000 of recognized refugees in Greece face eviction as of June 1

      The Greek government is proceeding with its plan to stop hosting asylum-seekers with recognized refugee status in camps and EU subsidized apartments and hotels. Some 11,000 refugees will have to leave the facilities as of next Monday, June 1, 2020. As little has been done regarding the social integration of recognized refugees, Greece is to face one more social problem in an economic environment struck by the pandemic crisis.

      In line with the Greek Asylum legislation in February 2020, people who have had recognized refugee status for more than one month must leave camps and subsidized facilities and find their own accommodation – and a job. And thus in a country economically suffering from the effects of the coronavirus lockdown.

      This announcement has been put up in the camp on the island of Kos, in the eastern Aegean Sea.

      The idea for the eviction is that recognized refugees make place for so that new waves of refugees coming from the overcrowded camps on the Greek islands to the mainland get housed.

      https://twitter.com/teacherdude/status/1265921868873306115?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E12

      According to media, some 6,500 refugees are currently living in subsidized apartments or hotels, another 2,500 are in reception facilities on the mainland and 1,500 are still living in island camps despite having secured asylum.

      It is thought that some refugees obliged to move out of subsidized accommodation will leave Greece. But there are fears that many others might end up on the street. The key problem is that the response to the refugee crisis has focused on boosting reception capabilities and the processing of asylum claims and little has been done for the social inclusion of migrants who are granted asylum.

      Closing down facilities of ESTIA program

      On Thursday, Migration Minister, Notis Mitarakis, announced that 60 out of the current 93 hospitality openings created in hotels for asylum seekers on the mainland will be closed in 2020.

      The residents will be transferred to other facilities or will be included in the the UN Refugee Agency’s ESTIA integration program,

      Program ESTIA, that is the Emergency Support to Integration and Accommodation program – offers urban accommodation and financial aid to refugees and asylum-seekers in Greece and is co-funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund of the European Union.

      The Asylum Service has issued 40,000 decisions during the lockdown and they will have to be distributed to the applicants, the minister said.

      As of 25 May 2020, the total number of accommodation for refugees and asylum-seekers created through the ESTIA program was 25,503.

      Background

      In February the Greek government has announced it will start asking people with refugee status or subsidiary protection to leave camps and UNHCR accommodation, starting with people who got their status before August 2017. Eventually, it will also end their access to cash assistance.

      The Greek government said it was not creating a new policy, just enforcing an existing policy. Under the policy, people lose access to camps and UNHCR accommodation and cash 6 months after they get refugee status or subsidiary protection.

      That policy was reportedly made to meet the requirements of the European Union, which funds both the cash program and the UNHCR accommodation scheme. Under the European Union’s rules, cash and accommodation are meant for asylum-seekers — people who don’t yet have a decision on their asylum application.

      Up to now the government had not enforced the 6-months policy strictly, recognizing that for many refugees in Greece, it was very difficult to find a place to stay and a way to support themselves financially.

      But the policy enforcement changed allegedly because Greece was still facing high numbers of new arrivals and there were not enough places in the overcrowded camps to meet the needs of asylum-seekers.

      The decision came from the Greek Directorate for the Protection of Asylum Seekers, the General Secretariat for Migration Policy and the Ministry of Migration Policy.

      https://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2020/05/28/greece-11000-recognized-refugees-asylumseekers-eviction

    • Προπαγάνδα αντί απαντήσεων για τις εξώσεις προσφύγων

      Τη γνωστή προπαγάνδα του Υπουργείου Μετανάστευσης και Ασύλου ξανασέρβιραν κυβερνητικές πηγές εν είδει ενημερωτικού σημειώματος, χωρίς ωστόσο να παρέχουν κανένα νέο στοιχείο και χωρίς να δίνουν καμία απάντηση στα σοβαρά ερωτήματα για την έλλειψη πολιτικής και την υποκατάστασή της από ανεδαφικές εξαγγελίες και προπαγάνδα ερήμην της πραγματικότητας.

      Φαίνεται ότι ο Νότης Μηταράκης επιχειρεί μέσω της ατέρμονης επανάληψης των ίδιων ισχυρισμών να διασκεδάσει τις εντυπώσεις από τις έντονες αντιδράσεις, ακόμα και του φιλοκυβερνητικού Τύπου, που προκαλεί η εμμονή του να πετάξει στο δρόμο περισσότερους από 11.000 αναγνωρισμένους πρόσφυγες από την 1η Ιουνίου, με ορατό κίνδυνο να γεμίσουν οι πλατείες και τα πάρκα της Αθήνας και των άλλων πόλεων από άστεγους πρόσφυγες, στους οποίους δεν παρέχεται εναλλακτική.

      Και αναζητά χείραν βοηθείας σε κυβερνητικές πηγές μπροστά στον πανικό που του προκαλούν οι αποκαλύψεις του Τύπου, μεταξύ των οποίων τα τελευταία δημοσιεύματα της « Καθημερινής » που τον επικρίνουν για κακοδιαχείριση, οικονομικές ατασθαλίες, έλλειψη σχεδιασμού και προπαγάνδα ερήμην της πραγματικότητας (βλ. « Και κακοδιαχείριση και ατασθαλίες και παραπλανητικές "εικόνες", κ. Μηταράκη », « Εφ.Συν. », 30-31/5/2020). Γιατί βέβαια ούτε τον ίδιο δεν πείθει η απόπειρά του να διαψεύσει τα δημοσιεύματα, επικαλούμενος άγνοια του εγγράφου, την ίδια στιγμή που αποδίδει το περιεχόμενό του σε... « διαφορετικές απόψεις ».

      Αλλά το απολογιστικό κείμενο των κυβερνητικών πηγών εκθέτει περαιτέρω τον υπουργό, καθώς αναδεικνύει τη γύμνια των επιχειρημάτων, που δεν έχουν αντίκρισμα στην πραγματικότητα. Το ενημερωτικό σημείωμα του Μαξίμου κάνει λόγο για... μείωση των μεταναστευτικών ροών, χωρίς να αναφέρει ότι οφείλεται κυρίως στη συγκυρία του κορονοϊού και βέβαια χωρίς λέξη για τις καταγγελίες για παράνομες πρακτικές αποτροπής και παράνομες επιχειρήσεις επαναπροώθησης. Μιλά για... περιορισμό των επιπτώσεων της μεταναστευτικής κρίσης, αναφερόμενο όμως στα μελλοντικά σχέδια του Υπουργείου για κλείσιμο δομών και ξενοδοχείων, σχέδια που έχουν επικριθεί ως ανεδαφικά.

      Μιλά για... αποσυμφόρηση των νησιών κατά 15% από τον Ιανουάριο με πραγματοποίηση 13.000 μεταφορών, παραβλέποντας τη συγκυρία του κορονοϊού, κάνοντας ότι δεν αντιλαμβάνεται το τεράστιο πρόβλημα που παραμένει στα νησιά και αποσιωπώντας ότι δεν έχει πραγματοποιηθεί η μεταφορά περίπου 2.300 ιδιαίτερα ευπαθών στον κορονοϊό προσφύγων από τα ΚΥΤ, που είχε εξαγγελθεί αρχικά για τον Απρίλιο και στη συνέχεια για τον Μάιο. Επαίρεται για... επιτάχυνση των διαδικασιών ασύλου, όταν για δύο μήνες ήταν κλειστή για το κοινό η υπηρεσία Ασύλου και όταν η επαναλειτουργία της σημαδεύτηκε από παράταση χιλιάδων εκκρεμοτήτων και περαιτέρω ταλαιπωρία των προσφύγων.

      Το πιο εξωφρενικό, μιλά για... « 11.237 νέες θέσεις φιλοξενίας στην ενδοχώρα σε υπάρχουσες δομές, χωρίς να κατασκευαστούν νέες ». Αυτό θα επιτευχθεί, ισχυρίζεται, με τη σταδιακή αποχώρηση αναγνωρισμένων προσφύγων από τις δομές, σύμφωνα με νόμο του Νοεμβρίου, η εφαρμογή του οποίου παρατάθηκε μέχρι 31 Μαΐου λόγω κορονοϊού. « Άρα υπήρξε επαρκής χρόνος προετοιμασίας », ισχυρίζονται οι κυβερνητικές πηγές.

      Μα ακριβώς ! Αν και υπήρξε επαρκής χρόνος, το Υπουργείο δεν έκανε καμία έγκαιρη προετοιμασία για να υπάρξουν εναλλακτικές και να μη βρεθούν οι άνθρωποι στο δρόμο. Μόλις την περασμένη Παρασκευή έγινε διευρυμένη σύσκεψη του υπουργείου με φορείς, όπου αποφασίστηκε η αναθεώρηση του προγράμματος επιδότησης στέγης και ενταξιακής προετοιμασίας HELIOS και η καλύτερη διασύνδεση των προσφύγων με τον ΟΠΕΚΑ και τον ΟΑΕΔ (βλ. « Πρώτα οι εξώσεις, μετά... λύσεις », « Εφ.Συν. », 30-31/5/2020).

      Μόλις την Παρασκευή δόθηκαν οδηγίες στους νέους διοικητές των προσφυγικών δομών για την έξωση, όταν επικρατεί άγνοια μεταξύ των εμπλεκόμενων φορέων ποιος και πώς θα την επιβάλλει, με δεδομένη την άρνηση των απεγνωσμένων προσφύγων να βρεθούν στο δρόμο. Θα κληθεί η αστυνομία να τους βγάλει έξω από τα διαμερίσματα και τα κοντέινερ των καμπ μαζί με τα υπάρχοντά τους ; Για να τους μεταφέρει πού ;

      Οργανώσεις και φορείς έθεσαν την Παρασκευή σοβαρά πρακτικά ερωτήματα στον κ. Μηταράκη. Κι αυτός τους ευχαρίστησε, αλλά απάντηση δεν έδωσε. Γιατί η απάντηση προϋποθέτει προετοιμασία, την οποία δεν έχει κάνει ο κ. Μηταράκης. Προϋποθέτει μια ευρύτερη αντίληψη του ζητήματος, αντί της κοντόθωρης πολιτικής που ενδιαφέρεται μόνο για να μεταθέσει το πρόβλημα και τις ευθύνες αλλού, στην τοπική αυτοδιοίκηση, στους διεθνείς οργανισμούς και στις οργανώσεις, έστω και με κίνδυνο να διαταραχθεί σοβαρά η κοινωνική συνοχή και η εικόνα των πόλεων. Εκτός αν αυτή είναι η επιδίωξη του κ. Μηταράκη. Αλλά η στρατηγική της έντασης δεν αποτελεί σοβαρή πολιτική ευνομούμενου κράτους και έχει αποδειχτεί ιστορικά εξαιρετικά επικίνδυνη.
      Αντιδράσεις

      Έντονες είναι η αντιδράσεις κατά του σχεδίου εξώσεων από κόμματα, συλλογικότητες και οργανώσεις που δραστηριοποιούνται στο προσφυγικό.
      « Ραντεβού στις πλατείες » από το ΣΥΡΙΖΑ

      Για ιδεοληπτική και βαθιά ρατσιστική και ανακόλουθη πολιτική στο προσφυγικό κατηγορεί την κυβέρνηση το τμήμα Προσφυγικής και Μεταναστευτικής Πολιτικής του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ.

      Η ανακοίνωση του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ

      Σύμφωνα με το τελευταίο νομοθέτημα της κυβέρνησης, οι αναγνωρισμένοι πρόσφυγες υποχρεούνται από την 1η Ιούνη να εγκαταλείψουν τις δομές φιλοξενίας οδηγούμενοι στην αστεγία. Το μέτρο αυτό αποτελεί συνέχεια της ιδεοληπτικής βαθειά ρατσιστικής και ανακόλουθης κυβερνητικής πολιτικής στο μεταναστευτικό – προσφυγικό που εκφράστηκε με την αρχική κατάργηση του υπουργείου Μεταναστευτικής Πολιτικής, το « σπρώξιμο » των αρμοδιοτήτων από υπουργείο σε υπουργείο και τέλος την επανασύσταση υπουργείου με τελείως διαφορετική οπτική και κατεύθυνση. Εθελοτυφλώντας απέναντι στην πραγματική ανάγκη των ανθρώπων να ξεφύγουν από τις εμπόλεμες ζώνες και την αθλιότητα, θεώρησαν ότι η επιδείνωση όλων των συνθηκών ζωής, απονομής ασύλου, κράτησης κλπ. των αιτούντων άσυλο θα λειτουργούσε αποτρεπτικά, ότι έτσι θα πάψει να είναι η Ελλάδα πέρασμα προς την Ευρώπη.

      Άφησαν στον αυτόματο πιλότο όλα τα προγράμματα για την στέγαση και την ένταξη στην εκπαίδευση και την εργασία που είχε σχεδιάσει η κυβέρνηση του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ και οδήγησαν σταδιακά στην λήξη, στην μη ανανέωση και στην μη διεκδίκηση νέων προγραμμάτων και κονδυλίων από την ΕΕ.

      Τραγική συνέπεια των παραπάνω είναι ότι το αμέσως επόμενο διάστημα θα βρεθούν χιλιάδες άνθρωποι κυριολεκτικά στο δρόμο. Στο όνομα της επιβεβλημένης (και καθυστερημένης) αποσυμφόρησης των νησιών, στερούν την στέγη από πρόσφυγες που έχουν πάρει άσυλο και μένουν σε ξενοδοχεία ή διαμερίσματα.

      Εν μέσω πανδημίας η κυβέρνηση αντί να διεκδικήσει λόγω εκτάκτων συνθηκών περισσότερα κονδύλια από την ΕΕ για την συνέχιση παραμονής αυτών των ανθρώπων σε ασφαλείς συνθήκες, προτιμά να γεμίσουν οι πλατείες άστεγες οικογένειες προσφύγων. Με ότι αυτό θα συνεπάγεται για την εκ νέου εξαθλίωσή τους αλλά και τους κινδύνους εξάπλωσης του κορονοϊού. Έτσι θα υποκινήσουν νέο κύμα ξενοφοβίας ακριβώς με την απειλή της πανδημίας.

      Ταυτόχρονα αντί με τα χρήματα που έχουν ήδη δοθεί από την ΕΕ να διευρυνθούν και να συνεχιστούν τα ενταξιακά προγράμματα όπως το Ήλιος, καταγγέλλεται από διεθνή οργανισμό η « κακοδιαχείριση και διασπάθιση των κονδυλίων » από μηχανισμούς μετακλητών του κ. Μηταράκη.

      Και όλα αυτά εν μέσω της τεράστιας κρίσης του τουρισμού και της ανάγκης ενίσχυσης των ανά την χώρα καταλυμάτων που βλέπουν στην στέγαση των προσφύγων, με άμεσα καταβλητέα ευρωπαϊκά κονδύλια, μια λύση για την επιβίωση των επιχειρήσεων τους και την διατήρηση των θέσεων εργασίας.

      Οι ιδεοληψίες δεν είναι μόνο απάνθρωπες, βλάπτουν σοβαρά την υγεία και την οικονομία. Ελπίζουμε να μην τολμήσουν να βγάλουν στο δρόμο χιλιάδες ανθρώπους. Ο κ. Μηταράκης και ο κ. Χαρδαλιάς πρέπει όμως να ξέρουν ότι αν χρειαστεί, η ανθρωπιά και η αλληλεγγύη δεν θα μείνουν σπίτι. Το ραντεβού μας θα είναι στις πλατείες.
      Κινητοποιήσεις ΚΕΕΡΦΑ κατά της έξωσης

      Σε συγκέντρωση διαμαρτυρίας έξω από τη δομή στον Ελαιώνα και άλλες περιοχές της Ελλάδας κάλεσε εργαζόμενους, πρόσφυγες και αλληλέγγυους η ΚΕΕΡΦΑ με αίτημα να μην βρεθούν στο δρόμο οι πρόσφυγες που απειλούνται με έξωση από την 1η Ιουνίου.

      Σε συνέντευξη τύπου έξω από τον Ελαιώνα την Πέμπτη, η ΚΕΕΡΦΑ επισήμανε τον κίνδυνο να γεμίσουν χιλιάδες άστεγοι πρόσφυγες τους δρόμους, τις πλατείες και τα πάρκα των μεγάλων πόλεων και ιδίως της Αθήνας σε μια εποχή όπου πριμοδοτείται από την κυβέρνηση όχι η αλληλεγγύη αλλά ο ρατσισμός και η ξενοφοβική βία.

      « Η μόνη λύση να βρεθούν μέσα σε σπίτια σε πόλεις οι πρόσφυγες, να δοθούν άμεσα τα διαθέσιμα κτήρια του ΕΦΚΑ, να υπάρξει πρόγραμμα κοινωνικής στέγασης για πρόσφυγες, άστεγους και Ρομά. Να επιταχθούν ξενοδοχεία που δεν λειτουργούν και έχουν τους υπαλλήλους απλήρωτους, αντί να σπαταλώνται χρήματα για ρατσιστική αστυνόμευση και παράνομες επαναπροωθήσεις μέχρι και μέσα από δομές, όπως αυτή των Διαβατών », σημείωσε ο συντονιστής της ΚΕΕΡΦΑ και δημοτικός σύμβουλος της Αθήνας Πέτρος Κωνσταντίνου.

      Εκ μέρους της καμπάνιας « Εκκενώστε τα κάμπ, οι πρόσφυγες σε σπίτια και ξενοδοχεία », η καθηγήτρια Αρχιτεκτονικής Ελένη Πορτάλιου σημείωσε ότι η καμπάνια συγκέντρωσε 11.000 υπογραφές ενάντια στο ρατσιστικό αφήγημα ότι είναι φορείς του κορονοϊού οι πρόσφυγες και υπέρ της μεταφοράς τους σε διαθέσιμους ακατοίκητους χώρους. « Το σχέδιο των εξώσεων είναι δώρο στην ακροδεξιά και στους φασίστες των νησιών που είχαν πολεμήσει να διώξουν αυτούς τους ανθρώπους. Θα έρθουν οι πρόσφυγες από τα νησιά και θα διωχτούν οι χιλιάδες που βρίσκονται στο πρόγραμμα ESTIA. Θα βρεθούν στους δρόμους και τις πλατείες σε εποχή που πριμοδοτείται από την κυβέρνηση ο ρατσισμός. Υπάρχουν αδιάθετα σπίτια και μικρά ξενοδοχεία, υπάρχουν ευρωπαϊκά χρήματα που πρέπει να ζητηθούν και να δοθούν. Πρέπει να υπάρξουν πολιτικές που να μην κλείνουν το μάτι στο ρατσισμό », σημείωσε

      Ο Μασούντ, πρόσφυγας από το καμπ του Ελαιώνα, σημείωσε ότι η κυβέρνηση κόβει τη χρηματική βοήθεια τη στιγμή ποιυ δεν προσφέρει ούτε σπίτια ούτε προετοιμασία για δουλειά. « Τι θ’ απογίνουμε ; Δεν έχουμε να πάμε πουθενά », είπε.

      Στις παράνομες επιχειρήσεις επαναπροώθησης στον Έβρο και στην παράνομη κράτηση ασυνόδευτων ανηλίκων στην Αμυγδαλέζα και σε κρατητήρια αναφέρθηκε ο Τζαβέντ Ασλάμ, πρόεδρος της Πακιστανικής Κοινότητας "η Ενότητα".

      « Αν θα βρεθούν στο δρόμνο, θα βγούμε εμείς από τα σπίτια μας και θα τους βάλουμε στα δικά μας και θα βρεθούμε εμείς στο δρόμο. Δεν θα βγάλετε αυτούς στο δρόμο. Θα έχετε εμάς έξω, θα είμαστε μαζί με τους πρόσφυγες, και έτσι θα αναμετρηθούμε και θα κερδίσουμε », είπε ο καθηγητής Παιδαωγωγικής του ΑΠΘ Γιώργος Τσιάκαλος.
      Ένταξη, όχι αστεγία ζητούν οκτώ οργανώσεις

      Δεν είναι δυνατό να επιτραπεί να μείνουν άστεγοι και χωρίς άμεση έμπρακτη υποστήριξη επίσημα αναγνωρισμένοι πρόσφυγες, υπογραμμίζουν σε κοινή τους ανακοίνωση οκτώ οργανώσεις ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων και ανθρωπιστικής βοήθειας (Διοτίμα, ΕλΕΔΑ, ΕΣΠ, Ελληνικό Φόρουμ Προσφύγων, Help Refugees / Choose Love, HumanRights360, Κέντρο Ημέρας Βαβέλ, Terre des hommes Hellas).
      Η ανακοίνωση των οργανώσεων

      "Με πήραν τηλέφωνο πριν από 15 ημέρες και με ρώτησαν αν έχω φύγει από το σπίτι. Τους είπα ότι δεν έχω που να πάω. Αν μας διώξουν, το μόνο που σκέφτομαι είναι ότι θα πάρω ένα σχοινί και θα κάτσω στη πόρτα του σπιτιού. Δεν έχω τίποτα ! Πώς θα ταΐσω την οικογένειά μου ; Είμαι άρρωστος, δε μπορώ να δουλέψω."
      Πατέρας τριών παιδιών, αναγνωρισμένος πρόσφυγας από τη Συρία

      "Άρχισα να βγαίνω στους δρόμους και να ψάχνω [σπίτι]. Έχω πάρει τηλέφωνα παντού. Κάποιοι, όταν τους έλεγα από που είμαι, μου έλεγαν συγγνώμη, δεν μπορούμε να δώσουμε το διαμέρισμα. Την Δευτέρα πρέπει να φύγω και την ίδια μέρα τα παιδιά ξαναξεκινάνε το σχολείο. Τι θα κάνω ; Πού θα τα βάλω να κοιμηθούν ;"
      Μητέρα δυο παιδιών, αναγνωρισμένη πρόσφυγας από το Αφγανιστάν

      "Ενημερωθήκαμε ότι στις 30/05 πρέπει να βγούμε. Δεν έχω ούτε δουλειά, ούτε λεφτά για να ταΐσω την οικογένειά μου. Πώς θα βρω δουλειά ; Που να ψάξω για δουλειά ; Μας πετάνε έξω χωρίς τίποτα."
      Πατέρας δυο παιδιών, αναγνωρισμένοι πρόσφυγες από τη Συρία

      Τέλος διαδρομής για χιλιάδες αναγνωρισμένους πρόσφυγες/ προσφύγισσες και δικαιούχους επικουρικής προστασίας, που σε λίγες ημέρες θα βρεθούν στο δρόμο άστεγοι/άστεγες, στερούμενοι μέχρι και το οικονομικό βοήθημα, που έως τώρα λάμβαναν με ευρωπαϊκούς πόρους.

      Συγκεκριμένα, τη Δευτέρα, 1 Ιουνίου 2020, κατόπιν παράτασης 2 μηνών, λόγω των μέτρων πρόληψης της εξάπλωσης της πανδημίας, έρχεται η ώρα της εφαρμογής των προβλεπόμενων ρυθμίσεων για την διακοπή των παροχών προς όσες και όσους αναγνωρίζονται ως δικαιούχοι διεθνούς προστασίας στην Ελλάδα.

      Καλούνται, πλέον, να ενταχθούν, να βρουν δουλειά και σπίτι, να μάθουν ελληνικά, να πάνε στο σχολείο, να ανακτήσουν την αυτόνομη ζωή που εγκατέλειψαν στις φλόγες του πολέμου και των διώξεων. Αλλά μπορούν ;

      Πολλοί είναι ευάλωτοι, σωματικά και ψυχικά και χρήζουν υποστήριξης για να προσπελάσουν τα γλωσσικά, γραφειοκρατικά και άλλα προσκόμματα, που διαχρονικά τους στερούν την πρόσβαση σε απαραίτητες υπηρεσίες και αγαθά. Πολλές είναι γυναίκες με μικρά παιδιά, ακόμη και μηνών. Πώς θα ψάξουν για δουλειά, όταν δε θα έχουν καν μια στέγη για να προστατεύσουν το παιδί τους ; Πώς θα συνεχίσουν τα παιδιά το σχολείο ; Πολλές γυναίκες είναι επιζώσες ενδοοικογενειακής, έμφυλης βίας ή/και trafficking. Πώς θα υποστηριχθούν αν μείνουν άστεγες και εκτεθειμένες σε πολλαπλούς κινδύνους ;

      Η διαδικασία της ένταξης, η προετοιμασία για τη μετάβαση στη « βιοπάλη », ξεκινάει από τη στιγμή της υποδοχής, και σε καμία περίπτωση δεν μπορεί η έξωση να θεωρηθεί σημείο εκκίνησης για μια εν δυνάμει και χωρίς καμία απολύτως υποστήριξη διαδικασία ένταξης.

      Προϋποθέτει την κατάρτιση και υλοποίηση μιας μακροπρόθεσμης ενταξιακής πολιτικής, με ολιστικά προγράμματα υποστήριξης των προσφύγων, ώστε να έχουν ισότιμη πρόσβαση στην αγορά εργασίας, στην ελληνομάθεια και στην εύρεση στέγης. Η ισονομία των αναγνωρισμένων προσφύγων με τους Έλληνες πολίτες, τουλάχιστον σε τυπικό/ θεσμικό επίπεδο χωρίς την απαιτούμενη ενταξιακή πολιτική, ακυρώνει στην πράξη την ισονομία και παράγει ανισότητες, διακρίσεις ως προς μια σειρά θεμελιώδη δικαιώματα όπως είναι η στέγη, η ασφάλεια, η υγεία, κ.λπ.

      Δεν είναι δυνατόν η πολιτεία, οι θεσμοί, η κοινωνία των πολιτών και κάθε δημοκρατικός πολίτης αυτής της χώρας να επιτρέψει να μείνουν άστεγοι και χωρίς άμεση έμπρακτη υποστήριξη άνθρωποι που είναι επίσημα αναγνωρισμένοι πρόσφυγες.
      Έντονη ανησυχία από την ΑΡΣΙΣ

      Επιστολή στο Υπουργείο Μετανάστευσης και Ασύλου έστειλε η οργάνωση ΑΡΣΙΣ, εκφράζοντας την ανησυχία της για την έξωση των προσφύγων την ερχόμενη εβδομάδα.
      Η επιστολή της ΑΡΣΙΣ

      « [...] Με την παρούσα επιστολή μας θέλουμε να εκφράσουμε την αυξανόμενη ανησυχία μας ότι από τη Δευτέρα 1/6/2020 θα βρεθούμε όλες και όλοι αντιμέτωποι με μία νέα επείγουσα κατάσταση που πρέπει να αποφύγουμε συντεταγμένα και ομόψυχα.

      Η συντριπτική πλειοψηφία των ατόμων που θα υποχρεωθούν να εγκαταλείψουν τα διαμερίσματα του προγράμματος « ESTIA II » είναι εξαιρετικά ευάλωτοι πρόσφυγες και αιτούντες άσυλο, άτομα με δυσίατες ή ανίατες ασθένειες, άτομα με σημαντικά προβλήματα ψυχικής υγείας, άτομα με σοβαρότατες ευαλωτότητες, καθώς και πυρηνικές ή και μονογονεϊκές οικογένειες με μικρά παιδιά. Οι άνθρωποι αυτοί θα αναγκαστούν στη μεγάλη τους πλειοψηφία να μείνουν άστεγοι σε μεγάλα αστικά κέντρα όπως η Αθήνα και η Θεσσαλονίκη, χωρίς υποστηρικτικό περιβάλλον και χωρίς χρήματα, αφού με την έξοδό τους από τα διαμερίσματα διακόπτεται και η οικονομική τους ενίσχυση από το πρόγραμμα.

      Ταυτόχρονα, εκατοντάδες παιδιά θα υποχρεωθούν να διακόψουν τη φοίτησή τους στα σχολεία τους, με ανυπολόγιστες συνέπειες για το ψυχισμό τους.

      Αξίζει να σημειωθεί ότι ενώ από τις 30/4/2020 έχουμε αποστείλει εξειδικευμένες και τεκμηριωμένες κοινωνικές εκθέσεις στην Ύπατη Αρμοστεία του ΟΗΕ για τους Πρόσφυγες αναφορικά με πρόσφυγες που πρέπει να εξαιρεθούν των εξόδων, οι οποίες έχουν περιέλθει σε γνώση του Υπουργείου Μετανάστευσης και Ασύλου, μέχρι σήμερα ουδέν γνωρίζουμε για την αποδοχή ή την απόρριψή τους.

      Η συμμετοχή στο πρόγραμμα « ESTIA II » αναγνωρίζουμε ότι είναι αδύνατον να έχει διάρκεια φιλοξενίας επ’ αόριστον, εν τούτοις, η χρονική περίοδος φιλοξενίας χρειάζεται να στοχεύει και να ολοκληρώνεται όταν επιτυγχάνεται η πρόσβαση και συμμετοχή στην κοινωνική και οικονομική πραγματικότητα της χώρας, σε μια ομαλή κοινωνική ένταξη.

      Αξιότιμε κύριε Υπουργέ, είναι χρέος της Ελληνικής Πολιτείας να διασφαλίσει ότι η έξοδος των ωφελουμένων από το πρόγραμμα και από τα διαμερίσματα που έγιναν « τα σπίτια τους » για πολλούς μήνες θα γίνει με ασφάλεια και θα τους οδηγήσει στο επόμενο βήμα τους, στην ανεξαρτησία και την ένταξή τους στην ελληνική κοινωνία με τα ίδια δικαιώματα και τις υποχρεώσεις που απολαμβάνουν οι Έλληνες πολίτες.

      Προς το σκοπό αυτό επιβάλλεται από τις τρέχουσες συνθήκες η παράταση της παραμονής των αιτούντων άσυλο και προσφύγων που πρέπει να εξέλθουν από τα διαμερίσματα για χρονικό διάστημα ικανό ώστε η Κυβέρνησή σας να λάβει τα απαιτούμενα μέτρα που θα καταστήσουν ασφαλή και επιτυχημένη την έξοδο των συγκεκριμένων ανθρώπων από το πρόγραμμα και θα αποκαταστήσουν την άμεση πρόσβασή τους σε στοιχειώδη δικαιώματα στέγασης, ιατροφαρμακευτικής περίθαλψης, εργασίας και εκπαίδευσης.

      Θα πρέπει να συνεκτιμηθεί το γεγονός ότι η χώρα μας προσπαθεί να εξέλθει από μία τρίμηνη περίοδο καραντίνας λόγω της πανδημίας του κορωναϊού, κατά την οποία ήταν αδύνατη η αναζήτηση νέων διαμερισμάτων για τη διαμονή των ανθρώπων που ολοκληρώνεται η φιλοξενία τους στο πρόγραμμα « ESTIA II ». Ταυτόχρονα, γραφειοκρατικές αγκυλώσεις κατέστησαν αδύνατη τη χορήγηση ΑΦΜ ή το άνοιγμα τραπεζικών λογαριασμών για μερίδα των προσφύγων.

      Πιστεύουμε ότι είναι η ώρα η ελληνική πολιτεία με αποφασιστικότητα να τροποποιήσει προηγούμενες αποφάσεις της και να δώσει το δικαίωμα στους πρόσφυγες που εξέρχονται του προγράμματος « ESTIA II » :

      Να καταστούν δικαιούχοι του Κοινωνικού Εισοδήματος Αλληλεγγύης
      Να αποκτήσουν πρόσβαση σε σειρά επιδομάτων (παιδικής προστασίας, ψυχικής υγείας)
      Να ενεργοποιηθεί το πρόγραμμα « Στέγαση και επανένταξη » στο οποίο θα μπορούν να συμμετάσχουν οι συγκεκριμένοι πληθυσμοί ώστε να επιτευχθεί η ουσιαστική ένταξή τους στην ελληνική κοινωνία.
      Να δοθούν οι κατάλληλες ευκαιρίες πιστοποιημένης εκπαίδευσης, που θα τους δώσουν τη δυνατότητα να αποκτήσουν πρόσβαση στην αγορά εργασίας ώστε να μπορέσουν σε σύντομο χρονικό διάστημα να αυτονομηθούν πλήρως, καθώς και ευκαιρίες επαγγελματικής κατάρτισης.
      Να υλοποιηθεί το πρόγραμμα επιδοτούμενης εργασίας αναγνωρισμένων προσφύγων που είχε εξαγγελθεί από το Υπουργείο το 2019 και μέχρι σήμερα δεν έχει υλοποιηθεί.
      Να γίνουν οι απαραίτητες ενέργειες ώστε οι άνθρωποι αυτοί να έχουν λάβουν όλα τα απαραίτητα έγγραφα (άδεια παραμονής, ταξιδιωτικά έγγραφα), πριν την έξοδο τους από το πρόγραμμα.
      Να δοθεί στους αναγνωρισμένους πρόσφυγες οι οποίοι αποχωρούν οικειοθελώς από το πρόγραμμα κατά τη λήξη της ορισθείσας περιόδου φιλοξενίας συγκεντρωτικά η χρηματική βοήθεια (cash Assistance) 3 μηνών, όπως συνέβαινε το προηγούμενο έτος, προκειμένου οι άνθρωποι αυτοί στη συνέχεια να ενταχθούν στο πρόγραμμα ΗΛΙΟΣ, το οποίο έχει ως σκοπό να ενισχυθούν οι προοπτικές ανεξαρτησίας και αυτονομίας των ωφελούμενων καθιστώντας τους ενεργά μέλη της ελληνικής κοινωνίας και να αποτελέσει ένα εκ περιτροπής μηχανισμό στέγασης στο ήδη υπάρχον προσωρινό σύστημα στέγασης της Ελλάδας.

      Θεωρούμε ότι είναι κοινός τόπος η διαπίστωσή μας ότι χωρίς τις ανωτέρω πρόνοιες οι συγκεκριμένοι πληθυσμοί που θα αναγκαστούν (για μία ακόμη φορά) να εγκαταλείψουν τις οικίες του θα βρεθούν αντιμέτωποι με την αστεγία, την περαιτέρω φτωχοποίησή τους, την εκμετάλλευση, την αδήλωτη εργασία και την εν γένει παραβατικότητα. Κατανοείτε ότι μία τέτοια κατάσταση θα έχει άμεσο κοινωνικό αντίκτυπο στη ζωή των μεγάλων αστικών κέντρων που μοιραία θα φιλοξενήσουν τους εξερχόμενους και τις εξερχόμενες του προγράμματος « ESTIA II ».

      Είναι χρέος όλων μας να δράσουμε άμεσα ώστε να προστατέψουμε αποτελεσματικά και καίρια τους αδύναμους αυτούς πληθυσμούς από το φάσμα της κοινωνικής αφάνειας και εξαθλίωσης που τους επιφυλάσσει η 1/6/2020. Ταυτόχρονα, οφείλουμε να περιφρουρήσουμε όσα έχουμε καταφέρει 4 και πλέον χρόνια οπότε και υλοποιείται το πρόγραμμα « ESTIA ». Η Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή έχει δαπανήσει εκατομμύρια για τη στέγαση και υποστήριξη των αιτούντων άσυλο και προσφύγων στην Ελλάδα. Χιλιάδες Έλληνες και μετανάστες έχουν εργαστεί στο πλαίσιο του συγκεκριμένου προγράμματος και είναι αδήριτη η ανάγκη να καταδείξουμε ότι το
      συγκεκριμένο πρόγραμμα ήταν και είναι εξαιρετικά επιτυχημένο και μέσω εθνικών αυτή τη φορά πολιτικών και εργαλείων, μπορεί να οδηγήσει τους ωφελούμενους του που παραμένουν στη χώρα μας σε εξίσου επιτυχημένη ένταξη και ενσωμάτωσή τους στην ελληνική κοινωνία.

      Λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τα παραπάνω αναμένουμε από την Ελληνική Πολιτεία τις δέουσες ενέργειες, που διασφαλίζουν για τους πρόσφυγες και δικαιούχους διεθνούς προστασίας το επόμενο στάδιο της ζωής τους με σεβασμό στα ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα και στις ανάγκες της ελληνικής κοινωνίας.

      https://www.efsyn.gr/ellada/koinonia/245833_propaganda-anti-apantiseon-gia-tis-exoseis-prosfygon

      –---

      Trad en français :
      Au lieu d’apporter de réponses adéquates aux problèmes urgents que crée l’éviction des réfugiés de leur logement, le gouvernement grec continue la propagande anti-migrants

      Des sources gouvernementales ont encore une fois recouru aux ritournelles de la propagande bien connue du Ministère de l’immigration et de l’asile sous la forme d’une note d’information, sans toutefois fournir aucune nouvelle informations et sans apporter de réponses sérieuses à l’absence d’une politique juste et efficiente sur la question migratoire. Au lieu et place d’une politique sérieusement planifiée, le ministère avance des annonces irréalisables et sans fondement et un discours qui relève de la propagande.

      Il semble que Notis Mitarakis tente, par la répétition sans fin des mêmes allégations, de détourner l’attention des fortes réactions, même de la presse progouvernementale, provoquées par son obsession de jeter plus de 11000 réfugiés reconnus dans la rue le 1er juin, ce qui ne manquera pas de emplir les places et les parcs d’Athènes et d’autres villes de réfugiés sans abri, faute d’alternatives réelles.

      Le Ministre de la politique migratoire cherche de l’aide auprès de sources gouvernementales, paniqué par les révélations de la presse même de la presse progouvernementale, notamment le rapport confidentiel porté à la connaissance du public par le quotidien Kathimerini, qui l’accuse de mauvaise gestion, mauvaise conduite financière, manque de planification et de tenir un discours propagandiste bien loin de toute réalité.( Ef.Syn. , 30-31 / 5/2020 et ekathimerini). Car, il va de soi que même lui-même ne saurait être convaincu par sa tentative de réfuter ce rapport, en prétendant ignorer tout de ce document, tandis qu’il attribue les accusations graves contre les agissements de son ministère à ... « des vues différentes ».

      Mais la note d’information du gouvernement expose davantage le ministre, car elle met en évidence la nudité des arguments sans aucun fondement réel. Cette note d’information parle d’une supposée réduction des flux d’immigration, sans mentionner que celle-ci est principalement due à la conjoncture, et bien sûr sans souffler un mot sur les dénonciations concernant les pratiques de dissuasion illégales et les opérations de refoulement illégal. Elle évoque une prétendue restriction de la crise migratoire, se référant uniquement aux futurs plans du ministère de fermer les structures et les hôtels, des plans qui ont été critiqués comme étant complètement fantaisistes.

      La note mentionne une décongestion des îles de l’ordre de 15% depuis janvier, en se vantant d’avoir effectué 13.000 transferts vers la Grèce continentale, en ignorant le calendrier de coronavirus, et en faisant semblant qu’il ne comprend pas l’énorme problème qui reste sur les îles tandis que le transfert initialement annoncé pour avril et puis pour mai de quelque 2.300 réfugiés particulièrement vulnérables des RIC (hot-spots dans les îles) n’a pas été réalisé. Le ministre se vante de... accélérer les procédures d’asile, tandis que le Service d’asile a été fermé au public à cause de la pandémie pendant deux mois, et que sa réouverture a été marquée par la prolongation supplémentaire de de milliers de problèmes en suspens (entretiens en attente, demandes qui n’ont pas pu être déposées, appels des déboutés etc.) et par de files d’attente interminables et des bousculades aux portes du service.

      Le plus scandaleux est qu’il est question de ... « 11 237 nouveaux logements dans la Grèce continentale ; dans des structures existantes, sans que de nouvelles ne soient construites ». Cet objectif sera atteint, affirme-t-il, avec le départ progressif des réfugiés reconnus comme tels des structures, selon une loi de novembre, dont la mise en œuvre a été reportée au 31 mai en raison du coronavirus. « Il y a donc eu suffisamment de temps pour se préparer », ont indiqué des sources gouvernementales.

      Mais justement ! Bien qu’il y ait eu suffisamment de temps, le Ministère n’a préparé en temps opportun aucune alternative pour que les gens évincés de structures ne soient pas dans la rue. Ce n’est que vendredi dernier, que le ministère a tenu une réunion élargie avec les organismes, où il a été décidé de revoir le programme de subventions pour la préparation au logement et de l’intégration de l’IOM HELIOS et de mieux intégrer les réfugiés à l’Organisme pour les Allocations Sociales et la Solidarité (OPEKA) et à l’Agence Nationale pour l’Emploi (OAED).

      Ce n’est que vendredi que les nouveaux administrateurs des structures pour réfugiés ont été sommés d’évacuer des milliers de réfugiés, à un moment où les administrations impliquées ignorent toujours qui exactement est concerné et par quel moyen elles pourraient imposer une telle décision, étant donné le refus des réfugiés désespérés de quitter les structures et les appartements qu’ils occupent. La police sera-t-elle appelée pour les faire sortir des appartements et des conteneurs des camps avec leurs effets personnels ? Pour les emmener où ?

      Vendredi, des organismes internationaux et des organisations ont soulevé de sérieuses questions pratiques à M. Mitarakis. Tout en les remerciant, il n’a pas apporté la moindre réponse. Parce que la réponse adéquate suppose une préparation, ce que M. Mitarakis n’a point fait. Cela suppose aussi une compréhension plus large de la question, au lieu d’une politique de court terme qui ne cherche qu’à déplacer le problème et les responsabilités ailleurs, vers les autorités locales, les organismes et les organisations internationales, même au risque de troubler gravement la cohésion sociale et de nuire à l’image des villes. . À moins que ce ne soit justement cela le véritable but de M. Mitarakis. Mais la stratégie qui consiste à attiser des tensions, n’est pas une politique sérieuse d’un État géré par le droit ; le long de l’histoire, elle s’est toujours avérée extrêmement dangereuse.

      Les réactions des partis, des collectifs et des organisations de réfugiés contre ce plan d’évacuation ont été très vives et ne cessent de s’amplifier.

    • Τέλος διαδρομής για 11.237 αναγνωρισμένους πρόσφυγες

      Ολοταχώς προς τον δρόμο οδεύουν χιλιάδες αναγνωρισμένοι πρόσφυγες που υποχρεούνται από την 1η Ιούνη να εγκαταλείψουν τις δομές φιλοξενίας στο πλαίσιο της αναθεώρησης του προγράμματος στέγασης και ένταξης προσφύγων « Ήλιος ».

      Η διευρυμένη σύσκεψη της πολιτικής ηγεσίας του υπουργείου Μετανάστευσης και Ασύλου με τους επικεφαλής του Διεθνούς Οργανισμού Μετανάστευσης και της Ύπατης Αρμοστείας, εκπροσώπους της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής, του υπουργείου Εσωτερικών, του Δήμου Αθηναίων και διοικητές του ΟΑΕΔ και του ΟΠΕΚΑ αποφάσισε τη διασύνδεση των προσφύγων με τον ΟΠΕΚΑ και τον ΟΑΕΔ εν όψει της σταδιακής έξωσης 11.237 προσφύγων από τα διαμερίσματα, τα ξενοδοχεία και τις δομές των νησιών και της ενδοχώρας μετά την 1η Ιουνίου.

      Τα νέα δεδομένα που προκύπτουν από την απόφαση αυτή αυξάνουν τις αντιδράσεις αλλά και την ανησυχία χιλιάδες άνθρωποι να βρεθούν στο δρόμο γεμίζοντας τα πάρκα και τις πλατείες των πόλεων. Σε μια απόπειρα αναζήτησης κάποιων λύσεων, το υπουργείο εξετάζει τη δυνατότητα να δοθεί εφάπαξ χρηματικό βοήθημα πριν από την υπογραφή συμβολαίου ενοικίασης στέγης.

      Από τις εξώσεις εξαιρούνται

      Για διάστημα δύο μηνών οικογένειες με μέλος που αντιμετωπίζει πολύ σοβαρά προβλήματα υγείας, οικογένειες με έγκυο -σε προχωρημένη ή επαπειλούμενη εγκυμοσύνη- και γυναίκα σε κατάσταση λοχείας για διάστημα δύο μηνών από τον τοκετό.
      Για τρεις μήνες ασυνόδευτοι ανήλικοι, όταν συντρέχουν λόγοι συνέχισης σπουδών ή ευάλωτης κατάστασης.

      Αντιδράσεις

      « Το μέτρο αυτό αποτελεί συνέχεια της ιδεοληπτικής βαθειά ρατσιστικής και ανακόλουθης κυβερνητικής πολιτικής στο μεταναστευτικό – προσφυγικό που εκφράστηκε με την αρχική κατάργηση του υπουργείου Μεταναστευτικής Πολιτικής, το ’’σπρώξιμο’’ των αρμοδιοτήτων από υπουργείο σε υπουργείο και τέλος την επανασύσταση υπουργείου με τελείως διαφορετική οπτική και κατεύθυνση » σχολιάζει το Τμήμα Προσφυγικής και Μεταναστευτικής Πολιτικής/Τομέας Δικαιωμάτων του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ.

      Σε συγκέντρωση διαμαρτυρίας έξω από τη δομή στον Ελαιώνα καλεί εργαζόμενους, πρόσφυγες και αλληλέγγυους η ΚΕΕΡΦΑ με αίτημα να μην βρεθούν στο δρόμο οι 300 πρόσφυγες της δομής που απειλούνται με έξωση από την 1η Ιουνίου.

      Η Κίνηση επισημαίνει τον κίνδυνο να γεμίσουν χιλιάδες άστεγοι πρόσφυγες τους δρόμους, τις πλατείες και τα πάρκα των μεγάλων πόλεων και ιδίως της Αθήνας « σε μια εποχή όπου πριμοδοτείται από την κυβέρνηση όχι η αλληλεγγύη αλλά ο ρατσισμός και η ξενοφοβική βία ».
      « Δεν είναι δυνατό να επιτραπεί να μείνουν άστεγοι και χωρίς άμεση έμπρακτη υποστήριξη επίσημα αναγνωρισμένοι πρόσφυγες », υπογραμμίζουν σε κοινή τους ανακοίνωση οκτώ οργανώσεις ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων και ανθρωπιστικής βοήθειας (Διοτίμα, ΕλΕΔΑ, ΕΣΠ, Ελληνικό Φόρουμ Προσφύγων, Help Refugees / Choose Love, HumanRights360, Κέντρο Ημέρας Βαβέλ, Terre des hommes Hellas).

      Επιστολή στο υπουργείο Μετανάστευσης και Ασύλου έστειλε η οργάνωση ΑΡΣΙΣ, εκφράζοντας την ανησυχία της για την έξωση των προσφύγων την ερχόμενη εβδομάδα.


      https://www.efsyn.gr/ellada/koinonia/245620_telos-diadromis-gia-11237-anagnorismenoys-prosfyges

      –---

      Trad en français :

      Fin du parcours pour 11 237 réfugiés reconnus

      Des milliers de réfugiés reconnus se dirigeant vers la rue le 1er juin sont contraints d’abandonner leurs structures d’hébergement dans le cadre d’une révision du programme de logement et de réinstallation « Helios ».

      La réunion élargie des dirigeants politiques du ministère de l’Immigration et de l’Asile avec les chefs de l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations et le Haut-commissariat, des représentants de la Commission européenne, du ministère de l’Intérieur, de la municipalité d’Athènes et des dirigeants de diverses administrations ont décidés l’intégration des réfugiés expulsés à l’Agence Nationale pour l’Emploi (OAED) et à l’Organisme pour les allocations sociales et la solidarité (OPECA) en vue de l’expulsion progressive de 11 237 réfugiés des appartements, hôtels et structures des îles et de l’arrière-pays après le 1er juin.

      Les nouvelles données de cette réunion alimentent encore plus les inquiétudes de voir bienôt de milliers de personnes être dans la rue, remplissant les parcs et les places publiques des villes. Afin de trouver des solutions, le ministère envisage de leur accorder une aide financière non réitérable avant qu’ils ne signent un bail de logement.

      Quelques rares catégories seront seulement épargnées

      • Pour une période de deux mois, les familles dont un membre a des problèmes de santé très graves, les familles avec une femme enceinte - en grossesse avancée ou menacée - et une femme en état de travail pendant une période de deux mois après l’accouchement.

      • Pendant trois mois, les mineurs non accompagnés, lorsqu’il existe des raisons de poursuivre leur formation ou une situation vulnérable.

      Les réactions

      « Il n’est pas possible que des réfugiés qui ont été officiellement reconnus comme tels se retrouvent sans abri et sans soutien matériel immédiat », ont déclaré huit organisations de défense des droits humains et d’organisations humanitaires dans un communiqué conjoint (Diotima, Ligue hellénique des droits de l’homme, Conseil grec pour les réfugiés, Forum grec des réfugiés, Human Rights360, Choose Love / Help Refuge). Centre de jour Babel, Terre des hommes Hellas).

      L’organisation ARSIS a envoyé une lettre au ministère de l’Immigration et de l’Asile, exprimant sa préoccupation face à l’expulsion des réfugiés la semaine prochaine.

    • Lettre au ministre et aux commissaires signée par 60 organisations

      8,300 refugees to be evicted from their homes in Greece – Joint Letter to EU and Greek officials

      29TH MAY 2020TABITHA ROSS NEWS

      Thousands of refugees in Greece are about to be evicted from their homes. 8,300 people, many of whom are families with children, are now facing an increased risk of homelessness amidst a global pandemic.

      Just one of these people is B. She is a single mother of three children after losing her husband in their country of origin, Iraq. She now has until the end of this month to leave her home, but with nowhere else to go, the family risk ending up on the streets.

      Today, alongside 60 organisations, we released a statement to EU and Greek officials, calling on them to urge the Greek government to reconsider. The human rights to dignity, equality, and inclusion must be respected.

      The full Joint Letter is below.

      Joint letter to:

      The Minister of Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarachis

      The European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson

      The European Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas

      The undersigned organisations express their grave concern about the upcoming exits of at least 8,300 recognised refugees from accommodation and cash assistance schemes in Greece by the end of May 2020. A considerable number of these people, of which a large proportion are families with children, are facing an increased risk of homelessness amidst a global pandemic.

      Refugees who have received international protection are being forced to leave apartments for vulnerable people in the Emergency Support to Integration & Accommodation programme (ESTIA), hotels under the Temporary Shelter and Protection programme (FILOXENIA), Reception and Identification Centres (RICs) and refugee camps. Almost simultaneously, financial assistance in the form of EU implemented and supported cash cards will stop. These upcoming measures will affect the livelihood of at least 4,800 people who need to leave ESTIA accommodation, 3,500 people who need to leave RICs and hosting facilities, as well as 1,200 refugees who are self-accommodated and receive cash assistance.

      The Hellenic Integration Support for Beneficiaries of International Protection programme (HELIOS) provides integration courses and contribute towards rental costs up to a maximum of twelve months for those that have to leave accommodation. In practice, out of 8,752 people enrolled in the HELIOS programme, only 1,590 people receive rental subsidies. 82 percent of people who enrolled in HELIOS since 2019 do not yet receive rental subsidies. To benefit from the HELIOS programme beneficiaries need to have a high level of independence and self-sufficiency. Beneficiaries need to provide a tax number, a bank account and procure a rental agreement to receive HELIOS support. As the Greek bureaucratic system is difficult to navigate, doubly so for non-Greek speakers, people face enormous challenges in finding accommodation, paying deposits, and enrolling in HELIOS. Other than the HELIOS programme which is only available to recognised refugees, apart from a few fragmented municipal and NGO initiatives there is no alternative social support, especially at the reception stage, which in Greece can last up to three years.

      The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone in Greece but restrictions on movement and measures to halt the spread of COVID-19 have disproportionately affected the population that now needs to leave accommodation. Lockdown has also meant that people have had no possibility to search for alternative housing, find employment or arrange the necessary requirements to enter the HELIOS programme. Even now that restrictions are slowly being lifted throughout the whole of Greece, life is far from returning to normal, especially for those in Reception and Identification Centres on the Aegean islands and the hosting facilities Ritsona, Malakasa and Koutsohero where restrictions on movement are extended until 7 June 2020.

      At least 8,300 people need to leave their accommodation by the end of May and only a small percentage are provided with integration support (including rental subsidies) through the HELIOS programme. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that people are almost simultaneously losing cash assistance from the cash card assistance programme. Although both ESTIA and HELIOS programmes are funded by DG HOME and implemented by the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum, there is no linkage between them to ease the transition from one to the other. As a result, a considerable number of vulnerable people will be left without any support or prospect of integration and will have to face a severely increased risk of becoming homeless. Bureaucratic obstacles have meant that many of these people do not have a tax number or a bank account, both necessary to get a job or rent an apartment. Indeed, according to UNHCR, only 7 percent of recognised refugees in the ESTIA programme have a bank account and 75 percent have a tax number. To make matters worse, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it impossible for people to find employment, alternative housing or arrange documentation for the HELIOS integration programme.

      Therefore, we urgently request you to ensure that:

      The deadline of exits from ESTIA, FILOXENIA, RICs and refugee camps are extended beyond the end of May so that people have adequate time to find alternative accommodation, search for employment and fully enrol in the HELIOS integration programme after being under restrictive measures since 13 March 2020. No one should face the risk of homelessness amid an ongoing global pandemic.
      The monthly financial support under the EU implemented (and supported) cash card assistance programme is extended for those who need to exit accommodation and face the risk of homelessness.
      Elderly people, people with serious medical problems and single parents, are included in the extension of exits from accomodation in addition to those already deemed extremely vulnerable such as women in the last terms of their pregnancy and women with high-risk pregnancies.
      A bridge is created between ESTIA and other reception accommodation to the HELIOS program which also includes self-accommodated people. Currently self-accommodated people cannot enrol in the HELIOS programme but still need integration support and financial assistance after receiving international protective status.
      Bureaucratic barriers are removed so that asylum seekers have access to all the legal documents they are entitled to, such as a social security number, a tax number, and a bank account, so that people are able to seek employment and accommodation, to guarantee the right to housing.
      A coherent and long term strategy on integration and housing is created as recent legislation requires newly recognised refugees to leave accommodation within 30 days instead of six months, significantly reducing the time for people to prepare themselves.

      https://helprefugees.org/news/8300-refugees-to-be-evicted-from-their-homes-in-greece-joint-letter-to

    • Why thousands of refugees in Greece face eviction — and where they can turn

      In Greece, over 11,000 refugees could soon be evicted. They have been living in reception facilities for asylum seekers where they are no longer allowed to stay. Many worry that they could face homelessness. Here’s what you need to know — and where affected refugees can get help.

      Thousands of refugees in Greece have been asked to leave their accommodation this month. As of June 1st, all refugees who received international protection before May 1, 2020 are no longer eligible to stay at reception facilities.

      Many of those affected by the evictions are considered vulnerable – families with small children, elderly refugees, people struggling with mental or physical health problems. A report by news agency AFP mentions that among those affected is an Iraqi family where the father is in a wheelchair and his five-year-old daughter requires assisted feeding through a gastric tube.

      A total of 11,237 people are set to be evicted from reception and identification centers, camps and hotels, according to NGO Refugee Support Aegean (RSA). This includes people in housing provided through the program ESTIA (European Emergency Support to Integration and Accommodation), which is supported by the European Union and UNHCR.

      AFP reported on June 1 that dozens of affected refugees had already left. But there have been no reports of forced evictions being carried out thus far. The Greek migration ministry did not respond to our request asking whether, when and how the authorities would carry out evictions, and whether alternative accommodation would be provided to those evicted.

      Why have 11,000+ refugees been asked to leave?

      There are an estimated 115,600 migrants, asylum seekers and refugees currently living in Greece (according to UNHCR data for January 2020). This number by far exceeds its accommodation capacities, leaving many homeless or stuck in completely overcrowded camps.

      Greece is hoping that by evicting recognized refugees from the reception system, it can transfer asylum seekers from overcrowded camps, such as Moria on the island of Lesbos, into those facilities.

      Once someone receives international protection in Greece, they are no longer entitled to reception services for asylum seekers, including accommodation. “There is a wildly different system of support and set of rights for a person who is an asylum seeker, whose application is still pending, and a beneficiary of international protection,” Minos Mouzourakis, legal officer for RSA, told InfoMigrants. As soon as a person receives international protection, “because their legal status changes, their legal entitlements are completely different,” he said.

      And the transitional grace period was recently reduced significantly: Since March of this year, people can no longer stay in the reception system for six months after they were officially recognized as refugees — they only have 30 days.

      Among the roughly 11,000 refugees who have now been asked to leave the reception system are both people whose grace period expired recently and some who were allowed to stay long past their grace period. According to Greek newspaper Ekathimerini, some of the affected refugees had their asylum applications accepted three years ago.

      Why refugees struggle to find housing

      Theoretically, officially recognized refugees should have access to most of the social services that Greek nationals have. They are also allowed to work. But in practice, the transition out of the asylum reception system is incredibly difficult for many. The bureaucratic hurdles to receive state support are high, many refugees cannot yet communicate effectively in Greek, and many face discrimination in the job and housing market. So they have a hard time paying for housing and finding an apartment or house.

      A refugee from Ghana, who is among those who have been asked to leave their accommodation, told us about his apartment search via Facebook. He lives in Mytilene, Greece. He said it has been incredibly difficult for him, even though he holds a job and would have no problem paying for an apartment:

      “I have been searching … for more than two months. I make a minimum of two calls calls per day. The landlords always reject me. When I make calls, the landlords sometimes ask where I come from. Some are rude [and] say they don’t rent to migrants. Others say ’no to me’ without an explanation. Sometimes I’m able to make an appointment with some landlords, [but] they refuse to show me the house when they see my skin color. Others get angry and ask me why I didn’t inform them that I’m a migrant from Africa.”

      Refugee advocacy groups and the UNHCR have expressed concern that the people evicted could end up homeless. “Forcing people to leave their accommodation without a safety net and measures to ensure their self-reliance may push many into poverty and homelessness,” UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic said last week.

      Program that helps refugees navigate life in Greece

      Where can refugees turn if they are about to be evicted and don’t have anywhere to stay?
      The UN migration agency #IOM runs a program called HELIOS. It supports people who have received international protection in Greece and who have to leave their reception facilities. One of the services they offer is help with housing: They assist people in finding an apartment or house. They also pay rent subsidies for six to twelve months. The program currently still has spots available, though its maximum capacity (3,500 people at a time) is far smaller than the number of people about to be evicted.

      You can find out more about the #HELIOS program here: https://greece.iom.int/en/hellenic-integration-support-beneficiaries-international-protection-heli.

      https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/25209/why-thousands-of-refugees-in-greece-face-eviction-and-where-they-can-t
      #OIM

    • Πετούν τους πρόσφυγες έξω από καμπς και σπίτια

      Ψήφισμα Δημοτικού Συμβουλίου Χανίων σχετικά με εξώσεις προσφύγων από καμπς και από σπίτια

      Κατακεραυνώνει το δημοτικό συμβούλιο Χανίων τις καταγεγραμμένες εξώσεις προσφύγων από καμπς και σπίτια που διαχειρίζεται η Ύπατη Αρμοστεία του ΟΗΕ και όπου φιλοξενούνται. Με ψήφισμά της καταδικάζει τις ενέργειες αυτές και αναθέτει στο δήμαρχο τις νόμιμες ενέργειες που πρέπει να ακολουθηθούν.

      Το ψήφισμα

      Το Δημοτικό Συμβούλιο Χανίων κατά τη συνεδρίαση της 27ης Μαΐου 2020, που πραγματοποιήθηκε με τηλεδιάσκεψη, με την υπ΄ αριθμ. 268 ομόφωνη απόφασή του εξέδωσε το ακόλουθο ψήφισμα :

      “Το δημοτικό συμβούλιο Χανιών εκφράζει την αντίθεσή του με τις εξώσεις προσφύγων από τα καμπς και από τα σπίτια, στα οποία φιλοξενούνται.

      Οι άνθρωποι αυτοί θα βρεθούν στο δρόμο χωρίς τη δυνατότητα στέγασης και επιβίωσης.

      Ανάμεσά τους άτομα που ανήκουν σε ευπαθείς ομάδες όπως ανάπηροι και γυναίκες μόνες με παιδιά, πολλά από τα οποία φοιτούν σε σχολεία.

      Ακόμη περισσότεροι θα πεταχτούν έξω από σπίτια που διαχειρίζεται η Ύπατη Αρμοστεία του ΟΗΕ σε συνεργασία με ΜΚΟ.

      Η ένταξη των προσφύγων σημαίνει πρόσβαση στο δικαίωμα στην εργασία, την παιδεία και την υγεία και όχι εγκατάλειψη στο δρόμο.

      Διεκδικούμε να ακυρωθούν οι μαζικές εξώσεις.

      Να εξασφαλιστεί στέγαση για όλους σε σπίτια και σε δομές μέσα στις γειτονιές.

      Οι δήμοι μπορούμε να ανοίξουμε προγράμματα κοινωνικής κατοικίας για τους πρόσφυγες.

      Οι πρόσφυγες και οι μετανάστες να πάρουν χαρτιά και άσυλο. Να έχουν δικαίωμα στην εργασία.

      Χωράμε όλοι !.

      Αναθέτει στον κ. Δήμαρχο τις παραπέρα ενέργειες σύμφωνα με το νόμο.”

      https://www.cretalive.gr/kriti/petoyn-toys-prosfyges-exo-apo-kamps-kai-spitia

      –-----

      Commentaire de Eirini Markidi via la mailing-list Migreurop, le 14,06.2020 :

      Résolution du Conseil municipal de #Chania (#Crète) sur les expulsions de réfugiés des camps et des maisons.

      Le conseil municipal de Chania dénonce les expulsions enregistrées de réfugiés des camps et des maisons gérés par le #HCR et où ils sont logés. Dans sa résolution, il condamne ces actions et confie au maire les démarches en justice à entreprendre.

      La résolution

      Le conseil municipal de Chania lors de la réunion du 27 mai 2020, tenue par téléconférence, par la No. 268 décision unanime a adopté la résolution suivante :
      « Le Conseil municipal de Chania exprime son opposition aux expulsions de réfugiés des camps et des maisons, dans lesquels ils sont hébergés. Ces gens vont se retrouver dans la rue sans possibilité de logement et de survie. Parmi eux, des personnes appartenant à des groupes vulnérables tels que des handicapés et des femmes seules avec des enfants, dont beaucoup fréquentent l’école. D’autres encore seront expulsés des foyers gérés par le HCR en coopération avec des ONG. L’intégration des réfugiés signifie l’accès au droit au travail, à l’éducation et à la santé, et non pas l’abandon dans la rue. Nous exigeons l’annulation des expulsions massives. Assurons l’hébergement pour tous dans les maisons et les structures dans les quartiers. Les municipalités peuvent ouvrir des programmes de logement social pour les réfugiés. Que les réfugiés et les migrants obtiennent des documents et l’asile. Qu’ils aient le droit au travail. Il y a de la place pour tout le monde. Le Conseil confie au maire les actions à entreprendre conformément à la loi ».

    • Άστεγες οικογένειες προσφύγων στην πλατεία Βικτωρίας

      Οικογένειες αναγνωρισμένων προσφύγων από τη Μόρια ήρθαν στην Αθήνα και καθώς αδυνατούσαν να βρουν στέγη μέσω του προγράμματος « ΗΛΙΟΣ » του Διεθνούς Οργανισμού Μετανάστευσης, πέρασαν το βράδυ της Πέμπτης προς Παρασκευή στην πλατεία Βικτωρίας.

      Σύμφωνα με αλληλέγγυους, οι οποίοι έστειλαν φωτογραφίες στην « Εφ.Συν. », κάποιες από αυτές τις οικογένειες με παιδιά παρέμεναν στην πλατεία Βικτωρίας μέχρι το μεσημέρι της Παρασκευής.

      Το πρόγραμμα ΗΛΙΟΣ προβλέπει την επιδότηση ενοικίου για αναγνωρισμένους πρόσφυγες για 6 μήνες, πρέπει όμως πρώτα να έχουν βρει οι ίδιοι το διαμέρισμα που θα νοικιάσουν.

      Κάποια από τα έγγραφα που απαιτούνται ώστε να ενταχθούν στα προγράμματα του ΟΑΕΔ είτε στα προγράμματα κοινωνικής πρόνοιας, ζητούν διεύθυνση κατοικίας με αποτέλεσμα να δημιουργείται φαύλος κύκλος.

      Σε αυτό τον φαύλο κύκλο απειλεί το υπουργείο Μετανάστευσης και Ασύλου να ρίξει περισσότερους από 11.000 αναγνωρισμένους πρόσφυγες, που καλούνται να βγουν από τις δομές χωρίς εξασφάλιση στέγης, χωρίς χρήματα και χωρίς συμμετοχή σε προγράμματα ένταξης.

      https://www.efsyn.gr/node/247437

      #Victoria_Square #SDF #sans-abri

      –—

      Commentaire de Vicky_Skoumbi via la mailing-list migreurop, 12.06.2020 :

      –-> voilà ce quels résultant donne la méthode de #décongestion (???) des îles de M. #Mitarakis (Ministre grec de la politique migratoire)

      Familles de réfugiés sans abri à Victoria Square (centre d’Athènes)

      Des familles de réfugiés reconnus sont arrivées à Athènes du camp de Moria, à Lesbos, et comme elles n’ont pas pu trouver d’abri grâce au programme "HELIOS’ de l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations, elles ont passé le jeudi soir et la journée du vendredi sur la place Victoria, à Athènes.

      Selon des solidaires qui ont envoyé des photos à Ef.Syn., certaines de ces familles avec enfants étaient toujours à la Victoria Square vendredi à midi.
      Le programme HELIOS prévoit la subvention du loyer pour les réfugiés reconnus pendant 6 mois, mais ils doivent d’abord avoir trouvé l’appartement à louer.
      Parmi des documents requis pour s’intégrer aux programmes de l’Agence pour l’Emploi ou aux programmes de protection sociale nécessitent un certificat de domicile, ce qui crée un cercle vicieux.
      Dans ce cercle vicieux, le ministère de l’Immigration et de l’Asile menace de jeter plus de 11 000 réfugiés reconnus, qui sont invités à quitter les structures d’accueil, se retrouvant ainsi sans logement, sans ressource et sans possibilité de s’inscrire aux programmes d’intégration.

    • Crète, GRECE : On jette les réfugiés hors des camps et des maisons
      Le 12/06

      Résolution du Conseil municipal de Chania (Crète) sur les expulsions de réfugiés des camps et des maisons.

      Le conseil municipal de Chania dénonce les expulsions enregistrées de réfugiés des camps et des maisons gérés par le HCR et où ils sont logés. Dans sa résolution, il condamne ces actions et confie au maire les démarches en justice à entreprendre.

      La #résolution

      Le conseil municipal de Chania lors de la réunion du 27 mai 2020, tenue par téléconférence, par la No. 268 décision unanime a adopté la résolution suivante :
      « Le Conseil municipal de Chania exprime son opposition aux expulsions de réfugiés des camps et des maisons, dans lesquels ils sont hébergés. Ces gens vont se retrouver dans la rue sans possibilité de logement et de survie. Parmi eux, des personnes appartenant à des groupes vulnérables tels que des handicapés et des femmes seules avec des enfants, dont beaucoup fréquentent l’école. D’autres encore seront expulsés des foyers gérés par le HCR en coopération avec des ONG. L’intégration des réfugiés signifie l’accès au droit au travail, à l’éducation et à la santé, et non pas l’abandon dans la rue. Nous exigeons l’annulation des expulsions massives. Assurons l’hébergement pour tous dans les maisons et les structures dans les quartiers. Les municipalités peuvent ouvrir des programmes de logement social pour les réfugiés. Que les réfugiés et les migrants obtiennent des documents et l’asile. Qu’ils aient le droit au travail. Il y a de la place pour tout le monde. Le Conseil confie au maire les actions à entreprendre conformément à la loi ».

      Reçu via la mailing-list Migreurop, le 14.06.2020

    • Ministry taking over UN accommodation program

      The European Union-funded ESTIA program for asylum seekers in Greece, which has been run by the United Nations refugee agency since 2016, is to come under the control of the Migration Ministry by the end of the year as part of efforts to reduce costs and increase transparency, the ministry said on Thursday.

      There had been rumors that the ESTIA program would be discontinued following the government’s announcement last month that more than 11,000 recognized refugees living in state facilities, many in ESTIA-funded apartments, will be obliged to leave.

      However, according to the ministry, the ESTIA scheme will continue next year with a 91.5-million-euro budget to which regional and local authorities and non-government organizations can apply.

      The ministry also said it has signed two contracts: one to speed up the transfer of migrants from the Aegean islands to the mainland and one for the recruitment of interpreters.

      https://www.ekathimerini.com/253846/article/ekathimerini/news/ministry-taking-over-un-accommodation-program

    • Ripe for #Corruption? The Greek Migration Ministry.

      The Greek Migration Ministry has announced that The European Union-funded ESTIA (Emergency Support to Integration and Accommodation) program for asylum seekers, which has been run by UNHCR since 2016, will come under the control of the ministry by the end of the year. By October 2019, the UNHCR had created 25,545 places in the accommodation scheme as part of the ESTIA programme. These were in 4,475 apartments and 14 buildings, in 14 cities and 7 islands across Greece. Since November 2015, more than 60,000 have benefitted from the ESTIA scheme now set to be taken over by the Greek Ministry.

      Whilst this move has been defended by the government as part of efforts to reduce costs and increase transparency, due to previous allegations of the misconduct within refugee accommodation management this move to centralise the control of the ESTIA programme should be seriously questioned.

      As previously reported by Are You Syrious, it was discovered last month that a newly appointed manager of a refugee accommodation centre in Pyrgos has extensive affiliation with far-right and Nazi groups and has previously published a book titles ‘Minarets: The Speeches of Islam in Europe’. Upon questioning, the Minister of Immigration and Asylum has failed to make pubic this person’s CV or necessary qualifications for his position as head of a refugee accommodation centre, leading many people to express concern as to why this person has received such an important appointment.

      In addition to the appointment of accommodation managers with far-right and Nazi affiliation, the Greek newspaper Efsyn alleged that it was common for the commanders of refugee structures to be persons with close relations with the ruling N.D. party. Efsyn’s preliminary investigation had shown that the commanders of at least six refugee structures had extensive links with the party.

      As well as allegations being made of questionable appointments of management as commanders of these refugee structures, the Greek migration ministry was mired in controversy last month with the creation of a so-called “black fund” for secret payments. The “black fund” was implemented as part of the new asylum law, but due to the anger of opposition lawmakers, was introduced after the period of public consultation had ended.

      Balkan Insight reported that “Mitarakis will control spending from the “black fund” with the oversight of three public servants from his own ministry. All documentation will be destroyed every six months and, in a change to the original proposal to appease critics, information on payments over 25,000 euros must be submitted to a special committee of the Greek parliament”.

      In response to this “black fund” Tasos Kostopoulos, a researcher on the history of far-right links to the state apparatus, said, “In the case of the Migration Ministry there might be a need for flexibility to handle emergencies but not at all a need for secret funds. There is no defensible reason for destroying the evidence and this covering up points to the fact that its purpose is internal, which raises questions regarding its democratic credentials”.

      The ability of any ministry to destroy all documentation of its actions, especially within a programme with no independent or impartial oversight, is a matter of grave concern. Given the aforementioned, the justification for reducing costs and increasing transparency is questionable at best and thus the government’s motives for taking over this programme, which will extensively expand their current operations, should seriously be called into question. If this programme is absorbed by the Ministry, a clear and transparent recruitment selection must be made, and the ability to misappropriate funds should be limited with the introduction of independent and impartial oversight.

      https://medium.com/are-you-syrious/ays-daily-digest-19-06-20-ripe-for-corruption-the-greek-migration-ministry-a

    • Refugees, Migrants Moved Out of Makeshift Camps in Athens’ Center

      Greek police evicted migrants who had set up camps in central squares in the Greek capital after they’d gone there when they were previously booted from other shelters to make way for new waves of replacements.

      A new law adopted in March 2020 reduces the grace period for recognized refugees from six months to 30 days to transition from organized accommodation and essential support to independent living.

      The United Nation’s refugee arm, the UNHCR urged Greece to increase the national reception capacity at sites, apartments, hotels and provide cash for shelter as droves were being put onto the streets and stripped of benefits with few work prospects.

      The New Democracy government said that thousands of people who have secured asylum had to leave the state-funded accommodations and make it on their own during the still-running COVID-19 pandemic that has put many businesses in peril.

      Police moved out migrants and refugees from Victoria Square to state facilities at Elaionas and Amygdaleza, but it remained unclear what their fate would be or if such police operations will continue, said Kathimerini.

      The departures from centers and subsidized hotels started earlier this month but was progressing slowly until it picked up this month when more than 800 refugees have left facilities on the islands, chiefly from Lesbos’ overcrowded Moria camp.

      Masses of migrants, with no other option, moved to Athens and returned to Victoria Square which had become an outdoor camp during the early days of a refugee and migrant crisis that began in 2015.

      Local residents said who families and children were sleeping in tents and on benches before the police cleared them out while volunteers working in Moria said refugees given asylum were being forced out.

      When stories circulated that authorities were planning deportations, many, including economic migrants who have little chance of being granted sanctuary, boarded ferries to Athens. Five islands near Turkey are holding more than 34,000 people.

      With Greece moving out of accommodations refugees given asylum to make way for others seeking it, Turkey’s pro-government newspaper The Daily Sabah said they are being dumped on the streets of Athens.

      Many were expelled from the notorious Moria detention camp on the island of Lesbos, the report said of a facility holding more than 18,000 in a space designed for only one-third that many.

      With European Union funding ending for some programs, the report said, “They were abandoned by the Greek authorities,” without mentioning Turkey has repeatedly violated an essentially-suspended 2016 swap deal with the EU by letting human traffickers keep sending more to the Greek islands.

      https://www.thenationalherald.com/archive_general_news_greece/arthro/refugees_migrants_moved_out_of_makeshift_camps_in_athens_center-4

    • Déferlement de #violences_policières contre des réfugiés et de solidaires à la #place_Victoria à #Athènes

      https://www.efsyn.gr/ellada/dikaiomata/250792_orgio-astynomikis-bias-stin-plateia-biktorias

      Des scènes de brutalités policières contre des réfugiés et des immigrants, principalement des mères de jeunes enfants se sont déroulées samedi soir. Nouvelle opération policière ce dimanche.

      EL.AS (Police hellénique) a montré son visage dur encore une fois ce week-end contre des familles de réfugiés et de migrants qui ont trouvé un abri temporaire à la place Victoria,principalement en raison de la décision du gouvernement d’évincer massivement de leur logement des réfugiés à la fin des programmes d’hébergement. Samedi vers minuit, les forces de MAT (les CRS grecs) ont fait irruption à la place Victoria, menaçant d’embarquer les personnes rassemblées au centre de détention fermé d’Amygdaleza, soi-disant pour leur propre sécurité et pour la protection de la santé publique.

      Lorsque les réfugiés et les migrants ont refusé, la police a attaqué la foule et a commencé à traîner violemment les gens vers les fourgons. Selon nos informations, ils ont d’abord emmené des enfants mineurs en les transportant vers les voitures de police, afin d’obliger leurs mères de suivre. Les vidéos, qui ont enregistré lors de l’attaque, montrent de nombreuses femmes hurlant.

      vidéos

      https://www.facebook.com/victoria.solidarity/videos/140508107663916/?t=1

      https://www.facebook.com/100051141831444/videos/pcb.140704300977630/140703910977669

      https://www.facebook.com/100051141831444/videos/pcb.140704300977630/140704197644307

      https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=943218992790454&t=0

      Des dizaines de soutiens se sont également précipités sur les lieux pour protester contre les violences policières. Cependant, après la fin de l’opération, les forces du MAT ne semblaient pas en avoir assez de la violence et soudain, les lumières éteintes dans plusieurs rues, elles ont attaqué les solidaires et les réfugiés restés sur place. En conséquence, plusieurs personnes qui n’ont pas réussi à s’échapper par les rues étroites ont été atrappées. La police a procédé à l’arrestation de 22 personnes, dont un grièvement blessé, qui ont été transférées au poste de police de Kypseli (quartier d’Athènes). Quatre personnes parmi les interpellées ont été placées en arrestation.

      Malgré les vidéos qui attestent la brutalité de la police, la police prétend que des groupes solidaires ont attaqué les forces de l’ordre sans bâtons ni pierres, mais …à mains nues. Une nouvelle opération policière a été menée cet après-midi sur la place Victoria et, selon les informations, les personnes interpellées ont été transférés à la structure d’accueil Schistou à Pérama, en Attique. Le nouvel incident de brutalité policière survient quelques heures seulement après les images de honte d’Exarcheia, où, vendredi soir, les forces de police ont frappé sans discrimination des personnes pendant des heures dans le quartier, et les policiers ont même fait irruption dans des magasins de divertissement, causant des dégâts considérables.

      Message reçu de Vicky Skoumbi via la mailing-list Migreurop, le 05.07.2020

    • Recognised but unprotected: The situation of refugees in #Victoria_Square

      Over the summer, Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) has documented the cases of several vulnerable families (42 persons including 22 children) from Afghanistan granted international protection on Lesvos, who were informed they had to leave the Moria hotspot and subsequently ended up homeless in Victoria Square, Athens. Among those were three new-born babies, women in advanced pregnancy, victims of torture, a child with autism, a child with a rare genetic disorder and a child suffering from cancer. Their stories, involving destitution, police violence, transfers to and poor living conditions in reception and detention facilities, starkly illustrate the severe impact of Greece’s decision to evict refugees from its reception system without any concrete plan to enable them to exercise their rights as protection holders.

      Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Greek government announced the eviction of over 11,000 recognised refugees from reception places they occupied during their asylum procedures. Evictions would start as of 1 June 2020 based on the enforcement of recent legislation foreseeing an obligation on international protection holders to leave their accommodation in camps, apartments and hotels within one month of receiving status.

      Refugees were informed they had to leave their reception places and to autonomously integrate in the host society under conditions equal to Greek citizens. The move, however, has been imposed without any measures to mitigate longstanding obstacles faced by status holders in obtaining the necessary documentation for access to key rights in Greece.

      Specifically, persons seeking to rent property and to open a bank account need a Tax Identification Number (Αριθμός Φορολογικού Μητρώου, AFM). To obtain it, they need to provide a certified residence address to the tax authorities. Beneficiaries of international protection who do not hold a residence certificate and/or are homeless are unable to receive an AFM.

      The only official integration programme for beneficiaries of international protection in Greece, HELIOS, offers support including rental subsidies to assist people in covering running housing expenses, provided they already hold a rental contract and a bank account; both are dependent upon AFM and involve expenses. Still, finding accommodation itself remains extremely difficult for most due to high rent prices, scarcity of spare flats, lack of language knowledge, and discrimination in the housing market.

      The Greek authorities’ stance towards recognised refugees, however, appears to be primarily geared towards decongesting the hotspots on the Eastern Aegean islands. The government has consistently declared that status holders can and should seek assistance through HELIOS, without acknowledging the limitations of the programme. An analysis made by RSA and PRO ASYL in June 2020 showed that less than 4% of people granted status in Greece since the beginning of 2018 had been able to access rental subsidies under HELIOS. By the end of June 2020, a total of 2,484 status holders had accessed rental subsidies through the programme. This is far below the 11,000 beneficiaries requested to leave their accommodation that month, while more people continue to be granted international protection.

      https://rsaegean.org/en/recognised-but-unprotected-the-situation-of-refugees-in-victoria-square

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLVUiPceYu0&feature=emb_logo

    • ’How can I find a home?’ Promise of Athens turns to despair for refugees

      Arrivals from Lesbos are stuck in poor conditions at the city camp, with those granted asylum left to fend for themselves

      The only refugee camp in Athens is barely a mile south-west of the Acropolis as the crow flies. Officials speak of Elaionas as a model reception centre, one that has blended decent living conditions with clockwork efficiency.

      A collection of colourfully painted cabins, set either side of concrete pathways, Elaionas was built on former wasteland off the Sacred Way, ancient Greece’s oldest road. It opened in 2015, at the height of the refugee crisis. But in the rush to house families ordered to leave Moria, the infamous holding centre on Lesbos, authorities have turned the facility’s football ground into a tent city that has become synonymous with desperation and despair.

      “We are 30 families in these nylon tents and there is no electricity and it is very, very hot,” says Murat Shahi, a burly father of four, explaining how the new arrivals are forced to spend “every hour of every day” looking for respite from the sun. “They say ‘leave Moria’, they stop our cash card, but I have no work, I don’t speak Greek. How can I find a home?”

      The former teacher lies awake at night wondering how he will feed and house his children. “In Afghanistan I’m a dead man. I made this journey for a better life. Moria was very bad but then they moved me to a place where I receive no breakfast, no lunch. Why? I’m human with feelings.”

      Mobin Azimi, in the next tent, arrived with his wife and two daughters from Lesbos. Food is a problem because there is never enough. At night women try to cook over a fire of sticks on top of terracotta bricks. “In Moria we had electricity but here it is very difficult to cook. I can control my hunger but what do you say to a child who can’t?” the furniture maker asks.

      The scenes in Elaionas are replicated at the Skaramangas and Schisto reception centres on the outskirts of the Greek capital. People are told to fend for themselves after being accepted for asylum.

      “When you get a blue card [as a protected refugee] everything stops,” says Azimi, who has spent weeks scouring Athens for a flat to rent.

      “Other people in Elaionas, who haven’t got asylum, live in containers with electricity and air-conditioning. It’s crazy but they are in a much better situation. In Moria there was a lot of fighting. Here there is peace but life is so difficult,” he says.

      The plight of refugees forced to leave camps as the centre-right government tries to ease the pressures on a vastly overcrowded reception system has led to growing concern. Volunteers working with refugees speak of hunger and dehydration. Yet Greece currently chairs the Council of Europe, the EU’s leading human rights organisation.

      Around 11,000 people who were granted asylum since entering Greece have been asked to leave managed accommodation in island camps, hotels and apartments under the Estia scheme run by the UN refugee agency.

      Citing the need to free up space in migrant facilities, officials describe the exit strategy as the long overdue “shock” that will shake the system into action.

      Families have ended up in the street in Athens, gathering under the mulberry trees in Victoria Square. Critics claim Greece’s problem-plagued migration system is simply not up to the job.

      “The problem is there is no system to shock, it’s so disorganised, so dysfunctional, it’s like trying to reboot a broken PC,” says Lefteris Papagiannakis, the former vice-mayor of Athens who helped set up Elaionas. “So these poor people, who should have been integrated long ago, end up on the street, collateral damage in a system whose solution will be to move them from one camp to another before they are moved again.”

      This summer, about 1,600 refugees have arrived in Athens from Lesbos, mainly Afghans.

      Among those recently transferred from Victoria Square to Schisto with her husband and baby daughter is Somayeh Hashemi. “It’s very cramped. We are many families but they have put us in the cinema room and not in a tent,” she said through her husband, Saeed. “Now we are sleeping on the floor but we worry about the future. We don’t have a tax number or a bank account. We don’t speak the language. How will we find a home?”

      Since Greece’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis assumed power on a tough law and order platform, integration “even as a word” had barely been mentioned, says Papagiannakis, who now works for the humanitarian organisation, Solidarity Now.

      “The rationale would seem to be to get them out of the camps, out of the system and push them politely out of Greece because once they have papers they are free to travel abroad and, as we know, most never come back.”

      Although the flow of arrivals has been reduced dramatically by reinforced land and sea border patrols, a surge is expected later this year when coronavirus restrictions are relaxed in Turkey.

      The International Organization for Migration (IOM) concedes there are problems. “We are dealing with a system that got up and running late,” its mission chief, Gianluca Rocco, says. “All this time there have not been regular exits [from camps] and now we’re seeing big groups leaving all at once and that is creating challenges.”

      Among the lucky few is Laila Mohammadi, from Kabul, who found a home “by chance and in minutes”. She had enough money to pay the deposit with the monthly cash instalments she, her mother and seven siblings had been given in Moria.

      “I was out looking at this little house when the police came and put my mother and brothers and sisters on the bus for Elaionas,” says the 24–year-old. “My mother called and I went straight there. After 20 minutes completing documents the staff said ‘you can go’. I told them I had found a house with a little garden and it was our dream home.”

      https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/23/how-can-i-find-a-home-promise-of-athens-turns-to-despair-for-refugees

  • Migrant arrivals increase in Spain’s Canary Islands - InfoMigrants
    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#Espagne#flux

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/22572/migrant-arrivals-increase-in-spain-s-canary-islands

    The number of migrants arriving in the Spanish Canary Islands increased last month to 18 times the number in January 2019, the AFP news agency reports. However, fewer migrants are trying to reach mainland Spain by boat.

  • Homeschooling leaves migrant children behind - InfoMigrants
    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#Allemagne#education#refugie

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/24872/homeschooling-leaves-migrant-children-behind

    The coronavirus pandemic and the closing of schools all over the world have affected all children. But those on the margins of society, including many migrants, have done the worst out of homeschooling.

  • Germany invests in e-learning after 220,000 migrants had to interrupt integration courses - InfoMigrants
    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#Allemagne#formation

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/24834/germany-invests-in-e-learning-after-220-000-migrants-had-to-interrupt-

    Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) says it has spent some €40 million on digital offerings to bridge the interruption of integration and language courses caused by COVID-19. According to BAMF, close to a quarter million migrants in Germany are currently having to pause their courses.

  • Baobab Experience, Rome : Welcoming migrants even during a crisis - InfoMigrants
    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#Italie#solidarite

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/24853/baobab-experience-rome-welcoming-migrants-even-during-a-crisis

    Italy has just entered “Phase Two” of its coronavirus lockdown, that is a gradual easing of restrictions. But the worst could be yet to come, thinks Andrea Costa, one of the founding members of Baobab experience, a group which works to help migrants in Rome.

  • Europol : Migrant smuggling patterns changing due to coronavirus - InfoMigrants
    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#Europe#sanspapier#flux#passeur

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/24819/europol-migrant-smuggling-patterns-changing-due-to-coronavirus

    Will irregular migration to Europe increase again once COVID-19 related travel restrictions are lifted? Europol thinks so. In a new report, the European Union’s policing agency also said the coronavirus pandemic is already changing migrant smuggling and trafficking.

  • French migrant aid groups gear up for ’the world after lockdown’ - InfoMigrants
    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#France#solidarite

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/24772/french-migrant-aid-groups-gear-up-for-the-world-after-lockdown

    France’s near two-month lockdown forced many of the country’s aid groups and social workers to reduce, adapt and - in some cases - even halt their activities. We take a look at what has changed in the Paris region, and how many aid groups have adjusted their operations to fit a new, post-lockdown climate.

  • IOM concerned about ’invisible’ migrant shipwrecks - InfoMigrants
    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#Mediterranee#naufrage#OIM

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/24745/iom-concerned-about-invisible-migrant-shipwrecks

    The International Organization for Migration said measures enacted by governments against the spread of the coronavirus, as well as the drop in the presence of search-and-rescue ships in the Mediterranean, are sparking concern over “invisible” migrant shipwrecks.

  • Migrants sue German state over mobile phone searches

    In Germany, three migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Cameroon are suing the state for accessing personal data on their mobile phones. A civil rights group taking part in the action says the phone searches are a serious invasion of privacy.

    29-year-old Syrian Mohammad A. was recognized as a refugee in Germany in 2015. Four years later, the German Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), reviewed his case – without giving a specific reason. During the review, they carried out an evaluation of his smartphone.

    “Suddenly the #BAMF employee told me to hand over my mobile phone and unlock it,” said Mohammad A. in a statement published by the Berlin-based Society for Civil Rights (GFF). “I didn’t know what was happening. Nothing was explained to me. But I was afraid of being deported. So I gave him the mobile phone. It felt like I was handing over my whole life.”

    Under a law passed in 2017, German authorities can examine the mobile phones of asylum seekers who are unable to present a valid passport on arrival, in order to verify information provided regarding identity. But the GFF, which filed the lawsuits together with the three refugees, says this represents “a particularly serious and extensive encroachment on the privacy of those affected.”

    Law fails to uncover false information

    The law permitting phone searches was meant to prevent “asylum abuse”. As many of those who arrive in Germany after fleeing their home countries cannot present a valid passport, it was seen as an effective way to detect fraudulent claims. However, the GFF says that despite thousands of such mobile phone searches, hardly any have uncovered false information.

    The GFF also argues that asylum authorities do not ensure that core areas of the asylum seekers’ rights are protected. “The BAMF is disregarding the strict constitutional rules by which the state must abide when accessing personal data,” Lea Beckmann from the GFF told Reuters.

    According to the news agency, a spokesman for BAMF said it was aware that checking mobile data was an intrusion and every case was determined by strict rules. “A mobile phone is often the only, or a very important, source to establish the identity and nationality of people entering Germany without a passport or identification documents,” he said.

    Privacy, transparency concerns

    The GFF argues that BAMF should be using mobile phone reading as a last resort, and that there are other, less drastic, means of clarifying doubts about identity. Mobile phone readouts are also extremely error-prone, the organization claims.

    The BAMF has also been criticized over a lack of transparency. For example, according to the GFF, little is known about how the software used to read and analyze the information obtained from phones actually works.
    Similarly, Reuters reports, the World Refugee Council has warned that consent for data collection is rarely sought and refugees often do not know how their data is used.

    Mohammad A.’s case is pending before a local court in the northwestern German city of Hanover. The case of an Afghan woman aged about 37 was lodged in Berlin and that of a 25-year-old woman from Cameroon, in the southwestern city of Stuttgart. The GFF hopes that the cases will lead to a constitutional review of the legal basis for mobile phone data evaluation.

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/24574/migrants-sue-german-state-over-mobile-phone-searches

    #smartphone #données #Allemagne #justice #asile #migrations #réfugiés #surveillance #données_personnelles #téléphone_portable #identité #identification #procédure_d'asile #nationalité

    ping @etraces @karine4 @_kg_

  • German court: #COVID-19 protection ’inadequate’ at refugee home

    A pregnant woman appealed to be released from the shelter, saying it was impossible to socially distance in the crowded facility. The court in #Münster agreed — criticizing the double standard in rules at refugee homes.

    A pregnant woman and her husband living at a shared accommodation for asylum seekers not adequately protected from contracting COVID-19, a German court ruled on Monday.

    The couple will no longer be required to live at the facility for asylum seekers, located in the town of #Rheine in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

    In their emergency appeal to the court, the couple raised numerous health concerns, arguing that it wasn’t possible to adhere to social distancing rules inside the cramped facility.

    They reported having to share sanitary facilities with other residents, noting that the residents weren’t provided with enough cleaning supplies.

    “They feared that they would become infected with the coronavirus by continuing to stay at the reception center,” the Administrative Court in Münster said.

    Refugees at risk

    In its decision, the court said that local authorities were unable to disprove the couple’s claims, leading the court to assume “the hygienic conditions were inadequate in this area.”

    The court also appeared to admonish the treatment of asylum seekers, noting that the conditions that they’re being asked to live in go against the COVID-19 social distancing rules set out by the state.

    “It would be inconsistent with the rules in the [coronavirus] regulations if accommodations for asylum seekers were treated differently,” the court said.

    Under current coronavirus regulations, people are advised to remain at least 1.5 meters (5 feet) apart and to wear face masks in shops and on public transportation.

    Asylum seekers in Germany are required to live in “reception centers” or shared accommodations during their asylum application. Many live with several hundred other inhabitants, with some sharing rooms with strangers.

    The conditions and lack of privacy in Germany’s facilities for asylum seekers have long been criticized by refugee and immigrant rights groups.

    The coronavirus outbreak has increased these concerns. Outbreaks at refugee centers have already reported in Berlin, Bonn and other towns and cities across Germany.

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/24671/german-court-covid-19-protection-inadequate-at-refugee-home
    #Allemagne #justice #asile #migrations #réfugiés #logement #hébergement #coronavirus #distanciation_sociale #protection

    ping @thomas_lacroix @karine4 @isskein @_kg_

  • Russia and Assad committed war crimes in Syria, Amnesty - InfoMigrants

    “Even by the standards of Syria’s calamitous nine-year crisis, the displacement and humanitarian emergency sparked by the latest onslaught on Idlib has been unprecedented. The UN Security Council must not cut the vital lifeline of cross-border humanitarian aid while thousands of lives hang in the balance,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director.

    #Covid-19#Syrie#ONU#Al-Assad#Russie#Déplacés#Guerre#Crime_de_guerre#migrant#migration

    https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/24681/russia-and-assad-committed-war-crimes-in-syria-amnesty