AYS Daily Digest 30/04/20
FINLAND
Finland has agreed to accept one hundred unaccompanied refugee children from camps in Greece and another 30 adult asylum seekersunder the framework of family reunification. A Wednesday telephone conversation between Deputy Minister of Migration Giorgos Koumoutsakos and Finnish Interior Minister Olly-Poika Parviainen sealed the deal.
Finland is the latest of a number of EU countries who have offered their assistance to Greece. Germany and Luxembourg accepted 47 and 12 unaccompanied children last week, respectively.
Whilst this move by Finland is clearly welcome, it fails to systemically address the suffering of the tens of thousands of people being forced to live in squalor and inhumane conditions in the overcrowded refugee camps of Greece.
GREECE
Aegean Boat Report has broken the news that a boat carrying approximately 30 people landed on north-west Samos on Thursday morning. The NGO reports that the boat’s occupants managed to walk to a nearby village and asked the residents to call the police to let them know they had arrived. A number of village residents witnessed the arriving asylum seekers, but after the port police arrived and transported the people out of the area, there has been no further knowledge of their whereabouts.
When port police in Karlovasi were confronted with questions about these new arrivals, they stated that there had been no arrivals on Samos in the area of Drakaioi.
Aegean Boat Report on Facebook Watch
Tuesday morning a boat landed on Samos north west, the boat was carrying approximately 30 people. They managed to walk…
An open letter to the European Commission has been published by a collection of NGOs, asking the commission to “urgently assist Greece in evacuating the 38,700 people living in the camps of the Aegean Islands.”
The letter:
“Severe overcrowding and a lack of adequate accommodation and services have led to incidents of violence before. This is the second time in less than a year that a large area of the camp has burned down. On 14 October 2019, the tents and belongings of more than 700 people were lost. We voiced our outrage, and yet, little has been done to decongest the camp. This week, these same factors, combined with tension due to restrictive measures against COVID-19, resulted in the fires….
“These fires are not unique to Samos. Regrettably, there have been similar incidents since September 2019 on both Chios and Lesvos, in which three people have lost their lives…These incidents and fatalities are the direct consequence of deficient European solidarity. The EU must move beyond the “hotspot approach” and revise the EU-Turkey Statement, which has proven itself to be not only inefficient but also inhumane.”
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
The European Commission announced today that it is making €4.5 million accessible to Bosnia and Herzegovina to help provide immediate humanitarian assistance to vulnerable refugees and migrants. This money shall be used to access comprehensive health and protection assistance. This will bring the amount of humanitarian assistance provided by to Bosnia and Herzegovina to €10.3 million since 2018.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said: “We have a special responsibility to assist in this pandemic our partners in the Western Balkans, as their future clearly lies in European Union. The EU is mobilising a substantial financial package, confirming the strong solidarity. Together we will overcome this crisis and recover. And beyond that, we will continue to support the region, including with the reforms needed on their EU path, as the recovery will only work effectively if the countries keep delivering on their commitments.”
Janez Lenarčič, Commissioner for Crisis Management, said: “The EU continues to support the most vulnerable refugees and migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We announce today €4.5 million to help meet the humanitarian needs that are especially high now due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. We will not leave our neighbours in the Western Balkans alone.”
This massive support package provided by the EU was announced just as the security minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced their plans to forcibly deport migrants out of the country in the midst of the Coronavirus outbreak. The initiative follows a decision on April 16 by the Council of Ministers of BiH on the Restriction of Movement and Stay of Foreigners.
NETHERLANDS
The European Council on Refugee and Exiles shared an interview with Femke de Vries, a policy officer for Asylum Dutch Council for Refugees, who is currently campaigning to ensure that the Dutch government joins the efforts of 11 other European countries in relocating unaccompanied children from the Greek island camps. Currently, Femke de Vries’s campaign has resulted in a published manifesto in a prominent newspaper with more than 100 sound signatories; among these are prominent former politicians — including from the political parties CDA (Christian democrats) and VVD (liberals), which voted against the relocation.
To read the interview and hear more about their work, please follow the link below.
▻https://medium.com/are-you-syrious/ays-daily-digest-30-04-20-maltese-government-official-admits-to-coordinating
#Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Grèce #Finlande #transfert #mineursnonaccompagnés #Camp #Samos #Arrivées #Ilesgrecques #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Pays-Bas