#no_name_kitchen

  • #No_Name_Kitchen is leaving the #Border_Violence_Monitoring_Network

    We are No Name Kitchen, a movement created by activists and people on the move in Serbia at the beginning of 2017. The first time we heard about a pushback we didn’t even know what it meant, but everybody talked about it all day long. Months later, we started a joint initiative with other groups working in Northern Serbia to put together in a common database all the testimonies of border violence that we were collecting. The goal was to achieve a unified methodology that would bring robustness to our figures, strengthen our capacity to raise awareness and advocate for a change. We called it the Border Violence Monitoring project (later on, BVMN).

    More than five years later, that little baby has grown: we have compiled more than 1,600 violence reports, developed many tools, reached high-level policymakers and media, and made a lot of good noise. Still, we have not put an end to border violence, that’s true, but we know it will happen sooner or later.

    We have loved this project right from the very beginning, but the project´s management seems to have taken a particular direction, which, for us, is no longer in line with NNK´s values of respect, fairness and transparency, for the reasons described below:
    1 – Undervaluation of fieldwork:

    NNK has produced almost 50% of the total reports published in BVMN´s history, and we are proud to have been the sap of this tree. It is not an easy task: to monitor violence at the borders you need an attitude, a plan and a method, but above all, you need to be at the borders. For this obvious reason, the partners´ fieldwork is the backbone of this project. There is nothing more essential than the activists who identify the abuses, develop trust with those who suffer the violence, listen to the stories and share the reports.

    Besides this, and for years, the communication managed by the BVMN coordination staff has been oriented to present BVMN as an organization in itself (click for examples), confusing activists, media, politicians and donors alike, who cannot understand that it is not BVMN, but field partners, such as NNK, Collective Aid or Mobile Info Team, who make that work.

    2 – Management of resources:

    The proposals that are regularly submitted by the BVMN´s fundraising staff to potential donors describe how BVMN will use the funds to collect testimonies, systematize reports and advocate for a change in policy making. The reality, instead, is that up to 85% of the resources are not allocated to field monitoring activities, but rather to BVMN off-field expenses, mainly connected to salaries.

    In this regard, NNK believes that this financial approach, while the rest of the partners have to raise funds on their own, where field partners can´t present themselves as BVMN, is unbalanced and undermines the identity of the network.

    Furthermore, NNK and other partners have shared multiple concerns regarding the lack of access to BVMN´s accountability and the irregular processes carried out to select new staff in the past, or to raise salaries, more recently, skipping the partners´ Assembly to make use of BVMN’s resources with low transparency.

    Last, a very illustrative example of the unfairness we refer to: NNK has had surrealistic conversations with donors who have said: “Sorry, but we can´t fund your activities because we are already funding an organization called BVMN to collect reports in those places where you want to do so”, referring to sites where NNK has been the only one to collect reports for years.
    3 – Lack of mutual care:

    Since the end of 2020 NNK has received multiple testimonies of colleagues within the network who claim to have suffered different forms of mistreatment and lack of respect while developing BVMN-related activities. Taking a look at all the stories together, we identified three severe problems: first, there are some people putting strong pressure on their workmates. Second, most people are afraid to talk, recognizing a culture of fear, where the same people who fight every day to denounce other kinds of violence suffered by the people on the move, keep silent about the practices they themselves suffer; and last, all the testimonies point at the same people.

    The network was created to take care of the people on the move, but to manage to do this, we first need to take care of ourselves. There is no way we can accept certain behaviors, and today we request to put an end to this, because, we, Kitcheners, are activists, we are lionesses: if somebody touches one of us, they touch us all.

    For this reason, NNK decides to leave the network, revealing the past to take care of our future.

    Disclaimer: NNK will continue to collect testimonies, to report and to denounce without any break, but we will do it differently, more creative, more audiovisual, more partners, making an special effort to reach that part of the European civil society who ignores the neverending drama at the borders, and keeping our priority number one: supporting the people on the move on their right to raise their voices.

    https://www.nonamekitchen.org/thats-not-all-folks-no-name-kitchen-important-news
    #BVNM #Route_des_Balkans #violence #Balkans #migrations #asile #réfugiés

  • La police croate renvoie de plus en plus de migrants en #Serbie

    4 avril 2019 – 17h30 : La police croate déporte de plus en plus de migrants en Serbie, y compris des personnes qui n’ont jamais transité par ce pays. Il s’agit donc de #déportations illégales. Des migrants sont également renvoyés de Hongrie. La police serbe tolère ces « retours » infondés, dénoncent plusieurs organisations de soutien aux migrants au réfugiés, notamment les ONG croates Are you Syrious, Centar za mirovne studije et l’Initiative Dobrodošli.

    https://www.courrierdesbalkans.fr/fil-info-refugies

    #route_des_balkans #Balkans #renvois #expulsions #push-back #refoulement #Croatie #migrations #asile #réfugiés #frontières


    • https://twitter.com/APC_CZA/status/1120619893068636160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E11

      Commentaire en anglais :

      the Asylum Protection Centre published photos and information that more than 50 people were violently pushed back by the Croatian police back to Serbia, near Šid. They were heavily beaten with police bats on legs and back. The people describe being beaten, robbed of their belongings, having their phones destroyed, all between April 19 and 22.

      https://medium.com/are-you-syrious/ays-daily-digest-23-4-19-weekend-of-violent-push-backs-from-croatia-and-bosn

    • The situation in #Šid is worsening - many people are arriving to Serbia and trying to cross the border, while at the same time weather conditions are getting worse, with temperatures getting lower and lower. The police began emptying the streets and spaces used by refugees for temporary accommodation and taking people into camps at the border, which are overcrowded and in very poor conditions. On Friday the police cleared the streets in Šid (https://www.facebook.com/NoNameKitchenBelgrade/videos/973792239674633) and several makeshift lodgings in the city, including a squatted area where 30 minors were living. They took people into a police station and later to a camp. The police action in the weekend involved more than 150 people in Šid and the surrounding area. Moreover, a reception center in Preševo, in which people will be accommodated during the winter, has reopened (http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/125/drustvo/3754805/prihvatni-centar-u-presevu-ponovo-otvoren.html).

      Reçu via Inicijativa dobrodosli, mail du 04.11.2019.

      –-----

      In the early hours of Friday, 22nd November 2019 a large-scale police eviction took place in Šid, Serbia. Some might recall the illegal burning of a migrant encampment close to the border of October 20th, among many others. Sweeping all squats and unofficial settlements, the recent operation aimed to remove all undocumented people in transit from the streets of Šid. The action targeted approximately 150 people in and around Šid. The largest eviction of people was carried out at the settlement in the former Grafosrem industrial facility, but was accompanied by the clearance of multiple other smaller squats throughout the city. Authorized by municipality of Šid and supported by regional police, as well as units from Sremska Mitrovica and Belgrade, the apprehensions started at 06:00 am.

      Outwardly justified as a measure to meet the security concerns of the local population, the operation is clearly part of a larger scheme of internal displacement being realized throughout Serbia during the past week. No Name Kitchen strongly condemn the forced removal of systemically marginalised communities, and the ruthlessness used during these operations.

      Concerning the eviction of the Grafosrem squat, there was no official notice given or information on a relocation operation. While around 50 officers conducted the physical apprehension of the ca. 110 people living there, the deputy mayor Zoran Semenović was also in attendance, declaring the abandoned factory site to be his property, loudly insulting NNK volunteers that were present and – together with police - removing these witnesses from the area.

      The removal of the inhabitants was followed by the “cleansing” of the grounds - making use of a bulldozer, two forklift trucks, and around 30 workers of the municipality, along with multiple transport vehicles. Under the eyes of the media present, the entirety of the people’s belongings such as cell phones, power banks, clothing, electricity supply, personal money, 40 tents, over 200 blankets and sleeping bags were confiscated by city workers. The flattening of the Grafosrem surroundings lasted until nightfall.

      No information on the confiscated possessions was given to NNK, despite requests by volunteers. It is likely these items - provided by NNK and charitable donations from across the region - were destroyed by the authorities, when the hundred plus people were forcibly removed from the site. Similar actions were carried out at various other smaller squat settlements (this time only by police authorities). Persons apprehended did not receive preliminary eviction notices and were conveyed to the local police station to give their information before being removed to reception camps, such as Kikinda and Pirot. Minors were reported to have been taken to Sjenica or housing around Belgrade.

      In the days after the operation, volunteers in Šid have been under constant scrutiny. Private people have been observed monitoring the volunteer’s house and filming use of the organisations vehicle. Even the mayor himself began to harass volunteers with his car when they were documenting the remains of the settlements.

      Several key questions arise following Fridays events. Do fundamental rights still exist for Serbia’s transit population? What awaits these people in the camps across the country to which they have been forcibly removed? And locally, did Zoran Semenović act in an official capacity when claiming to be the owner of Grafosrem? What will happen to the confiscated possesions of the people expelled in this operation? Will they be returned or wilfully destroyed?

      This goes connected with this new agreement: “the European Union signed an agreement with Serbia on border management cooperation between Serbia and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex)”.

      Text by: Davy Jones

      We’re sorry for the delay in reporting about the situation, but the volunteers there are overwhelmed.
      It would be great if someone could manage to go there and take sleeping bags, tents and other materials.

      https://www.facebook.com/NoNameKitchenBelgrade/videos/973792239674633

    • ENS MOVEM - Semana del 20 al 26 de enero de 2020

      Through short audio recordings, independent volunteers and volunteers working for small organizations in Greece and some of the EU’s external borders report weekly on their daily work and the dire conditions in which refugees and migrants are living. The audios are in Spanish and, time permitting, subtitles are also provided in Serbo-Croatian and English. When not, the original Spanish transcription is edited to ensure, as far as possible, that an accurate machine translation into English helps you follow these updates.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxWmB5gT5Dk&feature=youtu.be


      #audio #témoignage #No_name_kitchen

      #Sid #Šid #Velika_Kladusa
      –-> Mais aussi #Patras

    • News from Šid :

      Saturday morning, when NNK volunteers came to the Squat as part of their daily routine in the town of Šid, police was already present - together with the owner of the property and a bunch of workers who were supposed to cut down bushes surrounding the Squat.

      However, some of them - together with police - started to set tents on fire that they found in the bushes, collected people’s belongings on a pile and set it on fire as well, while other workers tried to steal items that they deemed valuable. When the volunteers tried to put off the fire and prevent the workers from stealing more stuff, things got more violent. Police pushed and grabbed the volunteers, and one of the workers got particularly aggressive and even started hitting them. Before they finally left, they also destroyed a tire of the NNK van.

      From their own car was hanging a black flag with a skull symbol, and one of the workers was wearing a “traditional” looking hat. Later we found out that he was not a pirate fan with a penchant for Serbian folklore, but according to neighbours and the clothes that the man was wearing, it might be a supporter of the far-right Chetnik movement. (The Chetniks originated in the Second World War with the aim of creating an ethnically homogenous Serbia, and were responsible for the killings of approximately 50.000 Muslims and Croats.)


      https://www.facebook.com/309778972753727/posts/903844243347194

    • Témoignage #audio d’un volontaire de No name kitchen depuis #Šid

      Through short audio recordings, independent volunteers and volunteers working for small organizations in some sites of the EU’s external and internal borders report weekly on their daily work and the dire conditions in which refugees and migrants are living. The audios are in Spanish and subtitles are also provided in Serbo-Croatian and English.
      The objective of this project is to help give visibility to what is (still) happening at our borders, providing weekly updates of the situation. Here you will find this week’s audio-video, as well as all the previous ones. Thank you for helping us spread the word!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL9fLNSTtrM&feature=youtu.be

      #campement #témoignage #Sid

      –—

      Dans cet audio, il y a aussi d’autres témoignages, notamment depuis #Patras et #Lesbos, en #Grèce