العربي الجديد - الصفحة الرئيسية

Il faudra effectivement ajouter Amazon à la liste de l’ONU
►https://seenthis.net/messages/825418

#Amazon #ListeONU

Amazon accusée de discrimination envers les Palestiniens
Morningstaronline, le 16 février 2020
▻https://agencemediapalestine.fr/blog/2020/02/18/amazon-accusee-de-discrimination-envers-les-palestiniens

Should Amazon be boycotted?
ILNSS, 25 February 2020
►https://seenthis.net/messages/827573

Saudi Arabia ’strong-arming EU’ to avoid terror-funding blacklist
▻https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2019/2/28/saudi-arabia-strong-arming-eu-to-avoid-terror-funding-blacklisting

Sur la situation à Bassora
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/720816

Mais pas en Egypte :

Le gilet jaune interdit de vente en Égypte
Valérie Cantié, France Inter, le 11 décembre 2018
►https://seenthis.net/messages/743152

Suite :

Les “gilets jaunes” sont mobilisés à Bassorah depuis 2015
Al-Mada - Bagdad, le 6 décembre 2018
►https://seenthis.net/messages/743317

#Gilets_Jaunes #France #Egypte #Irak

Ma source koweitienne m’explique que de très nombreux éclairs ayant accompagné les violents orages, la récolte de truffes des sables (desert truffes) sera excellente.

Terfesse — Wikipédia
▻https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terfesse

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Terfeziaceae.B%C3%A9ni-Abb%C3%A9s.JPG

Terfesse, terfèze, terfez, terfès, terfass ou terifass dite aussi truffe des sables ou encore truffe du désert sont des appellations commerciales d’espèces comestibles de champignons souterrains apparentés à la truffe, qui poussent notamment dans les pays de l’Afrique du Nord, tels que l’Algérie, la Tunisie et le Maroc.

Elles ne sont pas reconnues en France comme truffes, car cette appellation est réservée à des espèces du genre Tuber.

notez la différence de ton dans la version anglaise, moins «  hostile  », me semble-t-il, et qui mentionne son utilisation culinaire (on ne dit pas gastronomique) dès le résumé.

Terfeziaceae - Wikipedia
▻https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terfeziaceae

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Desert_truffle_-_Terfezia_spp._from_Avanos%2C_Turkey.jpg

The Terfeziaceae, or desert truffles, is a family of truffles (Berber: Tirfas, Arabic: كمأ Kamā’) endemic to arid and semi-arid areas of the Mediterranean Region, North Africa, and the Middle East, where they live in ectomycorrhizal association with Helianthemum species and other ectomycorrhizal plants (including Cistus, oaks, and pines). This group consists of three genera: Terfezia, Tirmania, and Mattirolomyces. They are a few centimetres across and weigh from 30 to 300 grams (1-10 oz). Desert truffles are often used as a culinary ingredient.

Despite $900 Billion Spent and 2,400 U.S. Lives Lost, Afghanistan Continues to Deteriorate - Hit & Run : Reason.com
▻https://reason.com/blog/2018/11/01/despite-900-billion-spent-and-2400-us-li

U.S. aid—far from reducing violence or strengthening Afghan governance—often “exacerbated conflicts, enabled corruption, and bolstered support for insurgents.”

Jenin
▻https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/jadui

Jenin is a city located in the northern West Bank where Palestinian farmers used to grow the ba’al succulent watermelon known as Jadu’I. Under the occupation, the Jadu’I was nearly lost. But today, a new generation of agriculturalists are trying to revive it.

https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/sites/oaklandinstitute.org/files/sprouting-jadui.jpg

#grainothèque

Et comme ils ne reculent devant rien, en prime une petite poète de 13 ans (réfugiée bien entendue, et critique du régime sinon ça ne vaut rien !)
▻https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/01/the-13-year-old-syrian-refugee-prizewinning-poet-amineh-abou-kerech-bet

Not Without Dignity: Views of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon on Displacement, Conditions of Return, and Coexistence

Discussions about a future return of refugees and coexistence among groups currently at war in Syria must begin now, even in the face of ongoing violence and displacement. This report, based on interviews with refugees, makes it clear that the restoration of dignity will be important to creating the necessary conditions for return and peaceful coexistence — and building a stable post-war Syria one day.

https://www.ictj.org/sites/default/files/styles/publication_thumbnail/public/ICTJ_Syria_Dignity_cover_100.jpg?itok=9XjVDx6M#.jpg

New ICTJ Study: Syrian Refugees in Lebanon See Security, Restoration of Dignity as Key Conditions for Return

A new report from the International Center for Transitional Justice argues that discussions about a future return of refugees and coexistence among groups currently at war in Syria must begin now, even in the face of ongoing violence and displacement. The report makes it clear that the restoration of refugees’ sense of dignity will be important to creating the necessary conditions for return and peaceful coexistence — and building a stable post-war Syria one day.

▻https://www.ictj.org/news/study-syrian-refugees-lebanon-conditions-return

Why It’s Far Too Early to Talk of Return for Syrian Refugees

While several states might want a quick solution to the plight of Syrian refugees, returns are not a realistic option until the conflict comes to an end, writes Chatham House Associate Fellow Jeff Crisp.

▻https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/community/2017/08/11/why-its-far-too-early-to-talk-of-return-for-syrian-refugees-2

We Must Start the Conversation About Return of Syrian Refugees Now

If millions of displaced Syrians are to go home one day, we need to understand refugees’ conditions for returning, attitudes to justice and the possibility of coexistence, say the authors of an International Center for Transitional Justice study of refugees in Lebanon.

▻https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/community/2017/06/21/we-must-start-the-conversation-about-return-of-syrian-refugees-now

Refugees dread a forced return to Syria

Host countries have a moral responsibility not to send these vulnerable souls back to a broken state where an emboldened Al Assad awaits them

http://gulfnews.com/polopoly_fs/1.2084957.1504534374!/image/241250051.jpg

Nowhere Left to Run: Refugee Evictions in Lebanon in Shadow of Return

Lebanon wants to evict 12,000 refugees who live near an air base where foreign military assistance is delivered. The evictions, which began in spring and recently resumed after a short respite, have left refugees more vulnerable amid rising demands they return to Syria.

https://newsdeeply.imgix.net/20170928122830/62152a92-63df-425b-9d0d-749e8a3fb40e.jpg?w=640&fit=max&q=60&dpr=2#.jpg

Witness: Syrians Thrust Back into War

Refugees in Jordan Suffer Collective Expulsions to Syria

https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/styles/cover/public/multimedia_images_2017/201710middleeat_jordan_cover.jpg?itok=uz-AVVwH#.jpg

Syrian Refugees Return From Lebanon Only to Flee War Yet Again

Refugees who returned to Syria from Lebanon under cease-fire deals this summer have been displaced again by fighting. Those who stayed behind are pressing for international guarantees of safety on return, as Lebanese officials explore ways to get more refugees to leave.

https://newsdeeply.imgix.net/20171011103816/AFP_QJ2WV.jpg?w=640&fit=max&q=60&dpr=2#.jpg

Germany Is Preparing to Send Refugees Back to Syria

Syria’s war isn’t over, but a growing number of German policymakers are trying to revoke asylum and send Syrians back home — against their will, if necessary.

▻http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/12/06/germany-is-preparing-to-send-refugees-back-to-syria
#Allemagne

Syrian refugees in Turkey reluctant to return home

Despite the introduction of de-escalation zones in parts of Syria, many refugees who fled to Turkey are unsure about returning home.

▻http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/syrian-refugees-turkey-reluctant-return-home-171229110616629.html

Syria’s war: Some refugees returning home

Some Syrian families are choosing to leave the displacement camps and return to their homes, despite the heavy damage their villages have sustained.

A temporary de-escalation ceasefire has provided some relief from the fighting, but there seems to be no diplomatic solution, despite several rounds of talks.

▻http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/syrias-war-refugees-returning-home-171230161011179.html

80% of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Want to Go Home: ICRC

80 percent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon want to return home
600,000 have already returned
President Aoun said Lebanon’s request for refugees to return will be for their benefit
Lebanon has hosted one of largest refugee populations per capita

▻https://www.albawaba.com/news/80-syrian-refugees-lebanon-want-go-home-icrc-1070964

Aid groups warn against forcibly returning Syrian refugees

The number of refugees who returned to Syria rose to 721,000 in 2017, but a further 1.5 million people are expected to be forced from their homes in 2018.

▻https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/2/5/aid-groups-warn-against-forcibly-returning-syrian-refugees

Aid Groups Fear 2018 Could Become Year of Migrant Repatriations

“Hundreds of thousands of refugees are at risk of being pushed to return to Syria in 2018, despite ongoing violence, bombing and shelling that are endangering the lives of civilians,” the aid agencies said in the report entitled Dangerous Ground.

▻https://www.voanews.com/a/aid-groups-fear-2018-could-be-year-of-migrant-repatriations/4239382.html

The Real Reasons Why Syrians Return to Syria

A small number of Syrian refugees are returning home despite the violence in the country. New research among returnees shows that most were pushed home by the harsh living conditions in neighboring countries, and did not find safety or dignity upon return.

▻https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/community/2018/03/06/the-real-reasons-why-syrians-return-to-syria

How Syrian Refugees in Turkey Define Safe Returns

As host countries increasingly discuss the future of refugees and the possibility of returns, a new study from global social enterprise Seefar found that Syrians in Turkey share vastly different perspectives on the necessary conditions for return.

▻https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/community/2018/03/15/how-syrian-refugees-in-turkey-define-safe-returns-2?platform=hootsuite
#Turquie

Calls to Begin Returning Refugees to Syria Must Be Resisted

As countries hosting Syrian refugees grow weary of the continuing war, talk is growing about reconstruction and the refugees’ return. This is both premature and dangerous.

▻https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/calls-begin-returning-refugees-syria-must-be-resisted

Dangerous Exit: Who Controls How Syrians in Lebanon Go Home

AS HALIMA clambered into a truck leaving Lebanon in late June, she resolved that if the men driving the vehicle were arrested at the Syrian border, she would get out and walk back to her village on her own. The 66-year-old grandmother had not seen the son and daughter she left behind in Syria for five years. Wearing an embroidered black dress and a traditional headdress, her crinkled eyes shone with determination. “I’m coming back to my land,” she said.

Having begged her not to leave, Halima’s two daughters staying in Lebanon wept on her shoulders. “We’re afraid she won’t come back,” 42-year-old Sherifa said, as her voice cracked. Sherifa cannot follow her mother to Syria; her eldest son, who has single-handedly kept the family afloat with odd jobs because of his father’s disability, would be sent to war.

Huddled in groups at the checkpoint in northeast Lebanon, other families also said their goodbyes. A teenage girl knelt on the dirt road, refusing to let go of her 19-year-old brother’s legs. Their mother, Nawal, held her as he left for a truck to the border. “I don’t know how he will live on his own in Syria. Only God knows what will happen to him,” Nawal said. “I didn’t think he would actually leave. It all happened very fast.”

A few months earlier, 3,000 Syrians in the Lebanese border town of Arsal had registered their names with Syrian and Lebanese intelligence agencies to return to their villages just over the mountains in Syria’s Qalamoun region. When the first group of several hundred people was approved to leave on June 28, many families were separated, as some members either decided not to register or were not approved by Syrian authorities.

“We need a political solution for these people to go back, but the politics doesn’t start here in Lebanon,” a Lebanese intelligence agent said, as a scuffle broke out that scorching June morning. A Syrian man lunged at Khaled Abdel Aziz, a real estate businessman who had been put in charge of signing up fellow refugees to return. Abdel Aziz sweated in his suit as he dashed between television interviews, repeating that Syrians had a country of their own to go back to. “You’re protecting the army, not protecting yourself,” the man yelled, before being pulled away.

The TV cameras rolled as dozens of trucks and tractors piled high with timber, water tanks and chicken coops were checked off a list by Lebanese intelligence agents and headed with an army escort to the Syrian border. A line of TV reporters announced to their Lebanese viewers that these refugees were going home.

The next day, on the other side of Arsal, a small group of refugees held a sit-in, to much less fanfare. “We’re asking for return with dignity,” one banner read, “with guarantees from the international community and the U.N.”

“We’re not against the return, but we want conditions, guarantees,” said Khaled Raad, one of the organizers. His refugee committee has been petitioning the U.N. and sympathetic Lebanese politicians for international protection for returning Syrians for a year. “I mean, this is not like taking a cup of tea or coffee to say, after seven years, go ahead and return to your houses. It’s not an easy thing.”

“WE NEED A POLITICAL SOLUTION FOR THESE PEOPLE TO GO BACK, BUT THE POLITICS DOESN’T START HERE IN LEBANON.”

By then, Halima had arrived back in Syria. Apart from some tractors breaking down en route, they had no problem crossing the border. Halima went to stay with her son while she waited to hear about the situation in her hometown, the mountaintop village of Fleeta. Her granddaughters had grown up quickly while she was in Lebanon, and she loved spending time with them in the neighboring town.

But as more of their friends and relatives returned to Fleeta, with subsequent groups departing Arsal in July, word came to the family of empty homes and little power, water or work in the Syrian village. Sherifa received messages from relatives who had returned to Fleeta but now wanted to escape again. With no easy way to come back to Lebanon legally, they planned to smuggle themselves back across the border.

Without her mother, and with bad news from Fleeta making it less likely she would ever return to Syria, Sherifa became increasingly desperate. Her husband, who is unable to work for health reasons, sunk into depression. “By God, dying is better than living,” Sherifa said. “I seek refuge in God from this return.”

LONGING FOR HOME, AFRAID TO RETURN
RETURNING TO SYRIA during this eighth year of conflict is both an excruciating personal decision and a political calculation: by refugees, the government in Syria, and other nations with a stake in the war. As the government recaptures more territory from opposition groups, and fighting quells in certain areas, some refugees are considering returning, while others are terrified of the increasing pressure to go back. After Lebanon began organizing small group returns this year, including from Arsal, these dilemmas became more urgent.

To return is to take a political gamble: Refugees must weigh the risks of staying against the risks of going. They try to figure out who can be trusted to tell them the truth. They gather snippets of information from their cities, towns and villages about what happens to people who return. They struggle to decipher the intentions of the mercurial and multi-layered Syrian authorities and their foreign allies.

Some of the broader dangers are well-known: an estimated half a million people killed in Syria’s war, including thousands dead this year; some one million people forced to leave their homes this year alone; a third of all houses and half of all schools and hospitals damaged or destroyed; in government-controlled areas, mandatory conscription into battle for men under 43, fear of arrest and torture, and the difficulties of reintegrating into a society and economy fractured by war.

Until now, few refugees have considered this a risk worth taking. In 2017, the U.N. said 77,300 refugees went back independently to Syria, out of 5.6 million who had fled the country. The vast majority of Syrian refugees have consistently told U.N. and independent surveys they hoped to return home one day, but do not yet feel safe to do so.

There are also risks to staying. More than 80 percent of Syrian refugees remain in three neighboring countries: Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. There, they face soaring poverty, years out of work or school, lack of official documents, risk of arrest and, above all, an increasing public clamoring for Syrians to be sent back.

In Lebanon, where at least 1.5 million Syrians have sought refuge – increasing the country’s population by a quarter – the pressure to leave is the most intense. Few Syrians have legal status, even fewer can work. Many towns have imposed curfews or carried out mass evictions. At the U.N. General Assembly last year, Lebanon’s president Michel Aoun insisted Syrians must return, voluntarily or not. “The claim that they will not be safe should they return to their country is an unacceptable pretext,” he told world leaders.

▻https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/articles/2018/08/08/dangerous-exit-who-controls-how-syrians-in-lebanon-go-home
#Liban

Turkish minister: 255,300 Syrian refugees have returned home

Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said on Sunday that 255,300 Syrian refugees have returned home over the past two years, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

“Some 160,000 of them returned to the Euphrates Shield region after Turkey brought peace there,” added Soylu, speaking to reporters in the southern province of Hatay bordering Syria.

Turkey carried out Operation Euphrates Shield between August 2016 and March 2017 to eliminate the terrorist threat along the border in the northern Syrian regions of Jarabulus, Al-Rai, Al-Bab and Azaz with the help of the Free Syrian Army.

Expressing concern about a possible operation in the Idlib region of Syria by regime forces, the minister underlined that Turkey would not be responsible for a wave of migration in the event of an offensive.

Soylu also noted that an average of 6,800 irregular migrants a day used to enter Greece from western Turkey in 2015 and that now it has been reduced to 79.

▻https://www.turkishminute.com/2018/09/09/turkish-minister-255300-syrian-refugees-have-returned-home

The fate of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Between forced displacement and forced return

Recent news reports have surfaced on a possible United States-Russia deal to arrange for the return of refugees to Syria—reports that coincided both with the announcement that thousands of Syrians have died in regime prisons, and with one of the worst massacres in the conflict, perpetrated by ISIS in the city of Swaida. The US-Russia deal has been welcomed by Lebanese politicians, particularly those who have been scheming to repatriate Syrians for years now. But, unsurprisingly, the absence of a clear and coherent strategy for repatriation by the Lebanese government puts Syrian refugees at grave risk.

In June, UNHCR interviewed Syrian refugees in Arsal who had expressed their willingness to go back to Syria in order to verify that they had the documentation needed for return and to ensure they were fully aware of the conditions in their home country. In response, caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil accused the agency of impeding refugees’ free return and ordered a freeze on the renewal of agency staff residency permits.

This tug of war raises two main questions: What are the conditions in Lebanon that are pushing refugees toward returning to Syria while the conflict is ongoing and dangers persist? And what are the obstacles preventing some Syrians from returning freely to their homes?

Conditions for Syrians in Lebanon

Syrians began fleeing to Lebanon as early as 2011, but the Lebanese government failed to produce a single policy response until 2014, leading to ad-hoc practices by donors and host communities.

By the end of 2014, the government began introducing policies to “reduce the number of displaced Syrians,” including closing the borders and requiring Syrians to either register with UNHCR and pledge not to work, or to secure a Lebanese sponsor to remain legally in the country and pay a $200 residency permit fee every six months. In May 2015, the government directed UNHCR to stop registering refugees. These conditions put many Syrians in a precarious position: without documentation, vulnerable to arrest and detention, and with limited mobility. Municipalities have been impeding freedom of movement as well, by imposing curfews on Syrians and even expelling them from their towns.

In addition to the difficulties imposed by the state, Syrians face discrimination and violence on a day-to-day basis. Refugee settlements have been set on fire, Syrians have been beaten in the streets, and camps are regularly raided by the Lebanese army. All the while, Lebanese politicians foster and fuel the hatred of Syrians, blaming them for the country’s miseries and painting them as existential and security threats.

Despite the polarization among Lebanese politicians regarding the situation in Syria, there is a consensus that the Syrian refugees are a burden that Lebanon cannot bear. Politicians across the board have been advocating for the immediate repatriation of refugees, and state officials are beginning to take action. President Michel Aoun made a statement in May declaring that Lebanon would seek a solution regarding the refugee crisis without taking into account the preferences of the UN or the European Union. This was followed by Bassil’s move, to freeze the residency permits of UNHCR staff, the leading agency (despite its many shortcomings) providing services for, and protecting the interests of, Syrian refugees. While UNHCR maintains that there are no safe zones in Syria as of yet, Lebanon’s General Security has begun facilitating the return of hundreds of refugees from Arsal and nearby towns. This process has been monitored by UNHCR to ensure that the returns are voluntary. Hezbollah has also established centers to organize the return of Syrians to their homes in collaboration with the Syrian regime.

Syrian regime obstructing refugees’ free return

As the situation for Syrian refugees in Lebanon becomes more and more unbearable, conditions for them back home remain troubling. Since 2012, the Syrian regime has been taking deliberate measures that would effectively make the situation for returning Syrians extremely difficult and dangerous.

Conscription

Syrian males aged 18 to 42 must serve in the Syrian Armed Forces. While exemptions were allowed in the past, a decree issued in 2017 bans exemptions from military service. Refusing to serve in the Syrian army results in imprisonment or an $8,000 fine, which most Syrians are unable to pay, thus risking having their assets seized by the regime.

Property as a weapon of war

Law No. 66 (2012) allowed for the creation of development zones in specified areas across the country. Under the pretense of redeveloping areas currently hosting informal settlements or unauthorized housing, the law is actually being used to expropriate land from residents in areas identified in the decree, which are mostly former opposition strongholds such as Daraya and Ghouta.

Law No. 10 (2018), passed in April, speeds up the above process. This law stipulates the designation of development or reconstruction zones, requiring local authorities to request a list of property owners from public real estate authorities. Those whose have property within these zones but are not registered on the list are notified by local authorities and must present proof of property within 30 days. If they are successful in providing proof, they get shares of the redevelopment project; otherwise, ownership reverts to the local authority in the province, town, or city where the property is located. Human Rights Watch has published a detailed Q&A that explains the law and its implications.

These laws, coupled with systematic destruction of land registries by local authorities, fully equip the regime to dispossess hundreds of thousands of Syrian families. Reports indicate that the regime has already begun reconstruction in areas south of Damascus.

Statements by Syrian officials

Syrian officials have made several public statements that reveal their hostility toward refugees. On August 20, 2017, at the opening ceremony of a conference held by Syria’s foreign ministry, President Bashar al-Assad gave a speech in which he said: “It’s true that we lost the best of our young men as well as our infrastructure, but in return we gained a healthier, more homogeneous society.” On another occasion, Assad stated his belief that some refugees are terrorists.

In September 2017, a video of Issam Zahreddine, a commander in the Syrian Armed Forces, went viral. In the video, Zahreddine threatens refugees against returning, saying: “To everyone who fled Syria to other countries, please do not return. If the government forgives you, we will not. I advise you not to come back.” Zahreddine later clarified that his remarks were meant for rebels and ISIS followers, but that clarification should be taken with a grain of salt given his bloody track record in the war up until his death in October 2017. Along similar lines, leaked information from a meeting of top-ranking army officers just last month reported the following statement by the head of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence administration, General Jamil Al-Hassan: “A Syria with 10 million trustworthy people obedient to the leadership is better than a Syria with 30 million vandals.”

Unknown fate

Considering the unwelcoming policies in Lebanon and the treacherous conditions in Syria, what is the fate of Syrian refugees, specifically those who oppose the Assad regime? Until now, the return championed by Lebanese politicians implies return to a fascist regime that has caused the largest refugee crisis since the Second World War and unapologetically committed countless war crimes. While Lebanese politicians continue to focus on repatriation, they are failing to acknowledge the major barriers preventing Syrians from returning home: the Assad regime and ongoing mass violence.

We cannot speak of safe, dignified, and sustainable returns without demanding justice and accountability. Regime change and trials for those who committed war crimes over the span of the last seven years are a long way off, and all evidence currently points toward the Assad regime retaining power. Any strategy must therefore prioritize the safety of Syrians who are likely to be detained, tortured, and killed for their political views upon return, or simply denied entry to Syria altogether. Lebanese policy makers must take into account that Syrians residing in Lebanon are not a homogenous entity, and some may never be able to return to their homes. Those Syrians should not be forced to choose between a brutal regime that will persecute them and a country that strips away their rights and dignity. It is time for Lebanon to adopt clear policies on asylum, resettlement, and return that ensure the right of all Syrians to lead a safe and dignified life.

▻http://www.executive-magazine.com/economics-policy/the-fate-of-syrian-refugees-in-lebanon

Le retour des réfugiés en Syrie commence à préoccuper la communauté internationale

Lors d’une conférence sur la Syrie à Bruxelles, le retour des réfugiés syriens dans leur pays a été évoqué. Démarrée en 2011, la guerre en Syrie touche à sa fin

La situation en Syrie est loin d’être stabilisée. Les besoins de financement, de nourriture de matériel sont même en constante augmentation. Selon un haut fonctionnaire de l’ONU, un éventuel assaut contre la dernière enclave rebelle pourrait entraîner une « catastrophe humanitaire ». Pourtant, alors que 12 millions de Syriens, soit près de la moitié de la population syrienne avant la guerre, a fui le pays ou a été déplacée à l’intérieur, la question du retour, étape indispensable à la reconstruction, commence à se poser.

C’est le principal message ressorti de la conférence « Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region » , qui vient de se tenir à Bruxelles. Les diplomates européens ont mis l’accent sur les difficultés de l’Europe à isoler le Président Bashar al-Assad, vainqueur de la guerre, soutenu par la Russie et l’Iran, pendant que les États-Unis retirent leurs troupes.

L’UE a rappelé qu’un soutien à la reconstruction à long terme dépendrait du processus de paix de l’ONU pour mettre fin à une guerre responsable de la mort de centaines de milliers de personnes.

Les Européens sont toutefois divisés sur la question de la reconstruction du pays, dans la mesure où le processus de paix de l’ONU est bloqué, que l’intervention militaire russe de 2015 s’avère décisive et que les pays arabes voisins envisagent de rétablir des liens diplomatiques.

« Les États-Unis se retirent et les Russes n’ont pas l’argent. Voilà le contexte », a expliqué un haut fonctionnaire de l’UE, cité par Reuters. L’Allemagne, la France et les Pays-Bas défendent ouvertement l’idée de libérer les fonds de reconstruction uniquement quand le pays aura démarré sa transition politique et que Bashar-al-Assad ne sera plus au pouvoir. Aucun représentant officiel de la Syrie n’a été invité à la conférence. L’Italie, l’Autriche et la Hongrie, grands détracteurs de la politique migratoire européenne, plaident en revanche pour une négociation avec les autorités syriennes pour que les millions de réfugiés puissent rentrer chez eux.

Mogherini craint le « ni guerre ni paix »

La cheffe de la diplomatie européenne, Federica Mogherini, a déclaré qu’il y avait un risque que le pays se retrouve coincé dans une situation de « ni guerre ni paix ». Le Haut Commissaire des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés, Filippo Grandi, a déclaré qu’il était prévisible que 2019 soit la première année depuis le début de la guerre « où il y aura plus de Syriens (réfugiés et déplacés internes) qui rentreront chez eux que de nouveaux déplacés. S’étant rendu en Syrie la semaine dernière, le Haut Commissaire a déclaré avoir été « marqué et touché » par la résilience du peuple syrien.

« C’est dans un contexte de grandes destructions, avec des zones encore dangereuses et un manque de produits de première nécessité (nourriture, médicaments, eau) et d’emplois que de nombreux Syriens rentrent chez eux. Les agences humanitaires font ce qu’elles peuvent, mais un très grand nombre de déplacés internes et quelques réfugiés prennent la décision difficile de rentrer chez eux, et les besoins en produits de première nécessité ne font qu’augmenter », a-t-il expliqué, ajoutant que la plupart des réfugiés voyaient leur avenir dans leur pays natal et que « nous savons que 56 000 Syriens sont rentrés chez eux via des mouvements organisés l’année dernière, mais ce chiffre est certainement plus élevé ».

Engagements financiers

« Je suis heureux de vous annoncer que nous collaborons notamment avec le gouvernement syrien. Et j’aimerais particulièrement remercier la Fédération de Russie pour sa coopération face aux problèmes que le retour des réfugiés syriens implique pour eux », a ajouté Filippo Grandi. Dans le cadre de l’appel de l’ONU, 3,3 milliards de dollars seraient nécessaires pour venir en aide aux déplacés internes et 5,5 milliards de dollars pour les réfugiés et les communautés d’accueil dans les pays voisins.

Le Secrétaire général adjoint aux affaires humanitaires, Marc Lowcock, a déclaré à la presse que les engagements financiers s’élevaient « au moins à 6,5 milliards de dollars » et peut-être même à près de 7 milliards de dollars. « C’est un très bon résultat, et si nous y parvenons vraiment en fin de compte, nous serons très heureux », a-t-il déclaré. Federica Mogherini a déclaré que l’UE contribuerait à hauteur de 560 millions d’euros pour venir en aide au peuple syrien durant l’année 2019 et que le même montant serait libéré les années suivantes.

Filippo Grandi a également exprimé son inquiétude quant à la situation en déclin de la ville d’Idlib, près de la frontière turque. Près de 90 personnes y ont été tuées par des obus et des frappes aériennes, et la moitié d’entre elles étaient des enfants.

« La pire des catastrophes humanitaires »

« Permettez-moi de répéter ce que nous avons déjà dit à maintes reprises. Une attaque militaire d’envergure sur la ville d’Idlib occasionnerait la pire catastrophe humanitaire du 21ème siècle. Ce serait tout simplement inacceptable », a déclaré Filippo Grandi.

Avec l’aide d’avions russes, l’armée syrienne a attaqué des villes au mains des forces rebelles dans la région d’Idlib, dernier bastion rebelle du pays. Ce bombardement a été le plus important depuis des mois. Les forces rebelles qui se sont battues depuis 8 ans pour faire tomber le Président al-Assad sont désormais confinées dans une enclave du nord est du pays, près de la frontière turque. Près de 4 millions de Syriens y vivent aujourd’hui, dont des centaines de milliers d’opposants au régime qui ont fui d’autres régions du pays.

La Turquie, qui a commencé à patrouiller dans la zone tampon vendredi, a condamné ce qu’elle a qualifié de provocations croissantes pour mettre fin à la trêve et a averti qu’une offensive des forces russes et syriennes causerait une crise humanitaire majeure. De nombreux résidents sont exaspérés de l’incapacité des forces turques à répondre aux bombardements. L’armée syrienne a appelé au retrait des forces turques.

L’enclave est protégée par une zone de « désescalade », un accord négocié l’an dernier par les pays qui soutiennent Bashar al-Assad, la Russie, l’Iran ainsi que la Turquie, qui avait auparavant soutenu les forces rebelles et envoyé des troupes pour surveiller la trêve. Le ministre turc des Affaires étrangères, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, a déclaré que 320 000 Syriens avaient pu rentrer chez eux grâce aux « opérations anti-terrorisme » menées par la Turquie et la Syrie.

▻https://www.euractiv.fr/section/migrations/news/return-of-refugees-to-syria-timidly-comes-on-the-agenda

Assad asks Syrian refugees to come home — then locks them up and interrogates them

Guarantees offered by the government as part of a ’reconciliation’ process are often hollow, with returnees harassed or extorted.

Hundreds of Syrian refugees have been arrested after returning home as the war they fled winds down — then interrogated, forced to inform on close family members and in some cases tortured, say returnees and human rights monitors.

Many more who weathered the conflict in rebel-held territory now retaken by government forces are meeting a similar fate as President Bashar al-Assad’s regime deepens its longtime dependence on informers and surveillance.

For Syrian refugees, going home usually requires permission from the government and a willingness to provide a full accounting of any involvement they had with the political opposition. But in many cases the guarantees offered by the government as part of this “reconciliation” process turn out to be hollow, with returnees subjected to harassment or extortion by security agencies or detention and torture to extract information about the refugees’ activities while they were away, according to the returnees and monitoring groups.

Almost 2,000 people have been detained after returning to Syria during the past two years, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, while hundreds more in areas once controlled by the rebels have also been arrested.

“If I knew then what I know now, I would never have gone back,” said a young man who returned to a government-controlled area outside Damascus. He said he has been harassed for months by members of security forces who repeatedly turn up at his home and stop him at checkpoints to search his phone.

“People are still being taken by the secret police, and communities are living between suspicion and fear,” he said. “When they come to your door, you cannot say no. You just have to go with them.”

Returnees interviewed for this report spoke on the condition of anonymity or on the understanding that their family names would be withheld, because of security threats.

Since the war erupted in 2011, more than 5 million people have fled Syria and 6 million others have been displaced to another part of the country, according to the United Nations – together representing slightly more than half the Syrian population.

In the past two years, as Assad’s forces have largely routed the rebels and recaptured much of the country, refugees have begun to trickle back. The United Nations says that at least 164,000 refugees have returned to the country since 2016. But citing a lack of access, the United Nations has not been able to document whether they have come back to government- or opposition-held areas.

Assad has called for more homecomings, encouraging returnees in a televised address in February to “carry out their national duties.” He said forgiveness would be afforded to returnees “when they are honest.”

According to our data, you are the exception if nothing happens to you

A recent survey of Syrians who returned to government-held areas found that about 75 percent had been harassed at checkpoints, in government registry offices or in the street, conscripted into the military despite promises they would be exempted, or arrested.

“According to our data, you are the exception if nothing happens to you,” said Nader Othman, a trustee with the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity, which said it had interviewed 350 returnees across Syria. “One of our most important takeaways is that most of those people who came back had thought that they were cleared by the regime. They thought their lack of opposition would protect them.”

The Syrian government did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the treatment of returnees and other Syrians now back under government control.

Outside Syria, many refugees say they were already apprehensive about going home, with fears over a lack of personal security only growing with reports that the government is reneging on its guarantees. Aid groups say there are few signs that a large-scale return will begin anytime soon.

And in conversations with UN representatives, senior Syrian officials have made it clear that not all returnees are equally welcome. According to two European officials who recounted the conversations, individuals with links to opposition groups, media activism or humanitarian work will be least well received.

But pressure on the refugees to return is rising across the Middle East, with Syria’s neighbours tightening restrictions on them in part to get them to leave.

https://nationalpostcom.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/afp_1dw3ma.jpg?quality=60&strip=all&w=640#.jpg

Homs

Hassan, 30, left his home in the western province of Homs in 2013. Before returning at the end of last year, he secured what he believed were guarantees for his safety after paying a large bribe to a high-ranking security official.

But officers from the state security directorate met him at the airport and took him for interrogation. “They knew everything – what I’d done abroad, which cafes I’d sat in, even the time I had sat with opposition supporters during football matches,” he recalled.

A week later, he was arrested during a visit to a government registry office and taken to a nearby police station. In a dingy room, officers took turns beating and questioning him, he said, accusing him of ferrying ammunition for an armed opposition group inside Syria in 2014.

“I kept telling them that they knew I wasn’t in the country then,” he said. “All they did was ask me for money and tell me that it was the way to my freedom.”

At one point, he said, the guards dragged in a young woman he had never met. “They beat her with a water pipe until she screamed, (then) told me they would do the same if I didn’t cooperate,” Hassan said.

He said he was released at the end of January after relatives paid another bribe, this time $7,000.

Syrians returning from abroad, like Hassan, often have to gain security approval just to re-enter the country, in some cases signing loyalty pledges and providing extensive accounts of any political activities, according to documents listing questions to be asked and statements to be signed.

▻https://nationalpost.com/news/world/assad-asks-syrian-refugees-to-come-home-then-locks-them-up-and-interro

Why Most Syrian Refugees Want to Stay in Germany:
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/790884

Weighed down by economic woes, Syrian refugees head home from Jordan

Rahaf* and Qassem lay out their plans to return to Syria as their five-year-old daughter plays with her toys in their small apartment in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

It is early October, six years after they fled their home in Damascus, and the couple have decided it’s time to give up trying to make a life for themselves in Jordan.

Last year, 51-year-old Qassem lost his job at a cleaning supplies factory when the facility shut down, and Rahaf’s home business as a beautician is slow.

For months, the couple have resorted to borrowing money from friends to cover their 200 Jordanian dinar ($282) monthly rent. They are three months overdue. “There’s nobody else for us to borrow money from,” explains Rahaf.

Weeks later, Qassem crossed the border and headed back to their old neighbourhood, joining an increasing tide of Syrian refugees who are going home, despite the dangers and a multitude of unknowns.

According to the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, 34,000 registered Syrian refugees have returned from Jordan since October 2018, when a key border crossing was reopened after years of closure. It’s a fraction of the 650,000 registered Syrian refugees remaining in Jordan, but a dramatic jump from previous years, when annual returns hovered at around 7,000.

Syrian refugees from the other main host countries – Turkey and Lebanon – are making the trip too. UNHCR has monitored more than 209,000 voluntary refugee returns to Syria since 2016, but the actual figure is likely to be significantly higher.

Some Syrian refugees face political pressure to return and anti-refugee rhetoric, but that hasn’t taken hold in Jordan.

Here, many refugees say they are simply fed up with years spent in a dead-end job market with a bleak economic future. The uptick appears to be driven more by the fact that Syrians who wish to go home can now – for the first time in three years – board a bus or a shared taxi from the border, which is about an hour and a half’s drive north of Amman.

People like Rahaf and Qassem are pinning their hopes on picking up what is left of the lives they led before the war. Their Damascus house, which was damaged in the conflict, is near Qassem’s old shop, where he used to sell basic groceries and cleaning supplies.

Qassem is staying with relatives for now. But the family had a plan: if and when he gave the green light, Rahaf and their children would join him back in Damascus.

While she waited for his signal, Rahaf sold off what little furniture and other possessions they acquired in Jordan. “Honestly, we’ve gotten tired of this life, and we’ve lost hope,” she said.
Money problems

Before he lost his job, Qassem endured years of verbal abuse in the workplace, and few clients made the trip to Rahaf’s home.

When she tried to set up a salon elsewhere, their refugee status created bureaucratic hurdles the couple couldn’t overcome. “I did go ask about paying rent for one shop, and they immediately told me no,” Qassem said. “[The owners] wanted a Jordanian renter.”

Their story echoes those of many other refugees who say they have found peace but little opportunity in Jordan.

Syrian refugees need a permit to work in Jordan – over 153,000 have been issued so far – but they are limited to working in a few industries in designated economic zones. Many others end up in low-paying jobs, and have long faced harsh economic conditions in Jordan.

Thousands of urban refugees earn a meagre living either on farms or construction sites, or find informal work as day labourers.

Abu Omran, who returned to Syria three months ago, fled Damascus with his family in 2013, and for a while was able to find occasional car mechanic jobs in Amman. Work eventually dried up, and he struggled to find ways to make money that did not require hard manual labour.

“He spent the past three years just sitting at home, with no job,” recalled Abu Omran’s wife, Umm Omran.

Speaking to The New Humanitarian in her Amman living room several months after her husband’s departure, she was soon joined for coffee and cigarettes by her youngest son, 19-year-old Badr. Newly married, he wore a ring on one finger.

Times were so hard for the family that Abu Omran left Jordan before he had a chance to attend the wedding, and Badr has also been contemplating a return to Syria – the country he left as a young teenager.

Badr works in a factory near Amman that produces cleaning products, but the pay is low. And although his older brother brings in a small salary from a pastry shop, it’s getting harder and harder for the family to pull together their rent each month.

“I’m not returning because I think the situation in Syria is good. But you don’t enter into a difficult situation unless the one you’re currently in is even worse.”

Entering a void

While return may seem the best option for some, there are still more unknowns than knowns across the border in Syria.

President Bashar al-Assad’s government forces control most of the country, but there are still airstrikes in the rebel-held northwest, and the recent Turkish invasion of the northeast has raised new questions about the country’s future.

“I’m not returning because I think the situation in Syria is good,” said Farah, a mother of three who spoke to TNH in September – about a month before she packed up her things to leave. “But you don’t enter into a difficult situation unless the one you’re currently in is even worse.”

In 2012, Farah and her husband left their home in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus for Jordan, where she gave birth to her three children.

Her husband suffers from kidney stones, and the manual labour he has managed to pick up is just enough for them to pay for the rent of a shared house – crammed in with two other refugee families.

The vast majority of Syrian refugees in Jordan – including Farah and Abu Omran’s families – live in urban areas like Amman, rather than in the country’s three refugee camps. They are still eligible for aid, but Farah had decided by October that she was “no longer able to bear” the poverty in Amman, even though UN food vouchers had covered some of her expenses.

She took her three young children and crossed the border into Syria to stay with her mother, who lives in a southeastern suburb of Damascus. TNH has not been able to contact her since.

Farah’s husband stayed behind in Jordan, fearing arrest or forced military conscription by Syrian government authorities.

This has happened to other people who have gone back to Syria from Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, or other host countries. Despite promises to the contrary from the government, hundreds – and possibly thousands – of returnees have reportedly been detained.

“There are issues with what information is made available to refugees… about what is going to happen to them on the other side, in Syria.”

Lebanese authorities have also forcibly deported thousands of Syrian refugees, and Human Rights Watch says at least three of them were detained by Syrian authorities when they got back. It isn’t clear if any Syrians have faced the same fate returning from Jordan.

Sara Kayyali, a researcher for Human Rights Watch based in Jordan, told TNH she has yet to verify reports of disappearance, conscription, and detainment of returnees from Jordan.

“There are issues with what information is made available to refugees… about what is going to happen to them on the other side, in Syria,” said Kayyali. “Partially because people inside are too scared to talk about the conditions in government-held areas, and partially because the restrictions applied and the behaviour of the Syrian security forces is so arbitrary that it’s difficult to predict.”

Kayyali pointed to the 30 Jordanian citizens detained in Syria since the border opened a year ago – Amman said they entered for tourism and were arrested without reason – as a sign of what could be to come for Syrians.

“[If those threats] apply to Jordanians, then they’re most certainly going to be applied to Syrians, potentially on an even larger scale,” said Kayyali.

There are other obstacles to return, or challenges for people who manage to get back, including destroyed homes and lost jobs. Healthcare and water provision is scattershot in certain parts of the country, while violence and war is ongoing in others.

Francesco Bert, a UNHCR spokesperson in Jordan, said the agency “does not facilitate returns, but offers support to refugees if they voluntarily decide to go home”.

Asked whether it is safe for refugees to go back to Syria, Bert said the agency “considers refugees’ decisions as the main guideposts”, but gives refugees considering or planning to return “information that might inform their decision-making”, to help ensure it is truly voluntary.
The waiting game

Despite the obstacles, more and more people are making the trip. But families often can’t travel back together.

For Rahaf, that meant packing her things and waiting, before finally joining her husband last weekend.

For Umm Omran, however, that means wondering if and when she will ever see her husband again.

The family had hoped that Abu Omran could find a job repairing cars again in Damascus, and if that didn’t work out at least he could live rent-free with his sister’s family.

But plans for his wife and sons to join him someday, once he had found his footing, now look increasingly unlikely.

“He hasn’t said yet if he regrets going back home,” said Umm Omran, who communicates regularly via WhatsApp with her husband and other family members who never left Syria. They live in government-controlled Damascus and don’t give away much in their chats for fear of retaliation by security forces, who they worry could be monitoring their communications.

What Umm Omran has managed to piece together isn’t promising.

Her husband has yet to find a job in Damascus, and is beginning to feel like a burden at his sister’s home. Their own house, where he and Umm Omran raised their sons, is bombed-out and needs extensive repairs before anyone can move back in.

For the time-being, Umm Omran has ruled out her own potential return to Syria, fearing her two sons would insist on joining her and end up being conscripted into the armed forces. So, for now, the family remains split in two.

“When I ask him how things are going, he just says, ‘Thank God’. He says little else,” said Umm Omran, scrolling through chats on her mobile phone. “I think he’s upset about leaving us.”

▻https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2019/11/19/Syrian-refugees-return-Jordan
#Amman #Jordanie

Refugees riot as tensions in Greek camps boil over

Refugees clashed with police and security at Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesvos on Monday night as frustration and anger spread turned into open clashes.

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Asylum seekers clash with police in Moria frustrated about living conditions and asylum delays

Migrants clashed with police in and around the hot spot Moria on the island of Lesvos on Tuesday after they staged a protest about the poor living conditions and delays in asylum procedures.

►http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2017/07/18/asylum-seekers-moria-lesvos-protest

Μόρια : « σκούπα » για πρόσφυγες που έχουν δύο « όχι » από την Υπηρεσία Ασύλου
▻http://www.efsyn.gr/arthro/moria-skoypa-gia-prosfyges-poy-ehoyn-dyo-ohi-apo-tin-ypiresia-asyloy

Commentaire reçu via la mailing-list de Migreurop :

Une #opération_policière d’une grande envergure s’est déroulé hier matin à Moria, le hot-spot de Lesbos. Au moins 200 policiers ont passé au peigne fin le camp avec des contrôles d’identité systématiques afin de repérer les demandeurs d’asile déboutés dont les appels à la Commission de Recours ont été rejetés. L’opération a duré six heures et s’est conclu par l’interpellation d’une cinquantaine de personnes qui ont été amenés au commissariat de Lesbos pour contrôle d’identité. Ceux qui ont vu leur deuxième appel rejeté, seront conduits à un centre spécial pour les personnes en instance d’expulsion- une sorte de prison qui fonctionne au sein du camp de Moria-, pour être ensuite expulsés vers la Turquie.

#police

#Violence becoming commonplace in Moria refugee camp

Once again, riots broke out at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos this week. Local politicians and migration experts are striving for solutions.

▻http://www.dw.com/en/violence-becoming-commonplace-in-moria-refugee-camp/a-39793594?maca=en-EMail-sharing

Reçu via la mailing-list de Migreurop :

Déchaînements de violences policières contre les réfugiés à Moria (Lesbos, Grèce) (English below)

Plusieurs plaintes contre la police ont été déposées pour des mauvais traitements, des coups et des blessures sur des hommes déjà immobilisé voire menottés et pour des tortures pratiqués dans les commissariats. Au moins 11 parmi les 35 hommes arrêtés lors de la répression de la révolte à Moria la semaine dernière, ont déjà déposé ou sont sur le point de déposer de plaintes contre des policiers pour coups et blessures pouvant entraîner des lésions corporelles graves. Parmi eux, un Sénégalais âgé de 37 ans qui n’avait pas participé aux incidents avait reçu de coups de pied à la tête par un groupe de 4 policiers jusqu’à perdre connaissance et a dû être hospitalisé dans un état préoccupant.

14 organisations humanitaires et défense de droit de l’homme ont faire part de leur très vive inquiétude et ont lancé un appel à la justice grecque pour qu’une enquête soit immédiatement ouverte afin de déterminer les responsables de cette violation flagrante des droits les plus élémentaires de migrants et de toute notion d’Etat de Droit.

Au Parlement,19 députés de Syriza ont déposé une question adressée au Ministre de l’Immigration et à celui de l’Intérieur, en exigeant des explications sur cet « flagrant abus de pouvoir et sur les tortures pratiqués sur des hommes déjà arrêtés et menottés ». Ils veulent savoir qui a donné l’ordre pour ce type d’interventions policières et comment se fait-il que des hommes en civile ont été autorisés à participer à la répression brutale de la révolte.

Un autre élément extrêmement préoccupant est le fait que les charges qui pèsent sur les 35 hommes arrêtés sont absolument identiques pour tous sans qu’aucune distinction personnalisée soit faite entre les supposés responsables de la révolte.

Voir la vidéo qui montre des groupes de policiers et des civils qui s’acharnent contre des hommes immobilisés par terre où quiconque qui a le malheur de croiser le chemin de la police est violement brutalisé.

Ci-dessous le communiqué de presse des 14 organisations (in English)
▻http://www.solidaritynow.org/en/joint-press-release-violent-incidents-moria-lesvos

Greece: Authorities must investigate allegations of excessive use of force and ill-treatment of asylum-seekers in Lesvos

Amnesty International calls on the Greek authorities to urgently investigate allegations that police used excessive force against asylum-seekers in the Moria camp near Mytilene during a protest on 18 July 2017 and ill-treated some of those who were arrested and detained in the Mytilene police station following the clashes that ensued. Testimonies the organisation collected from victims and witnesses about excessive use of force in the Moria camp are also supported by audio-visual material that was made public in the media in the days after the protest.

▻https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur25/6845/2017/en

Report on Rights Violations and Resistance in Lesvos

In the months since our last update on rights violations and resistance in Lesvos, our advocacy and campaigning resources were almost exclusively focused on the two trials for the Moria 35 and Moria 10 that took place in Chios in late April and early May 2018.

The situation has predictably worsened in Lesvos. On the 17 April 2018, the Greek Council of State (the highest administrative court in Greece) ruled that geographic restrictions imposed by the Asylum Service for asylum seekers arriving to the Greek islands was illegal. However, within a week, new legislation was proposed, which further limits the rights of asylum seekers and continues the practice of containing asylum seekers to the Greek islands. Moria Camp is now at three times its capacity, holding approximately 7000 individuals. Between 500 and 1000 Kurdish asylum seekers are still living outside Moria in temporary shelter provided by Lesvos Solidarity – Pikpa, and Humans 4 Humanity, as they fear for their safety in Moria. Procedures are now so delayed that even individuals who are recognized as vulnerable, and whose cases should be prioritized under Article 51 of Greek Law 4375, are being scheduled for their interviews nearly a year after their arrival. This means that they are prohibited from leaving the island of Lesvos, and are denied freedom of movement during this entire time.

In one case we are following, an eleven year old child has a serious, undiagnosed digestive condition that causes her constant pain and seizures. Because they have been unable to diagnose her illness, the hospital in Mytilene has referred her for testing and treatment in Athens. Even the Mytilene police department has recommended that geographic restrictions be temporarily lifted so that she can travel to Athens for further tests and treatment, but the Regional Asylum Office has denied this request without an appointment in the Athens hospital. Her family is now in a constant state of fear that given her critical condition, their daughter will be unable to receive emergency medical care when needed, given the lack of testing and treatment for her on the island. Already once, when she had seizures and attempted to get treatment at the hospital in Lesvos, she was not admitted because they do not have means to treat her.

The Green Party published a report on 6 June 2018 exposing the inhumane conditions that systematically violate refugee rights in the Greek hotspots. On the 1 June 2018 the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) also published preliminary observations of its visit to detention facilities in Greece from 10 to 19 April 2018, with damning findings.
Treatment of Moria35 defendants highlights lack of procedural safeguards for detained asylum seekers in Lesvos

In the last month and a half since the conclusion of the Moria 35 trial, we have been closely following the administrative process related to the detention and processing of the asylum claims of these individuals. It has become a near full time job of our Greek attorney based in Mytilene to ensure that Greek authorities comply by their own laws and respect the rights of these asylum seekers. Despite the fact that the UNHCR, the Ombudsman’s Office, and the Legal Centre have been closely monitoring their cases, there have been rampant violation of their rights at every step of their procedures. Unfortunately despite this close monitoring, two individuals were deported to Turkey on the morning of 13 June 2018. The violations we have observed in the individual cases of these 35 men highlight the lack of procedural safeguards to protect the rights of asylum seekers, particularly those who are being detained.

Below we outline some of the observed violations of Moria 35 defendants’ rights as asylum seekers:

Two individuals whose cases were rejected were denied the representation of a lawyer on appeal. The appeal of a rejected asylum claim is the one stage in the asylum procedure where asylum seekers have the right to a lawyer, under Article 44(3) of Law 4375. Although both requested the representation of a lawyer, the examination of their case on appeal occurred without them having been assigned an attorney.

Another individual signed for voluntary departure, but then changed his mind and decided to continue his claim for international protection. He requested that his case be reopened. While that request was being processed, he was placed by police on the list to be deported on the 1 June 2018. It was only after advocacy from the Legal Centre that he was removed from the deportation list. He remains in detention, despite the lack of legal grounds to hold him there.

Another individual was held for over a month in detention, after transfer to Lesvos following the trial in Chios. There was no recommendation for his continued detention either from the Regional Asylum Office, as required by Article 46(3) of Law 4375. After daily follow up from the Legal Centre, eventually the police admitted that they were holding him by mistake and he was released.

Two additional individuals had their asylum cases rejected, but were unable to appeal because they were detained. With advocacy from UNHCR and Legal Centre lawyers, one of the individuals was able to lodge his appeal. However, he remains in detention, and it is not clear if the Appeals Committee will review his case on the merits or deny the appeal as untimely filed.

The second individual was deported on the morning of 13 June 2018. This was despite the fact that for days he had been expressing to the police his desire to appeal the rejection of his asylum claim. Lawyers from HIAS and the Legal Centre also spoke with the Mytilene police department the day before he was deported and informed the police that they would be filing an appeal on his behalf. On the morning of 13 June 2018, he was deported to Turkey. This individual, a Guinean national, claims that he was a victim of torture, and will be subject to persecution if returned to his country. Regardless of whether his claim is credible, he has the right to appeal the rejection of his claim. Even though untimely, it is not the police who have the authority to accept or reject his appeal, but the Asylum Service. His right to appeal was clearly denied, and his deportation was illegal as police were aware that he would be appealing the denial of his claim and they proceeded with the deportation in any case.

A second Moria 35 defendant was also deported on the 13 June 2018. His case had been rejected in the second instance. In 2017 this Ghanean national had been rejected and scheduled for deportation, but he lodged a subsequent application. It was the denial of this subsequent application that led to his deportation. While the Regional Asylum Service again scheduled for him to file a subsequent application on 14 June 2018, on 11 June 2018, we were informed that they would not accept a second subsequent application, since he had already submitted a subsequent application in 2017. However, he still had the option of appealing the denial of his claim in administrative court. Less than two days after being informed that he could not file a subsequent application, he was deported to Turkey. This individual has recently received original documents from Ghana that were not previously submitted to the Asylum Office. These documents corroborate his claim that he will be imprisoned 10-15 years if returned to Ghana. Prison conditions in Ghana according to human rights reports are “generally harsh and sometimes life threatening due to physical abuse, food shortages, overcrowding, and inadequate sanitary conditions and medical care” meaning he should be eligible for subsidiary protection, if not refugee status. Both individuals that were deported on the 13 June 2018 are also eligible for humanitarian protection as important witnesses to a serious crime that is still being investigated in Greece (the brutal police attack against the 35 arrestees on 18 July 2017). The swift move of the police to deport these individuals show that while procedures to grant protection and ensure that refugee rights are respected are constantly delayed, the State is able to mobilize and act swiftly to deny these same rights.

The trampling of the rights of these individuals by the police has followed their brutally violent arrest, their unjust prosecution, and lengthy imprisonment in the case of the Moria 35. It is not clear if the police have targeted these individuals precisely because they were part of the Moria35 case, or if the violation of detained asylum seekers rights is systematic. What is clear is that there is a lack of sufficient transparency, oversight, and monitoring of detention and deportation practices.
Legal Centre Successes

Despite this hostile environment, we continue providing legal aid and individual consultation to all foreign nationals who seek our counsel. We conduct approximately 10 individual consultations daily, and through the assistance of our volunteer lawyers and interpreters, hundreds of individuals have been granted international protection in Greece, or have successfully had geographic restrictions lifted so they can legally travel to mainland Europe.

We also continue to have success in assisting individuals in reuniting with family members in second European States under the Dublin III Regulation. In one case, a single young man from Haiti who is seriously ill was approved to be reunited with his family in France. While in Haiti, he had attempted to apply for a visa to join his parents and younger siblings in France, but was denied because he was over 18. France finally admitted, through our advocacy, that he was dependent on the care of his family, and that he should be able to join them in France. The fact that this individual was forced to take a lengthy, expensive, and dangerous journey to Europe through Turkey and the use of smugglers, only to be later admitted as an asylum seeker in France, shows that European immigration policies are broken.

We will continue our work to assist and help navigate individuals through this broken system, and to monitor and expose the violations of these individuals’ rights when they occur.

▻http://www.legalcentrelesbos.org/2018/06/14/report-on-rights-violations-and-resistance

Grèce : accusés d’avoir manifesté dans la violence, plus de 100 demandeurs d’asile ont finalement été acquittés

Un tribunal de l’île de Lesbos en mer Égée a acquitté jeudi soir une centaine de demandeurs d’asile accusés d’avoir protesté contre leurs conditions de vie.

Ils étaient plus d’une centaine sur le banc des accusés : un groupe de demandeurs d’asile, en majorité Afghans, a été acquitté jeudi 9 mai par un tribunal de l’île de Lesbos, en Grèce. Ils avaient été accusés d’avoir occupé en avril 2018 une place publique du centre de #Mytilène, le chef-lieu de l’île, pour protester contre leurs conditions de vie dans le camp surpeuplé et insalubre de Moria. Ils avaient également été accusés d’avoir fait usage de la force physique et de résistance.

Des chefs d’accusation “dénués de tout fondement”, a commenté dans la presse locale l’une des avocates de la défense, Me Elli Kriona-Sarantou, en se félicitant du jugement du tribunal. "Nous n’avons rien fait. Nous avons été attaqués par des extrémistes. Nous sommes innocents", a, pour sa part, déclaré à l’AFP Hadisse Hosseini, l’une des personnes acquittées.

Cet Afghan faisait partie des quelque 200 migrants rassemblés sur la place Sappho le 22 avril 2018 pour dénoncer leurs conditions de vie après la mort d’un autre Afghan souffrant de manque de soins de santé. Leur rassemblement avait été pris à partie par environ 150 militants d’extrême droite, qui leur avaient jeté des pierres et des fusées éclairantes. Des affrontements avaient suivi, entraînant l’intervention de la police.

"Une situation qui nourrit l’impunité"

Me Elli Kriona-Sarantou s’est dit préoccupée du fait que les militants d’extrême droite n’aient pas encore été jugés, "une situation qui nourrit l’impunité sur l’île". Seuls 26 agresseurs ont été identifiés par la police et doivent comparaître à une date qui n’a pas encore été fixée.

Du même avis, Vassilis Kerasiotis, le directeur de la branche grecque de l’ONG HIAS, estime que cette décision de justice “n’appelle à aucune célébration”. L’organisme a défendu plus d’une trentaine des migrants accusés. “Le simple fait que 110 participants à une manifestation pacifique aient été jugés par un tribunal, après avoir subi une attaque raciste et un recours disproportionné à la violence par la police, est extrêmement préoccupant”, a-t-il commenté sur la page Facebook de HIAS.

La Grèce accueille actuellement plus de 70 000 réfugiés dont près de 15 000 sur les îles de la mer Égée. Avec près de 9 000 arrivées depuis le début de l’année 2019, le nombre des réfugiés a de nouveau augmenté, après avoir chuté en 2017 et 2018.

La situation est explosive en particulier sur les îles de Lesbos et de Samos où les camps sont surpeuplés. À Lesbos, le nombre des migrants et des demandeurs d’asile s’élève à environ 7 000 personnes alors qu’il n’y a que 4 200 places disponibles pour eux dans les camps et les logements de l’île.

Dans le camp de Samos la situation est pire : 3 175 personnes y vivent actuellement contre une capacité de 648 personnes, selon les chiffres publiés jeudi par le ministère de la Protection du citoyen.

https://scd.infomigrants.net/media/resize/my_image_big/11ec4d0819cbe18fa6af3a4681f9bb4740084651.jpeg

▻https://www.infomigrants.net/fr/post/16820/grece-accuses-d-avoir-manifeste-dans-la-violence-plus-de-100-demandeur

Ajouté à la métaliste : ►https://seenthis.net/messages/804316