#réfugiés_somaliens

Stanze – di Gianluca e Massimiliano De Serio – Videoinstallazione – Italia 2010

https://viedifuga.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Stanze-300x168.png

Il diritto d’asilo calpestato, poesia civile sulle tracce delle “catene poetiche” della tradizione orale somala. E i muri, e le vicende, dell’ex caserma La Marmora di via Asti, a Torino, autentica «centrifuga» simbolica della storia d’Italia.

«Quanto è sconnessa la terra sotto i miei piedi,/ quanto è vasta la sabbia,/ andavo avanti sballottato e dappertutto le dune si moltiplicavano».

«Mi hanno preso le impronte, non sono più come i miei coetanei./ Mi hanno reso povero in tutto, sono senza prospettiva di vita qui in via Asti./ Chi ci ha respinto ci ha fatto restare sul marciapiede in mezzo a una strada, ci ha relegato a dormire lungo i muri./ Ci obbligano a tornare indietro,/ non possono capire che il trattato di Dublino è il colonialismo: a chi possiamo denunciarlo?».

In Stanze si respira la vertigine deserto, si intuisce la fatica del viaggio. Si ascolta una madre che teme per il figlio emigrato. Si sente sotto i piedi la lastra nera del mare. Si impara che cosa sia il bisogno di fuggire da una terra invivibile, ma anche la disillusione per essere finiti in un Paese diverso da come lo si sognava. Si diventa testimoni della miseria e dell’indifferenza vissuti in Italia. E si è inchiodati alla denuncia: «Gli italiani non hanno mantenuto la promessa fatta», quella di un’accoglienza che dia un minimo di sostanza al diritto d’asilo concesso sulla carta.

Nato come videoinstallazione, Stanze è stato girato con un gruppo di giovani rifugiati somali che sono stati “ospiti” degli spogli locali dell’ex caserma La Marmora di via Asti, a Torino. Le riprese, senza luce artificiale, si sono svolte in un’unica giornata ma la preparazione è durata mesi, in collaborazione con la mediatrice culturale e scrittrice Suad Omar. In questo «film di parola e non di azione» (è la definizione dei fratelli De Serio) gli attori, a turno, narrano le loro storie per circa un’ora, fermi davanti alla camera da presa, in versi somali con sottotitoli in italiano.

La forma recupera e riattualizza il genere della “catena poetica” (una serie di liriche collegate fra loro, strumento di dibattito pubblico e politico nella tradizione orale della Somalia). Mentre, nei contenuti, la cronaca e la testimonianza si fanno poesia civile, con un’asprezza senza tempo che ricorda a tratti i salmi più scabri e le denunce più dure dei profeti dell’Antico Testamento.

Una parte dei testi proposti dal gruppo di giovani rifugiati non si limitano alla situazione del diritto d’asilo ma “interpretano” anche la storia dell’ex caserma La Marmora, decifrando in quelle mura «una vera e propria centrifuga della storia italiana», come ricorda l’associazione di “mutuo soccorso cinematografico” Il Piccolo Cinema di Torino: «Fondata durante il primo periodo coloniale italiano nel corno d’Africa, la caserma è poi diventata sede, durante il fascismo, della Guardia nazionale repubblicana e vi si sono consumate torture e fucilazioni dei partigiani prigionieri». Da qui la ripresa in Stanze (stanze come strofe poetiche, stanze di mattoni) di alcuni stralci degli atti del processo che, nel 1946, vide alla sbarra alcuni fascisti che “lavorarono” in via Asti. Ancora Il Piccolo Cinema: «Nel film gli ex abitanti della caserma, attraverso un percorso di sdoppiamento storico ed esistenziale, si fanno carico della nostra stessa storia e delle sue mancanze».

Prodotto per la prima edizione del “Premio Italia Arte Contemporanea” del Maxxi di Roma, Stanze ha ottenuto la menzione speciale della giuria «per l’uso innovativo del linguaggio filmico nel rappresentare la condizione umana di sofferenza e di oppressione che attraversa la nostra storia».

Alcune scene e una presentazione del video da parte di Gianluca e Massimiliano De Serio sono presenti su You Tube: ▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvWW0Ui7Nr0

Il sito Internet dei fratelli De Serio è: www.gmdeserio.com
▻https://viedifuga.org/stanze

Intervista a Gianluca e Massimiliano De Serio - Quella stanza fuori dall’Africa

Quella stanza fuori dall’Africa Teresa Macri ROMA Incontro con i gemelli De Serio, menzione speciale della giuria per il Premio Italia Arte Contemporanea al Maxxi. «Abbiamo girato un film-catena poetica che recupera la tradizione orale somala, prima dell’avvento della scrittura. Nel nostro caso, la narrazione orchestrata dalla poetessa Suad Omar è declinata da alcuni rifugiati politici che interpretano le loro storie di esiliati» Gianluca e Massimiliano De Serio con il mediometraggio Stanze, si sono aggiudicati una menzione speciale da parte della giuria e una passione smodata da parte del pubblico. Sarebbe stato un esemplare epilogo se, nel catastrofico crinale italiano come quello che stiamo attraversando, la giuria avesse inviato un chiaro segno politico puntando sul loro film che riesce a coagulare paradigma storico, displacement, soggettività e funzione del linguaggio poetico attraverso i racconti di alcuni politici somali in Italia. Comunque sia i fratelli De Serio (Torino, 1978) sono stati appena premiati alla 28ma edizione di Torino Film Festival con il documentario Bakroman sui ragazzi di strada del Burkina Faso. Fin dal 1999, i gemelli indagano senza tregua e senza alcun rigurgito ideologico sui temi dell’identità culturale, «negoziata», fluida e in divenire nell’epoca tardo-capitalista, sui conflitti tra urbanità e minoranze etniche che stanno ridefinendo le nostre società occidentali. La loro è una ricerca «etica», indirizzata sullo scontro degli spazi sociali e sul disagio dell’estetica, nei confronti della politica. Una ricerca in con-trotendenza con l’immaginario simulacra-le così ripercorso dalla loro stessa I-Generation. Ragione dei numerosissimi riconoscimenti internazionali ricevuti finora: Nastro d’Argento per il miglior cortometraggio (2004), il festival di Edimburgo (2006), Oberhausen (2006), Stoccarda (2005), Vendó me (2005 e 2006) e, come miglior film italiano, per tre anni consecutivi al Tff. L’asserzione dell’artista Francis Alys «a volte fare qualcosa dl poetico può diventare politico e a volte fare qualcosa dl politico può diventare poetico» sembra descrivere li vostro film. Come è nata e si è sviluppata l’idea dl «Stanze»? Poesia e politica non sono per forza estranee. Al contrario. Cosl come l’estetica può veicolare un contenuto etico, il rapporto fra le due sfere deve essere il più coerente possibile. In particolare, Stanze è un lavoro che si sviluppa in entrambe le direzioni. E un film/catena poetica che recupera la tradizione orale somala prima dell’avvento della scrittura. La poesia era lo strumento di discussione etica e politica della società somala, con essa si creavano catene poetiche attraverso le quali si dibatteva: venivano apprese a memoria dalla società e servivano per un dibattito pubblico, sublimato dalla bellezza e dal rigore della metrica. Nel nostro caso, le poesie, create sotto la maestria della poetessa Suad Omar, sono declinate da un gruppo di rifugiati politici che interpretano le loro storie di esiliati e si fanno carico della nostra storia e delle nostre mancanze.
«Stanze» è centrato sulle forme di potere autoritarie: dal colonialismo italiano In Africa al fascismo del ventennio fino all’attuale stato dl diritto discrezionale... Il film è un lento scivolare dalla diaspora dei somali all’inadeguatezza del nostro paese nell’accoglierli secondo le regole internazionali. Progressivamente, i rifugiati arrivano ad interpretare stralci del processo, del 1946 nella caserma di via Asti di Torino, in cui vennero condannate alcune guardie nazionali repubblicane fasciste, colpevoli di sevizie, di torture e uccisioni di numerosi partigiani (tutti amnistiati, creando in questo modo un vuoto storico e giudiziario). I somali, figli indiretti della nostra storia e delle colpe coloniali e fasciste e oggi rifiutati dalla nostra società, prendono la voce dei testimoni del processo, attuando una sorta di sdoppiamento storico ed esistenziale che incolpa prima di tutto l’Italia e ne riempie il vuoto morale e politico. I luoghi di ogni «stanza poetica» sono alcune sale della tremenda caserma di via Asti, che paradossalmente è stata un provvisorio posto di accoglienza di centinaia di rifugiati politici somali nel 2009, alcuni dei quali protagonisti del film. Lo sradicamento del soggetto post-coloMale è al centro delle vostre analisi sia In «Zakarla» che in «Stanze». In ciò conta molto l’humus torinese dove vivete? Torino è una città che ha visto nascere i movimenti di potere, ma anche di protesta e di avanguardia in Italia. E un luogo di spe:
* rimentazione sociale dove si cerca di supplire alle mancanze del govemo in materia di rifugiati politici. Molte delle nostre storie nascono e si creano nel nostro quartiere o nella nostra città. Qui ha sede il Centro Studi Africani, dove ha avuto inizio la ricerca per realizzare Stanze. Il presidente, ora purtroppo scomparso, era Mohamed Aden Sheickh, ex ministro somalo che è stato sei anni in cella di isolamento sotto la dittatura di Siad Barre ed è a lui e ai rifugiati politici che dedichiamo il lavoro. Grazie a lui abbiamo incontrato Abdullahi, Suad Omar e tutti i rifugiati politici protagonisti. La necessità dl ritornare su accadimenti passati della storia Italiana (come II film dl Martone "Nol credevamo») è un meccanismo dl presa di coscienza del presente attraverso una di logica della memoria? Il nostro è un tentativo di creare una nuova immagine del presente, fuori da ogni formato e da ogni cliché, capace di farsi carica di significato e di aprirsi a riflessioni future e a ri-letture del passato, sotto una nuova estetica e rinnovati punti di vista. Stanze, per esempio, parte dalle storie della diaspora presente, dalle torture in Libia e dai respingimenti, dai non diritti dei rifugiati, che si perpetuano tutti i giorni tra Africa e Italia, fin dentro il nostro stesso paese. Questa diaspora ha radici profonde e interpella la nostra storia più nera, sconosciuta o opportunisticamente dimenticata, quella del colonialismo, degli eccidi in Somalia da parte degli italiani, delle colpe dei fascisti, mai pagate fino in fondo come ci insegna via Asti. C’è nella vostra ricerca una attenzione alla struttura metrica che stabilisce anche Il ritmo del film. II riferimento è alla catena poetica dl Stanze», alla rima del rappers in «Shade ? Da anni onnai lavoriamo sul tentativo, di volta di volta diverso, di creare una «nuova oralità». La trilogia dedicata a Shade era un lungo flusso di coscienza in freestyle, che abbandonava le classiche regole del genere per farsi nuova parola e immagine, icona, memoria di se stessa. In Stanze abbiamo spazializzato il suono, lo abbiamo reso scultura, capace di riflettersi su un’immagine aderente al concetto di catena poetica e in grado di farsi bella, perfetta, ipnotica, sia nella metrica e nel suono, ma anche nei colori e nelle luci. Solo così crediamo si possa restituire la dignità e il coraggio di mettersi in gioco dei nostri protagonisti: ognuno con i suoi strumenti, in un dialogo continuo che si fa scambio, dialettica, alleanza.
PREMIO ITALIA ARTE Rossella Biscotti presenta il suo «Processo» dopo il 7 aprile L’artista Rossella Biscotti è la vincitrice della prima edizione del Premio Italia Arte Contemporanea, curato da Bartolomeo Pietromarchi e organizzato dal Mani per sostenere e promuovere l’arte italiana rigosamente under 40. «II Processo», realizzato dalla Biscotti (Molfetta, 1978, ma vive in Olanda) consta in una installazione molto formale di architetture residuali in cemento armato ispirate alla conversione logistica subita dalla razionalista palestra della scherma realizzata da Luigi Moretti al Foro Italico in aula bunker durante i processi politici degli anni di piombo, tra cui quelli legati al caso Moro. Parallelamente e più pregnantemente un audio, disseminato nel museo, invia le registrazioni del famoso processo .7 Aprile». A colpire la giuria è stata «l’intensità del lavoro e il forte legame che l’artista ha saputo costruire fra l’architettura del museo e quella dell’opera». L’installazione sarà acquisita dal Marci e verrà pubblicata una monografia dell’artista. Tre gli altri finalisti in lizza: Rosa Barba (Agrigento, 1972) con il suo museo nascosto» nei depositi; Piero Golia (Napoli 1974) che cerca di confondere lo spettatore spostando continuamente il punto di vista, e i gemelli De Serio, menzione speciale per il loro mediometraggio «Stanze».

▻https://archive.ph/Ob2nj#selection-68.0-68.2

Italy’s De Serio Brothers on CineMart-Selected Colonial-Era Drama ‘Prince Aden’ (EXCLUSIVE)

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Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio, the Italian directing duo best known internationally for their Locarno premiere “Seven Acts of Mercy,” are developing a colonial-era drama that they’re presenting during the Rotterdam Film Festival’s CineMart co-production market.

“Prince Aden” begins in 1935, when a 16-year-old Somali boy passes the test to become a dubat, a soldier in the Italian army that has invaded Ethiopia on the orders of Mussolini. Aden Sicré is sent to the frontlines, but after being injured on his first day of service he’s forced to return home – where he is unexpectedly hailed as a war hero by the Fascist regime.

Five years later, Aden is recruited to take part in a recreation of the daily life of an African village at the newly built Mostra d’Oltremare exhibition center in Naples. But when Italy enters the Second World War, the “human zoo” suddenly closes, stranding Aden and the other African inhabitants for three years as Allied bombs destroy the city around them.

Inspired by the book “Partigiani d’Oltremare,” by the Italian historian Matteo Petracci, the film follows the unexpected turns in the years after, as Aden and other African fighters play a pivotal role in the partisan struggle against fascism in Europe, and the would-be shepherd is hailed as the film’s titular prince.

“Prince Aden” sheds light on an “unknown story” that helped shape the course of Italy in the 20th century, according to Gianluca. Yet it’s a story that’s become increasingly relevant against the backdrop of modern-day Europe.

“We found that this story is not so far from those of thousands of young people who leave their homeland and come to Italy and Europe to find a new life today,” he said. “There is a kind of mirror” with current events.

Massimiliano said that “this story is a contemporary story, not only a story of our recent past,” which reflects how events between the colonial era and the present day are connected.

“We need to talk about not only our origin [as colonizers and fascists], but also we need to talk about the importance of Africa to our story, and also the importance of the Italian story to the African one,” he added. “The film will not only be a film about colonialism, because everything starts from there, but also about post-colonialism.”

The De Serio Bros. addressed similar topics in their 2010 film installation “Stanze” (Rooms) (pictured), which looked at issues of colonialism, post-colonialism and their consequences on the condition of migrants today.

Central to “Prince Aden” will be an interrogation of the ways in which the Fascist regime exploited the image of its young African hero for its own purposes. The brothers will also examine the role played by the Mostra d’Oltremare, as well as the Italian film industry, in promoting the propaganda of the Fascist government, raising questions of how history is staged and narratives framed.

It’s a timely subject in an era when previously marginalized voices across the world are struggling to reclaim their own stories. Massimiliano noted how an increasing number of young Italian writers, artists and musicians with African roots have in recent years begun to produce art that echoes their own experiences as second- and third-generation Italians.

However, he said, “there is not a real debate in Italy’s culture about our colonialism and the ashes of this colonialism after the ‘60s” similar to how the Black Lives Movement has cast fresh light on race history in the U.S.

That lack of accountability or reflection extends to cinema, which “didn’t really face up to colonialism” after the fall of the fascist regime, Massimiliano said. That, in turn, has had a profound effect on Italian culture today.

“Cinema works with images. It gives visibility to something, and it hides something else,” said Gianluca. “For us, cinema is a responsibility…. It’s a choice. It’s close to the work of archaeologists: going under the surface and looking for pieces of our identity that are hidden not only in the past, also in the present.”

The De Serio Brothers’ debut feature, “Seven Acts of Mercy,” made a splash on the festival circuit after premiering in competition in Locarno in 2011. The brothers later premiered in the Venice Film Festival in 2016 with the documentary “River Memories,” about one of the largest shanty towns in Europe. Two years ago, they bowed “The Stonebreaker,” starring “Gomorrah’s” Salvatore Esposito, in the festival’s Venice Days strand.

“Prince Aden” is produced by Alessandro Borrelli for La Sarraz Pictures. As the filmmakers search for potential co-producing partners during CineMart, Massimiliano stressed that their film is inherently a “European project” that is “important for Europe.”

“We are the doors of Europe in the Mediterranean today,” he said, “and I think that this project could be a way for Europe to understand better the European roots that are not only the European, Christian roots, but also the roots of our tragic and somehow also beautiful links [and] violent links with Africa. The film will be violent and tender at the same time.”

▻https://variety.com/2022/film/global/rotterdam-cinemart-de-serio-brothers-prince-aden-1235167410

La macabra storia dell’ex Caserma La Marmora di Torino

Ormai in disuso, la vecchia Caserma La Marmora dal ’43 al ’45 fu luogo di detenzione e di tortura, dove persero la vita molti italiani.

Al giorno d’oggi, al civico numero 22 di via Asti a a Torino si trova l’ex #Caserma_Dogali, ora Caserma La Marmora.

La struttura militare fu il centro di terribili atti di tortura e fucilazione durante il Secondo conflitto mondiale.

Alle origini, la caserma di via Asti divenne la sede di un Reggimento di fanteria.

Costruita dal 1887 al 1888, il progetto della struttura fu opera del capitano del Genio, #Giuseppe_Bottero.

Inizialmente, all’inaugurazione si scelse il nome di caserma “Dogali” di Torino (solo in futuro poi prenderà il nome “La Marmora”).

Questa denominazione in particolare, richiama l’infausta battaglia di Dogali, la quale ebbe luogo in corrispondenza della costruzione dell’edificio.

Al tempo, il corpo si spedizione italiano era impegnato nel Corno d’Africa, in Eritrea, per portare avanti le pretese coloniali del governo #Depretis.

Risaputa è la sconfitta dell’esercito italiano, che proprio durante la battaglia di Dogali del 26 gennaio del 1887 venne piegato da un’impensabile esercito etiope.

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La disfatta coprì di vergogna l’Italia agli occhi delle potenze mondiali.

In seguito, il ministro Depretis diede le dimissioni a distanza di poche settimane.

Indubbiamente, il catastrofico evento generò clamore in tutta la penisola.

Nel capoluogo piemontese si prese la decisione di intitolare una via con il nome del tenente colonnello Tommaso De Cristoforis, casalese di origini che perse la vita durante la campagna africana.

Mentre, invece la nuova caserma prese il nome dell’infima battaglia.

Come primo impiego militare, si ospitarono al suo interno due reggimenti di fanteria.

Mentre dal luglio del 1912, fu sede del comando del Battaglione Aviatori della neo-aeronautica militare italiana.

Nel 1920, su richiesta dell’Alto Comando militare, la caserma ospitò un reggimento di Bersaglieri, il IV.

Mentre l’anno successivo cambiò nome, diventando Caserma “La Marmora”, in onore di #Alfonso_La_Marmora, generale e politico de Regno di Sardegna, ideatore dell’unità dei bersaglieri.

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Purtroppo, nel 1943 la Caserma La Marmora divenne il centro di terribili avvenimenti.

Dopo l’armistizio dell’ 8 settembre 1943, i partigiani, grazie all’appoggio degli alleati, misero a ferro e fuoco il Piemonte.

Così si decise di riconvertire la caserma come quartier generale dell’#Ufficio_Politico_Investigativo (l’#Upi).

Sotto la gestione della #Guarda_Nazionale della neo-nata #Repubblica_Sociale.

Il nuovo incarico era quello di reprimere ed eventualmente annichilire ogni forma di lotta clandestina partigiana, con ogni maniera necessaria.

Nelle camere della caserma, sotto il comando del colonnello #Giovanni_Cabras e del maggiore #Gastone_Serloreti, si rinchiudevano e si interrogavano i partigiani catturati.

Gli interrogatori venivano portati avanti attraverso spietate torture psicologiche e fisiche.

Che si concludevano con la fucilazione o con la deportazione in Germania dei ribelli, in accordo con i nazisti.

Tra la notte del 27 e del 28 gennaio però, un’incursione partigiana, comandata da #Livio_Scaglione, riuscì ad occupare la caserma e liberare i prigionieri.

Con la fine della guerra, l’ex struttura militare cadde inevitabilmente nella desuetudine, che continua fino ai giorni nostri.

Tuttavia nel 1962, in ricordo degli eroi che persero la vita, venne posta una lapide nella caserma, esattamente nel luogo in cui avvennero le esecuzioni.

▻https://mole24.it/2021/05/05/la-macabra-storia-dellex-caserma-la-marmora-di-torino
#partisans

GREECE DEEMS TURKEY “SAFE”, BUT REFUGEES ARE NOT : THE SUBSTANTIVE EXAMINATION OF ASYLUM APPLICATIONS IS THE ONLY SAFE SOLUTION FOR REFUGEES

Athens, 14 June 2021: With a new Joint Ministerial Decision (JMD) issued on 7 June,[1] the Greek State designates Turkey as a “safe third country” for families, men, women and children of five nationalities[2] seeking international protection in Greece. It is noted that the JMD applies even to those from countries with high recognition rates for international protection, such as Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia.[3] This decision reinforces the policy established by the March 2016 EU-Turkey Statement that shifts the responsibility to protect refugees, including unaccompanied children,[4] arriving in Europe to third countries.

For years, the effect of this externalisation policy has been to turn the Greek islands into a place of confinement for thousands of displaced and persecuted people, as authorities prioritised “containing” them on the islands to facilitate their return to third countries. This created places like Moria that became shameful symbols of Europe’s failure to protect refugees. But the solution is not to send displaced individuals to Turkey. In Turkey, people seeking asylum from non-European countries are not granted international protection per the 1951 Refugee Convention, while in March 2021 Turkey announced it would withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, and will thus not be protecting victims of gender-based violence, who are at an increased risk in case of return from Greece, based on the new JMD. People should not be returned to a country where their lives would be in danger, but multiple reports over recent years warn of the refoulement of refugees from Turkey, even to war zones in Syria.[5] Furthermore, the concept of a “safe third country” presupposes the existence of an essential connection between the asylum seeker and that country, as well as the consent of the third country to receive the returnee. These conditions are not met in the case of Turkey.

The decision to designate Turkey as a “safe third country”, should be revoked for the aforementioned reasons. Furthermore, the unworkability of this new law is highlighted, since as far back as March 2020, Turkey is not accepting the return of refugees and asylum seekers from Greece. This has been pointed out by Greece’s Ministry of Migration and Asylum as well as the European Commission.[6]Refugees whose applications have been rejected as inadmissible according to the “safe third country” principle, are already enduring a situation of protracted legal uncertainty, social exclusion, destitution, homelessness, and even prolonged detention in Greece, which is at risk of turning into a prison.[7] This JMD will serve only to increase the number of people in such a situation.

In fact, as has been pointed out in relevant interventions by the Greek Ombudsperson, and more recently in a reply by the Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission,[8] in these cases applicants must be able to re-apply for asylum, and have their applications examined on their merits, in accordance with EU and national law.[9]

In line with a recent announcement by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),[10] our organisations stress that “externalization simply shifts asylum responsibilities elsewhere and evades international obligations”. We once again call on the Greek and European authorities to honour their responsibility to protect refugees and to avoid further undermining the European asylum acquis and the fundamental principles and values for protecting human rights. To this end, we call on Greece to revoke the JMD issued on 7 June.

Signatories

Action for education

ΑRSIS – Association for the Social Support of Youth

Better Days

Centre Diotima

ECHO100PLUS

ELIX

Equal Rights Beyond Borders

Europe Must Act

European Lawyers in Lesvos (ELIL)

Fenix – Humanitarian Legal Aid

Greek Council for Refugees (GCR)

Greek Forum of Migrants

Greek Forum of Refugees (GFR)

Greek Helsinki Monitor

Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR)

HumanRights360

Human Rights Legal Project

Initiative for the Detainees’ Rights

International Rescue Committee (IRC)

INTERSOS

INTERSOS Hellas

Irida Women’s Center

Legal Centre Lesvos

Lesvos Solidarity

Lighthouse Relief

Médecins du Monde – Greece

METAdrasi- Action for Migration and Development

Mobile Info Team (MIT)

Network for Children’s Rights

Network for the Social Support of Refugees and Migrants

Odyssea

Refugees International

Refugee Law Clinic Berlin

Refugee Legal Support (RLS)

Refugee Rights Europe (RRE)

Refugee Support Aegean (RSA)

Samos Volunteers

SolidarityNow

Still I Rise

Terre des hommes Hellas

NOTES

Joint Ministerial Decision (JMD) 42799/2021, Gov. Gazette 2425/Β/7-6-2021, available in Greek at: ▻https://bit.ly/3gjEYcI. ↑
The JMD applies to nationals of Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Bangladesh and Pakistan ↑
Indicatively, in 2020, the rate of positive decisions issued by the Greek Asylum Service (GAS) for asylum applicants from Somalia was 94.1%, from Syria 91.6% and from Afghanistan 66.2%. RSA, “Asylum statistics for 2020 A need for regular and transparent official information”, 11 February 2021, available at: ▻https://bit.ly/3vcbC5K. ↑
According to the latest available statistics issued by the National Center for Social Solidarity (EKKA), 68% of unaccompanied children that have been identified in Greece are from Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Accordingly, and in any case, the implementation of the JMD is not in line with the principle of the best interests of the child and the protective provisions of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. On the latest available statistics see EKKA, Situation Update: Unaccompanied Children (UAC) in Greece, 15 May 2021, available at: ▻https://bit.ly/3wcByPw. ↑
Amongst others: EASO, Syria Situation of returnees from abroad: Country of Origin Information, June 2021, available at: ▻https://bit.ly/3weoZUn, pp. 12-13; AIDA, Country Report Turkey (May 2021 update), 31 May 2021, available at: ▻https://bit.ly/3gfnyzr; DW, “Amnesty: Turkey forced Syrian refugees back into war zone”, 25 October 2019, available at: ▻https://bit.ly/3pAOpc3; ECRE, “Human Rights Watch report: push backs of Syrian refugees by Turkey”, 30 March 2018, available at: ▻https://bit.ly/2T43XsK; Human Rights Watch, “Turkey: Syrians Pushed Back at the Border”, 23 November 2015, available at: ▻https://bit.ly/3x2tPUA. ↑
Amongst others: Ministry of Migration and Asylum, “Request by Greece towards the EU for the immediate return 1,450 third country nationals under the Joint EU-Turkey Statement”, 14 January 2021, available in Greek at: ▻https://bit.ly/3izPzmA; European Commission, Commission Staff Working Document: Turkey 2020 Report, 6 October 2020, available at: ▻https://bit.ly/3xgt4aK, p. 48. ↑
It is noted that the majority (65.8%) of international protection applications that were submitted in Greece in 2020 regarded asylum seekers from the 5 countries that are stated in the JMD. Ministry of Migration and Asylum, Annual briefing 2020, 19 January 2021, available in Greek at: ▻https://bit.ly/3wfCgfi, p.13. ↑
EN P-000604/2021, Answer given by Ms Johansson on behalf of the European Commission (1.6.2021), διαθέσιμο στα αγγλικά στο: ▻https://bit.ly/3cuwEGb. ↑
Article 38, para. 4 Directive 2013/32/EU on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection (recast) and article 86, para. 5 L. 4636/2019 (also known as “IPA”). ↑
UNHCR, “UNHCR warns against “exporting” asylum, calls for responsibility sharing for refugees, not burden shifting”, 19 May 2021, available at: ▻https://bit.ly/3v7EgEN. ↑

▻https://rsaegean.org/en/greece-deems-turkey-safe-but-refugees-are-not

#afrique_est

#Afrique_de_l'Est #corne_de_l'afrique

Somalis Who Returned Home Flee to Kenya a Second Time

While Kenya’s massive Dadaab refugee camp is shrinking due to a U.N. program repatriating refugees to Somalia, drought and insecurity are pushing some of the returnees to come back to Kenya.

►https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/articles/2018/01/10/somalis-who-returned-home-flee-to-kenya-a-second-time
#Kenya #Dadaab #camp_de_réfugiés #réfugiés_somaliens

Somalis in European Cities : Overview

Somalis in European Cities presents an overview of a comparative research series developed by local experts in #Amsterdam, Copenhagen, #Helsinki, #Leicester, London, #Malmö, and #Oslo. The research aims to capture the everyday, lived experiences of Somalis as well as the type and degree of engagement policy makers have initiated with their Somali and minority constituents.

https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/styles/featured_bio_half_340/public/photos/somalis-europe-overview-featured-20150803.jpg?itok=ebCIkH6z#.jpg

►https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/reports/somalis-european-cities-overview
#Copenhague #villes #Europe #Somalie #rapport

Market Forces: the development of the EU security-industrial complex

While the European Union project has faltered in recent years, afflicted by the fall-out of the economic crisis, the rise of anti-EU parties and the Brexit vote, there is one area where it has not only continued apace but made significant advances: Europe’s security policies have not only gained political support from across its Member States but growing budgets and resources too.

Transnational corporations are winning millions of euros of public research funds to develop ever more intrusive surveillance and snooping technologies, a new report by Statewatch and the Transnational Institute reveals today.

The report, Market Forces, shows how the EU’s €1.7 billion ‘Secure societies’ research programme has been shaped by the “homeland security” industry and in the process is constructing an ever more militarised and security-focused Europe.

The research programme, in place since 2007, has sought to combat a panoply of “threats” ranging from terrorism and organised criminality to irregular migration and petty crime through the development of new “homeland security” technologies such as automated behaviour analysis tools, enhanced video and data surveillance, and biometric identification systems.

Key beneficiaries of this research funding have been companies: #Thales (€33.1m), #Selex (€23.2m), #Airbus (€17.8m), #Atos (€14.1m) and #Indra (€12.3m are the five biggest corporate recipients. Major applied research institutes have also received massive amounts of funding, the top five being: #Fraunhofer_Institute (€65.7 million); #TNO (€33.5 million); #Swedish_Defence_Research_Institute (€33.4 million); #Commissariat_à_l'énergie_atomique_et_aux_énergies_alternatives (€22.1 million); #Austrian_Intstitute_of_Technology (€16 million).

Many of these organisations and their lobbies have played a significant role in designing the research programme through their participation in high-level public-private forums, European Commission advisory groups and through lobbying undertaken by industry groups such as the European Organisation for Security (#EOS).

The report also examines EU’s €3.8 billion #Internal_Security_Fund, which provides funding to Member States to acquire new tools and technologies: border control #drones and surveillance systems, #IMSI catchers for spying on mobile phones, tools for monitoring the web and ‘pre-crime’ predictive policing systems are currently on the agenda.

It is foreseen that the fund will eventually pay for technologies developed through the security research programme, creating a closed loop of supply and demand between private companies and state authorities.

Despite the ongoing economic crisis, EU funding for new security tools and technologies has grown from under €4 billion to almost €8 billion in the 2014-20 period (compared to 2007-13) and the report warns that there is a risk of further empowering illiberal tendencies in EU governments that have taken unprecedented steps in recent years towards normalising emergency powers and undermining human rights protection in the name of fighting terrorism and providing “security”.

Market Forces argues that upcoming negotiations on the next round of funding programmes (2021-27) provide a significant opportunity to reform the rationale and reasoning behind the EU’s development of new security technologies and its funding of tools and equipment for national authorities.

http://statewatch.org/marketforces/cover50.jpg

Lien vers le #rapport:
▻http://statewatch.org/analyses/marketforces.pdf

#Burundi refugees refuse ’biometric’ registration in #DRC

More than 2 000 Burundian refugees living in a transit camp in Democratic Republic of Congo are resisting plans to register them on a biometric database, claiming it would violate their religion.

They belong to an obscure Catholic sect that follows a female prophet called #Zebiya and claim to have fled their homeland due to religious persecution.

▻https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/burundi-refugees-refuse-biometric-registration-in-drc-20171207
#résistance #Congo #camps_de_réfugiés #persécution_religieuse

#Yémen #asile #migrations #réfugiés #conflit #guerre

Yemen’s other crisis: surging refugee flows and human trafficking

Saleh Saeed Nasser has been patrolling Yemen’s coastline for 15 years. For most of his career, he’s seen migrants arrive on the pristine shores of Shabwa province from the Horn of Africa.

▻https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/mbx4pq/yemens-other-crisis-surging-refugee-flows-and-human-trafficking

#Corne_de_l'Afrique

Mounting evidence of crimes against migrants in Yemen

UNHCR and Human Rights Watch have reported on the situation for African migrants and asylum seekers in Yemen this week. Many migrants are arrested, detained in inhumane conditions, abused, sent out to sea in dangerous mass deportations and in some cases executed.

Most migrants come from the Horn of Africa – Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia – crossing from Djibouti to Yemen with the aim of reaching the Gulf States, particularly Saudi Arabia. However, many are caught and detained, particularly in the southern port city of Aden. Around 700 people are held there in a makeshift open air detention centre which is government run. The centre is overcrowded and lacks basic sanitation or medical care. Former detainees reported to Human Rights Watch that they suffered severe physical torture, extortion and rape at the hands of Yemeni authorities. The former head of the centre reported they work with smugglers in order to deport migrants. People are forced by smugglers onto boats off the Yemeni coast, in January of this year reportedly over 50 Somalis drowned during one of these procedures.

Meanwhile, refugees fleeing the war in Yemen are heading the other way to refugee camps in Djibouti. Yemen has historically been a country of migration, refuge and transit for people from the Horn of Africa, but over three years of conflict has caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. UNHCR reports any intervention or high level advocacy on the situation is hindered by the ongoing conflict. “With prolonged conflict and insecurity threatening state institutions and weakening the rule of law, there are growing accounts of extortion, trafficking and deportation,” said UNHCR spokesman William Spindler. Bill Frelick, refugee rights director at Human Rights Watch stated, “The crisis in Yemen provides zero justification for this cruelty and brutality, and the Yemeni government should put a stop to it and hold those responsible to account.”

The newly appointed UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, addressed the Security Council on Tuesday saying he hoped to relaunch peace talks between a Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels. With a plan to put a framework for negotiations to the council within the next two months.

Last year UNHCR launched a regional awareness campaign entitled ‘Dangerous Crossings’ to spread awareness of the perilous journey.

▻https://www.ecre.org/mounting-evidence-of-crimes-against-migrants-in-yemen
#réfugiés_somaliens #réfugiés_éthiopiens #réfugiés_érythréens

Corridoi umanitari. In arrivo dai campi profughi in Etiopia 113 persone. Una casa provvisoria e i preparativi ad Addis Abeba

113 storie con tanti elementi in comune ma tutte diverse, come la sofferenza e le speranze nelle loro vite, racchiuse in piccolo bagaglio. Viaggio tra i profughi che nella capitale etiopica si stanno preparando al “trasferimento” sicuro e legale verso l’Italia, grazie ai corridoi umanitari promossi nell’ambito del Protocollo d’intesa con lo Stato italiano, siglato dalla Comunità di Sant’Egidio e dalla Cei, che agisce attraverso Caritas Italiana e Fondazione Migrantes. Arriveranno a Roma-Fiumicino il 27 febbraio

https://www.agensir.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/20180222_170237-1146x745.jpg

#Ethiopie #réfugiés_somaliens #somalie #sécheresse #famine #réfugiés #asile #migrations #déplacés_internes

Crossroads Djibouti: The African migrants who defy Yemen’s war

Over the past three years, around 200,000 Yemenis have fled their country, displaced by a continuing conflict that has led to more than 6,100 civilian deaths and left 22.2 million people in need of humanitarian assistance or protection.
Yet for tens of thousands of migrants escaping economic or political distress in Somalia and Ethiopia, Yemen remains a destination of choice, or at least a key transit point en route to the Gulf states.

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Yemen Received More Migrants in #2018 than Europe

« The International Organization for Migration says that nearly 150,000 migrants arrived in war torn Yemen in 2018. This is despite ongoing conflict, a cholera outbreak and near famine conditions in much of the country.

Perhaps what is most remarkable about this figure is that the number of migrants expected to arrive in Yemen before the end of 2018 far exceeds the number of irregular migrants who have arrived in Europe in 2018, which is 134,000. Deeper still, while the number of migrants to Europe sharply declined between 2017 and 2018, the number of migrants to Yemen increased by 50% compared to 2017.

Why are migrants flocking to war torn Yemen in such large numbers?

According to the International Organization for Migration, the vast majority of migrants are from Ethiopia and they travel to Yemen via smuggling routes across the Red Sea, most from Djibouti. Their ultimate destination is not Yemen, but rather Saudi Arabia where they hope to find gainful employment. From the International Organization for Migration:

“Located at the cusp of two continents, Yemen historically has been an origin, transit and destination country of migrants. Today, an estimated 92 per cent of its incoming migrants are Ethiopian nationals, with Somalis accounting for the rest. In 2017, an estimated 100,000 migrants reached Yemen.

Migrants reaching Yemen travel first by land, primarily through Djibouti, and eventually undergo perilous boat journeys across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, now one of the busiest maritime migration routes in the world. A smaller number sails from Somalia’s coastline.

Both routes are also among the world’s most “youthful,” in the sense that minors account for an estimated 20 per cent of the migrants. Many are unaccompanied.”

The stories of these migrants are instructive. Last year, Mohammed Abdiker of the IOM penned an essay on this “deadly migration route that the world is ignoring.”

“The stories we hear from them are the same; they know someone who has gone before and “made it.” Someone who has sent enough money home to build their parents a house, put their brother through school or regenerate their family farm affected by years of drought. Migrants often cite these examples as proof that once they reach their destination they will be able to pull themselves and their loved ones out of poverty.”

…One person who our team on the ground helped, was a 14-year-old boy named Mohammed. He wanted to travel from Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia to find work and hopefully save some money. He left his home with some friends without telling his relatives. They walked several hundred miles, while hungry and thirsty.Risking drowning in the sea, they crossed from Djibouti to Yemen. When they got to Yemen, Mohammed says he and his friends were abducted by smugglers in an area where there is ongoing fighting. He says the smugglers abused him physically and only released him once they had extorted money from him and his friends through their families back home.Attempting to then travel through the country to the border, they were seriously injured by an explosion. An ambulance took Mohammed and five others to a hospital. According to Mohammed, two female migrants died and the other migrants from his group were never found. Mohammed was transferred to the prison in Hodeidah, which is where IOM met him and provided him with assistance.”

The fact that so many people are willing to flee to Yemen is a profound demonstration of the power of migration. People want to move– and they are willing accept huge risks in pursuit of a better life ».

▻https://migrationsansfrontieres.com/2019/01/15/yemen-received-more-migrants-in-2018-than-europe
#statistiques #chiffres

#asile #migrations #réfugiés_somaliens

UNHCR Repatriates 74,141 Somali Refugees from Kenya

A total of 71,792 Somalis from northern Kenya’s #Dadaab refugee camp reportedly elected for voluntary repatriation on December 8, 2014. “As at Nov. 15, there were 18,140 refugees registered in our database willing to return to Somalia, with 12,874 being registered in 2017 alone,” the UN agency said.

▻https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/UNHCR-Repatriates-74141-Somali-Refugees-from-Kenya-20171219-0003.html

Avec ce commentaire de #Jeff_Crisp sur twitter :

I hate the idea of UNHCR “repatriating” anyone. It detracts from the agency of refugees.

▻https://twitter.com/JFCrisp/status/943098820535123968

#réfugiés_afghans #réfugiés_somaliens #asile #migrations #réfugiés #Afghanistan #Somali

#Dadaab #camp_de_réfugiés #asile #migrations #Kenya #réfugiés #réfugiés_somaliens

Même si ils se réfèrent au camp de #Zaatari...
Zaatari : a Camp and not a City

Just over three years ago, the Zaatari refugee camp was established to accommodate the growing number of Syrian refugees who were fleeing to the neighbouring country of Jordan. Located around 70 kilometres from the capital city of Amman and 30 kilometres from the Syrian border, Zaatari occupies a space of some seven square kilometres and currently houses around 80,000 refugees.

▻http://urban-refugees.org/debate/zaatari-camp-city

Syria conflict: Jordan’s Zaatari refugee camp from the air

Many of those forced to leave their homes during the Syrian conflict have taken refuge in neighbouring countries, and 80,000 of them are now living in a three-square-mile piece of the desolate Jordanian desert - home to the sprawling Zaatari refugee camp.

▻http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35492705

A look into Zaatari camp during winter

Mohammad, a Syrian refugee, resident in Zaatari camp in Jordan, sells hot beans on a cart in the main market street as the first winter rain begins to fall.

▻http://www.nrc.no/?did=9213795