February 2020 - Keep Talking Greece

Riot police clash with locals over migration centers on the islands (videos)

Extensive clashes erupted overnight on islands of Lesvos and Chios and continue on Tuesday, with local authorities and residents trying to prevent the arrival of riot police, water canons and excavating machines to be used to build new closed migration centers.

https://i1.wp.com/www.keeptalkinggreece.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/chiosblockage2.jpeg?resize=768%2C499&ssl=1#.jpg https://i0.wp.com/www.keeptalkinggreece.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/matbin.jpeg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1#.jpg https://i1.wp.com/www.keeptalkinggreece.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/MAt2.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1#.jpg

The forces arrived by ferries chartered by the government.
▻https://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2020/02/25/greece-islands-lesvos-chios-police-migration-centers

Μάχες στην Καράβα

Στην Καράβα, στην είσοδο του δρόμου που οδηγεί στην επιταγμένη έκταση στου Καβακλή γίνονται από τις 6,30 το πρωί πραγματικές οδομαχίες. Εκατοντάδες Αστυνομικοί επιτέθηκαν ρίχνοντας μεγάλες ποσότητες χημικών στους συγκεντρωμένους πολίτες.

Στον κεντρικό δρόμο έχουν στηθεί οδοφράγματα με αυτοκίνητα του Δήμου δυτικής Λέσβου.

https://cdn.stonisi.gr/repository/2019/karavaepisodia25.2-3.jpg

Η άλωση του Καβακλή
▻https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=677454506329468

Greek authorities scramble to calm tensions over migrant detention camp

Violent scenes underscore resistance to construction of camps on Lesbos and other Aegean islands.
▻https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0a3a32e2d7ffa272c231fa2a1d7693d1aa205945/0_192_5760_3456/master/5760.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=156e24b0d279963a566c9f

Greek authorities are desperately trying to contain mounting tensions over government plans to construct migrant detention camps on the north Aegean islands after a night of clashes between residents and riot police on Lesbos and Chios.

Security forces used teargas and stun grenades to disperse crowds gathered at sites designated for the controversial facilities. In Chios, a local mayor and a priest were rushed to hospital after collapsing as a result of the toxic fumes.

With islanders voicing dismay at the scale of the violence, local unions hit back with debilitating protest strikes on Tuesday. “Nobody should go to work, nobody should go to school, no shop should open,” Lesbos’s central labour force announced.
’I get a lot of love’: how hope survives in the hell of Moria
Read more

“We call on all workers, the people of Lesbos, bodies and associations to stand against government plans to turn our island, and other Aegean islands, into a vast prison of human souls.”

At least two people were taken to hospital later on Tuesday after more violence erupted at roadblocks set up to prevent bulldozers and other machinery reaching plots expropriated by the government for the facilities.

Caught up in the clashes, Yiannis Bournous, an MP with the opposition Syriza party on Lesbos, deplored what he described as “an unprovoked and violent attack of riot police against protesting citizens”, likening the confrontation to an assault on democracy.

Demonstrations are planned for later in the day. Leftwing, pro-immigrant supporters also declared they would rally in solidarity in Athens.

Local authorities said they would step up opposition with a general strike Wednesday. “Not even the junta did such things,” said Konstantinos Moutzouris, governor of the north Aegean region, referring to the military dictatorship in power in Athens between 1967-74. It was appalling, he said, that riot police should use such force against people who were at the coal face of the refugee crisis.

The tumult underscored the resistance the centre-right administration now faces in its quest to construct “closed” facilities to accommodate the ever-growing numbers crossing over from Turkey in a bid to enter Europe via Greece’s outlying isles.

More than 43,000 people are currently stranded on Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Leros and Kos, the main gateways to the country. Over 20,000 are on Lesbos, the island long on the frontline of the influx, with most forced to endure the unsanitary and vastly overcrowded conditions of the infamous open-air camp of Moria, a short drive from Mytilene, its capital.

The vast majority of those entering the EU from the war-torn Middle East, Asia and Africa came via the islands last year with an overwhelming 99% applying for asylum, according to Greek immigration authorities.

Hamstrung by a containment policy determined by Brussels, they are forced to remain on the islands until asylum requests are processed by a system already buckling under the pressure. Holding facilities on the outposts were originally designed to host no more than 5,400 people.

Government officials, clearly shamed by international criticism of the camps, say the new detention centres will finally put an end to the woeful images that have emerged from Greece. Constructed to host around 5,000 people each, expectant asylum-seekers will share the installations with those scheduled for deportation.

By fast-tracking the asylum process, the administration argues the detention centres will help accelerate what is needed most: decongestion of the isles. Locals, who have already borne the brunt of migratory flows, fear the facilities will ultimately become permanent.

On Tuesday the administration of the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, vowed to forge ahead with the scheme despite the protests and mounting expressions of consternation from the opposition.

Describing the current camps as “public health bombs”, the government spokesman insisted the new installations would ultimately be in the interest of the islands. As he spoke defence department bulldozers driven by soldiers could be seen clearing some of the land.

“We are asking local residents to understand that these closed facilities will benefit the country and their communities,” the government spokesman Stelios Petsas told Open TV. “We will build these closed centres but also close the existing open ones. That is the government’s promise.”

International aid groups also expressed alarm over the rising tensions following Monday night’s clashes.

“It has reached an explosive point for both locals who have shown remarkable solidarity towards refugees and asylum seekers living in the conditions that they live,” said Nikolas Panagiotopoulos area manager of the International Rescue Committee.

“There is an urgent need for de-escalation. We firmly believe that more dialogue is needed between local government and central government for a sustainable solution,” he told the Guardian. “It is clear the north-east Aegean islands cannot shoulder this responsibility. The EU needs to step up in solidarity because Greece cannot cope on its own.”

▻https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/25/clashes-over-greeces-migrant-detention-camp-plans-continue

Police and protesters clash on Greek islands over new migrant camps

Teargas used against demonstrators on Lesbos and Chios who want migrants moved to the mainland.

▻https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/a0d7a1510621342ba7d8b8b47f9274696a4cf9a4/0_188_4928_2955/master/4928.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=af3450ab469077828676ff

Clashes have broken out on the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios, where residents tried to prevent the arrival of riot police and excavating machines to be used to build new migrant detention camps.

Police fired teargas to disperse the crowds that gathered early on Tuesday to try to prevent officers from disembarking from government-chartered ferries.

On Lesbos, protesters set fire to bins and used municipal rubbish trucks to try to block the port area.

Police on Chios also used teargas and flash grenades. At least three people were treated in hospital for breathing difficulties caused by the extensive use of teargas, local officials said.

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The government says it will press ahead with plans to build the new facilities and has promised to replace existing camps where severe overcrowding has worsened in recent months.

Many island residents as well as local authorities argue the migrants and asylum seekers should be moved to the Greek mainland.

The standoff between police and protesters continued later on Tuesday near the areas where the new camps will be built, as police cordoned off areas around roadblocks set up over the past few days by demonstrators on the two islands.

“We understand that there is a problem of trust that was created over the previous years,” the government’s spokesman, Stelios Petsas, told state-run TV. “But the closed facilities will be built and we are calling on the public to support this.”

Petsas said the government also had to act due to heightened concerns over the coronavirus outbreak, arguing that proper health checks could not be carried out at existing overcrowded camps.

Greece is the busiest entry point for illegal migration in the European Union, with most arrivals occurring on eastern Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast. Under a 2016 agreement, backed and funded by the EU, the movement of migrants is restricted to those islands until their asylum claims are processed.

Nearly 60,000 migrants and refugees arrived on Greek islands last year, almost double the number recorded in 2018, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency.

▻https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/25/police-and-protesters-clash-on-greek-islands-over-new-migrant-camps

Riot police withdraws from Lesvos & Chios after raging against locals and cars (videos)

Eight riot police squads departed from the island of Lesvos on Thursday morning after an unprecedented use of violence against people and …parked cars.

The squads embarked ferry “Nisos Rodos” at 9 o’ clock in the morning. Loaded were also police buses, machinery and equipment that was transferred to the islands last Monday night in order to facilitate operations in Kavakli-Karava where the new closed migration center is to be constructed.

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The ferry on an extraordinary schedule is to transfer to Athens also riot police forces from the island of Chios at 12 o’ clock noon.

Locals see in the withdrawal a “huge defeat for the government,” however, they are still in rage about the extensive use of violence committed by the riot police during the two days they stayed on the islands.

The violence was not only against protesting locals but against vehicles as well.

Several videos uploaded on social media, show fully equipped riot police to shoot at parked vehicles, smash windshields and destroy car mirrors.

Citing locals, state broadcaster ERT TV reported that riot police have destroyed more than 100 vehicles on the island of Lesvos.

At the same time, they set six forest fires by launching flash grenades in the area of the site.

They have apparently also used teargas expired 40 years ago!

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Despite the withdrawal of the “official troublemakers,” the atmosphere is still tense on Lesvos and Chios, where authorities and trade unions of public and private sector have declared a 24-hour strike for the second consecutive day.

The Prime Minister has summoned the mayors of the islands to Athens today to discuss ways out of the crisis. However, he excluded the Regional Governor of the Aegean Region, Kostas Moutzouris, who used vulgar expressions against him during a live interview with a TV channel on Wednesday night.

PS We always thought that “troublemakers” were the anarchists in Exarchia. Apparently, every riot cop has the right to damage private property in the name of “institutionalized violence.”

▻https://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2020/02/27/riot-police-lesvos-chios-violence-cars

#Grève générale dans les îles grecques contre de nouveaux camps de migrants

Le gouvernement veut remplacer les camps actuels, surpeuplés, par des installations plus petites. Les élus et la population locale s’opposent vigoureusement à cette décision.

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Les îles grecques de Lesbos, Chios et Samos, proches de la côte turque, menaient mercredi 26 février, une grève générale pour protester contre la construction de nouveaux camps pour les migrants. Pour le deuxième jour de suite à Lesbos, les manifestants ont fait face à la police antiémeute près de la ville de Mantamados, proche du site prévu pour la construction d’un camp de 7 000 personnes.

De petits groupes ont jeté des pierres vers la police, qui a répondu avec du gaz lacrymogène et des grenades aveuglantes. « Nous sommes en temps de guerre. [La police] a les armes, nous avons nos cœurs et nos âmes », a déclaré le père Stratis, un prêtre local.

Le gouvernorat local a appelé à une grève de vingt-quatre heures, rejetant les projets du gouvernement de construire de nouveaux camps pour remplacer les installations actuelles surpeuplées, dans lesquelles les demandeurs d’asile vivent dans des conditions épouvantables. Plus de 38 000 migrants s’entassent dans les camps des îles de Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Leros et Cos, officiellement prévus pour 6 200 personnes.

« Les criminels devraient partir »

Les habitants des îles se plaignent depuis longtemps des problèmes d’insécurité et de santé publique que causent, selon eux, les migrants et s’opposent aux projets de construction de nouveaux camps du gouvernement. La père Staris fait valoir :

« Nous nous battons également pour ceux qui veulent partir pour un endroit meilleur. Nous voulons qu’ils partent. Nous accepterons les réfugiés de guerre, mais les criminels devraient partir. »

Au niveau national, le gouvernement conservateur, arrivé au pouvoir en juillet, a annoncé que les camps de Lesbos, Samos et Chios seraient fermés cette année pour être remplacés par de nouvelles installations, plus petites, qui devraient être opérationnelles à la mi-2020. Après des semaines de pourparlers infructueux avec les autorités locales, le gouvernement a envoyé lundi par bateau des engins de chantier et la police antiémeute, provoquant l’indignation.

Les partis d’opposition ont dénoncé une décision antidémocratique, et les responsables locaux une tentative « barbare » de « transformer de force Lesbos et Chios en prisons ». L’Etat avait déjà mis en colère les insulaires dans le courant de février en annonçant que des terres pourraient être réquisitionnées pour une période de trois ans pour construire les nouveaux camps.

▻https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2020/02/26/greve-generale-dans-les-iles-greques-contre-de-nouveaux-camps-de-migrants_60

Des habitants de l’île grecque de Lesbos incendient un centre d’accueil pour migrants inoccupé

Des habitants de l’île grecque de Lesbos ont mis le feu dimanche soir à un centre d’accueil inoccupé de migrants près de la plage de #Skala_Sykamineas après l’avoir bloqué, a constaté un photographe de l’AFP. Ce centre, autrefois géré par le Haut commissariat aux réfugiés de l’ONU, avait été fermé fin janvier. Il accueillait auparavant les migrants avant qu’ils soient conduits vers un centre d’hébergement sur l’île.

▻http://www.rfi.fr/fr/ticker/habitants-l-%C3%AEle-grecque-lesbos-incendient-centre-d-accueil-migrants-inoccup

Επεισόδια στη Μόρια

Συγκρούσεις ανάμεσα σε 500 αιτούντες άσυλο που θέλουν να πορευτούν στη Μυτιλήνη και διμοιρίες των ΜΑΤ.

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Εξέγερση αυτή τη στιγμή στον καταυλισμό του Κέντρου υποδοχής και Ταυτοποίησης της Μόριας. Περίπου 500 αιτούντες άσυλο για άγνωστους λόγους ξεκίνησαν από τον καταυλισμό με σκοπό να κατεβούν στην πόλη της Μυτιλήνης. Περίπου 200 μέτρα μετά την είσοδο του ΚΥΤ δυο διμοιρίες ΜΑΤ τους σταμάτησαν ενώ δέχθηκαν επίθεση με πέτρες. Οι αστυνομικές δυνάμεις απάντησαν κάνοντας χρήση χημικών και χειροβομβίδων κρότου λάμψης. Οι συγκεντρωμένοι αρνούνται να επιστρέψουν στον καταυλισμό.

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

–-> Des incidents ont lieu en ce moment au centre d’accueil et d’identification de #Moria. Environ 500 demandeurs d’asile sont partis du campement en se dirigeant vers la vile de Mytilène. A 200m de la sortie du camp, deux escadrons de CRS les ont arrêtés tandis qu’ils recevaient de jets de pierre. Les forces de l’ordre ont répondu par des gaz chimiques et de grenades assourdissantes. Les manifestants refusent de rentrer au camp.

Fire wrecks Greek refugee camp after unrest over woman’s death

Iraqi woman, 47, dies after going to hospital with fever but testing negative for Covid-19

A fire ripped through one of Greece’s largest migrant camps, leaving widespread damage and many people homeless after the death of an Iraqi woman sparked unrest.

The blaze late on Saturday at the Vial refugee camp on #Chios island destroyed the facilities of the European asylum service, a canteen, warehouse tents and many housing containers, Greek migration ministry secretary Manos Logothetis said.

“A large part of the camp’s administrative services was destroyed,” said Logothetis, adding that no injuries were reported.
Patel refuses to take children from Greek camps threatened by Covid-19
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The UN refugee agency’s spokesperson in Athens Boris Cheshirkov said the damage was still being evaluated but that many camp residents were likely to have been left homeless.

“Authorities are still assessing the damages but a few hundred people are likely affected because their shelters have burned down. We have donated tents to the authorities which can quickly be put into use and we will assist in replacing the warehouse tents,” he said.

At least three vehicles outside the camp were also gutted.

A police source in Athens said two Afghans and an Iraqi had been arrested in relation to the unrest, which erupted after a 47-year-old asylum seeker from Iraq died in the camp on Saturday.

“We managed to restore order at around 1am ... There were many people who took part in the incidents,” another police source on Chios said.

The Iraqi woman had been taken with a fever to a hospital earlier this week. At the time, a test for coronavirus had returned negative, state news agency ANA reported.

Migrant camps in Greece have been under quarantine in recent weeks, with authorities trying to keep their residents away from locals.

The virus has so far killed 110 people in Greece with 67 more in intensive care.

According to official figures there have been coronavirus cases in two camps on the mainland but no cases have been reported in island camps so far.

Like all Greece’s island camps, Vial is overcrowded with more than 5,000 people living in a space intended for around 1,000.

Around 100,000 asylum seekers are stranded in Greece after other European states closed their borders in 2016.

There are more than 36,000 people in camps on islands close to Turkey that were originally built for just 6,100.

The migration ministry has said it will begin moving hundreds of elderly and ailing asylum seekers out of the island camps to protect them from coronavirus.

A scheme to gradually relocate 1,600 unaccompanied minors from war-torn countries to other European nations also began this week.

►https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/19/fire-wrecks-greek-migrant-camp-after-iraqi-death-sparks-unrest
#Vial #hotspots #hotspot

ΒΙΑΛ : Τρεις συλλήψεις - Άγνωστα τα αίτια θανάτου της 47χρονης

Στην Αστυνομική Διεύθυνση Χίου κρατούνται τρία άτομα που συνελήφθησαν κατά τη διάρκεια των χθεσινών επεισοδίων. Άγνωστο παραμένει ακόμα αν θα υπάρξει επίσημο πόρισμα για την αιτία θανάτου από την ιατροδικαστική υπηρεσία του Νοσοκομείου Χίου.

Φωτιές, πετροπόλεμος, τραυματισμοί και συλλήψεις, σημειώθηκαν χτες το βράδυ και μέχρι τις πρώτες πρωινές ώρες στη ΒΙΑΛ, σε επεισόδια μεταξύ προσφύγων που διαμένουν στο ΚΥΤ και αστυνομικών δυνάμεων.

Το καζάνι στη ΒΙΑΛ που έβραζε μέρες τώρα, έσκασε και η έκρηξη άφησε πίσω του οικογένειες που πλέον δεν έχουν « πού την κεφαλήν κλίναι » να τριγυρνούν ξυπόλητες στα χωράφια γύρω από το ΚΥΤ χωρίς ούτε μια αλλαξιά ρούχα ή έστω μια κουβέρτα, την Υπηρεσία Ασύλου κατεστραμμένη από τη φωτιά , δύο καμένα αυτοκίνητα εκ των οποίων το ένα ήταν περιπολικό, σκηνές και αυτοσχέδιες κατασκευές με όλα τα υπάρχοντα των ενοίκων τους να έχουν γίνει στάχτη, μία καντίνα ολοσχερώς κατεστραμμένη και εκατοντάδες ανθρώπους σε απόγνωση.

Τα επεισόδια ξεκίνησαν γύρω στις εννιά το βράδυ όταν οι πρώτες φλόγες τύλιξαν την Υπηρεσία Ασύλου. Η Πυροσβεστική ώστόσο ήταν αδύνατο να επέμβει αφού ταυτόχρονα ομάδες προσφύγων επιδόθηκαν σε πόλεμο με τις αστυνομικές δυνάμεις που απάντησαν με δακρυγόνα, μετατρέποντας την περιοχή σε κόλαση.
Σε λίγη ώρα όλη η περιοχή είχε μετατραπεί σε πεδίο μάχης , αφού οι συγκρούσεις μεταξύ αστυνομικών και αιτούντων άσυλο είχαν εξαπλωθεί περιμετρικά του ΚΥΤ , μέσα στα χωράφια όπου έχουν κατασκηνώσει περίπου 4.500 άνθρωποι.

https://www.efsyn.gr/sites/default/files/2020-04/epeisodia_bial.jpg

Η ένταση είχε ξεκινήσει νωρίς το μεσημέρι όταν σε κοντέινερ που έχει στήσει εκεί η Περιφέρεια Βορείου Αιγαιου για ιατρικούς σκοπούς, βρέθηκε νεκρή μια 47χρονη γυναίκα από το Ιράκ.

Η γυναίκα είχε παραμείνει εκεί επί τριήμερο περισσότερο για προληπτικούς λόγους, αφού μόλις τη Πέμπτη είχε επισκεφθεί το Νοσοκομείο με συμπτώματα που θεωρήθηκαν ύποπτα για κορονοϊό. Το δείγμα ωστόσο που ελήφθη και εξετάστηκε στο Ινστιτούτο Παστέρ, κατέληξε αρνητικό και έτσι η γυναίκα επέστρεψε στη ΒΙΑΛ, έχοντας λάβει οδηγίες για φαρμακευτική αγωγή μιας και όπως έγινε γνωστό έπασχε από διαβήτη αλλά και από καρδιακές αρρυθμίες.

« Η ίδια τις τελευταίες ημέρες ήταν πολύ νευτρική και αναστατωμένη. Παραπονιόταν ότι δεν αισθάνεται καλά και δεν έτρωγε το φαγητό της. Ωστόσο ακολουθούσε πιστά την φαρμακευτική αγωγή, αφού κοντά της ήταν ο σύζυγος ενώ είχε και τη βοήθεια μελών μιας ΜΚΟ με ιατρική ειδίκευση » δήλωσαν στην ΕΦ.ΣΥΝ. άνθρωποι που είναι σε θέση να γνωρίζουν.

Αυτό όμως δεν στάθηκε αρκετό και έτσι το μεσημέρι του Σαββάτου, η γυναίκα μεταφέρθηκε νεκρή στο Νοσοκομείο Χίου, με το θάνατο της να γίνεται αφορμή για όλα τα παραπάνω.

https://www.efsyn.gr/sites/default/files/images/2020/04/vial_0.jpg

Σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες, η γυναίκα βρέθηκε νεκρή έχοντας τροφή στο στόμα της, γεγονός που οδήγησε αρχικά στην υπόθεση ότι ο θάνατος της ήταν αποτέλεσμα πνιγμού ωστόσο εξίσου πιθανά θεωρούνται και τα σενάρια είτε της καρδιακής ανακοπής, είτε κάποιας πνευμονικής εμβολής.

Δυστυχώς όμως άγνωστο παραμένει ακόμα, αν θα υπάρξει επίσημο πόρισμα για την αιτία θανάτου από την ιατροδικαστική υπηρεσία του Νοσοκομείου Χίου, αφού η διοίκηση δεν έχει απαντήσει ακόμα σε σχετικό ερώτημα της ΕΦΣΥΝ.

Το βέβαιο είναι ότι αν η γυναίκα είχε παραμείνει νοσηλευόμενη στο Νοσοκομείο, σίγουρα οι πιθανότητες να ζούσε ακόμη θα ήταν περισσότερες.

Τέλος, να σημειωθεί ότι στην Αστυνομική Διεύθυνση Χίου κρατούνται τρία άτομα που συνελήφθησαν χτες κατά τη διάρκεια των επεισοδίων.

►https://www.efsyn.gr/ellada/koinonia/239861_bial-treis-syllipseis-agnosta-ta-aitia-thanatoy-tis-47hronis

Fin avril 2020, autre incendie...
►https://seenthis.net/messages/848111

« Ελευθερία » ζητούν οι πρόσφυγες στη Μόρια
Πρωτοφανή επεισόδια σημειώθηκαν σήμερα στη Μυτιλήνη,

μετά τη μαζική πορεία προσφύγων που ξεκίνησαν το πρωί από τον καταυλισμό ζητώντας να σταματήσει ο εγκλεισμός τους και να επιταχυνθούν οι διαδικασίες χορήγησης ασύλου. Η λέξη « ελευθερία » κυριαρχεί στα αυτοσχέδια πλακάτ.

Ακολουθεί φωτορεπορτάζ από τη δυναμική κινητοποίηση τουλάχιστον 2.000 προσφύγων, μεταξύ των οποίων πολλές γυναίκες και παιδιά, και τα επεισόδια με τις αστυνομικές δυνάμεις που προχώρησαν επανειλημμένα στη χρήση χημικών.

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« Λάδι στη φωτιά » οι σημερινές διαδηλώσεις

Η διαμαρτυρία Αφγανών και τα επεισόδια της Δευτέρας με την αστυνομία.

Στις 4 το απόγευμα έληξε η διαμαρτυρία των Αφγανών προσφύγων έξω από το Δημοτικό Θέατρο Μυτιλήνης ενάντια στο νέο νόμο για το Άσυλο, που σύμφωνα με τα λεγόμενά τους, τους υποχρεώνει σε νέο εγκλωβισμό- καθώς πλέον έχουν προτεραιότητα οι νεοεισερχόμενοι αιτούντες άσυλο.

Ειδικότερα, συγκρούσεις μεταξύ Αφγανών που διαμένουν στο ΚΥΤ ης Μόριας, ανδρών και γυναικών κάθε ηλικίας και της Αστυνομίας σημάδεψαν τις σημερινές κινητοποιήσεις, οι οποίες είναι από τις λίγες φορές που έλαβαν χώρα εκτός του ΚΥΤ.

Η διαδήλωση έφτασε περίπου στις 10.30 το πρωί, σχεδόν στην είσοδο της πόλης της Μυτιλήνης, λίγο μετά το δημοτικό καταυλισμό του Καρά Τεπέ. Εκεί τους περίμενε ισχυρή Αστυνομική δύναμη που δεν τους επέτρεψε να συνεχίζουν. Μια ομάδα περίπου 1000 από τους διαδηλωτές τότε έφυγε μέσω γειτονικών χωραφιών με σκοπό να φτάσουν πίσω από το εργοστάσιο της ΔΕΗ στο δρόμο της βόρειας παράκαμψης και από εκεί να μπουν για να διαμαρτυρηθούν στην πόλη. Στην πορεία τους άναψαν φωτιές για αντιπερισπασμό. Ας σημειωθεί εδώ ότι προς στιγμή η φωτιά έκαιγε και σε κτήματα που γειτνιάζουν με τις εγκαταστάσεις του εργοστασίου της ΔΕΗ. Οι φωτιές επεκτάθηκαν και τότε άρχισαν οδομαχίες προκειμένου να μην ενισχυθεί ο αριθμός όσων προσπαθούσαν να φτάσουν στην πόλη.

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Με ρίψη δακρυγόνων απωθήθηκε ο μεγάλος αριθμός των νεαρών κυρίων Αφγανών που είχαν μείνει στο δρόμο και πίεζαν τις Αστυνομικές δυνάμεις να περάσουν. Ενώ το κλείσιμο του δρόμου δεν επέτρεπε και την έξοδο των οχημάτων της Πυροσβεστικής από τις εγκαταστάσεις της υπηρεσίας που βρίσκονται στην περιοχή.

Την ίδια ώρα περίπου 500 άτομα που κατάφεραν και μπήκαν στην πόλη από τη βόρεια συνοικία της ενισχυμένη με νεαρούς Αφγανούς πάντα που βρισκόταν στην πόλη κατάλαβαν το δρόμο της Προκυμαίας μπροστά στο Δημοτικό Θέατρο της πόλης ενώ κάποιοι έστησαν και σκηνές.

Σύμφωνα με επιβεβαιωμένες πληροφορίες του ΑΠΕ η κινητοποίηση ήταν γνωστή στις Αστυνομικές αρχές από την Παρασκευή για αυτό και το Σαββατοκύριακο υπήρξε ενίσχυση της αστυνομικής δύναμης με προσωπικό από την Αθήνα.

Εδώ η συνεχής ενημέρωση του « Ν », με έξτρα φωτογραφίες και βίντεο.

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▻https://www.stonisi.gr/post/6677/ladi-sth-fwtia-oi-shmerines-diadhlwseis-pics

Manifestation à Lesbos : incidents entre forces de l’ordre et migrants

Les forces anti-émeutes ont fait usage de gaz lacrymogènes lundi sur l’île grecque de Lesbos contre des migrants qui manifestaient contre une nouvelle loi durcissant les procédures d’asile en Grèce, a-t-on appris de source policière.

Brandissant des banderoles sur lesquelles on pouvait lire en anglais « Freedom » (liberté), quelque 2.000 migrants réclamaient l’examen de leur demande d’asile, que certains attendent depuis des mois voire des années, et protestaient contre les conditions de vie à proximité et à l’intérieur du camp de Moria, le plus grand des camps de Grèce.

Ils avaient parcouru une distance d’environ 7 km entre le camp de Moria et le port de Mytilène, quand des policiers anti-émeutes leur ont barré la route en lançant des gaz lacrymogènes, selon la même source.

Toutefois, des centaines de demandeurs d’asile ont réussi à atteindre le port pour y manifester, a constaté une correspondante de l’AFP.

Le Haut commissariat des réfugiés de l’ONU (HCR) en Grèce souligne les « retards significatifs » pris par les services grecs de l’asile, avec près de 90.000 demandes en souffrance dans un pays qui compte actuellement 112.300 migrants sur les îles et sur le continent, selon les chiffres du HCR.

« L’accumulation significative des candidatures à l’asile et les graves retards pris dans les procédures d’asile contribuent de manière importante aux conditions dangereuses de surpopulation observée sur les îles », a déclaré à l’AFP Boris Cheshirkov, porte-parole de la section grecque du HCR.

Face au nombre constant d’arrivées de demandeurs d’asile sur les îles grecques en provenance de la Turquie voisine, le gouvernement de droite a fait voter une loi, entrée en vigueur en janvier, prévoyant des délais brefs pour examiner les demandes d’asile, en vue de renvoyer les demandeurs non éligibles ou déboutés dans leurs pays d’origine ou vers la Turquie voisine.

Dans les camps, des dizaines de milliers de migrants, arrivés avant janvier, protestent contre les retards importants dans le traitement de leurs demandes d’asile, les empêchant de quitter les îles.

« Les autorités donnent la priorité à ceux qui sont arrivés récemment » et non pas aux demandeurs d’asile qui attendent depuis longtemps, a souligné Boris Cheshirkov.

La majorité des 19.000 migrants attendant au camp de Moria, dont la capacité est de 2.700 personnes, « vivent dans des conditions terribles, sans accès à l’eau ou l’électricité », a-t-il rappelé.

Le HCR-Grèce a appelé « les autorités à mettre en place des procédures justes et efficaces pour identifier ceux qui ont besoin d’une protection internationale en respectant les normes et les garanties adéquates ».

La situation est devenue explosive à Lesbos, Samos, Kos, Chios et Leros, sur la mer Egée, où vivent 42.000 demandeurs d’asile pour 6.200 places.

Les bagarres entre demandeurs d’asile y sont en outre fréquentes, et au moins quatre personnes ont perdu la vie ces derniers mois.

▻https://information.tv5monde.com/info/manifestation-lesbos-incidents-entre-forces-de-l-ordre-et-migr

Réfugiés : à Lesbos, une situation explosive et une #chasse_à_l'homme

Après une montée de tensions aux relents xénophobes et une manifestation violemment réprimée, l’île grecque a été le théâtre de #heurts les habitants et les migrants, qui s’entassent en nombre dans des camps insalubres.

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« Allez, allez ! Courez ! » hurlent des voix en anglais. Puis aussitôt, en grec : « Cassez-vous d’ici ! » Les images qui circulent sur les réseaux sociaux, où l’on voit des hommes en colère à la poursuite de migrants, sont aussi glaçantes que le ciel gris qui enveloppe Lesbos. Après deux jours de fortes tensions, cette île située à l’extrémité orientale de la Grèce a été le théâtre d’une véritable chasse à l’homme en ce début de semaine.

Tout a commencé lundi, avec une manifestation de migrants très durement réprimée par les forces de l’ordre. Puis mardi soir, des habitants excédés sont à leur tour sortis dans la rue, revendiquant leur droit de « prendre la situation en main ». Ce n’est pas la première fois que des tensions explosent sur l’île, devenue depuis quatre ans une prison à ciel ouvert pour les réfugiés, coincés sur ce bout de terre européen en attendant le résultat de leur demande d’asile. Mais les événements de ce début de semaine constituent une dérive inédite et inquiétante.
« Plus de toilettes ni d’électricité »

Comme toutes les îles grecques qui font face à la Turquie, Lesbos se retrouve en première ligne de l’afflux migratoire vers l’Europe. Et malgré un deal controversé conclu entre Bruxelles et Ankara en 2016, les arrivées n’ont jamais cessé. Elles sont même reparties à la hausse : en 2019, la Grèce est redevenue la première porte d’entrée en Europe, avec 74 000 arrivées en un an.

Sur les îles, la surpopulation tourne au cauchemar : les nouveaux venus se retrouvent « entassés dans des camps insalubres où il faut faire à chaque fois la queue pendant plusieurs heures pour manger, puis pour prendre une douche ou même aller aux toilettes », rappelle Tommaso Santo, chef de mission à Médecins sans frontières (MSF), joint par téléphone à Athènes.

A Lesbos, le camp de Moria, prévu pour 3 000 places, accueille désormais plus de 20 000 personnes, abritées tant bien que mal sous des tentes qui grignotent les champs d’olives environnants. « Dans l’extension la plus récente, il n’y a même plus de toilettes ni d’électricité », souligne le responsable de MSF. L’ONG gère une clinique de santé mentale sur l’île. Parmi les patients, on y croise notamment des enfants qui ne parlent plus, refusent de se nourrir. Parfois ils s’automutilent ou ont tenté de se suicider. C’est d’ailleurs pour protester contre cette précarité inhumaine que les réfugiés ont, une fois de plus, manifesté lundi à Lesbos.
« Climat de peur »

La colère des habitants n’est pas non plus surprenante. Eux aussi subissent la présence de ces camps insalubres, qui croulent sous les ordures, et autour desquels errent des désespérés condamnés à une attente qui semble sans fin. Mais pour certains observateurs, la montée de tension récente est aussi le résultat de la nouvelle donne politique : « Le retour au pouvoir des conservateurs de Nouvelle Démocratie, en juillet, a implicitement encouragé les pulsions les plus xénophobes. Ils ont fait campagne sur le durcissement des lois migratoires, ils ont promis de se montrer plus durs, et nous y voilà. Aujourd’hui, ce ne sont pas seulement les migrants qui sont ciblés, mais aussi les ONG qui les soutiennent et les habitants qui refusent de les chasser. Certains ont vu leurs maisons caillassées mardi soir », soupire Petros (1), volontaire pour une ONG locale qui dénonce « l’instauration d’un climat de peur ».

A partir de 2015, les Grecs avaient pourtant fait preuve d’une générosité exemplaire, en accueillant à bras ouverts les premières vagues de réfugiés malgré leurs propres difficultés économiques. Certes, le temps a joué dans la montée du ras-le-bol alors même que les partenaires européens de la Grèce n’ont pas tenu leurs promesses d’offres de relocalisations. Mais la nouvelle politique imposée par la droite grecque s’est effectivement traduite par une stigmatisation des candidats à l’asile dont les conditions d’admission ont été récemment durcies. En outre, ils se trouvent désormais privés de la carte sociale qui leur donnait accès aux soins gratuits. Malgré les demandes pressantes de MSF, le gouvernement de Kyriákos Mitsotákis refuse toujours d’évacuer de Moria 140 enfants qui ont besoin de soins médicaux urgents, indisponibles à Lesbos. Et la promesse de désengorger les îles en transférant des réfugiés en Grèce continentale s’effectue à un rythme ralenti.

Pendant ce temps, certains relèvent peu à peu la tête : les néonazis d’Aube dorée, qui avaient quasiment disparu de la scène publique ces dernières années, sont de retour depuis quelques mois. A Lesbos, leurs partisans recruteraient notamment parmi de jeunes hommes de « 18 ou 20 ans » : « Ils sont souvent vêtus de passe-montagnes et porteurs de bâton », décrit Petros, le volontaire grec. Des « pitsirikia », de très jeunes garçons, comme les a désignés un journal local. Ils étaient eux aussi dans les rues de Lesbos mardi soir.

▻https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2020/02/05/refugies-a-lesbos-une-situation-explosive-et-une-chasse-a-l-homme_1777401

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Commentaire reçu via la mailing-list Migreurop :

Climat explosif à Lesbos, retour en force de l’#Aube_Dorée
A Mytilène et à #Moria des milices d’extrêmes droite, font la chasse aux ONG et aux migrants -une camionnette appartenant à une ONG a été attaquée dans le village de Moria, tandis qu’un groupe de jeunes cagoulés et armés de bâtons faisait irruption dans les maisons pour vérifier la présence éventuelle de réfugiés, solidaires et des membres des ONG. Le soir du 4 février une maison abandonnée, toujours dans le village de Moria fut incendiée, heureusement les trois réfugiés qui s’y abritaient étaient partis à temps
A #Mytilène, chef-lieu de Lesbos, après la dispersion d’une manifestation anti-fasciste organisée principalement par des étudiants, un café fréquenté par ceux-ci, fut encerclé par un groupe portant des casques armé de bâtes qui ne se sont éloignés qu’après l’arrivée d’autres étudiants solidaires.

#extrême_droite #xénophobie #racisme

Refugee children amid crowds of protesters tear gassed on Lesbos

Tensions mount as asylum seekers living in Moria, a notoriously overcrowded Greek camp, rally against poor conditions.

Greek police have fired tear gas at thousands of refugees and migrants trapped on the overcrowded island of Lesbos, from where they are not allowed to travel to the mainland under a 2016 EU-Turkey deal aimed at curbing migratory flows.

In tense scenes on Monday, children and babies were caught up in plumes of tear gas during protests by about 2,000 people.

The clashes broke out around Moria, a notoriously cramped camp which was never designed to hold more than 3,000. Currently, there are nearly 20,000 people in and around the camp.

Protesters rallied against the continued containment of people on Lesbos island and the unbearable living conditions inside the camp.

In footage seen by Al Jazeera, children can be seen recovering from being hit with tear gas fired by riot police. Some wore face masks to protect themselves from inhalation.

Riot police fired the tear gas to try and quell protesters and prevent them from marching on foot to Mytilene, Lesbos’s capital more than four miles away.

But many Moria residents did reach the port city and continued protesting there on Tuesday.

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Abdul (not his real name), an Afghan refugee, told Al Jazeera: “I participated because people are dying in Moria and nobody cares. We feel like we don’t have a future here, if we wanted to die then we could have stayed in Afghanistan. We came here to look for a good future and to be safe, this is not a place for living.”

At least two people have died in Moria so far this year in stabbing attacks, according to local media.

In previous years, refugees at the camp have died in fires, because of extreme weather and as some - including babies - lack access to proper medical facilities.
Tense mood

The mood in the centre of Mytilene on Tuesday was tense as nearly 200 people, mainly men and women from Afghanistan, congregated in the central square.

“Freedom, Freedom,” they chanted, as well as “Lesbos people, we are sorry,” - an apparent apology to Greek residents for the highly charged atmosphere.

Franziska Grillmeier, a German journalist, told Al Jazeera that she witnessed families being tear gassed on Monday.

"Yesterday, as the people were trying to move the protest from Moria to Mytilene, the police tried to deter them by using roadblocks. Some families, however, broke through using the olive grove fields next to the camp and tried to find an alternative way to get to Mytilene. The police then started using heavy tear gas, throwing it into the fields by the olive grove, which also set some of the olive trees on fire.

“There were men holding their kids up, kids who were foaming at the mouth, kids having panic attacks and babies unable to breathe and dehydrating through the gas.”

She claimed the police reaction appeared to be excessive.

“There weren’t really any threats to the police at that point, it was just really a tactic of the police to immediately throw tear gas at people who were peacefully trying to make their way to Mytilene.”

Police reportedly detained dozens of protesters. Al Jazeera contacted the Ministry of Citizen Protection but had not received a response by the time of publication.

“I saw serious attacks on people, beatings with sticks. I also saw people screaming, holding their kids in the air and saying: ’Look what you’ve done’,” Grillmeier said.

Paolo Amadei, a freelance photographer from Italy, said: "There were police throwing gas, women and kids and infants got gassed and there were many kids crying.

“They (refugees) came in peace, that’s what I saw: they weren’t looking for a clash.”

Boris Cheshirkov, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told Al Jazeera he was concerned by the escalation, which has been “exacerbated by the dire conditions and long wait”.

He said UNHCR has urged the Greek government to transfer people to the mainland and explained that European solidarity and responsibility-sharing was now crucial.

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À Lesbos, des migrants manifestent et se heurtent aux forces anti-émeutes

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Les forces anti-émeutes ont fait usage de gaz lacrymogènes lundi sur l’île grecque de Lesbos contre des migrants, qui manifestaient contre une nouvelle loi durcissant les procédures d’asile en Grèce.

Brandissant des banderoles sur lesquelles on pouvait lire en anglais « Freedom », quelque 2 000 migrants ont manifesté ce lundi 3 février à Lesbos. Ils réclamaient l’examen de leur demande d’asile, que certaines attendent depuis des mois, voire des années, et protestaient contre les conditions de vie à proximité et à l’intérieur du camp de Moria, le plus grand de Grèce.

Les manifestants avaient parcouru environ 7 km entre le camp de Moria et le port de Mytilène, quand des policiers anti-émeutes leur ont barré la route en lançant des gaz lacrymogènes, rapporte une source policière citée par l’AFP. Des centaines de demandeurs d’asile ont toutefois réussi à atteindre le port pour y manifester.

Le Haut Commissariat des réfugiés de l’ONU (HCR) en Grèce souligne les « retards significatifs » pris par les services grecs de l’asile, avec près de 90 000 demandes en souffrance dans un pays qui compte actuellement 112 300 migrants sur les îles et sur le continent, selon les chiffres de l’organisation. Des retards qui participent aux conditions de vie désastreuses des exilés sur les îles grecques.

Situation explosive

La situation est devenue explosive à Lesbos, Samos, Kos, Chios et Leros, sur la mer Égée, où vivent 42 000 demandeurs d’asile pour 6 200 places. « À Lesbos on a des milliers de gens qui vivent hors des structures du camp de Moria, sous les arbres, sous de petites tentes », rapporte Boris Cheshirkov, porte-parole de la section grecque du HCR, joint par RFI. Sur ces îles, les bagarres entre demandeurs d’asile sont en outre fréquentes, et au moins quatre personnes ont perdu la vie ces derniers mois.

« La première chose à faire est de transférer plusieurs milliers de personnes sur le continent dans de meilleures conditions de vie, parce que si on ne réduit pas sérieusement le nombre de personnes sur les îles, il n’y aura pas de solution. En parallèle, il faut plus de personnel, plus de services, plus d’hygiène et des procédures administratives plus rapides. Dans le même temps, les pays européens peuvent faire beaucoup plus en ouvrant des places de relocalisation. Le HCR a notamment demandé à des États de prendre en charge une partie des enfants seuls. Il y a eu un programme de relocalisation, mais il a pris fin en 2017 », déplore Boris Cheshirkov.

Face au nombre constant d’arrivées depuis la Turquie voisine, le gouvernement grec de droite a fait voter une loi, entrée en vigueur en janvier, prévoyant des délais brefs pour examiner les demandes d’asile, en vue de renvoyer les demandeurs non éligibles ou déboutés dans leurs pays d’origine ou vers la Turquie.

Le HCR-Grèce a appelé « les autorités à mettre en place des procédures justes et efficaces pour identifier ceux qui ont besoin d’une protection internationale en respectant les normes et les garanties adéquates ».

▻http://www.rfi.fr/fr/europe/20200203-gr%C3%A8ce-lesbos-migrants-manifestent-heurtent-forces-anti-%C3%A9meute

Police arrests Greek extremists acting like “raid battalion” in Moria village (UPD)

Police on the island of Lesvos has arrested seven Greek extremists who were conducting street and house to Greeks and foreign nationals in the village of Moria. All members of the so-called “control squad” or “raid battalion” were wearing helmets and holding bats when they arrested on Thursday night.

All arrestees are men, police is looking for two more.

Authorities investigate illegal acts conducted by the extremists both in Moria and the wide area of Mytilini in recent days.

According to local media stonisi and lesvosnews.net, they are to appear before the prosecutor and face charges for violating gun laws and for setting up a criminal group acting like a “raid battalion.” Later it was reported that they will be charged also for violating “anti-racism laws. Authorities reportedly investigate also whether they were involved in criminal acts in the past, ANT1 reported.

UPDATE: According to latest information for the island, five of the arrestees are Greeks, one is Bulgarian national and one Albanian, all aged 17-24. The two still sought by the police are a Greek and a foreigner, both minors.

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Seized have been 5 wooden bats and one metal stick as well as full face mask, reports, levsosnews.net.

Although authorities have been denying the existence of such groups, a exclusive video captured them as they terrorized customers of a bar in downtown Mytilini two days ago. They men wear masks, black jackets and threaten the bar’s customers they “do not like.”

According to eyewitnesses, these young men were also checking Greeks and foreign nationals passing by the main commercial Ermou street.

The “squad” has also “raided” a cafeteria on the same street, where students, workers and volunteers of non-governmental organizations involved in the refugee crisis hang out.

These reports were also confirmed by police, local media stonisi stresses.

The same group of people, always with masks and bats, had reportedly conducted controls in the village of Moria on Tuesday night.

They checked in homes and shops for foreign nationals, asylum seekers, volunteers and NGO-workers. According to confirmed reports, they broke the car of an Italian NGO worker with two asylum-seekers on board. Police intervened following locals’ phone calls.

The atmosphere on the island is tense not only due to the asylum-seekers’ protest beginning of the week but also due to the objection of local authorities and residents to the government plans for closed accommodation centers.

Far-right extremists try to take advantage of the situation, fake news against refugees, migrants and asylum seekers are spread on daily basis.

A local group has reportedly also posted on internet calling on “armed violence” against the refugees.

Police on Lesvos has not been famous for its intervention against far-right extremists.

The last think the government wants, though, is a spark to provoke unprecedented situations on the island.

▻https://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2020/02/07/lesvos-moria-extremists-greeks-arrests

Greece tightens rules for refugee NGOs

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The parliament in Athens has pushed through a law aimed at restoring order on the Aegean islands. The laws puts restrictions on non-government organizations, which have been accused of inciting migrants to stage violent protests.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday that NGOs will no longer be allowed to “operate unchecked” and in future they would be “strictly vetted,” the Greek newspaper, Proto Thema, reports.

Speaking at a celebration for the centenary of the Hellenic Coast Guard, Mitsotakis said “Most NGOs do a great job. They are helpful in tackling the problem. But we know, we know it, beyond any doubt, that there are some who do not fulfill the role they are claiming. We will not tolerate this anymore.”

NGOs providing medical, legal and other assistance to migrants on the Greek Aegean islands include Oxfam, the Danish Refugee Council, Doctors of the World, European Lawyers in Lesbos, Terre des Hommes, Refugee Support Aegean, Medecins Sans Frontieres and others.

The prime minister’s remarks came after the deputy migration minister, Giorgos Koumoutsakos, told Proto Thema Radio that the NGOs had sprung up “like mushrooms after the rain.” "Some behave like bloodsuckers," he said.

Inciting migrant protests

Koumoutsakos accused some of the organizations operating on the islands, where tens of thousands of migrants are stranded after arriving from Turkey, of abusing the volatile situation to get money directly from the European Union.

The deputy migration minister also suggested that some NGOs had incited thousands of migrants on Lesbos to hold a protest, which ended with police firing tear gas to disperse the people occupying the island capital Mytilini.

The government began transferring refugees from the overcrowded islands to the Greek mainland last year, but an estimated 42,000 people continue to suffer in squalid and unsafe conditions in and around the island camps.

Last week, the Greek government opened a tender for the construction of a floating barrier off Lesbos aimed at deterring migrants from crossing from the Turkish coast, which is about 10-12 kilometers away.

▻https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/22606/greece-tightens-rules-for-refugee-ngos
#ONG #associations #NGOs

New request for state of emergency on #Lesvos, #Chios, #Samos

The regional governor of the Northern Aegean, Kostas Moutzouris submitted a new call on Wednesday to declare a state of emergency on three islands, following two days of protest marches by asylum seekers demanding better living conditions and a quicker asylum procedure, and attacks by extremists in Lesvos.

“The government was wrong to reject our request to declare a state of emergency on Lesvos, Chios and Samos. If the current situation is not an emergency, then what is?” he asked.

“The government is imposing the creation of new migrant camps that will cost hundreds of millions and which, based on simple arithmetics, will not solve any problem – on the contrary, they will deteriorate it,” he added.

On Tuesday, a group of about 250 asylum seekers, mostly Afghan residents of Moria, rallied outside the Municipal Theater in the island’s capital Mytilene demanding “freedom” and shouting, “Lesvos people, we are sorry.” The police intervened to prevent protesters from blocking traffic. One woman was injured in a stampede as demonstrators fled the scene to avoid possible arrest.

On Monday riot police clashed with about 2,000 Afghan asylum seekers who tried to march to Mytilene. Reacting to the incident, residents of the village of Moria Tuesday barged into the Mytilene offices of the General Secretariat for Aegean and Island Policy demanding the closure of Moria, intensified sea patrols, and stricter monitoring of NGOs.

Despite the tension, the government on Tuesday rejected Moutzouris’ request.

Meanwhile, a group of about 20 youths wearing helmets and holding clubs attacked regulars at a bar in Mytilene where students and NGO employees were gathered.

The same group roamed the town of Mytilene after midnight asking locals and foreigners to identify themselves, according to eye witnesses who talked to the police.

Authorities believe the same individuals were in the village of Moria earlier in the afternoon checking if foreigners, asylum seekers or employees in NGOs lived or worked there.

The masked group smashed the car of an Italian national who works for an NGO. Two asylum seekers were passengers when the incident happened.

Police was alerted after the attacks.

▻http://www.ekathimerini.com/249223/article/ekathimerini/news/new-request-for-state-of-emergency-on-lesvos-chios-samos
#état_d'urgence

Crisis in Lesbos as more refugees arrive

Greek island a ‘powder keg ready to explode’ as boat landings lead to tensions with local people.

Greek authorities are struggling to cope with rising tension on islands where pressure from a new influx of refugees and migrants has reached a critical point.

Friction is growing between local people and asylum seekers landing in boats from Turkey. Last week the region’s most senior official likened the situation on Lesbos to a “powder keg ready to explode”. Kostas Moutzouris, governor of the north Aegean, said: “It’s crucial that a state of emergency is called.”

More than 42,000 men, women and children are estimated to be on Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Leros and Kos. Unable to leave because of a containment policy determined by the EU, they are forced to remain on the islands until their asylum requests are processed by a system both understaffed and overstretched.

Aid groups have repeatedly called for the islands to be evacuated. On Friday an estimated 20,000 refugees were on Lesbos, forced to endure the grim reality of Moria, a camp designed to host 3,000 at most.

“They are living in squalid, medieval-like conditions … with barely any access to basic services, including clean and hot water, electricity, sanitation and healthcare,” said Sophie McCann, Médecins Sans Frontières’ advocacy officer. “On a daily basis our medical teams are treating the consequential deterioration of health and wellbeing.”

But she added that the local people had also been given short shrift. “The Lesbos community has been abandoned by its own government for almost five years to deal with the consequences of a failed reception system. Like the refugee community, it is tired.”

As anti-immigrant sentiment has surged, vigilante groups believed to be infiltrated by supporters of the far-right Golden Dawn party have surfaced. On Friday seven men armed with wooden clubs were arrested in the hilltop village of Moria on suspicion of being members of a gang apparently linked to Golden Dawn.

“People have seen their properties destroyed, their sheep and goats have been slaughtered, their homes broken into,” said Nikos Trakellis, a community leader. “A few years back, when there were 5,000 on the island, things seemed bad enough. Now there’s a sense that the situation has really got out of hand.”

NGOs have also been targeted. In recent weeks cars have been vandalised. Foreigners perceived to be helping refugees have spoken of intimidation. Ciaran Carney, a volunteer filmmaker teaching refugees on the island, said: “There was a week when no one [in the NGOs] wanted to leave their flats. It definitely feels like it could explode and that no one knows what will come next.”

▻https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/09/tensions-refugees-and-islanders-crisis-on-lesbos?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_G

Fin février...
Migrations : #affrontements à Lesbos et Chios entre policiers et habitants
►https://seenthis.net/messages/827607

Non solo Lesbos. L’estrema destra sbarca a #Chios

«Questo è solo l’inizio». A Chios non fanno che ripeterlo dopo l’incendio della scorsa notte. Doveva essere pirotecnico lo sbarco dei neonazisti sull’isola di Chios e così è stato, la notte del 3 marzo, intorno alle due, qualcuno ha appiccato il fuoco al deposito di Stay Human Odv, la Onlus che da aprile 2018 dà servizi e beni di prima necessità ai profughi del campo di Vial. A fronte di una capienza di 1.500 persone, il campo ne ospita oltre 6mila. Quattordici bagni in tutto, 7 per sesso. Come quasi tutti gli hotspot greci, sta in mezzo a un uliveto in rovina, per 30 km tutt’intorno il nulla. Gli episodi di autolesionismo e di tentato suicidio non mancano, specie tra i minori non accompagnati.

«Ieri stavamo smistando le scarpe» dice Musli Alievski, il fondatore della Onlus nata nel 2016. È un giovane macedone di origini rom, suo padre, in odore di pulizia etnica, prese la famiglia e scappò in Italia prima della guerra. Dopo la minaccia di Erdogan di «aprire i rubinetti», da circa una settimana sull’isola sono arrivati «quelli di Alba Dorata e i celerini». «Questo era il posto di partenza di tutto, dove portavamo le donazioni, dove prendevamo quello che serviva da portare al centro, sopra c’erano gli appartamenti dei volontari, tutto distrutto». L’incendio è doloso a detta della stessa polizia, che però ora ha altri problemi: gli isolani sono esasperati, la settimana scorsa hanno aggredito i militari che trasportavano i materiali per allestire un altro hotspot, più grande, in vista di un esodo dato ormai per imminente.

Sporgerete denuncia per l’incendio?

Per ora no, il clima è teso e vogliamo evitare ritorsioni e vendette sugli isolani che ci aiutano. In più sull’isola sono arrivati squadroni di celerini e di cosiddetti «volontari a difesa delle isole». Hanno già aggredito la polizia.

Come mai la destra aggredisce la polizia?

Perché a differenza di Lesbo, qui non ci sono grandi Ong. Non c’è Msf, l’Unhcr non opera direttamente, tutto è amministrato dai militari. E il malcontento degli isolani, eccitati dall’arrivo degli squadroni da fuori, si riversa anche su di loro. Ma non mi sento di incolpare la gente di qui, non è che si sono svegliati all’improvviso neonazisti, sono solo esasperati. Il problema è della politica europea, non della popolazione greca.

Perché c’è bisogno di voi volontari?

Tanto per cominciare i migranti non hanno più accesso gratuito alle visite mediche specialistiche. Un bambino iracheno ha scoperto di essere praticamente cieco solo dopo che lo abbiamo fatto visitare da un oculista. I bambini qui hanno tutti i denti neri per carenza di vitamine. Nei centri viene dato cibo precotto scaduto, senza tracciabilità, né lista di ingredienti. La stessa aggressività degli adulti spesso è causata banalmente dall’assenza di vitamine nel loro organismo.

Avete paura?

Più che impauriti dall’aggressione della destra, siamo delusi dalla reazione dell’Europa ai ricatti di Erdogan. L’Europa deve agire non perché impaurita o minacciata, ma perché consapevole che chi sbarca a Lampedusa non sbarca in Italia, chi sbarca a Chios non sbarca in Grecia: sbarca in Europa.

Si parla molto degli scafisti libici, poco di quelli turchi.

Sono criminali quanto i libici. C’è un disegno chiaro: quelli che scappano dal Medio Oriente prima finiscono nelle mani degli imprenditori turchi del tessile, lavorano nelle fabbriche, anche delle catene di abbigliamento low cost, poi raggiungono il distretto di Çeşme. Lì, chi non ha soldi per la traversata, lascia i familiari in pegno ai trafficanti. Una traversata di 15 minuti in motoscafo costa circa 2mila euro, i ricatti durano anni.

E dall’Africa i migranti come finiscono nella rete dei trafficanti turchi?

Gli africani che arrivano in Grecia sono per lo più nigeriani e somali. Quelli che non passano dalla Libia di solito sono quelli con più disponibilità economica. Una volta arrivati in Tunisia, Algeria e Marocco, prendono un visto di 70 euro, poi un volo per Istanbul, si trasferiscono a Çeşme o a Smirne, e da lì partono insieme agli altri che scappano dal Medio Oriente, chi da guerre, chi da persecuzioni. Selezionare i rifugiati, distinguere tra chi ha diritto a migrare e chi no, non può ridursi a una mera questione di leggi.

Come racimolano il denaro necessario?

Spesso dietro la traversata di un giovane c’è l’investimento dell’intero villaggio, una sorta di crowdfunding, si investe sul ragazzo più giovane e robusto, sperando che arrivi, trovi lavoro, e mandi soldi con MoneyGram o Western Union. Come nelle corse dei cavalli, si punta su quello che può farcela.

▻https://ilmanifesto.it/non-solo-lesbo-lestrema-destra-sbarca-a-chios-e-brucia-le-scorte-per-i-r
#extrême_droite