#kranidi

  • AYS Weekend Digest 2–3/5/2020

    392 people on their way from Moria to the mainland
    On Sunday, while migration and asylum minister Mitarakis visited Moria camp on the island of Lesvos, 392 people were bussed from Moria to the port of Mytilini.

    As confirmed by several sources, they had all a ticket to Athens but it is still not clear where they will be taken on the mainland. They reached Pireaus port in Attica, on two different ferries this morning.

    While the evacuation of the Greek eastern islands has to carry on, transfers to mainland camps are not the solution, especially if these are closed structures, where ‘residents’ find themselves even more cut off from the rest of society.

    *

    Tension rises again on Lesvos due to minister Mitarakis visit
    Refocus Media Lab reports of new moments of tension and violence against NGO workers on Sunday. Locals protested and held road blocks against the visit of minister Mitarakis in Moria.

    *

    Lockdown is lifted, but not for all
    From today, Monday 4th of May, lockdown measures are gradually lifted throughout Greece. This means that as of today, it is not necessary to text or write a note to go outside.
    This measure is applied to everyone in Greece, refugees and citizens, with the exception of the residents of the RICs on the islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos and the structures under lockdown on the mainland due to outbreaks of coronavirus (Ritsona camp, Malakasa camp, Kranidi accommodation).
    Still, some measures are in place for the next weeks. Mobile Info Team has published an overview about the lifting of the measures and what will reopen when: https://www.mobileinfoteam.org/lifting-restriction
    Also, from today, masks are compulsory in public indoor spaces, read more in English and French below, or follow the links for Arabic, Farsi and Urdu versions.

    https://medium.com/are-you-syrious/ays-weekend-digest-2-3-5-2020-392-people-evacuated-from-moria-but-where-to-a
    #Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Grèce #Camp #Lesbos #Moria #Transfert #Athènes #Tension #Déconfinement #Chios #Samos #Leros #Kos #Ritsona #Malakasa #Kranidi

  • AYS Daily Digest 27/4/20

    GREECE

    A move to Moria

    A month after arriving and after having lived on beaches and tents in three places on the north of Lesvos, 127 people have been transferred to the Moria refugee camp. Their asylum process can only now begin formally, but this begs a question — what must someone’s reality be when a move to the infamous Moria is a step forward….?

    Not even the minimum
    “Government negligence endangers human lives” is in the title of the report by Human Rights Watch regarding the current conditions imposed on everyone by the presence of Covid-19, requiring knowledge of the rights and possibilities of protection of those whose freedom of movement and choice has been even more limited.
    “It is clear that Greece does not comply with the minimum measures of prevention and protection against coronavirus in the structures of the islands,” said the organization’s researcher, Belkis Ville.
    Despite the constant meetings and announcements by government officials, no measures are being taken to protect vulnerable groups, not in Kranidi with 150 cases of corona disease, nor for transfers from the KYT (Reception and Identification Centers) of the islands of the Eastern Aegean. No substantive protection measures have been implemented until last night, not even for the refugees living at the hotel in Kranidi, and even for those who are in the high risk category, it is reported.

    It seems that at the most recent meeting at the Ministry of Health, the existing measures were confirmed, thus no improvement is being made a priority in any of the spheres, including health. The previously announced move, promised to the Commissioner Johansson, of unaccompanied minors from the islands that was to take place right after Easter has not yet begun, and there’s no telling when and if it will happen in full capacity.

    After the fires
    Europe Must Act has sent out an open letter to the EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson, stating, among other things, that:
    These fires were often caused by fights amongst camp residents. The tensions, and the fires caused by them, are the cumulative effects of subhuman conditions on hotspot island camps and the additional stress created by Covid-19 quarantine measures taken by authorities.
    One tragedy after another. These events highlight how inherently flawed Europe’s current policy on migration and asylum is. Risking human lives is irresponsible governance at the highest level,
    and calling on the Commissioner to work with the Greek authorities and Member States to evacuate asylum seekers and refugees from the islands to Europe, and demanding a statement from the EU Commission on this emergency situation on the Aegean Islands. Find the entire letter here.

    No public scrutiny over racism and hate
    The 55-year-old man who shot at refugees in Moria was released on parole, the Greek media reported, and according to sources on site, fascist groups at the court of Mytilene attacked journalists, throwing stones at them. The Greek police allegedly aggressively removed the journalists, not even trying to stop the attacks, but preventing any reporting on them.

    BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

    A group of activists who started Transbalkanska solidarnost invite people to join their protest against IOM’s “non-action” in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by calling people to actively reach out to them during 48 hours, starting on 27 April.

    Conditions in the camps run by IOM in BiH during the COVID-19 pandemic resemble those in concentration camps:
    _violence against people in the camps is on the rise,
    _food is constantly insufficient and not nutritious enough while even more reduced and worse in quality,
    _hygienic conditions are concerning,
    _healthcare remains at a bare minimum,
    _people are denied the freedom to move and leave the camps for an indefinite period.
    Transbalkan Solidarity contends that:
    _Soap is not a luxury!
    _Trash is not food!
    _A camp is not a living space!
    _A tent is not a house!

    https://medium.com/are-you-syrious/ays-daily-digest-27-4-20-another-political-interference-in-the-freedoms-of-a

    #Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Grèce #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Moria #Plage #Lesbos #Kranidi

  • Greece to lift restrictions in May and June

    Greece’s Civil Protection Deputy Minister for Crisis Management, Nikos Hardalias in his televised briefing on Thursday announced the gradual lifting of restrictions from May.

    Hardalias clarified that although the restriction measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic are extended from April 27 to May 4, “the next phase will be the gradual return to normalcy,” adding that relaxing the measures would then proceed in two phases in May and June, in two-week increments.

    He noted that every day remains difficult, referring indirectly to earlier events, when coronavirus cases were identified at private clinics in the south and western suburbs of Athens in the last 20 hours.

    Among other updates, the Minister noted that a section of the Roma community in Nea Smyrni, central Greece, and other areas in the region where coronavirus infections were located will continue to remain in lockdown until April 30.

    In Thessaly, all open-air markets that were shut down will be able to operate as of Saturday (April 25), as the quarantine period will be completed. In addition, Mesopotamia community in northern Greece will complete its quarantine on Friday.

    In Kranidi, the Argolid area, the second batch of tests taken (177) were all negative for coronavirus, but the area will keep its curfew. A coronavirus outbreak in a hotel hosting refugees in the area is on lockdown as of April 16.

    The pandemic has been subsiding in Greece, he said, “but the war is not yet won.”

    https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/04/24/greece-to-lift-restrictions-in-may-and-june

    #Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Grèce #Péloponnèse #Hotel #Quarantaine #Ville #Kranidi #Couvre-feu #Quarantaine #Confinement

  • Migranti lungo la Rotta, quarantena permanente versione testuale

    A partire da marzo, mano a mano che il coronavirus dilagava per l’Europa, alcuni stati disposti lungo la dorsale balcanica hanno messo in atto provvedimenti che hanno interessato non solamente la popolazione locale, ma anche e soprattutto la popolazione migrante che vive all’interno dei centri di transito e per richiedenti asilo, allestiti e istituiti lungo la cosiddetta Rotta balcanica a partire dal 2016.
    Dopo il 2015, anno della “crisi dei rifugiati”, che ha visto arrivare in Unione europea quasi un milione di persone (di cui oltre 850 mila transitate dalla Grecia), a partire da marzo 2016 la Rotta balcanica è stata dichiarata ufficialmente chiusa, in base al controverso accordo turco-europeo, che prevede fondamentalmente che la Turchia – in cambio di 6 miliardi di euro versati dall’Ue e di un’accelerazione nelle trattative legate all’ingresso in Europa – gestisca i quasi 4 milioni di richiedenti asilo che si trovano nel suo territorio.
    Di fatto, però, quell’accordo (in realtà una dichiarazione congiunta tra le parti coinvolte) non ha fermato il flusso di persone on the move, ma lo ha solamente rallentato e reso più pericoloso; si calcola, in effetti, che tra il 2016 e il 2019 siano comunque passate circa 160 mila persone lungo questo corridoio migratorio.

    Confini incandescenti
    I paesi maggiormente interessati dalla presenza dei migranti in transito sono Grecia, Serbia e – a partire dal 2018 – Bosnia Erzegovina, diventata nella zona nord-occidentale il collo di bottiglia prima di entrare in Croazia e da lì nei Paesi Shengen, la meta cui maggiormente aspirano le persone, che provengono principalmente da Afghanistan, Pakistan, Siria, Iran e Iraq.
    Poco prima che la pandemia prendesse piede a livello globale, a partire da fine febbraio, la Rotta balcanica era tornata sui principali giornali e siti di notizie, perchè il presidente turco Recep Tayyp Erdo?an aveva annunciato di aver aperto i confini del paese ai migranti intenzionati a raggiungere l’Europa. Quella che sino a poco tempo prima sembrava solo una minaccia si è fatta realtà; nel giro di pochi giorni almeno 10 mila persone hanno raggiunto il confine terrestre tra Turchia e Grecia e hanno provato a sfondare i cordoni di sicurezza greci, trovando una risposta violenta, anche con il sostegno delle polizie e dei militari di altri governi europei.
    La situazione incandescente sul confine, che faceva immaginare uno scenario simile a quello del 2015, con migliaia di persone in transito lungo la rotta, si è però interrotta bruscamente con l’arrivo del virus e le misure di chiusura, limitazione di movimento e autoisolamento messe in atto in pratica da quasi tutti gli stati del mondo.
    Gli stati posti lungo la Rotta balcanica hanno non solo imposto misure restrittive alla popolazione locale, ma hanno chiuso la popolazione migrante all’interno dei campi, dispiegando forze speciali a controllarne i perimetri: nessuna nuova persona entra e nessuno esce, in una quarantena permanente.

    Prendono la strada dei boschi
    In Grecia si calcola una presenza di oltre 118 mila tra rifugiati e richiedenti asilo; circa 20 mila abitano nei 30 campi dislocati sul continente, molti vivono in appartamenti o shelter e oltre 38 mila sono bloccati nei campi ufficiali e informali sulle isole di Lesvos, Chios, Samos e Kos.
    In Serbia sono oltre 8.500 i richiedenti asilo e i migranti distribuiti nei 17 centri in gestione governativa all’interno del paese. Durante il mese di marzo polizia ed esercito locali hanno portato le persone che vivevano negli squat delle periferie di Belgrado e di Šid all’interno dei campi, che sono ora sovraffollati.
    Infine si calcola che in Bosnia Erzegovina ci siano circa 5.500 persone alloggiate in 9 campi per l’accoglienza, ma che almeno 2 mila vivano dormendo in edifici e fabbriche abbandonati o in tende e accampamenti di fortuna nei boschi lungo i confini con la Croazia. L’ampia presenza di persone che vivono fuori dai campi ufficiali ha fatto sì che il 17 aprile il consiglio dei ministri della Bosnia Erzegovina decidesse che ogni straniero che non ha un documento di identità valido e un indirizzo di residenza registrato presso l’ufficio stranieri del comune di competenza, verrà obbligatoriamente portato nei centri di ricezione, dove dovrà risiedere senza possibilità di uscire.
    Per questo motivo già dalle settimane precedenti, in località Lipa, cantone di Una Sana, territorio di Bihac, sono stati avviati di gran lena i lavori per mettere in piedi un nuovo centro temporaneo di transito. Il campo, costituito da ampi tendoni in cerata con letti a castello, container sanitari e toilette chimiche, è stato fortumente voluto dalla municipalità di Bihac per spostare dalle strade e da edifici diroccati le migliaia di persone che vagano tra le rovine senza cibo, acqua corrente, elettricità e vestiti. A partire dalla mattina del 21 aprile sono iniziati in maniera pacifica i trasporti dei migranti, scortati dalla polizia locale, al nuove centro in gestione all’Organizzazione mondiale dei migranti e al Danish Refugee Council. Al tempo stesso, decine di persone che non vogliono vivere nei centri e rimanere bloccate in quarantena a tempo indeterminato, hanno deciso di prendere la strada dei boschi e tentare di andare verso la Croazia o rimanere tra le foreste, in attesa che si allentino nei paesi europei le misure anti-Covid.
    Le preoccupazioni nutrite dalle diverse organizzazioni non governative e associazioni in tutti i contesti citati sono le medesime: i campi sono sovraffolati e non permettono di prevenire la diffusione del contagio, in molti centri i servizi igienici e i presidi sanitari sono insufficienti, in alcune realtà l’acqua non è potabile e fondamentalmente è impossibile mantenere le distanze. Le persone passano le giornate chiuse dentro strutture nella maggior parte dei casi fatiscenti, costrette a lunghe file per ricevere i pasti e sotto il controllo o della polizia e dell’esercito (come in Serbia e Grecia), che impediscono i tentativi di fuga dai campi, o delle imprese di sorveglianza private nei campi in Bosnia (campi gestiti da Iom, a differenza di Serbia e Grecia, dove sono in gestione governativa).
    Naturalmente, se già per la popolazione locale è difficile trovare mascherine usa e getta e guanti, per i migranti nei campi è pressochè impossibile, al punto che sia in Grecia che in Serbia, in alcuni dei centri i migranti hanno cominciato a cucire mascherine in stoffa, per la popolazione dei campi ma anche per la popolazione locale, supportati da alcune organizzazioni.
    In tutti i campi le organizzazioni che non si occupano di servizi primari, ma per esempio di interventi psico-sociali come Caritas, hanno dovuto sospendere o modificare le loro attività e instaurare una modalità di lavoro degli staff a rotazione, per preservare i propri operatori.

    Distanziamento impossibile
    Nonostante in Serbia e in Bosnia Erzegovina non siano stati ufficialmente accertati casi di persone positive al Covid19 tra i migranti nei centri, la stessa cosa non si può dire della Grecia, dove sono scoppiati almeno tre focolai, il primo a Ritsona, una ex base militare a 70 chilometri da Atene, che ospita oltre 3 mila persone, il secondo nel campo di Malakasa, dove è stato trovato un caso positivo tra gli oltre 1.600 residenti, il terzo nel sud della Grecia, a Kranidi, dove 150 su 497 persone di un ostello che ospita famiglie monogenitoriali sono risultate positive al test. In tutti i casi i campi sono stati posti in totale isolamento e quarantena per 14 giorni, e le persone non sono autorizzate a uscire dai loro container, stanze o tende. Per evitare che il fenomeno esploda soprattutto nei contesti come le isole, dove i campi sono sovraffolati e le condizioni di vita più miserevoli, il governo greco ha previsto lo spostamento di almeno 2.300 persone considerate più vulnerabili al virus sulla terraferma, in appartamenti, hotel e altri campi.
    In generale le reazioni dei migranti alle misure che sono state messe in atto sono state simili in tutti i luoghi. In primis vi è la sincera preoccupazione di ammalarsi nei campi; le persone sono consapevoli che igiene e misure di distanziamento sociale sono impossibili da tenere. Per fare un esempio, il Bira, un campo in Bosnia Erzegovina per uomini single e minori non accompagnati, che ha una capacità ufficiale di 1.500 persone, ne ospita più di 1.800 e nei container abitativi vivono non 6 persone, ma almeno il doppio. In luoghi così è impossibile fisicamente mettere in atto tutte le procedure necessarie a evitare il contagio.
    Altro punto che risulta particolarmente frustrante, soprattutto nei campi in Serbia e in Bosnia Erzegovina, è l’impossibilità di uscire fisicamente dai centri. Questo significa non poter esercitare nessuna libertà di movimento, non poter andare a comprare beni e cibo, magari non necessari per la sopravvivenza, ma di aiuto per resistere psicologicamente. Significa non poter andare a ritirare i soldi che i parenti mandano tramite Western Union e Money gram e ovviamente significa non poter tentare il game, il “gioco” di recarsi a piedi, da soli o guidati dai trafficanti, verso i confini, per cercare di valicarli.

    Gli interventi Caritas e Ipsia
    La frustrazione di rimanere bloccati a tempo indeterminato è molto alta; in molti dei campi sono scoppiate risse a volte anche molto violente, tra gli stessi migranti ma anche con le forze di polizia e di sicurezza preposte al controllo dei centri. Questi episodi, in Bosnia Erzegovina, sono avvenuti tra i minori non accompagnati del campo Bira, al Miral di Velika Kladuša, a Blažuj vicino a Sarajevo. Stesse dinamiche, con conseguente intervento pesante della security, a Krnja?a, Preševo e Adaševci in Serbia.
    Le organizzazioni impegnate nei centri per migranti potrebbero avere un importante ruolo di stress-relief (supporto in situazione di pressione psicologica) in un contesto di frustrazioni e violenze così diffuse, ma le organizzazioni che gestiscono i campi e i governi locali preferiscono una dimesione di chiusura quasi totale, senza capire che sarebbe importante prevenire la crescita di ulteriori tensioni.
    Caritas e Ipsia Acli, partner dei progetti lungo la rotta dei Balcani dal 2016, continuano – nella misura del possibile – le loro attività in Grecia, Serbia e Bosnia. Gli operatori locali sono portavoce e testimoni dei bisogni delle persone; anche se, a seguito dell’emergenza sanitaria, i ragazzi e le ragazze in Servizio civile all’estero hanno dovuto tornare in patria per non rimanere bloccati, e ciò ha tolto forze ed energie ai team locali, gli operatori sul terreno continuano il supporto alla popolazione migrante lungo la Rotta. Un piccolo apporto, in un mare di bisogni, ma il segno di un’attenzione e una prossimità che non devono essere cancellate dal virus.

    https://www.caritas.it/home_page/attivita_/00008790_Migranti_lungo_la_Rotta__quarantena_permanente.html

    #route_des_balkans #Balkans #Grèce #Croatie #campement #hébergement #camps #forêt #masques #distanciation_sociale #Grèce #Serbie #Bosnie #fermeture_des_frontières #frontières #coronavirus #covid-19 #Lipa #Bihac #OIM #IOM #Danish_Refugee_Council #Ritsona #Athènes #Malakasa #Kranidi #Bira #confinement #liberté_de_mouvement #Miral #Velika_Kladuša #Velika_Kladusa #Blažuj #Blazuj #Preševo #Adaševci #Krnja #Presevo #Adasevci

    ping @luciebacon

    • [Traduit par Chiara Lauvergnac, via Migreurop] 

      Migrants along the Route, permanent quarantine
      April 27, 2020
      Starting in March, as the coronavirus spread to Europe, some states located along the rear Balkan have implemented agreements that have affected not only the local population, but also and above all the migrant population living inside the transit and asylum seeker centers, set up and set up along the so-called Balkan route from 2016.
      After 2015, the year of the “refugee crisis”, which saw almost one million people arrive in the European Union (of which more than 850 thousand passed through Greece), starting from March 2016 the Balkan route was officially declared closed, on the basis of the controversial Turkish-European agreement, which basically provides that Turkey - in exchange for € 6 billion paid by the EU and an acceleration in negotiations related to entry into Europe - handles almost 4 million asylum seekers who we are in its territory.

      In fact, however, that agreement (actually a joint declaration between the parties involved) did not stop the flow of people on the move, but really slowed it down and made it more dangerous; it is estimated, in fact, that between 2016 and 2019 around 160 thousand people have passed through this migratory corridor.

      Red-hot borders

      The countries mainly affected by the presence of migrants in transit are Greece, Serbia and - starting from 2018 - Bosnia and Herzegovina, that became the bottleneck in the north-western area before entering Croatia and from there the Shengen countries, the destination which people aspire to, who are mainly from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran and Iraq.

      Shortly before the pandemic took off globally, starting from the end of February, the Balkan Route had returned to the main newspapers and news sites, because Turkish President Recep Tayyp Erdogan announced he had opened the borders to migrants willing to reach Europe. What seemed only a threat became reality; within a few days at least 10,000 people reached the land border between Turkey and Greece and tried to push through the security cordons, finding a violent response, also with the support of the police and military personnel from other EU countries.
      The incandescent situation on the border, which showed a scenario similar to that of 2015, with thousands of people in transit along the route, however, was abruptly interrupted with the arrival of the virus and the measures of closure of movement and the self-isolation put into practice by almost all states of the world.
      The states located along the Balkan route have not only imposed restrictive measures on the local population, but have closed the migrant population inside the camps, deploying special forces to control their perimeters: no new person enters and no one excludes, in a permanent quarantine.
      They take the road in the woods

      In Greece there are an estimated 118,000 refugees and asylum seekers; about 20 thousand inhabitants in the 30 camps located on the continent, many residents in apartments or shelters and over 38 thousand are blocked in the official and informal camps on the islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos and Kos.
      In Serbia there are over 8,500 asylum seekers and migrants distributed in the 17 government-run centers within the country. During the month of March the police and army brought the people who lived in the squat on the outskirts of Belgrade and Šid into the camps, which are now overcrowded.
      Finally, it is estimated that in Bosnia and Herzegovina there are about 5,500 people housed in 9 camps for reception, but that at least 2,000 live sleeping in abandoned buildings and factories or in makeshift tents and camps in the woods along the borders with Croatia. On April 17, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina decided that every foreigner who does not have a valid identity document and a residence address registered at the foreign office of the municipality of competence, will be obligatorily taken to the reception centers, where he must reside without possibility to go out. For this reason, work has already started in the past weeks, in Lipa, in the canton of Una Sana, in the Bihac area, to set up a new temporary transit centre. The camp, consisting of large tents with bunk beds, sanitary containers and chemical toilets, was fortuitously desired by the municipality of Bihac to move the thousands of people who wander through streets and ruined buildings without food, running water, electricity and clothes. Transportation of migrants, escorted by local police, to the new centre managed by the the World Organization for Migrants and the Danish Refugee Council began peacefully from the morning of April 21. At the same time, dozens of people who do not want to live in the centres and remain stuck in quarantine indefinitely, have decided to take the road through the woods and try to go to Croatia or stay in the forests, waiting for anti-Covid measures to loosen in the various countries.
      The concerns raised by the various non-governmental organizations and associations in all the contexts mentioned are the same: thecamps are overcrowded and do not allow to prevent the spread of the infection, in many centers the toilets and health facilities are insufficient, in some situations the water is not drinkable and basically it is impossible to keep your distance. People spend their days locked in structures in most cases dilapidated, forced to wait in long lines to receive meals and under the control of the police and the army (as in Serbia and Greece), which prevent attempts to flee the camps, or private surveillance companies in the camps in Bosnia ( managed by IOM, unlike Serbia and Greece, where they are under government management).
      Of course, if it is already difficult for the local population to find disposable masks and gloves, for migrants in the camps it is almost impossible, to the point that both in Greece and Serbia, in some of the centers the migrants have begun to sew masks in cloth , for the population of the campss but also for the local population, supported by some organizations.
      In all camps, organizations that do not deal with primary services, but for example with psycho-social interventions such as IPSIA/Caritas, have had to suspend or modify their activities and establish a rotating staff working mode, to preserve their operators.
      Impossible distancing

      Although cases of positive Covid19 people among migrants in the centers have not been officially recognized in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the same cannot be said of Greece, where at least three outbreaks have erupted, the first in Ritsona, a former military base 70 kilometers from Athens, which houses over 3,000 people, the second in the Malakasa camp, where a positive case was found among the more than 1,600 residents, the third in southern Greece, in Kranidi, where 150 out of 497 people from a hostel hosting single parent families tested positive. In all cases the camps were placed in total isolation and quarantined for 14 days, and people are not allowed to leave their containers, rooms or tents. To prevent the phenomenon from exploding especially in contexts such as the islands, where the camps are overcrowded and the living conditions most miserable, the Greek government has disposed the movement of at least 2,300 people considered most vulnerable to the virus on the mainland, in apartments, hotels and other camps.
      In general, the reactions of migrants to the measures that have been put in place have been similar in all places. First of all, there is the sincere concern of getting sick in the camps; people are aware that hygiene and social distancing measures are impossible to maintain. For example, the Bira, a camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina for single men and unaccompanied minors, which has an official capacity of 1,500 people, is home to more than 1,800 and not just 6 people live in one container, but at least twice as many. In places like this it is physically impossible to put in place all the necessary procedures to avoid contagion.
      Another point that is particularly frustrating, especially in the camps in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, is the impossibility of physically leaving the centers. This means not being able to exercise any freedom of movement, not being able to go and buy goods and food, perhaps not necessary for survival, but of help to resist psychologically. It means not being able to go and collect the money that relatives send via Western Union and Money gram and obviously means not being able to try the game, the “game” to go on foot, alone or guided by traffickers, to the borders, to try to cross them.
      .
      The Caritas and Ipsia interventions

      The frustration of getting stuck indefinitely is very high; in many of the camps brawls sometimes even very violent broke out, among the migrants themselves but also with the police and security forces in charge of the control of the centers. These incidents in Bosnia and Herzegovina occurred among unaccompanied minors from the Bira camp, in Velika Kladuša’s Miral, in Blažuj near Sarajevo. Same dynamics, with consequent heavy security intervention, in Krnja? A, Preševo ​​and Adaševci in Serbia.
      Organizations engaged in migrant centers may have an important stress-relief role (support in situations of psychological pressure) in a context of such widespread frustrations and violence, but the organizations that manage the camps and local governments prefer an almost closed closure total, without understanding that it would be important to prevent the growth of further tensions.
      Caritas and Ipsia Acli, partners of projects along the Balkan route since 2016, continue - as far as possible - their activities in Greece, Serbia and Bosnia. Local operators are spokespersons and witnesses to people’s needs; even though, following the health emergency, the young men and women in the Civil Service abroad had to return to their homeland in order not to get stuck, and this took away local forces and energies. The operators on the ground continue to support the migrant population along the Route. A small contribution, in a sea of ​​needs, but the sign of attention and proximity that must not be erased by the virus.

      Silvia Maraone

      Caritas Italiana - Migranti lungo la Rotta, quarantena permanente

  • AYS Daily Digest 20/04/20:

    GREECE
    While Luxemburg and Germany are praising themselves for having taken in about 60 unaccompanied minors from the overcrowded camps on the islands, approximately 331 children are currently in protective custody in police stations.

    In November 2019, Greece was ordered to release two children from protective custody and transfer them to suitable accommodation by the European Court of Human Rights.
    “The two children, represented by Refugee Support Aegean (RSA), were detained in the cell of a police station in Attica for more than ten days without access to outdoor spaces and to their belongings. Detention conditions in Greek police stations are widely acknowledged as inhuman and degrading, including by the ECtHR’s rulings in H.A. and Sh.D. earlier this year.“

    Restrictions of free movement for residents of Reception and Identification Centres and Hosting Structures will be extended until May 10th, the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum announced on Facebook.
    A woman from Somalia that is six months pregnant has tested positive for Coronavirus. She lives in an IOM run reception facility in Kranidi, Peloponnese, which is installed in a hotel. Allegedly, she is asymptomatic and in quarantine.

    https://medium.com/are-you-syrious/ays-daily-digest-20-04-20-first-trial-on-crimes-against-humanity-against-for

    #Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Grèce #Camp #Transfert #Mineursnonaccompagnés #Stationdepolice #Détention #Kranidi #Hôtel #Peloponnese

  • ACTUALITES : Coronavirus en Grèce : quarantaine décrétée dans un hôtel hébergeant 150 migrants contaminés
    Un hôtel hébergeant 470 demandeurs d’asile dans le sud de la Grèce a été placé en quarantaine après que 150 personnes ont été testées positives au coronavirus.

    La situation sanitaire dans un hôtel de Kranidi dans le Péloponnèse, dans le sud de la Grèce, où 470 demandeurs d’asile sont hébergés, inquiète les autorités.

    Sur l’ensemble des résidents, 150 ont en effet été testés positifs au coronavirus selon Iosif Mertiris, le maire adjoint de la ville d’Ermionida, dont dépend le village de Kranidi.

    « La police est stationnée devant l’hôtel et personne n’est autorisé à sortir », a déclaré le maire adjoint à la télévision publique ERT.

    Lundi 20 avril, l’établissement avait été désinfecté et les résidents soumis à des tests après qu’une Somalienne enceinte eût été détectée atteinte du Covid-19 lors d’examens effectués à l’hôpital.

    L’organisation internationale des migrations (OIM), qui gère la structure, a affirmé que « des interprètes, des psychologues, des travailleurs sociaux et des conseillers juridiques sont en contact constant avec les bénéficiaires pour les aider dans cette situation difficile ».

    La Somalienne de 28 ans a été placée « à l’isolement dans sa chambre » et tout l’hôtel a été mis en quarantaine, selon le ministère de l’Immigration.

    « Il n’y a aucune raison de paniquer »
    Un employé de l’hôtel avait aussi été testé positif mais n’était pas venu travailler depuis 12 jours dans l’établissement, précise encore le ministère.

    Selon le maire de la commune, Yannis Giorgopoulos, interrogé par la chaîne de télévision ANT1, « il existe une grande inquiétude (…) mais la structure se trouve à 4-5 km des villages de Kranidi et Porto Hell, et donc assez isolée ».

    Le ministre adjoint de la protection civile, Nikos Hardalias, s’est, lui, voulu rassurant. « Il n’y a aucune raison de paniquer, tout ce qui doit être fait sera fait en suivant les réglementations. »

    Deux autres camps sur le continent, dans la région de l’Attique, ont déjà été placés en quarantaine après l’apparition de plusieurs cas de coronavirus.

    La Grèce compte 116 morts du Covid-19, et 61 personnes actuellement en soins intensifs.

    #Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Grèce #Kranidi #Athènes #Hotel #quarantaine

    https://diasporaenligne.net/actualites-coronavirus-en-grece-quarantaine-decretee-dans-un-hotel-

  • ATHENES, 21 avril (Reuters) - Cent cinquante migrants, hébergés dans un hôtel dans le sud de la Grèce, ont été diagnostiqués positifs au nouveau coronavirus mardi, quelques heures après l’annonce d’un plan de levée du confinement en vigueur dans le pays pour freiner la propagation du virus.

    L’hôtel, placé en isolement depuis le 16 avril, est le troisième établissement de réfugiés confiné après ceux de Ritsona et Malakasa, au début du mois.

    Des tests de contamination ont été menés dans cet hôtel, qui abrite 470 réfugiés, après qu’une femme enceinte a été diagnostiquée porteuse du virus la semaine dernière, selon le ministère de l’Immigration.

    Les résultats montrent que 150 personnes ont été contaminées mais aucune n’a développé les symptômes du COVID-19, a déclaré le ministre adjoint de la Protection civile, Nikos Chardalias, ajoutant qu’il n’y avait « aucune raison de paniquer ».

    La Grèce a fait état à ce stade de 2.245 contaminations au coronavirus et de 116 morts dans l’ensemble du pays. Mardi, le porte-parole du gouvernement, Stelios Petsas, a déclaré à la presse qu’Athènes travaillait sur un plan de déconfinement progressif, qui prévoit notamment la reprise des services judiciaires à partir du 27 avril. (Lefteris Papadimas et Renee Maltezou ; version française Claude Chendjou, édité par Jean-Michel Bélot)

    https://investir.lesechos.fr/marches/actualites/un-troisieme-camp-de-refugies-en-grece-frappe-par-le-coronavirus-1

    #Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Grèce #Kranidi #Athènes #Hotel #quarantaine

  • Le coronavirus frappe une auberge pour migrants alors que la Grèce prévoit de faciliter le verrouillage
    ATHÈNES (Reuters) – Des dizaines de migrants, dont de nombreuses familles monoparentales, hébergés dans une auberge de jeunesse du sud de la Grèce ont été testés positifs pour le coronavirus mardi alors que le gouvernement se préparait à un assouplissement progressif d’un large blocage à partir du 27 avril.

    Le coronavirus frappe une auberge pour migrants alors que la Grèce prévoit de faciliter le verrouillage
    Les migrants sont représentés sur les balcons d’un hôtel utilisé comme refuge pour réfugiés, après que les autorités ont trouvé plusieurs cas du nouveau coronavirus et mis la zone en quarantaine, à la suite de l’apparition de la maladie à coronavirus (COVID-19), à Kranidi, Grèce le 21 avril , 2020. REUTERS / Costas Baltas

    Comparé à l’Italie, à l’Espagne, à la France et à la Grande-Bretagne, le bilan du coronavirus en Grèce est faible, mais l’inquiétude augmente au sujet de sa population migrante.

    L’auberge est mise en quarantaine depuis le 16 avril, le troisième établissement pour migrants du pays touché par le virus.

    Les 497 personnes qui y vivent et y travaillent ont été testées après qu’une femme enceinte a été testée positive la semaine dernière, a déclaré le ministre des Migrations. Parmi les migrants, principalement originaires d’Afrique, se trouvent de nombreux enfants, ont indiqué des responsables.

    Mardi, les résultats des tests ont montré que 150 personnes avaient été infectées, bien qu’aucune n’ait développé de symptômes de COVID-19, la maladie causée par le coronavirus, a déclaré le ministre adjoint de la Protection civile, Nikos Hardalias.

    "Il n’y a aucune raison de paniquer", a déclaré Hardalias aux journalistes à l’extérieur de l’établissement. « Les mesures (que nous avons prises) sont suffisantes pour contenir la propagation du virus. »

    Sotiris Tsiodras, le principal conseiller scientifique du gouvernement sur le virus, a déclaré que le pays avait vérifié 156 autres cas positifs de COVID-19 mardi, 150 concernant l’auberge de jeunesse de la petite ville de Kranidi, à environ 170 km (105 miles) au sud d’Athènes.

    Un organisme des Nations Unies, l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM), qui gérait l’installation, a déclaré que de nombreuses personnes dans le complexe venaient du Cameroun et de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC). La majorité d’entre eux étaient des parents célibataires, selon le rapport.

    « Jusqu’à présent, nous n’avons détecté aucun patient symptomatique pouvant nécessiter des soins supplémentaires », a déclaré Tsiodras. Il a indiqué qu’une clinique de terrain était en cours de création dans la région et que le centre médical régional serait renforcé.

    « Il est très important que ces personnes reçoivent un soutien et une assistance continus », a déclaré Gianluca Rocco, chef de mission de l’OIM en Grèce.

    À Athènes, Tsiodras a déclaré que le facteur « R0 » (R-néant), un indicateur clé de la façon dont un virus peut se multiplier, était « significativement » inférieur à 1 en Grèce, ce qui signifie qu’en moyenne, moins d’une personne pouvait être infectée par une personne qui est déjà positive pour COVID-19.

    "Cela nous donne une marge de manœuvre pour assouplir les mesures, ce qui sera fait progressivement et avec soin", a-t-il déclaré.

    La Grèce, qui a adopté des mesures de verrouillage pour tenter de ralentir la propagation du nouveau coronavirus le 23 mars, a enregistré 2401 infections depuis que son premier cas est apparu fin février. Le bilan est de 121 morts.

    Le porte-parole du gouvernement, Stelios Petsas, a déclaré aux journalistes que le cabinet travaillait sur un plan de transition pour faciliter progressivement le verrouillage. Il a déclaré que les services judiciaires commenceraient à reprendre le lundi 27 avril, date à laquelle le verrouillage devrait prendre fin.

    Petsas a déclaré que la semaine prochaine, le Premier ministre Kyriakos Mitsotakis présenterait le plan de transition de la Grèce, qui devrait commencer par lever les restrictions pour les groupes et les entreprises à faible risque.

    Reportage de Lefteris Papadimas et Renee Maltezou ; rapports supplémentaires de Michele Kambas ; édité par Barbara Lewis, Nick Macfie et William Maclean

    https://news-24.fr/le-coronavirus-frappe-une-auberge-pour-migrants-alors-que-la-grece-prevoit-d

    #Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Grèce #Kranidi #Athènes #Hotel #quarantaine

  • Coronavirus : une ville accueillant des migrants mise en quarantaine en Grèce

    Les autorités grecques ont mis en quarantaine mardi une ville proche d’un hôtel du Péloponnèse (sud) qui héberge des migrants dont 148 ont été testés positifs au nouveau coronavirus.

    148 des 470 migrants qui étaient hébergés dans cet hôtel de bord de mer, ainsi que deux membres du personnel, ont été testés positifs, mais sont asymptomatiques, a fait savoir Nikos Hardalias, ministre adjoint à la protection civile.

    A cinq kilomètres de l’hôtel, la ville de Kranidi, à 166 kilomètres au sud-ouest d’Athènes, est placée en quarantaine pendant deux semaines et soumise à un couvre-feu la nuit, a annoncé mardi M. Hardalias après une réunion convoquée en urgence avec des responsables locaux.

    « Beaucoup d’enfants » figurent parmi les demandeurs d’asile qui sont hébergés dans l’hôtel, a-t-il dit.

    Ils sont pour la plupart originaires d’Afrique sub-saharienne, selon le ministère des migrations. Une migrante somalienne de 28 ans, enceinte, a été la première testée positive au Covid-19.

    Les autorités avaient déjà confiné l’hôtel la semaine dernière, mais les résidents s’étaient tout de même rendus dans les magasins et banques locales, a indiqué le maire Yannis Georgopoulos à la chaîne de télévision publique ERT.

    « Tous ceux qui ont été en contact (avec les demandeurs d’asile) seront testés », a-t-il dit.

    L’Organisation internationale pour les Migrations (OIM) en charge de la résidence a affirmé que « des interprètes, des psychologues, des travailleurs sociaux et des conseillers juridiques sont en contact constant avec les bénéficiaires pour les aider dans cette situation difficile ».

    Un employé de l’hôtel avait aussi été testé positif mais n’est pas venu travailler depuis 12 jours dans l’établissement, précise également le ministère.

    Environ 100.000 migrants sont actuellement bloqués en Grèce depuis que les autres pays européens leur ont fermé leurs frontières en 2016.

    Le gouvernement a annoncé la semaine dernière son intention de transférer vers le continent des demandeurs d’asile vulnérables vivant dans les camps surpeuplés des îles.

    Deux camps sur le continent, dans la région de l’Attique, ont enregistré plusieurs cas de coronavirus.

    Le ministère de l’immigration a décidé de prolonger jusqu’au 10 mai le confinement imposé à tous les camps en Grèce.

    La Grèce compte 116 morts du coronavirus alors que 61 personnes se trouvent actuellement en soins intensifs.

    https://www.lepoint.fr/monde/coronavirus-un-hotel-accueillant-des-migrants-mis-en-quarantaine-en-grece-21

    #Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Grèce #Péloponnèse #Hotel #Quarantaine #Ville #Kranidi #Couvre-feu #Quarantaine #Confinement

  • Coronavirus hits migrant hostel as Greece plans to ease lockdown

    ATHENS (Reuters) - Dozens of migrants, including many single-parent families, accomodated at a hostel in southern Greece tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday as the government prepared for a gradual easing of a broad lockdown from April 27.

    Compared with Italy, Spain, France and Britain, Greece’s toll from the coronavirus is low, but concern is mounting over its migrant population.

    The hostel has been quarantined since April 16, the third migrant facility in the country to be hit by the virus.

    The 497 people who live and work there were tested after a pregnant woman tested positive last week, the migration minister said. Among the migrants, mainly from Africa, are many children, officials said.

    On Tuesday, test results showed that 150 people had been infected, although none had developed any symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said.

    “There is no reason for panic,” Hardalias told reporters outside the facility. “The measures (we have taken) are adequate to contain the spread of the virus.”

    Sotiris Tsiodras, the government’s chief scientific adviser on the virus, said the country verified 156 more COVID-19 positive cases on Tuesday, 150 focused on the hostel in the small town of Kranidi, some 170 km (105 miles) south of Athens.

    A U.N. body, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which managed the facility, said many people at the complex were from Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The majority of them were single parents, it said.

    “Until now we have not detected any symptomatic patients who may require further care,” Tsiodras said. He said a field clinic was being created in the area and the regional medical centre would be reinforced.

    “It is very important for these people to receive continued support and assistance,” said Gianluca Rocco, IOM Chief of Mission in Greece.

    In Athens, Tsiodras said that the ‘R0’ (R-naught) factor, a key gauge of how a virus can multiply, was “significantly” below 1 in Greece, meaning that, on average, less than 1 person could be infected from a person who is already COVID-19 positive.

    “That gives us some room to relax the measures, which will be done gradually and carefully,” he said.

    Greece, which adopted lockdown measures to try to slow the spread of the new coronavirus on March 23, has registered 2,401 infections since its first case surfaced in late February. The death toll is 121.

    Government spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters the cabinet was working on a transition plan to gradually ease the lockdown. He said that judicial services would start to resume on Monday, April 27, when the lockdown is scheduled to end.

    Petsas said that next week Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis would lay out Greece’s transition plan, likely to begin by lifting restrictions for lower-risk groups and business.

    https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-greece/coronavirus-hits-migrant-hostel-as-greece-plans-to-ease-lockdown-idUKKCN

    #Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Grèce #Kranidi #Hotel #quarantaine