• La Tunisia rifiuta i respingimenti collettivi e le deportazioni di migranti irregolari proposti da #Meloni e #Piantedosi

    1.Il risultato del vertice di Tunisi era già chiaro prima che Giorgia Meloni, la presidente della Commissione europea Von del Leyen ed il premier olandese Mark Rutte incontrassero il presidente Saied. Con una operazione di immagine inaspettata, il giorno prima del vertice, l’uomo che aveva lanciato mesi fa la caccia ai migranti subsahariani presenti nel suo paese, parlando addirittura del rischio di sostituzione etnica, si recava a Sfax, nella regione dalla quale si verifica la maggior parte delle partenze verso l’Italia, e come riferisce Il Tempo, parlando proprio con un gruppo di loro, dichiarava : “ Siamo tutti africani. Questi migranti sono nostri fratelli e li rispettiamo, ma la situazione in Tunisia non è normale e dobbiamo porre fine a questo problema. Rifiutiamo qualsiasi trattamento disumano di questi migranti che sono vittime di un ordine mondiale che li considera come ‘numeri’ e non come esseri umani. L’intervento su questo fenomeno deve essere umanitario e collettivo, nel quadro della legge”. Lo stesso Saied, secondo quanto riportato dalla Reuters, il giorno precedente la visita, aggiungeva che di fronte alla crescente mobilità migratoria “La soluzione non sarà a spese della Tunisia… non possiamo essere una guardia per i loro paesi”.

    Alla fine del vertice non c’è stata una vera e propria conferenza stampa congiunta, ma è stata fatta trapelare una Dichiarazione sottoscritta anche da Saied che stabilisce una sorta di roadmap verso un futuro Memorandum d’intesa (MoU) tra la Tunisia e l’Unione europea, che si dovrebbe stipulare entro il prossimo Consiglio europeo dei capi di governo che si terrà a fine giugno. L’Ue e la Tunisia hanno dato incarico, rispettivamente, al commissario europeo per l’Allargamento Oliver Varheliy e al ministro degli Esteri tunisino Nabil Ammar di stilare un memorandum d’intesa (Memorandum of Understanding, MoU) sul pacchetto di partnership allargata, che dovrebbe essere sottoscritto dalla Tunisia e dall’Ue “prima di fine giugno”. Una soluzione che sa tanto di rinvio, nella quale certamente non si trovano le richieste che il governo Meloni aveva cercato di fare passare, già attraverso il Consiglio dei ministri dell’Unione europea di Lussemburgo, restando poi costretto ad accettare una soluzione di compromesso, che non prevedeva affatto -come invece era stato richiesto- i respingimenti collettivi in alto mare, delegati alla Guardia costiera tunisina, e le deportazioni in Tunisia di migranti irregolari o denegati, dopo una richiesta di asilo, giunti in Italia dopo un transito temporaneo da quel paese.

    Secondo Piantedosi, “la Tunisia è già considerata un Paese terzo sicuro da provvedimenti e atti ufficiali italiani” e “La Farnesina ha già una lista formale di Stati terzi definiti sicuri. Sia in Africa, penso al Senegal, così come nei Balcani”. Bene che nella sua conferenza stampa a Catania, censurata dai media, non abbia citato la Libia, dopo avere chiesto la collaborazione del generale Haftar per bloccare le partenze verso l’Italia. Ma rimane tutto da dimostrare che la Tunisia sia un “paese terzo sicuro”, soprattutto per i cittadini non tunisini, generalmente provenienti dall’area subsahariana, perchè il richiamo strumentale che fa il ministro dell’interno alla lista di “paesi terzi sicuri” approvata con decreti ministeriali ed ampliata nel corso del tempo, riguarda i cittadini tunisini che chiedono asilo in Italia, e che comunque possono fare valere una richiesta di protezione internazionale, non certo i migranti provenienti da altri paesi e transitati in Tunisia, che si vorrebbero deportare senza troppe formalità, dopo procedure rapide in frontiera. Una possibilità che ancora non è concessa allo stato della legislazione nazionale e del quadro normativo europeo (in particolare dalla Direttiva Rimpatri 2008/115/CE), che si dovrebbe comunque modificare prima della entrata in vigore, ammsso che ci si arrivi prima delle prossime elezioni europee, del Patto sulla migrazione e l’asilo recentemente approvato a Lussemburgo.

    La Presidente della Comissione Europea, nella brevissima conferenza stampa tenuta dopo la chiusura del vertice di Tunisi ha precisato i punti essenziali sui quali si dovrebbe trovare un accordo tra Bruxelles e Tunisi, Fondo monetario internazionale permettendo. Von der Leyen ha confermato che la Ue è pronta a mobilitare 900 milioni di euro di assistenza finanziaria per Tunisi. I tempi però non saranno brevi. “La Commissione europea valuterà l’assistenza macrofinanziaria non appena sarà trovato l’accordo (con il Fmi) necessario. E siamo pronti a mobilitare fino a 900 milioni di euro per questo scopo di assistenza macrofinanziaria. Come passo immediato, potremmo fornire subito un ulteriore sostegno al bilancio fino a 150 milioni di euro”. Come riferisce Adnkronos, “Tunisi dovrebbe prima trovare l’intesa con il Fondo Monetario Internazionale su un pacchetto di aiuti, a fronte del quale però il Fondo chiede riforme, che risulterebbero impopolari e che la leadership tunisina esita pertanto ad accollarsi”. Secondo Adnkronos, L’Ue intende “ripristinare il Consiglio di associazione” tra Ue e Tunisia e l’Alto Rappresentante Josep Borrell “è pronto ad organizzare il prossimo incontro entro la fine dell’anno”, ha sottolineato la presidente della Commissione Europea Ursula von der Leyen al termine dell’incontro. L’esecutivo comunitario è pronto ad aiutare la Tunisia con un pacchetto basato su cinque pilastri, il principale dei quali è costituito da aiuti finanziari per oltre un miliardo di euro. Il primo è lo sviluppo economico. “Sosterremo la Tunisia, per rafforzarne l’economia. La Commissione Europea sta valutando un’assistenza macrofinanziaria, non appena sarà trovato l’accordo necessario. Siamo pronti a mobilitare fino a 900 milioni di euro per questo scopo. E, come passo immediato, potremmo fornire altri 150 milioni di euro di sostegno al bilancio“. “Il secondo pilastro – continua von der Leyen – sono gli investimenti e il commercio. L’Ue è il principale investitore straniero e partner commerciale della Tunisia. E noi proponiamo di andare oltre: vorremmo modernizzare il nostro attuale accordo commerciale. C’è molto potenziale per creare posti di lavoro e stimolare la crescita qui in Tunisia. Un focus importante per i nostri investimenti è il settore digitale. Abbiamo già una buona base“. Sempre secondo quanto riferito da Adnkronos, “La Commissione Europea sta lavorando ad un memorandum di intesa con la Tunisia nelle energie rinnovabili, campo nel quale il Paese nordafricano ha un potenziale “enorme”, mentre l’Ue ne ha sempre più bisogno, per alimentare il processo di elettrificazione e decarbonizzazione della sua economia, spiega la presidente. L’energia è “il terzo pilastro” del piano in cinque punti che von der Leyen ha delineato al termine della riunione”.

    Quest’anno l’Ue “fornirà alla Tunisia 100 milioni di euro per la gestione delle frontiere, ma anche per la ricerca e il soccorso, la lotta ai trafficanti e il rimpatrio”, annuncia ancora la presidente. Il controllo dei flussi migratori è il quarto pilastro del programma che von der Leyen ha delineato per i rapporti bilaterali tra Ue e Tunisia. Per la presidente della Commissione europea, l’obiettivo “è sostenere una politica migratoria olistica radicata nel rispetto dei diritti umani. Entrambi abbiamo interesse a spezzare il cinico modello di business dei trafficanti di esseri umani. È orribile vedere come mettono deliberatamente a rischio vite umane, a scopo di lucro. Lavoreremo insieme su un partenariato operativo contro il traffico di esseri umani e sosterremo la Tunisia nella gestione delle frontiere”.

    Nel pacchetto di proposte comprese nel futuro Memorandum d’intesa UE-Tunisia, che si dovrebbe sottoscrivere entro la fine di giugno, rientrerebbero anche una serie di aiuti economici all’economia tunisina, in particolare nei settori dell’agricoltura e del turismo, e nuove possibilità di mobilità studentesca, con programmi tipo Erasmus. Nulla di nuovo, ed anche una dotazione finanziaria ridicola, se si pensa ai 200 milioni di euro stanziati solo dall’Italia con il Memorandum d’intesa con la Tunisia siglato da Di Maio per il triennio 2021-2023. Semmai sarebbe interessante sapere come stati spesi quei soldi, visti i risultati sulla situazione dei migranti in transito in Tunisia, nelle politiche di controllo delle frontiere e nei soccorsi in mare.

    2. Non è affatto vero dunque che sia passata la linea dell’Italia per due ragioni fondamentali. L’Italia chiedeva una erogazione immediata degli aiuti europei alla Tunisia e una cooperazione operativa nei respingimenti collettivi in mare ed anche la possibilità di riammissione in Tunisia di cittadini di paesi terzi ( non tunisini) giunti irregolarmente nel nostro territorio, o di cui fosse stata respinta la domanda di protezione nelle procedure in frontiera. Queste richieste della Meloni (e di Piantedosi) sono state respinte, e non rientrano nel Memorandum d’intesa che entro la fine del mese Saied dovrebbe sottoscrivere con l’Unione Europea (il condizionale è d’obbligo).

    Gli aiuti europei sono subordinati all’accettazione da parte di Saied delle condizioni poste dal Fondo Monetario internazionale per l’erogazione del prestito fin qui rifiutato dal presidente. Un prestito che sarebbe condizionato al rispetto di paramentri monetari e di abbattimento degli aiuti pubblici, e forse anche al rispetto dei diritti umani, che in questo momento non sono accettati dal presidente tunisino, ormai di fatto un vero e proprio autocrate. Con il quale la Meloni, ormai lanciata verso il presidenzialismo all’italiana, si riconosce più di quanto non facciano esponenti politici di altri paesi europei. Al punto che persino Mark Rutte, che nel suo paese ha attuato politiche migratorie ancora più drastiche di quelle propagandate dal governo italiano, richiama, alla fine del suo intervento, l’esigenza del rispetto dei diritti umani delle persone migranti, come perno del nuovo Memorandum d’intesa tra la Tunisia e l’Unione Europea.

    Per un altro verso, la “lnea dell’Italia”, dunque la politica dei “respingimenti su delega”, che si vorrebbe replicare con la Tunisia, sul modello di quanto avviene con le autorità libiche, delegando a motovedette, donate dal nostro paese e coordinate anche dall’agenzia europea Frontex, i respingimenti collettivi in acque internazionali, non sembra di facile applicazione per evidenti ragioni geografiche e geopolitiche.

    La Tunisia non e’ la Libia (o la Turchia), le autorità centrali hanno uno scarso controllo dei punti di partenza dei migranti e la corruzione è molto diffusa. Sembra molto probabile che le partenze verso l’Italia continueranno ad aumentare in modo esponenziale nelle prossime settimane. Aumentare le dotazioni di mezi e i supporti operativi in favore delle motovedette tunisine si è già dimostrata una politica priva di efficacia e semmai foriera di stragi in mare. Sulle stragi in mare neppure una parola dopo il vertice di Tunisi. Non è vero che la diminuzione delle partenze dalla Tunisia nel mese di maggio sia conseguenza della politica migratoria del governo Meloni, risultando soltanto una conseguenza di un mese caratterizzato da condizioni meteo particolarmente sfavorevoli, come ha riconosciuto anchel’OIM e l’Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i rifugiati (UNHCR), e come tutti hanno potuto constatare anche in Italia. Vedremo con il ritorno dell’estate se le partenze dalla Tunisia registreranno ancora un calo.

    La zona Sar (di ricerca e salvataggio) tunisina si limita alle acque territoriali (12 miglia dalla costa) ed i controlli affidati alle motovedette tunisine non si possono svolgere oltre. Difficile che le motovedette tunisine si spingano nella zona Sar “libica” o in quella maltese. Continueranno ad intercettare a convenienza, quando i trafficanti non pagheranno abbastanza per corrompere, ed i loro interventi, condotti spesso con modalità di avvicinamento che mettono a rischio la vita dei naufraghi, non ridurranno di certo gli arrivi sulle coste italiane di cittadini tunisini e subsahariani. Per il resto il futuribile Memorandum d’intesa Tunisia-Libia, che ancora e’ una scatola vuota, e che l’Unione europea vincola al rispetto dei diritti umani, dunque anche agli obblighi internazionali di soccorso in mare, non può incidere in tempi brevi sui rapporti bilaterali tra Roma e Tunisi, che sono disciplinati da accordi bilaterali che si dovrebbero modificare successivamente, sempre in conformità con la legislazione ( e la Costituzione) italiana e la normativa euro-unitaria. Dunque non saranno ogettto di nuovi accordi a livello europeo con la Tunisia i respingimenti collettivi vietati dall’art.19 della Carta dei diritti fondamentali dell’Unione Europea e non si potranno realizzare, come vorrebero la Meloni e Piantedosi, deportazioni in Tunisia di cittadini di altri paesi terzi, peraltro esclusi dai criteri di “connessione” richiesti nella “proposta legislativa” adottata dal Consiglio dei ministri dell’interno di Lussemburgo. E si dovranno monitorare anche i respingimenti di cittadini tunisini in Tunisia, dopo la svolta autoritaria impressa dall’autocrate Saied che ha fatto arrestare giornalisti e sindacalisti, oltre che numerosi membri dei partiti di opposizione. In ogni caso non si dovranno dimenticare le condanne ricevute dall’Italia da parte della Corte europea dei diritti dell’Uomo, proprio per i respingimenti differiti effettuati ai danni di cittadini tunisini (caso Khlaifia). Faranno morire ancora centinaia di innocenti. Dare la colpa ai trafficanti non salva dal fallimento politico e morale nè l’Unione Europea nè il governo Meloni.

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    Saied, inaccettabili centri migranti in Tunisia

    (ANSA) – TUNISI, 11 GIU – Il presidente tunisino Kais Saied, nel suo incontro con la presidente del Consiglio, Giorgia Meloni, della presidente della Commissione Ue, Ursula von der Leyen e del primo ministro olandese Mark Rutte “ha fatto notare che la soluzione che alcuni sostengono segretamente di ospitare in Tunisia migranti in cambio di somme di denaro è disumana e inaccettabile, così come le soluzioni di sicurezza si sono dimostrate inadeguate, anzi hanno aumentato le sofferenze delle vittime della povertà e delle guerre”. Lo si legge in un comunicato della presidenza tunisina, pubblicato al termine dell”incontro. (ANSA).

    2023-06-11 18:59

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    ANSA/Meloni e l”Ue incassano prima intesa ma Saied alza posta

    (dell”inviato Michele Esposito)

    (ANSA) – TUNISI, 11 GIU – Una visita lampo, una dichiarazione congiunta che potrebbe portare ad un cruciale memorandum d”intesa, un orizzonte ancora confuso dal continuo alzare la posta di Kais Saied. Il vertice tra Ursula von der Leyen, Giorgia Meloni, Mark Rutte e il presidente tunisino potrebbe segnare un prima e un dopo nei rapporti tra l”Ue e il Paese nordafricano. Al tavolo del palazzo presidenziale di Cartagine, per oltre due ore, i quattro hanno affrontato dossier a dir poco spigolosi, dalla gestione dei migranti alla necessità di un”intesa tra Tunisia e Fmi. La luce verde sulla prima intesa alla fine si è accesa. “E” un passo importante, dobbiamo arrivare al Consiglio europeo con un memorandum già siglato tra l”Ue e la Tunisia”, è l”obiettivo fissato da Meloni, che ha rilanciato il ruolo di prima linea dell”Italia nei rapporti tra l”Europa e la sponda Sud del Mediterraneo. Nel Palazzo voluto dal padre della patria tunisino, Habib Bourguiba, von der Leyen, Meloni e Rutte sono arrivati con l”ideale divisa del Team Europe. I tre, di fatto, hanno rappresentato l”intera Unione sin da quando, a margine del summit in Moldavia della scorsa settimana, è nata l”idea di accelerare sul dossier tunisino. I giorni successivi sono stati segnati da frenetici contatti tra gli sherpa. Il compromesso, iniziale e generico, alla fine è arrivato. L”Ue sborserà sin da subito, e senza attendere il Fondo Monetario Internazionale, 150 milioni di euro a sostegno del bilancio tunisino. E” un primo passo ma di certo non sufficiente per Saied. Sulla seconda parte del sostegno europeo, il pacchetto di assistenza macro-finanziaria da 900 milioni, l”Ue tuttavia non ha cambiato idea: sarà sborsato solo dopo l”intesa tra Saied e l”Fmi. Intesa che appare ancora lontana: poco dopo la partenza dei tre leader europei, la presidenza tunisina ha infatti invitato il Fondo a “rivedere le sue ricette” ed evitare “diktat”, sottolineando che gli aiuti da 1,9 miliardi, sotto forma di prestiti, “non porteranno benefici” alla popolazione. La difficoltà di mettere il punto finale al negoziato tra Ue e Tunisia sta anche in un altro dato: la stessa posizione europea è frutto di un compromesso tra gli Stati membri. Non è un caso, ad esempio, che sia stato Rutte, portatore delle istanze dei Paesi del Nord, a spiegare come la cooperazione tra Ue e Tunisia sulla gestione dei flussi irregolari debba avvenire “in accordo con i diritti umani”. La dichiarazione congiunta, in via generica, fa riferimento ai principali nodi legati ai migranti: le morti in mare, la necessità di aumentare i rimpatri dell”Europa degli irregolari, la lotta ai trafficanti. Von der Leyen ha messo sul piatto sovvenzioni da 100 milioni di euro per sostenere i tunisini nel contrasto al traffico illegale e nelle attività di search & rescue. Meloni, dal canto suo, ha annunciato “una conferenza su migrazione e sviluppo in Italia, che sarà un ulteriore tappa nel percorso del partenariato” tra l”Ue e Tunisi. Saied ha assicurato il suo impegno sui diritti umani e nella chiusura delle frontiere sud del Paese, ma sui rimpatri la porta è aperta solo a quella per i tunisini irregolari. L”ipotesi che la Tunisia, come Paese di transito sicuro, ospiti anche i migranti subsahariani, continua a non decollare. “L”idea, che alcuni sostengono segretamente, che il Paese ospiti centri per i migranti in campo di somme di danaro è disumana e inaccettabile”, ha chiuso Saied. La strada, insomma, rimane in salita. La strategia dell”Ue resta quella adottata sin dalla prima visita di un suo commissario – Paolo Gentiloni – lo scorso aprile: quella di catturare il sì di Saied con una partnership economica ed energetica globale e di lungo periodo, in cui la migrazione non è altro che un ingranaggio. Ma Tunisi, su diritti e rule of law, deve fare di più. “L”Ue vuole investire nella stabilità tunisina. Le difficoltà del suo percorso democratico si possono superare”, ha detto von der Leyen. Delineando la mano tesa dell”Europa ma anche la linea rossa entro la quale va inquadrata la nuova partnership. (ANSA).

    2023-06-11 19:55

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    Statement 11 June 2023 Tunis
    The European Union and Tunisia agreed to work together on a comprehensive partnership package (https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_23_3202)

    European Commission – Statement
    The European Union and Tunisia agreed to work together on a comprehensive partnership package
    Tunis, 11 June 2023

    Building on our shared history, geographic proximity, and strong relationship, we have agreed towork together on a comprehensive partnership package, strengthening the ties that bind us in a mutually beneficial manner.
    We believe there is enormous potential to generate tangible benefits for the EU and Tunisia. The comprehensive partnership would cover the following areas:

    - Strengthening economic and trade ties ,

    - A sustainable and competitive energy partnership

    - Migration

    - People-to-people contacts

    The EU and Tunisia share strategic priorities and in all these areas, we will gain from working together more closely.
    Our economic cooperation will boost growth and prosperity through stronger trade and investment links, promoting opportunities for businesses including small and medium sized enterprises. Economic support, including in the form of Macro Financial Assistance, will also be considered. Our energy partnership will assist Tunisia with the green energy transition, bringing down costs and creating the framework for trade in renewables and integration with the EU market.
    As part of our joint work on migration, the fight against irregular migration to and from Tunisia and the prevention of loss of life at sea, is a common priority, including fighting against smugglers and human traffickers, strengthening border management, registration and return in full respect of human rights.
    People-to-people contacts are central to our partnership and this strand of work will encompass stronger cooperation on research, education, and culture, as well as developing Talent Partnerships, opening up new opportunities for skills development and mobility, especially for youth.

    Enhanced political and policy dialogue within the EU-Tunisia Association Council before the end of the year will offer an important opportunity to reinvigorate political and institutional ties, with the aim of addressing common international challenges together and preserving the rules-based order.
    We have tasked the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad and the
    Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement to work out a Memorandum of Understanding on the comprehensive partnership package, to be endorsed by Tunisia and the European Union before the end of June.

    https://www.a-dif.org/2023/06/11/la-tunisia-rifiuta-i-respingimenti-collettivi-e-le-deportazioni-di-migranti-i

    #Tunisie #externalisation #asile #migrations #réfugiés #Memorandum_of_Understanding (#MoU) #Italie #frontières #externalisation_des_frontières #réadmission #accord_de_réadmission #refoulements_collectifs #pays_tiers_sûr #développement #aide_au_développement #conditionnalité_de_l'aide #énergie #énergies_renouvelables

    #modèle_tunisien

    • EU offers Tunisia over €1bn to stem migration

      Brussels proposes €255mn in grants for Tunis, linking longer-term loans of up to €900mn to reforms

      The EU has offered Tunisia more than €1bn in a bid to help the North African nation overcome a deepening economic crisis that has prompted thousands of migrants to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Italy.

      The financial assistance package was announced on Sunday in Tunis after Ursula von der Leyen, accompanied by the prime ministers of Italy and the Netherlands, Giorgia Meloni and Mark Rutte, met with Tunisian president Kais Saied. The proposal still requires the endorsement of other EU governments and will be linked to Tunisian authorities passing IMF-mandated reforms.

      Von der Leyen said the bloc is prepared to mobilise €150mn in grants “right now” to boost Tunisia’s flagging economy, which has suffered from surging commodity prices linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Further assistance in the form of loans, totalling €900mn, could be mobilised over the longer-term, she said.

      In addition, Europe will also provide €105mn in grants this year to support Tunisia’s border management network, in a bid to “break the cynical business model of smugglers and traffickers”, von der Leyen said. The package is nearly triple what the bloc has so far provided in migration funding for the North African nation.

      The offer of quick financial support is a boost for Tunisia’s embattled president, but longer-term support is contingent on him accepting reforms linked to a $1.9bn IMF package, a move Saied has been attempting to defer until after presidential elections next year.

      Saied has refused to endorse the IMF loan agreement agreed in October, saying he rejected foreign “diktats” that would further impoverish Tunisians. The Tunisian leader is wary of measures such as reducing energy subsidies and speeding up the privatisation of state-owned enterprises as they could damage his popularity.

      Meloni, who laid the groundwork for the announcement after meeting with Saied on Tuesday, has been pushing Washington and Brussels for months to unblock financial aid for Tunisia. The Italian leader is concerned that if the north African country’s economy imploded, it would trigger an even bigger wave of people trying to cross the Mediterranean.

      So far this year, more than 53,000 migrants have arrived in Italy by boat, more than double compared with the same period last year — with a sharp increase in boats setting out from Tunisia one factor behind the surge.

      The agreement was “an important step towards creating a true partnership to address the migration crisis,” Meloni said on Sunday.

      In February, Saied stoked up racist violence against people from sub-Saharan African countries by saying they were part of a plot to change Tunisia’s demographic profile.

      His rhetoric has softened in an apparent bid to improve the image of the deal with the EU. Visiting a camp on Saturday, he criticised the treatment of migrants “as mere numbers”. However, he added, “it is unacceptable for us to play the policeman for other countries”.

      The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights think-tank criticised the EU’s visit on Sunday as “an attempt to exploit [Tunisia’s] political, economic and social fragility”.

      The financial aid proposal comes days after European governments agreed on a long-awaited migration package that will speed up asylum proceedings and make it easier for member states to send back people who are denied asylum.

      The package also includes proposals to support education, energy and trade relations with the country, including by investing in Tunisia’s renewable energy network and allowing Tunisian students to take part in student exchange programme Erasmus+.

      The presence of the Dutch prime minister, usually a voice for fiscally conservative leaders in the 27-strong bloc, indicated that approval of the package would not be as difficult to achieve as other foreign funding requests. The Netherlands, while not a frontline country like Italy, has also experienced a spike in so-called secondary migration, as many of the people who arrive in southern Europe travel on and apply for asylum in northern countries.

      Calling the talks “excellent”, Rutte said that “the window is open, we all sense there’s this opportunity to foster this relationship between the EU and Tunisia”.

      https://www.ft.com/content/82d6fc8c-ee95-456a-a4e1-8c2808922da3

    • Migrations : les yeux doux de #Gérald_Darmanin au président tunisien

      Pour promouvoir le Pacte sur la migration de l’Union européenne, le ministre de l’Intérieur en visite à Tunis a flirté avec les thèses controversées de Kais Saied, présentant le pays comme une « victime » des flux de réfugiés.

      Quand on sait que l’on n’obtiendra pas ce que l’on désire de son hôte, le mieux est de porter la faute sur un tiers. Le ministre français de l’Intérieur, Gérald Darmanin, a fait sienne cette stratégie durant sa visite dimanche 18 et lundi 19 juin en Tunisie. Et tant pis pour les pays du Sahel, victimes collatérales d’un échec annoncé.

      Accompagné de son homologue allemande, Nancy Faeser, le premier flic de France était en Tunisie pour expliquer au président tunisien Kais Saied le bien-fondé du Pacte sur la migration et l’asile en cours de validation dans l’Union européenne. Tel quel, il pourrait faire de la Tunisie un pays de transit ou d’établissement pour les migrants refoulés au nord de la Méditerranée. La Tunisie n’a jamais accepté officiellement d’être le gardien des frontières de l’Europe, même du temps du précédent président de la République, Béji Caïd Essebsi – officieusement, les gardes-côtes ont intercepté plus de 23 000 migrants de janvier à mai. Ce n’est pas le très panarabisant Kais Saied qui allait céder.

      Surtout que le chef de l’Etat aux méthodes autoritaires avait déjà refusé pareille proposition la semaine dernière, lors de la visite de la présidente de la Commission européenne, Ursula von der Leyen, accompagnée de Giorgia Meloni et Mark Rutte, chefs du gouvernement italien et néerlandais, malgré les promesses de plus d’un milliard d’euros d’aides à long terme (des projets budgétés de longue date pour la plupart). Kais Saied avait encore réitéré son refus au téléphone le 14 juin à Charles Michel, le président du Conseil européen.
      « Grand remplacement »

      Peu de chance donc que Gérald Darmanin et Nancy Faeser, « simples » ministres de l’Intérieur aient plus de succès, bien que leurs pays pèsent « 40 % du budget de l’Union européenne », comme l’a malicieusement glissé le ministre français. Alors pour ne pas repartir complètement bredouille, le locataire de la place Beauvau a promis du concret et flirté avec les thèses très controversées de Kais Saied.

      La France a promis une aide bilatérale de 25,8 millions d’euros pour « acquérir les équipements nécessaires et organiser les formations utiles, des policiers et des gardes-frontières tunisiens pour contenir le flux irrégulier de migrants ». Darmanin a surtout assuré que la Tunisie ne deviendra pas « la garde-frontière de l’Union européenne, ce n’est pas sa vocation ». Au contraire, il a présenté l’ancienne puissance carthaginoise comme une « victime » du flux migratoire.

      « Les Tunisiens qui arrivent de manière irrégulière sur le territoire européen sont une portion très congrue du nombre de personnes qui traversent à partir de la Tunisie la Méditerranée pour venir en Europe. Il y a beaucoup de Subsahariens notamment qui prennent ces routes migratoires », a ajouté le ministre de l’Intérieur français. Un argument martelé depuis des mois par les autorités tunisiennes. Dans un discours reprenant les thèses du « grand remplacement », Kais Saied, le 21 février, avait provoqué une campagne de haine et de violence contre les Subsahariens. Ces derniers avaient dû fuir par milliers le pays. Sans aller jusque-là, Gérald Darmanin a joué les VRP de Kais Saied, déclarant qu’« à la demande de la Tunisie », la France allait jouer de ses « relations diplomatiques privilégiées » avec ces pays (Côte d’Ivoire, Sénégal, Cameroun, notamment) pour « prévenir ces flux ». Si les migrants arrivant par bateaux en Italie sont, pour beaucoup, des Subsahariens – le nombre d’Ivoiriens a été multiplié par plus de 7 depuis le début de l’année par rapport à l’an dernier à la même période –, les Tunisiens demeurent, selon le HCR, la première nationalité (20 %) à débarquer clandestinement au sud de l’Europe depuis 2021.
      Préférence pour Giorgia Meloni

      Gérald Darmanin a quand même soulevé un ancien contentieux : le sort de la vingtaine de Tunisiens radicalisés et jugés dangereux actuellement présents sur le territoire français de façon illégale. Leur retour en Tunisie pose problème. Le ministre français a affirmé avoir donné une liste de noms (sans préciser le nombre) à son homologue tunisien. En attendant de savoir si son discours contribuera à réchauffer les relations avec le président tunisien – ce dernier ne cache pas sa préférence pour le franc-parler de Giorgia Meloni, venue deux fois ce mois-ci – Gérald Darmanin a pu profiter de prendre le café avec Iheb et Siwar, deux Tunisiens réinstallés dans leur pays d’origine via une aide aux retours volontaires mis en place par l’Office français de l’immigration et de l’intégration. En 2022, les Tunisiens ayant eu recours à ce programme étaient… 79. Quand on est envoyé dans une guerre impossible à gagner, il n’y a pas de petite victoire.

      https://www.liberation.fr/international/afrique/migrations-les-yeux-doux-de-gerald-darmanin-au-president-tunisien-2023061
      #Darmanin #France

    • Crisi economica e rimpatri: cosa stanno negoziando Ue e Tunisia

      Con l’economia del Paese nordafricano sempre più in difficoltà, l’intreccio tra sostegno finanziario ed esternalizzazione delle frontiere si fa sempre più stretto. E ora spunta una nuova ipotesi: rimpatriare in Tunisia anche cittadini di altri Paesi

      Durante gli ultimi mesi di brutto tempo in Tunisia, il governo italiano ha più volte dichiarato di aver compiuto «numerosi passi avanti nella difesa dei nostri confini», riferendosi al calo degli arrivi di migranti via mare dal Paese nordafricano. Ora che il sole estivo torna a splendere sulle coste del Sud tunisino, però, le agenzie stampa segnalano un nuovo «aumento delle partenze». Secondo l’Ansa, durante le notti del 18 e 19 giugno, Lampedusa ha contato prima dodici, poi altri quindici sbarchi. Gli arrivi sono stati 18, con 290 persone in totale, anche tra la mezzanotte e le due del 23 giugno. Come accadeva durante i mesi di febbraio e marzo, a raggiungere le coste siciliane sono soprattutto ivoriani, malesi, ghanesi, nigeriani, sudanesi, egiziani. I principali porti di partenza delle persone che raggiungono l’Italia via mare, nel 2023, si trovano soprattutto in Tunisia.

      È durante questo giugno piovoso che la presidente del Consiglio Giorgia Meloni è atterrata a Tunisi non una ma ben due volte, con l’intento di negoziare quello che ha tutta l’aria di uno scambio: un maggior sostegno finanziario al bilancio di una Tunisia sempre più in crisi in cambio di ulteriori azioni di militarizzazione del Mediterraneo centrale. Gli aiuti economici promessi da Bruxelles, necessari perché la Tunisia eviti la bancarotta, sono condizionati alla firma di un nuovo accordo con il Fondo monetario internazionale. Il prezzo da pagare, però, sono ulteriori passi avanti nel processo di esternalizzazione della frontiera dell’Unione europea. Un processo già avviato da anni che, come abbiamo raccontato nelle precedenti puntate di #TheBigWall, si è tradotto in finanziamenti alla Tunisia per un valore di 59 milioni di euro dal 2011 a oggi, sotto forma di una lunga lista di equipaggiamenti a beneficio del ministero dell’Interno tunisino.

      Che l’Italia si stia nuovamente muovendo in questo senso, è stato reso noto dalla documentazione raccolta tramite accesso di richiesta agli atti da IrpiMedia in collaborazione con ActionAid sull’ultimo finanziamento di 12 milioni di euro approvato a fine 2022. A dimostrarlo, è anche l’ultima gara d’appalto pubblicata da Unops, l’Agenzia delle Nazioni Unite per i Servizi di Progetto, che dal 2020 fa da intermediario tra il inistero degli Affari esteri e della cooperazione internazionale italiano (Maeci) e il ministero dell’Interno tunisino, per la fornitura di sette nuove motovedette, in scadenza proprio a giugno.

      Le motovedette si sommano al recente annuncio, reso noto da Altreconomia a marzo 2023, della fornitura di 100 pick-up Nissan Navara alla Guardia nazionale tunisina. Con una differenza, però: Roma non negozia più da sola con Tunisi, ma si impone come mediatrice tra il Paese nordafricano e l’Unione europea. Secondo le informazioni confidenziali diffuse da una fonte diplomatica vicina ai negoziati Tunisia-Ue, la lista più recente sottoposta dalla Tunisia alla Commissione europea includerebbe anche «droni, elicotteri e nuove motovedette per un totale di ulteriori 200 milioni di euro». Durante la visita del 19 giugno, anche la Francia ha annunciato un nuovo sostegno economico a Tunisi del valore di 26 milioni di euro finalizzato a «contrastare la migrazione».

      Il prezzo del salvataggio dalla bancarotta sono i migranti

      Entro fine giugno è attesa la firma del nuovo memorandum tra Unione europea e Tunisia. Ad annunciarlo è stata la presidente della Commissione Ue Ursula Von der Leyen, arrivata a Tunisi l’11 giugno insieme a Giorgia Meloni e a Mark Rutte, il primo ministro olandese.

      La visita ha fatto seguito al Consiglio dell’Ue, il vertice che riunisce i ministri competenti per discutere e votare proposte legislative della Commissione in cui sono stati approvati alcuni provvedimenti che faranno parte del Patto sulla migrazione e l’asilo. L’intesa, che dovrebbe sostituire anche il controverso Regolamento di Dublino ma deve ancora essere negoziata con l’Europarlamento, si lega alle trattative con la Tunisia. Tra i due dossier esiste un parallelismo tracciato dalla stessa Von Der Leyen che, a seguito del recente naufragio di fronte alle coste greche, ha dichiarato: «Sulla migrazione dobbiamo agire in modo urgente sia sul quadro delle regole che in azioni dirette e concrete. Per esempio, il lavoro che stiamo facendo con la Tunisia per stabilizzare il Paese, con l’assistenza finanziaria e investendo nella sua economia».

      Nel frattempo, in Tunisia, la situazione economica si è fatta sempre più complicata. Il 9 giugno, infatti, l’agenzia di rating Fitch ha declassato il Paese a “-CCC” per quanto riguarda l’indice Idr, Issuer default ratings, ovvero il misuratore della capacità di solvenza di aziende e fondi sovrani. Più è basso, più è alta la possibilità, secondo Fitch, che il Paese (o la società, quando l’indice Idr si applica alle società) possa finire in bancarotta. Colpa principalmente delle trattative fallite tra il governo di Tunisi e il Fondo monetario internazionale (Fmi): ad aprile 2023, il presidente Kais Saied ha rifiutato pubblicamente un prestito da 1,9 miliardi di dollari.

      Principale ragione del diniego tunisino sono stati i «diktat», ha detto Saied il 6 aprile, imposti dal Fmi, cioè una serie di riforme con possibili costi sociali molto alti. Al discorso, sono seguite settimane di insistente lobbying da parte italiana, a Tunisi come a Washington, perché si tornasse a discutere del prestito. Gli aiuti promessi da Von Der Leyen in visita a Tunisi (900 milioni di euro di prestito condizionato, oltre ai 150 milioni di sostegno bilaterale al bilancio) sono infatti condizionati al sì dell’Fmi.

      La Tunisia, quindi, ha bisogno sempre più urgentemente di sostegno finanziario internazionale per riuscire a chiudere il bilancio del 2023 e a rispettare le scadenze del debito pubblico estero. E le trattative per fermare i flussi migratori si intensificano. A giugno 2023, come riportato da AnsaMed, Meloni ha dichiarato di voler «risolvere alla partenza» la questione migranti, proprio durante la firma del Patto sull’asilo a Bruxelles. Finanziamenti in cambio di misure di controllo delle partenze, quindi. Ma di che tipo? Per un’ipotesi che tramonta, un’altra sembra prendere corpo.
      I negoziati per il nuovo accordo di riammissione

      La prima ipotesi è trasformare la Tunisia in un hotspot, una piattaforma esterna all’Unione europea per lo smistamento di chi avrebbe diritto a una forma di protezione e chi invece no. È un’idea vecchia, che compariva già nelle bozze di accordi Ue-Tunisia fermi al 2018, dove si veniva fatto esplicito riferimento ad «accordi regionali di sbarco» tra Paesi a Nord del Mediterraneo e Paesi a Sud, e a «piattaforme di sbarco […] complementari a centri controllati nel territorio Ue». All’epoca, la Tunisia rispose con un secco «no» e anche oggi sembra che l’esito sarà simile. Secondo una fonte vicina alle trattative in corso per il memorandum con l’Ue, «è improbabile che la Tunisia accetti di accogliere veri e propri centri di smistamento sul territorio».

      L’opinione del presidente tunisino Kais Saied, infatti, è ben diversa dai toni concilianti con i quali ha accolto i rappresentanti politici europei, da Meloni ai ministri dell’Interno di Francia (Gérald Darmanin) e Germania (Nancy Faeser), questi ultimi incontrati lo scorso 19 giugno. Saied ha più volte ribadito che «non saremo i guardiani dell’Europa», provando a mantenere la sua immagine pubblica di “anti-colonialista” e sovranista.

      Sotto la crescente pressione economica, esiste comunque la possibilità che il presidente tunisino scenda a più miti consigli e rivaluti l’idea della Tunisia come hotspot. In questo scenario, i Paesi Ue potrebbero rimandare in Tunisia non solo persone tunisine a cui è negata la richiesta d’asilo, ma anche persone di altre nazionalità che hanno qualche tipo di legame (ancora tutto da definire nei dettagli) con la Tunisia. Il memorandum Tunisia-Ue, quindi, potrebbe includere delle clausole relative non solo ai rimpatri dei cittadini tunisini, ma anche alle riammissioni di cittadini di altri Paesi.

      A sostegno di questa seconda ipotesi ci sono diversi elementi. Il primo è un documento della Commissione europea sulla cooperazione estera in ambito migratorio, visionato da IrpiMedia, datato maggio 2022, ma anticipato da una bozza del 2017. Nel documento, in riferimento a futuri accordi di riammissione, si legge che la Commissione avrebbe dovuto lanciare, «entro la fine del 2022», «i primi partenariati con i Paesi nordafricani, tra cui la Tunisia». Il secondo elemento è contenuto nell’accordo raggiunto dal Consiglio sul Patto. Su pressione dell’Italia, la proposta di legge prevede la possibilità di mandare i richiedenti asilo in un Paese terzo considerato sicuro, sulla base di una serie di fattori legati al rispetto dei diritti umani in generale e dei richiedenti asilo più nello specifico.
      I dubbi sulla Tunisia, Paese terzo sicuro

      A marzo 2023 – durante il picco di partenze dalla Tunisia a seguito di un violento discorso del presidente nei confronti della comunità subsahariana nel Paese – la lista dei Paesi di origine considerati sicuri è stata aggiornata, e include ormai non solo la Tunisia stessa, sempre più insicura, come raccontato nelle puntate precedenti, ma anche la Costa d’Avorio, il Ghana, la Nigeria. Che rappresentano ormai le prime nazionalità di sbarco.

      In questo senso, aveva attirato l’attenzione la richiesta da parte delle autorità tunisine a inizio 2022 di laboratori mobili per il test del DNA, utilizzati spesso nei commissariati sui subsahariani in situazione di regolarità o meno. Eppure, nel contesto la situazione della comunità subsahariana nel Paese resta estremamente precaria. Solo la settimana scorsa un migrante di origine non chiara, ma subsahariano, è stato accoltellato nella periferia di Sfax, dove la tensione tra famiglie tunisine in situazioni sempre più precarie e subsahariani continua a crescere.

      Malgrado un programma di ritorno volontario gestito dall’Organizzazione internazionale delle migrazioni (Oim), continua a esistere una tendopoli di fronte alla sede dell’organizzazione internazionale. La Tunisia, dove manca un quadro legale sul diritto di asilo che tuteli quindi chi viene riconosciuto come rifugiato da UNHCR, continua a non essersi dotata di una zona Sar (Search & Rescue). Proprio a questo fa riferimento esplicito la bozza del nuovo patto sull’asilo firmato a Bruxelles. Una delle condizioni richieste, allora, potrebbe essere proprio quella di notificare all’Organizzazione marittima internazionale (Imo) una zona Sar una volta ottenuti tutti gli equipaggiamenti richiesti dal ministero dell’Interno tunisino.

      https://irpimedia.irpi.eu/thebigwall-crisi-economica-rimpatri-cosa-stanno-negoziando-ue-tunisia
      #crise_économique #UE #externalisation

    • Pour garder ses frontières, l’Europe se précipite au chevet de la Tunisie

      Alors que le régime du président #Kaïs_Saïed peine à trouver un accord avec le #Fonds_monétaire_international, la Tunisie voit plusieurs dirigeants européens — notamment italiens et français — voler à son secours. Un « soutien » intéressé qui vise à renforcer le rôle de ce pays comme garde-frontière de l’Europe en pleine externalisation de ses frontières.

      C’est un fait rarissime dans les relations internationales. En l’espace d’une semaine, la présidente du Conseil italien, Giorgia Meloni, aura effectué deux visites à Tunis. Le 7 juin, la dirigeante d’extrême droite n’a passé que quelques heures dans la capitale tunisienne. Accueillie par son homologue Najla Bouden, elle s’est ensuite entretenue avec le président Kaïs Saïed qui a salué, en français, une « femme qui dit tout haut ce que d’autres pensent tout bas ». Quatre jours plus tard, c’est avec une délégation européenne que la présidente du Conseil est revenue à Tunis.

      Accompagnée de la présidente de la Commission européenne #Ursula_von_der_Leyen et du premier ministre néerlandais #Mark_Rutte, Meloni a inscrit à l’agenda de sa deuxième visite les deux sujets qui préoccupent les leaders européens : la #stabilité_économique de la Tunisie et, surtout, la question migratoire, reléguant au second plan les « #valeurs_démocratiques ».

      Un pacte migratoire

      À l’issue de cette rencontre, les Européens ont proposé une série de mesures en faveur de la Tunisie : un #prêt de 900 millions d’euros conditionné à la conclusion de l’accord avec le Fonds monétaire international (#FMI), une aide immédiate de 150 millions d’euros destinée au budget, ainsi que 105 millions pour accroitre la #surveillance_des_frontières. Von der Leyen a également évoqué des projets portant sur l’internet à haut débit et les énergies vertes, avant de parler de « rapprochement des peuples ». Le journal Le Monde, citant des sources bruxelloises, révèle que la plupart des annonces portent sur des fonds déjà budgétisés. Une semaine plus tard, ce sont #Gérald_Darmanin et #Nancy_Faeser, ministres français et allemande de l’intérieur qui se rendent à Tunis. Une #aide de 26 millions d’euros est débloquée pour l’#équipement et la #formation des gardes-frontières tunisiens.

      Cet empressement à trouver un accord avec la Tunisie s’explique, pour ces partenaires européens, par le besoin de le faire valoir devant le Parlement européen, avant la fin de sa session. Déjà le 8 juin, un premier accord a été trouvé par les ministres de l’intérieur de l’UE pour faire évoluer la politique des 27 en matière d’asile et de migration, pour une meilleure répartition des migrants. Ainsi, ceux qui, au vu de leur nationalité, ont une faible chance de bénéficier de l’asile verront leur requête examinée dans un délai de douze semaines. Des accords devront également être passés avec certains pays dits « sûrs » afin qu’ils récupèrent non seulement leurs ressortissants déboutés, mais aussi les migrants ayant transité par leur territoire. Si la Tunisie acceptait cette condition, elle pourrait prendre en charge les milliers de subsahariens ayant tenté de rejoindre l’Europe au départ de ses côtes.

      Dans ce contexte, la question des droits humains a été esquivée par l’exécutif européen. Pourtant, en mars 2023, les eurodéputés ont voté, à une large majorité, une résolution condamnant le tournant autoritaire du régime. Depuis le mois de février, les autorités ont arrêté une vingtaine d’opposants dans des affaires liées à un « complot contre la sûreté de l’État ». Si les avocats de la défense dénoncent des dossiers vides, le parquet a refusé de présenter sa version.

      L’allié algérien

      Depuis qu’il s’est arrogé les pleins pouvoirs, le 25 juillet 2021, Kaïs Saïed a transformé la Tunisie en « cas » pour les puissances régionales et internationales. Dans les premiers mois qui ont suivi le coup de force, les pays occidentaux ont oscillé entre « préoccupations » et compréhension. Le principal cadre choisi pour exprimer leurs inquiétudes a été celui du G 7. C’est ainsi que plusieurs communiqués ont appelé au retour rapide à un fonctionnement démocratique et à la mise en place d’un dialogue inclusif. Mais, au-delà des proclamations de principe, une divergence d’intérêts a vite traversé ce groupement informel, séparant les Européens des Nord-Américains. L’Italie — et dans une moindre mesure la France — place la question migratoire au centre de son débat public, tandis que les États-Unis et le Canada ont continué à orienter leur communication vers les questions liées aux droits et libertés. En revanche, des deux côtés de l’Atlantique, le soutien à la conclusion d’un accord entre Tunis et le FMI a continué à faire consensus.

      La fin de l’unanimité occidentale sur la question des droits et libertés va faire de l’Italie un pays à part dans le dossier tunisien. Depuis 2022, Rome est devenue le premier partenaire commercial de Tunis, passant devant la France. Ce changement coïncide avec un autre bouleversement : la Tunisie est désormais le premier pays de départ pour les embarcations clandestines en direction de l’Europe, dans le bassin méditerranéen. Constatant que la Tunisie de Kaïs Saïed a maintenu une haute coopération en matière de #réadmission des Tunisiens clandestins expulsés du territoire italien, Rome a compris qu’il était dans son intérêt de soutenir un régime fort et arrangeant, en profitant de son rapprochement avec l’Algérie d’Abdelmadjid Tebboune, qui n’a jamais fait mystère de son soutien à Kaïs Saïed. Ainsi, en mai 2022, le président algérien a déclaré qu’Alger et Rome étaient décidées à sortir la Tunisie de « son pétrin ». Les déclarations de ce type se sont répétées sans que les autorités tunisiennes, d’habitude plus promptes à dénoncer toute ingérence, ne réagissent publiquement. Ce n’est pas la première fois que l’Italie et l’#Algérie — liées par un #gazoduc traversant le territoire tunisien — s’unissent pour soutenir un pouvoir autoritaire en Tunisie. Déjà, en 1987, Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali a consulté Rome et Alger avant de déposer le président Habib Bourguiba.

      L’arrivée de Giorgia Meloni au pouvoir en octobre 2022 va doper cette relation. La dirigeante d’extrême droite, élue sur un programme de réduction drastique de l’immigration clandestine, va multiplier les signes de soutien au régime en place. Le 21 février 2023, un communiqué de la présidence tunisienne dénonce les « menaces » que font peser « les hordes de migrants subsahariens » sur « la composition démographique tunisien ». Alors que cette déclinaison tunisienne de la théorie du « Grand Remplacement » provoque l’indignation, — notamment celle de l’Union africaine (UA) — l’Italie est le seul pays à soutenir publiquement les autorités tunisiennes. Depuis, la présidente du Conseil italien et ses ministres multiplient les efforts diplomatiques pour que la Tunisie signe un accord avec le FMI, surtout depuis que l’UE a officiellement évoqué le risque d’un effondrement économique du pays.

      Contre les « diktats du FMI »

      La Tunisie est en crise économique au moins depuis 2008. Les dépenses sociales engendrées par la révolution, les épisodes terroristes, la crise du Covid et l’invasion de l’Ukraine par la Russie n’ont fait qu’aggraver la situation du pays.

      L’accord avec l’institution washingtonienne est un feuilleton à multiples rebondissements. Fin juillet 2021, avant même la nomination d’un nouveau gouvernement, Saïed charge sa nouvelle ministre des Finances Sihem Namsia de poursuivre les discussions en vue de l’obtention d’un prêt du FMI, prélude à une série d’aides financières bilatérales. À mesure que les pourparlers avancent, des divergences se font jour au sein du nouvel exécutif. Alors que le gouvernement de Najla Bouden semble disposé à accepter les préconisations de l’institution financière (restructuration et privatisation de certaines entreprises publiques, arrêt des subventions sur les hydrocarbures, baisse des subventions sur les matières alimentaires), Saïed s’oppose à ce qu’il qualifie de « diktats du FMI » et dénonce une politique austéritaire à même de menacer la paix civile. Cela ne l’empêche pas de promulguer la loi de finances de l’année 2023 qui reprend les principales préconisations de l’institution de Bretton Woods.

      En octobre 2022, un accord « technique » a été trouvé entre les experts du FMI et ceux du gouvernement tunisien et la signature définitive devait intervenir en décembre. Mais cette dernière étape a été reportée sine die, sans aucune explication.

      Ces dissensions au sein d’un exécutif censé plus unitaire que sous le régime de la Constitution de 2014 trouvent leur origine dans la vision économique de Kaïs Saïed. Après la chute de Ben Ali, les autorités de transition ont commandé un rapport sur les mécanismes de corruption du régime déchu. Le document final, qui pointe davantage un manque à gagner (prêts sans garanties, autorisations indument accordées…) que des détournements de fonds n’a avancé aucun chiffre. Mais en 2012, le ministre des domaines de l’État Slim Ben Hmidane a avancé celui de 13 milliards de dollars (11,89 milliards d’euros), confondant les biens du clan Ben Ali que l’État pensait saisir avec les sommes qui se trouvaient à l’étranger. Se saisissant du chiffre erroné, Kaïs Saïed estime que cette somme doit être restituée et investie dans les régions marginalisées par l’ancien régime. Le 20 mars 2022, le président promulgue une loi dans ce sens et nomme une commission chargée de proposer à « toute personne […] qui a accompli des actes pouvant entraîner des infractions économiques et financières » d’investir l’équivalent des sommes indument acquises dans les zones sinistrées en échange de l’abandon des poursuites.

      La mise en place de ce mécanisme intervient après la signature de l’accord technique avec le FMI. Tandis que le gouvernement voulait finaliser le pacte avec Washington, Saïed mettait la pression sur la commission d’amnistie afin que « la Tunisie s’en sorte par ses propres moyens ». Constatant l’échec de sa démarche, le président tunisien a préféré limoger le président de la commission et dénoncer des blocages au sein de l’administration. Depuis, il multiplie les appels à un assouplissement des conditions de l’accord avec le FMI, avec l’appui du gouvernement italien. Le 12 juin 2023, à l’issue d’une rencontre avec son homologue italien, Antonio Tajani, le secrétaire d’État américain Anthony Blinken s’est déclaré ouvert à ce que Tunis présente un plan de réforme révisé au FMI.

      Encore une fois, les Européens font le choix de soutenir la dictature au nom de la stabilité. Si du temps de Ben Ali, l’islamisme et la lutte contre le terrorisme étaient les principales justifications, c’est aujourd’hui la lutte contre l’immigration, devenue l’alpha et l’oméga de tout discours politique et électoraliste dans une Europe de plus en plus à droite, qui sert de boussole. Mais tous ces acteurs négligent le côté imprévisible du président tunisien, soucieux d’éviter tout mouvement social à même d’affaiblir son pouvoir. À la veille de la visite de la délégation européenne, Saïed s’est rendu à Sfax, deuxième ville du pays et plaque tournante de la migration clandestine. Il est allé à la rencontre des populations subsahariennes pour demander qu’elles soient traitées avec dignité, avant de déclarer que la Tunisie ne « saurait être le garde-frontière d’autrui ». Un propos réitéré lors de la visite de Gérald Darmanin et de son homologue allemande, puis à nouveau lors du Sommet pour un nouveau pacte financier à Paris, les 22 et 23 juin 2023.

      https://orientxxi.info/magazine/pour-garder-ses-frontieres-l-europe-se-precipite-au-chevet-de-la-tunisie

    • Perché oggi Meloni torna in Tunisia

      È la terza visita da giugno: l’obiettivo è un accordo per dare al paese aiuti economici europei in cambio di più controlli sulle partenze di migranti

      Nella giornata di domenica è previsto un viaggio istituzionale in Tunisia della presidente del Consiglio italiana Giorgia Meloni, insieme alla presidente della Commissione Europea Ursula von der Leyen e al primo ministro olandese #Mark_Rutte. Per Meloni è la terza visita in Tunisia in poco più di un mese: era andata da sola una prima volta il 6 giugno, e poi già insieme a von der Leyen e Rutte l’11 giugno.

      Il motivo delle visite è stata una serie di colloqui con il presidente tunisino, l’autoritario Kais Saied, per firmare un “memorandum d’intesa” tra Unione Europea e Tunisia che ha l’obiettivo di fornire un aiuto finanziario al governo tunisino da circa un miliardo di euro. Questi soldi si aggiungerebbero al prestito del Fondo Monetario Internazionale (#FMI) da 1,7 miliardi di euro di cui si parla da tempo e che era stato chiesto dalla Tunisia per provare a risolvere la sua complicata situazione economica e sociale.

      Il memorandum, di cui non sono stati comunicati i dettagli, secondo fonti a conoscenza dei fatti impegnerebbe la Tunisia ad applicare alcune riforme chieste dall’FMI, e a collaborare maggiormente nel bloccare le partenze di migranti e richiedenti asilo che cercano di raggiungere l’Italia via mare.

      Nell’incontro dell’11 giugno le discussioni non erano andate benissimo, e avevano portato solo alla firma di una dichiarazione d’intenti. La visita di domenica dovrebbe invece concludersi con una definizione degli accordi, almeno nelle intenzioni dei leader europei. «Speriamo di concludere le discussioni che abbiamo iniziato a giugno», aveva detto venerdì la vice portavoce della Commissione Europea Dana Spinant annunciando il viaggio di domenica.

      Il memorandum d’intesa prevede che l’Unione Europea offra alla Tunisia aiuti finanziari sotto forma di un prestito a tassi agevolati di 900 milioni di euro – da erogare a rate nei prossimi anni – oltre a due contributi a fondo perduto rispettivamente da 150 milioni di euro, come contributo al bilancio nazionale, e da 100 milioni di euro per impedire le partenze delle imbarcazioni di migranti. Quest’ultimo aiuto di fatto replicherebbe su scala minore quelli dati negli anni scorsi a Libia e Turchia affinché impedissero con la forza le partenze di migranti e richiedenti asilo.

      Dell’accordo si è parlato molto criticamente nelle ultime settimane per via delle violenze in corso da tempo nel paese, sia da parte della popolazione locale che delle autorità, nei confronti dei migranti subsahariani che transitano nel paese nella speranza di partire via mare verso l’Europa (e soprattutto verso l’Italia). Da mesi il presidente Kais Saied – che negli ultimi tre anni ha dato una svolta autoritaria al governo del paese – sta usando i migranti come capro espiatorio per spiegare la pessima situazione economica e sociale in cui si trova la Tunisia.

      Ha più volte sostenuto che l’immigrazione dai paesi africani faccia parte di un progetto di «sostituzione demografica per rendere la Tunisia un paese unicamente africano, che perda i suoi legami con il mondo arabo e islamico». Le sue parole hanno causato reazioni razziste molto violente da parte di residenti e polizia nei confronti dei migranti, con arresti arbitrari e varie aggressioni. L’ultimo episodio è stato segnalato all’inizio di luglio, quando le forze dell’ordine tunisine hanno arrestato centinaia di migranti provenienti dall’Africa subsahariana e li hanno portati con la forza in una zona desertica nell’est del paese al confine con la Libia.

      https://www.ilpost.it/2023/07/16/tunisia-meloni

    • Firmato a Tunisi il memorandum d’intesa tra Tunisia e Ue, Meloni: «Compiuto passo molto importante»

      Saied e la delegazione Ue von der Leyen, Meloni e #Rutte siglano il pacchetto complessivo di 255 milioni di euro per il bilancio dello Stato nordafricano e per la gestione dei flussi migratori. 5 i pilastri dell’intesa

      E’ stato firmato il Memorandum d’intesa per una partnership strategica e globale fra Unione europea e Tunisia. L’Ue ha diffuso il video della cerimonia di firma, alla quale erano presenti la presidente della Commissione Ue Ursula von der Leyen, la presidente del Consiglio Giorgia Meloni, il premier dell’Olanda Mark Rutte e il presidente tunisino Kais Saied. Al termine della cerimonia di firma è iniziato l’incontro fra i tre leader europei e Saied, a seguito del quale sono attese dichiarazioni alla stampa. L’incontro si svolge nel palazzo presidenziale tunisino di Cartagine, vicino Tunisi. Per raggiungere questo obiettivo Bruxelles ha proposto un pacchetto di aiuti (150 milioni a sostegno del bilancio dello Stato e 105 milioni come supporto al controllo delle frontiere), su cui era stato avviato un negoziato.

      «Il Team Europe torna a Tunisi. Eravamo qui insieme un mese fa per lanciare una nuova partnership con la Tunisia. E oggi la portiamo avanti». Lo scrive sui social la Presidente della Commissione Ue, Ursula Von der Leyen, postando foto con lei, Meloni, Rutte e Saied.

      E nella conferenza stampa congiunta con Saied, Meloni e Rutte la presidente ha affermato che la Ue coopererà con la Tunisia contro i trafficanti di migranti.

      «Abbiamo raggiunto un obiettivo molto importante che arriva dopo un grande lavoro diplomatico. Il Memorandum è un importante passo per creare una vera partnership tra l’Ue e la Tunisia». Lo ha detto la premier Giorgia Meloni al termine dell’incontro con Kais Saied nel palazzo di Cartagine. L’intesa va considerata «un modello» perle relazioni tra l’Ue e i Paesi del Nord Africa.

      L’obiettivo iniziale era di firmare un Memorandum d’intesa entro lo scorso Consiglio europeo, del 29 e 30 giugno, ma c’è stato uno slittamento. L’intesa con l’Europa, nelle intenzioni di Bruxelles, dovrebbe anche facilitare lo sblocco del finanziamento del Fondo monetario internazionale da 1,9 miliardi al momento sospeso, anche se in questo caso la trattativa è tutta in salita.

      Anche oggi, nel giorno della firma del Memorandum di Intesa tra Unione europea e Tunisia, a Lampedusa - isola simbolo di migrazione e di naufragi - sono sbarcati in 385 (ieri quasi mille). L’obiettivo dell’accordo voluto dalla premier Meloni e il presidente Saied è soprattutto arginare il flusso incontrollato di persone che si affidano alla pericolosa via del mare per approdare in Europa. Un problema che riguarda i confini esterni meridionali dell’Unione europea, come ha sempre sottolineato la presidente del Consiglio, che oggi arriverà a Tunisi per la seconda volta, con la presidente della Commissione Ursula von der Leyen e con il collega olandese Mark Rutte.

      Le dichiarazioni della premier Giorgia Meloni

      «Oggi abbiamo raggiunto un risultato estremamente importante, il memorandum firmato tra Tunisia e Ue è un ulteriore passo verso la creazione di un vero partenariato che possa affrontare in modo integrato la crisi migratoria e lo sviluppo per entrambe le sponde del Mediterraneo».

      Così la presidente del Consiglio Giorgia Meloni nel punto stampa dopo la firma del Memorandum.

      «Il partenariato con la Tunisia- ha aggiunto Meloni- rappresenta per noi un modello per costruire nuove relazioni con i vicini del Nord Africa. Il memorandum è un punto di partenza al quale dovranno conseguire diversi accordi per mettere a terra gli obiettivi che ci siamo dati».

      Infine la presidente del Consiglio ha ricordato che «domenica prossima 23 luglio a Roma ci sarà la conferenza internazionale sull’immigrazione che avrà come protagonista il presidente Saied e con lui diversi capi di Stato e governo dei paesi mediterranei. E’ un altro importante passo per affrontare la cooperazione mediterranea con un approccio integrato e io lo considero come l’inizio di un percorso che può consentire una partnership diversa da quella che abbiamo avuto nel passato».

      Le dichiarazioni della Presidente della Commisisone Europea

      Per Ursula Von der Leyen l’accordo odierno è «un buon pacchetto di misure», da attuare rapidamente «in entrambe le sponde del Mediterraneo» ma ha anche precisato che «L’ assistenza macrofinanziaria sarà fornita quando le condizioni lo permetteranno».

      La Presidente ha elencato i 5 pilastri del Memorandum con la Tunisia:

      1) creare opportunità per i giovani tunisini. Per loro «ci sarà una finestra in Europa con l’#Erasmus». Per le scuole tunisine stanziati 65 milioni;

      2) sviluppo economico della Tunisia. La Ue aiuterà la crescita e la resilienza dell’economia tunisina;

      3) investimenti e commercio: "La Ue è il più grande partner economico della Tunisia. Ci saranno investimenti anche per migliorare la connettività della Tunisia, per il turismo e l’agricoltura. 150 milioni verranno stanziati per il ’#Medusa_submarine_cable' tra Europa e Tunisia;

      4) energia pulita: la Tunisia ha «potenzialità enormi» per le rinnovabili. L’ Europa ha bisogno di «fonti per l’energia pulita. Questa è una situazione #win-win. Abbiamo stanziato 300 milioni per questo progetto ed è solo l’inizio»;

      5) migranti: «Bisogna stroncare i trafficanti - dice Von der Leyen - e distruggere il loro business». Ue e Tunisia coordineranno le operazioni Search and Rescue. Per questo sono stanziati 100 milioni di euro.

      Le dichiarazioni del Presidente Kais Saied

      «Dobbiamo trovare delle vie di collaborazione alternative a quelle con il Fondo Monetario Internazionale, che è stato stabilito dopo la seconda Guerra mondiale. Un regime che divide il mondo in due metà: una metà per i ricchi e una per i poveri eche non doveva esserci». Lo ha detto il presidente tunisino Kais Saied nelle dichiarazioni alla stampa da Cartagine.

      «Il Memorandum dovrebbe essere accompagnato presto da accordi attuativi» per «rendere umana» la migrazione e «combattere i trafficanti. Abbiamo oggi un’assoluta necessità di un accordo comune contro la migrazione irregolari e contro la rete criminale di trafficanti».

      «Grazie a tutti e in particolare la premier Meloni per aver risposto immediatamente all’iniziativa tunisina di organizzare» un vertice sulla migrazione con i Paesi interessati.

      https://www.rainews.it/articoli/2023/07/memorandum-dintesa-tra-unione-europea-e-tunisia-la-premier-meloni-von-der-le
      #memorandum_of_understanding #développement #énergie #énergie_renouvelable #économie #tourisme #jeunes #jeunesse #smugglers #traficants_d'êtres_humains #aide_financière

    • La Tunisie et l’Union européenne signent un partenariat sur l’économie et la politique migratoire

      La présidente de la Commission européenne s’est réjouie d’un accord destiné à « investir dans une prospérité partagée », évoquant cinq piliers dont l’immigration irrégulière. La Tunisie est un point de départ pour des milliers de migrants vers l’Europe.

      L’Union européenne (UE) et la Tunisie ont signé dimanche 16 juillet à Tunis un protocole d’accord pour un « partenariat stratégique complet » portant sur la lutte contre l’immigration irrégulière, les énergies renouvelables et le développement économique de ce pays du Maghreb. La présidente de la Commission européenne, Ursula von der Leyen, s’est réjouie d’un accord destiné à « investir dans une prospérité partagée », évoquant « cinq piliers », dont les questions migratoires.

      La Tunisie est un point de départ pour des milliers de migrants qui traversent la Méditerranée vers l’Europe. Les chefs de gouvernement italien, Giorgia Meloni, et néerlandais, Mark Rutte, accompagnaient la dirigeante européenne après une première visite il y a un mois, pendant laquelle ils avaient proposé ce partenariat.

      Il s’agit « d’une nouvelle étape importante pour traiter la crise migratoire de façon intégrée », a dit Mme Meloni, qui a invité le président tunisien, Kais Saied, présent à ses côtés, à participer dimanche à Rome à un sommet sur les migrations. Celui-ci s’est exprimé à son tour pour insister sur le volet de l’accord portant sur « le rapprochement entre les peuples ».

      « Nouvelles relations avec l’Afrique du Nord »

      Selon Mme Meloni, le partenariat entre la Tunisie et l’UE « peut être considéré comme un modèle pour l’établissement de nouvelles relations avec l’Afrique du Nord ». M. Rutte a pour sa part estimé que « l’accord bénéficiera aussi bien à l’Union européenne qu’au peuple tunisien », rappelant que l’UE est le premier partenaire commercial de la Tunisie et son premier investisseur. Sur l’immigration, il a assuré que l’accord permettra de « mieux contrôler l’immigration irrégulière ».

      L’accord prévoit une aide de 105 millions d’euros pour lutter contre l’immigration irrégulière et une aide budgétaire de 150 millions d’euros alors que la Tunisie est étranglée par une dette de 80 % de son produit intérieur brut (PIB) et est à court de liquidités. Lors de sa première visite, la troïka européenne avait évoqué une « assistance macrofinancière de 900 millions d’euros » qui pouvait être fournie à la Tunisie sous forme de prêt sur les années à venir.

      Mme von der Leyen a affirmé dimanche que Bruxelles « est prête à fournir cette assistance dès que les conditions seront remplies ». Cette « assistance » de l’UE est conditionnée à un accord entre la Tunisie et le Fonds monétaire international (FMI) pour un nouveau crédit du Fonds, un dossier qui est dans l’impasse depuis des mois.

      https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2023/07/16/la-tunisie-et-l-union-europeenne-signent-un-partenariat-sur-l-economie-et-la

    • Les députés reprochent à la Commission européenne d’avoir signé un accord avec un « cruel dictateur » tunisien

      Des eurodéputés ont dénoncé mardi le protocole d’accord signé par l’UE avec la Tunisie.

      L’accord a été conclu dimanche après une réunion à Tunis entre le président tunisien Kaïs Saïed et la présidente de la Commission européenne Ursula von der Leyen, accompagnée de la Première ministre italienne Giorgia Meloni et du Premier ministre néerlandais Mark Rutte.

      Le texte, qui doit encore être précisé, prévoit l’allocation d’au moins 700 millions d’euros de fonds européens, dont certains sous forme de prêts, dans le cadre de cinq piliers : la stabilité macroéconomique, l’économie et le commerce, la transition verte, les contacts interpersonnels et les migrations.

      Ursula von der Leyen a présenté le mémorandum comme un « partenariat stratégique et global ». Mais les eurodéputés ont adopté un point de vue très critique sur la question. Ils dénoncent les contradictions entre les valeurs fondamentales de l’Union européenne et le recul démocratique en cours en Tunisie. Ils ont également déploré l’absence de transparence démocratique et de responsabilité financière.

      La figure de Kaïs Saïed, qui a ouvertement diffusé des récits racistes contre les migrants d’Afrique subsaharienne a fait l’objet des reproches de la part des parlementaires.

      https://twitter.com/sylvieguillaume/status/1681221845830230017

      « Il est très clair qu’un accord a été conclu avec un dictateur cruel et peu fiable », a dénoncé Sophie in ’t Veld (Renew Europe). « Le président Saïed est un dirigeant autoritaire, ce n’est pas un bon partenaire, c’est un dictateur qui a augmenté le nombre de départs ».

      S’exprimant au nom des sociaux-démocrates (S&D), Birgit Sippel a accusé les autorités tunisiennes d’abandonner les migrants subsahariens dans le désert « sans nourriture, sans eau et sans rien d’autre », un comportement qui a déjà été rapporté par les médias et les organisations humanitaires.

      « Pourquoi la Tunisie devrait-elle soudainement changer de comportement ? Et qui contrôle l’utilisation de l’argent ? » interroge Birgit Sippel, visiblement en colère.

      « Nous finançons à nouveau un autocrate sans contrôle politique et démocratique au sein de cette assemblée. Ce n’est pas une solution. Cela renforcera un autocrate en Tunisie », a-t-elle ajouté.

      https://twitter.com/NatJanne/status/1680982627283509250

      En face, la Commissaire européenne en charge des Affaires intérieures Ylva Johansson, a évité toute controverse et a calmement défendu le mémorandum UE-Tunisie. La responsable suédoise a souligné que le texte introduit des obligations pour les deux parties.

      « Il est clair que la Tunisie est sous pression. Selon moi, c’est une raison de renforcer et d’approfondir la coopération et d’intensifier le soutien à la Tunisie », a-t-elle répondu aux députés européens.

      Selon Ylva Johansson, 45 000 demandeurs d’asile ont quitté la Tunisie cette année pour tenter de traverser la « route très meurtrière » de la Méditerranée centrale. Cette « augmentation considérable » suggère un changement du rôle de la Tunisie, de pays d’origine à pays de transit, étant donné que « sur ces 45 000, seuls 5 000 étaient des citoyens tunisiens ».

      « Il est très important que notre objectif principal soit toujours de sauver des vies, d’empêcher les gens d’entreprendre ces voyages qui finissent trop souvent par mettre fin à leur vie, c’est une priorité », a poursuivi la Commissaire.

      Les députés se sont concentrés sur les deux enveloppes financières les plus importantes de l’accord : 150 millions d’euros pour l’aide budgétaire et 105 millions d’euros pour la gestion des migrations, qui seront toutes les deux déboursées progressivement. Certains eurodéputés ont décrit l’aide budgétaire, qui est censée soutenir l’économie fragile du pays, comme une injection d’argent dans les coffres privés de Kaïs Saïed qui serait impossible à retracer.

      « Vous avez financé un dictateur qui bafoue les droits de l’homme, qui piétine la démocratie tunisienne que nous avons tant soutenue. Ne nous mentez pas ! », s’est emporté Mounir Satouri (les Verts). « Selon nos analyses, les 150 et 105 millions d’euros sont une aide au Trésor (tunisien), un versement direct sur le compte bancaire de M. Kaïs Saïed ».

      https://twitter.com/alemannoEU/status/1680659154665340928

      Maria Arena (S&D) a reproché à la Commission européenne de ne pas avoir ajouté de dispositions supplémentaires qui conditionneraient les paiements au respect des droits de l’homme.

      « Nous donnons un chèque en blanc à M. Saïed, qui mène actuellement des campagnes racistes et xénophobes, soutenues par sa police et son armée », a déclaré l’eurodéputée belge.

      « Croyez-vous vraiment que M Saïed, qui a révoqué son parlement, qui a jeté des juges en prison, qui a démissionné la moitié de sa juridiction, qui interdit maintenant aux blogueurs de parler de la question de l’immigration et qui utilise maintenant sa police et son armée pour renvoyer des gens à la frontière (libyenne), croyez-vous vraiment que M. Saïed va respecter les droits de l’homme ? Madame Johansson, soit vous êtes naïve, soit vous nous racontez des histoires ».

      Dans ses réponses, Ylva Johansson a insisté sur le fait que les 105 millions d’euros affectés à la migration seraient « principalement » acheminés vers des organisations internationales qui travaillent sur le terrain et apportent une aide aux demandeurs d’asile, comme l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM), bien qu’elle ait admis que certains fonds seraient en fait fournis aux agents tunisiens sous la forme de navires de recherche et de sauvetage et de radars.

      https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1680626156603686913

      « Permettez-moi d’insister sur le fait que la Commission européenne, l’UE, n’est pas impliquée dans le refoulement de ressortissants de pays tiers vers leur pays d’origine. Ce que nous faisons, c’est financer, par l’intermédiaire de l’OIM, les retours volontaires et la réintégration des ressortissants de pays tiers », a souligné la Commissaire.

      « Je ne suis pas d’accord avec la description selon laquelle la Tunisie exerce un chantage. Je pense que nous avons une bonne coopération avec la Tunisie, mais il est également important de renforcer cette coopération et d’augmenter le soutien à la Tunisie. Et c’est l’objectif de ce protocole d’accord ».

      https://fr.euronews.com/my-europe/2023/07/18/les-deputes-reprochent-a-la-commission-europeenne-davoir-signe-un-accor

  • Afghan Families Left Drifting in #Life_Rafts Outside Lesvos

    https://aegeanboatreport.com/2022/11/22/afghan-families-left-drifting-in-life-rafts-outside-lesvos

    In the morning of Thursday, November 10, a boat carrying 33 people landed west of Gavathas, Lesvos north west.

    The flimsy rubber boat had started out from Turkey in cover of darkness, 33 people packed into this small boat, people with hopes for a better future, away from war and persecution, to finally be able to be safe, or it was at least what they had hoped for.

    After arriving people fled to the Woodson in the surrounding area to hide from Greek authorities, fearing that if they were found they would be illegally returned to Turkey.

    At 09.00 they contacted Aegean Boat Report and asked for assistance, they wanted help so that they could be taken to a camp, and be able to apply for asylum, but they were afraid of Greek authorities and Police, since they had been violently pushed back several times in the past.

    https://aegeanboatreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Lesvos-10-11-2022.mp3

    The group provided pictures, videos and geolocation data, there was no doubt that this group also had arrived on Lesvos.

    We provide them with the necessary means, so that they themselves could act, what happened afterwards is not clear, since we lost contact with them shortly after. The last thing they said before they went offline was that they would contact organizations on the island, if they actually did, we don’t know.

    Due to the fact that this group arrived on a weekend, means that they would have had problems finding an organization who would respond on the phone, even do they were given numbers who usually works, these numbers are mostly only operational on weekdays, during daytime.

    What we do know is that this group never made it to any camp, they were found by authorities and removed from the island. This is what usually happens when Greek authorities finds people who has arrived, and there is no organization to intervene.

    At 20.05 Thursday November 10, 33 people was found drifting in two life rafts outside Dikili, Turkey, families, old people, women, children, even small babies was forced into these two rafts without life jackets. [ https://www.sg.gov.tr/izmir-aciklarinda-33-duzensiz-gocmen-kurtarilmistir-11-11-22- ]

    From pictures sent to us while they were on Lesvos, we can clearly see that they had belongings, bags. When they were found drifting in the rafts outside Dikili 10 hours later, they had nothing, what little they had left in life was stolen from them, bags, papers, money and phones, taken by the same people who forced them back out to sea, the Greek coast guard.

    From pictures and videos received while on Lesvos, compared to pictures and videos from the time they were rescued by Turkish coast guard outside Dikili, there is absolutely no doubt: it is the same group.

    https://videopress.com/v/v0mFF4ok

    For normal people, it’s actually quite difficult to comprehend, that a European country, a member of the European Union, would force families, small children, women, old people who can barely walk, back out to sea in the middle of the night, throw them into life rafts and leave them helplessly drifting. When we also know that these atrocities are supported by the European Border And Coast Guard Agency FRONTEX, and handsomely funded by The European Union, it just gets totally incomprehensible.

    Why would anyone do such a thing, and why would nobody try to stop it? it’s not as if nobody knows, everyone knows what is being done at Europes borders, it’s not a secret, not any more. EU border agency Frontex and Greek authorities, has been proven to have been involved in hundreds of refugee pushbacks in the Aegean Sea, investigated by EU’s own Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF, and what has so far been done about this, absolutely nothing.

    Since March 2020, we have registered 1.826 pushback cases in the Aegean Sea, performed by the Hellenic coast guard, involving 48.486 men, women and children: 642 of these cases was performed by using rescue equipment/life rafts, 16,754 people have so far been found drifting in 993 life rafts in the Aegean Sea.

    Almost 1000 life rafts with families, men, women and children who tried to seek safety in Europe, close to 17.000 people, have been found drifting in the Aegean Sea, and so far nobody has bothered to try to do anything about it, if that’s not deafening, noting is.

    Just imagine if just one of these life rafts, just one, had been found drifting in the English Channel, placed there by the British authorities, there would have been a political outcry demanding answers, heads would have rolled, huge investigations would have been undertaken. For the almost 1000 life rafts found drifting in the Aegean Sea the last three years, close to 17.000 victims, not one single official investigation has been carried out, not one.

    We all know who is responsible, question is, why is nothing done to try to stop it?

    Reçu par Erini Markidi, via la mailing-list Migreurop, 22.11.2022

    #refoulements_collectifs #migrations #asile #réfugiés #Grèce #refoulement #push-backs #refoulements #frontières
    #migrations #asile #réfugiés #refoulement #push-back #Mer_Egée #Turquie #frontières #life_raft #liferafts #orange #Lesbos

    –---

    ajouté à la métaliste sur les #structures_flottantes pour l’asile (soit des centres de détention et/ou procédure, ou alors des objets flottants utilisés à des fins d’#expulsion) :
    https://seenthis.net/messages/879396

  • Greece: Investigate Pushbacks, Collective Expulsions

    Greek law enforcement officers have summarily returned asylum seekers and migrants at the land and sea borders with Turkey during the Covid-19 lockdown, Human Rights Watch said today. The officers in some cases used violence against asylum seekers, including some who were deep inside Greek territory, and often confiscated and destroyed the migrants’ belongings.

    In reviewing nine cases, Human Rights Watch found no evidence that the authorities took any precautions to prevent the risk of transmission of Covid-19 to or among the migrants while in their custody. These findings add to growing evidence of abuses collected by nongovernmental groups and media, involving hundreds of people intercepted and pushed back from Greece to Turkey by Greek law enforcement officers or unidentified masked men over the last couple of months. Pushbacks violate several human rights norms, including against collective expulsion under the European Convention on Human Rights.

    “Greek authorities did not allow a nationwide lockdown to get in the way of a new wave of collective expulsions, including from deep inside Greek territory, ” said Eva Cossé, Greece researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of protecting the most vulnerable people in this time of global crisis, Greek authorities have targeted them in total breach of the right to seek asylum and in disregard for their health.”

    Human Rights Watch interviewed 13 victims and witnesses who described incidents in which the Greek police, the Greek Coast Guard, and unidentified men in black or commando-like uniforms, who appeared to be working in close coordination with uniformed authorities, violently pushed migrants back to Turkey in March and April 2020.

    Six of those interviewed said Greek police officers rounded up people in the Diavata camp for asylum seekers in Thessaloniki, 400 kilometers from the land border with Turkey. This is the first time Human Rights Watch has documented collective expulsions of asylum seekers from deep inside Greece, through the Evros river.

    Six asylum seekers, from Syria, Palestine, and Iran, including a 15-year-old unaccompanied girl from Syria, described three incidents in March and April in which Greek Coast Guard personnel, Greek police, and armed masked men in dark clothing coordinated and carried out summary returns to Turkey from the Greek islands of Rhodes, Samos, and Symi. All of them said they were picked up on the islands soon after they landed, placed on larger Coast Guard boats, and once they were back at the sea border, were forced onto small inflatable rescue rafts, with no motor, and cast adrift near Turkish territorial waters.

    Another asylum seeker described a fourth incident, in which the Greek Coast Guard and unidentified men dressed in dark uniforms wearing balaclavas used dangerous maneuvers to force a boat full of migrants back to Turkey.

    On June 10, the International Organization for Migration reported that they had received allegations of migrants being arbitrarily arrested in Greece and pushed back to Turkey and asked Greece to investigate. On June 12, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) urged Greece to investigate multiple reports of pushbacks by Greek authorities at the country’s sea and land borders, possibly returning migrants and asylum seekers to Turkey after they had reached Greek territory or territorial waters.

    In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Greek government instituted nationwide restrictions on public movement from March 13 until early May. Migrants and asylum seekers were locked down in some camps, mainly on the Greek islands, where restrictions on freedom of movement continue, and where the closing of government offices has left them in legal limbo.

    Human Rights Watch sent letters to the Greek police and the Greek Coast Guard on June 29, presenting authorities with a summary of findings but received no response. The Greek Coast Guard indicated they would reply but at the time of publication, we had received no communication.

    Greek judicial authorities should conduct a transparent, thorough, and impartial investigation into allegations that Greek Coast Guard and Greek police personnel are involved in acts that put the lives and safety of migrants and asylum seekers at risk, Human Rights Watch said. Any officer engaged in illegal acts, as well as their commanding officers, should be subject to disciplinary sanctions and, if applicable, criminal prosecution.

    The Greek parliament should urgently establish an inquiry into all allegations of collective expulsions, including pushbacks, and violence at the borders, and determine whether they amount to a de facto government policy.

    The Greek Ombudsman, an independent national authority, should examine the issue of summary and collective expulsions, and issue a report with recommendations to the Greek authorities, Human Rights Watch said.

    The European Commission, which provides financial support to the Greek government for migration control, including in the Evros region and the Aegean Sea, should urge Greece to end all summary returns and collective expulsions of asylum seekers to Turkey, press the authorities to investigate allegations of violence, and ensure that none of its funding contributes to violations of fundamental rights and EU laws. The European Commission should also open legal proceedings against Greece for violating EU laws prohibiting collective expulsions.

    On July 6, during a debate at the European Parliament on fundamental rights at the Greek border, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, said that incidents should be investigated and indicated that the European Commission may consider a new system to monitor and verify reports of pushbacks amid increased allegations of abuse at the EU’s external borders. The Commission should take concrete measures to set up an independent and transparent investigation in consultation with members of civil society, Human Rights Watch said.

    Everyone seeking international protection has a right to apply for asylum and should be given that opportunity.

    Returns should follow a procedure that provides access to effective remedies and safeguards against refoulement – return to a country where they are likely to face persecution – and ill-treatment, Human Rights Watch said.

    “Greece has an obligation to treat everyone humanely and not to return refugees and asylum seekers to persecution, or anyone to the real risk of inhuman and degrading treatment or worse,” said Cossé. “Putting a stop to these dangerous incidents should be a priority for the Greek government and the European Commission as well.”

    For more information and accounts from migrants and asylum seekers, please see below.

    Sea Pushbacks to Turkey

    Between May 29 and June 6, 2020, Human Rights Watch interviewed six men from Iran, Palestine, and Syria, and one 15-year-old unaccompanied girl from Syria, who were in Turkey and who described three incidents in which they said the Greek Coast Guard, Greek police officers, and unidentified men in black or commando-like uniforms coordinated summary returns from Symi, Samos, and Rhodes in March and April. In the fourth incident, the Greek Coast Guard and unidentified men in uniforms wearing balaclavas used dangerous maneuvers to force the boat full of migrants back to Turkey from the Aegean Sea.

    Marwan (a pseudonym), 33, from Syria, said that on March 8, the Greek Coast Guard engaged in life-threatening maneuvers to force the small boat carrying him and 22 other passengers, including women and children, back to Turkey:

    “[W]e saw a Greek Coast Guard boat. It was big and had the Greek flag on it…. They started pushing back our boat, by creating waves in the water making it hard for us to continue…. It was like a battle – like living in Syria, we thought we were going to die.”

    In the three cases involving summary returns of people who had reached land, Greek law enforcement officers apprehended them within hours after they landed, and summarily expelled them to Turkey. All of those interviewed said that they were forced first onto large Coast Guard boats and then onto small inflatable rescue rafts, with no motor, and cast adrift near the Turkish sea border. In all cases, they said the Greek officers stole people’s belongings, including personal identification, bags, and money.

    These findings add to growing evidence of abuses collected by nongovernmental groups, including Alarm Phone and Aegean Boat Report, and the reputable German media outlet Deutsche Welle. Human Rights Watch was able to identify 26 reported incidents published by others, that occurred between March and July, involving at least 855 people. In 2015 Human Rights Watch documented that armed masked men were disabling boats carrying migrants and asylum seekers in the Aegean Sea and pushing them back to Turkish waters.

    Karim (a pseudonym), 36, from Syria, said that he arrived by boat to Symi island on March 21, along with approximately 30 other Syrians, including at least 10 children. He said that the Greek police approached the group within hours after they arrived. They explained that they wanted to claim asylum, but the officers detained them at an unofficial port site and summarily returned them to Turkey two days later, he said. They were taken on a military ship to open water, where the asylum seekers – including children and people with disabilities – were violently thrown from the ship’s deck to an inflatable boat:

    [T]hey [Greek police] put us in a military boat and pushed us [from the deck] to a small [inflatable] boat that doesn’t have an engine. They left us on this boat and took all our private stuff, our money, our IDs. We were on the boat and we were dizzy. We were vomiting. They [the Greek Coast Guard] didn’t tell us anything…. [W]e were in the middle of the sea. We called the Turkish Coast Guard. They came and took our boat.

    Karim and his extended family were detained in the Malatya Removal Center in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and in three other detention centers in Turkey, for seven weeks. They were released on May 7.

    In another incident at the end of March, 17 men and women and an unaccompanied girl from Iran, Palestine, and Syria were intercepted on a highway on the island of Rhodes, an hour after landing and forced back to the shore. They were detained in a tent for two days, without food and water, and then forced onto what they believe was a Greek Coast Guard boat on the third day, then dumped at sea in a small motor-less rescue raft. Human Rights Watch gathered four separate witness statements about the same incident, in which interviewees gave similar accounts. The Turkish Coast Guard rescued them.

    Leila L. (a pseudonym), 15, a Syrian girl traveling alone, said:

    On the third day, it was night, we don’t know what time, they told us to move … they looked like army commandoes and they had weapons with them. There were six of them, wearing masks … they pointed their weapons at us. We were pushed in a horrible way and they pushed our bags in the sea. Before getting on the first boat, they took everything from us – our phones, our IDs, our bags … everything, apart from the clothes we were wearing. We were very scared. Some people were vomiting. Think what you would feel if you’re in the middle of the sea and you don’t know what would happen to you. We stayed between two to three hours [in the sea]. The boat had no engine. It was a rescue boat. It was like a dinghy. After two to three hours, the Turkish Coast Guard drove us to shore.

    In another incident, Hassan (a pseudonym), 29, a Palestinian refugee from Gaza, said that the police apprehended him and his group of approximately 25 people about three hours after they arrived on the island of Samos, during the third week of March. He said the police took them to the shore, where another group of police and Greek Coast Guard officers were waiting:

    The Greek Coast Guard put us in a big boat…. We drove for three hours but then they put us in a small boat. It was like a raft. It was inflatable and had no motor. Like a rescue boat they keep on big boats in case there is an emergency. They left us in the sea alone. There was no food or water. They left us for two nights. We had children with us….

    Hassan said that a Greek Coast Guard boat came back on the third day, threw them a rope, and “drove around for two hours in the sea,” leaving them closer to Turkish waters. The Turkish Coast Guard rescued them.

    Video footage analyzed by Human Rights Watch from an incident that allegedly took place in the sea between Lesbos and Turkey on May 25, shows what appears to be women, men, and children drifting in an orange, tent-like inflatable life raft while three other rafts can be seen in the background. The rafts appear to be manufactured by the Greek company Lalizas, which according to publicly available information is a brand that the Greek Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy purchases. The person speaking in the video alleges they were placed on those rafts by the Greek Coast Guard to force them back to Turkey.

    Human Rights Watch contacted the Lalizas company through email with questions on the use of the life rafts by the Greek Coast Guard, but received no response.

    In its June 10 statement, the International Organization for Migration notes that “footage showing the use of marine rescue equipment to expel migrants across the Eastern Aegean Sea are [sic] especially disturbing.”

    Collective Expulsions Across Land Border

    In May, Human Rights Watch interviewed six men from Afghanistan who described five separate incidents in which they were summarily returned from Greece to Turkey in March and April. They gave detailed accounts of the Greek police apprehending them in the Diavata camp, a reception facility in Thessaloniki.

    They said the police took them to what they thought were police stations that they could not always identify or to an unofficial detention site that they said was like a small jail, close to the Greek-Turkish border, robbed them of their personal belongings including their ID, phone, and clothes, and beat them with wooden or metal rods – then summarily expelled them to Turkey.

    In one case, a 19-year-old man from Kapisa, in Afghanistan, gave Human Rights Watch a photo of injuries – red strip-like marks across his back – he said were caused by beatings by people he believed were police officers.

    Reporting by Human Rights Watch and other groups suggests that collective expulsions of people with documents allowing them to be in Greece, from deep inside the mainland, appear to be a new tactic by Greek law enforcement.

    Five of the men had obtained a document from police authorities in Thessaloniki granting the right to remain in Greece for up to 30 days. While the document is formally a deportation order, the person should have the chance to apply for asylum during the 30-day period if they wish to and the document may, under certain circumstances, be renewed.

    The men said they had either not understood their rights or had been unable to apply for asylum, or to renew this document, due to Covid-19 related shutdown of government institutions. They said that before they were returned to Turkey, in the weeks following the nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19, they saw Greek police forces visiting the Diavata camp almost daily to identify and return to Turkey residents whose documents had expired.

    Greece suspended the right to lodge asylum applications for those who arrived irregularly between March 1 and 31, following tensions on the Greek-Turkish land borders at the end of February due to a significant and rapid increase in people trying to cross the border. The Emergency Legislative order said that these people were to be returned to their country of origin or transit “without registration.”

    Making the situation worse, the Asylum Service suspended services to the public between March 13 and May 15 to protect against the spread of the Covid-19 virus. During this period, applications for international protection were not registered, interviews were not conducted, and appeals were not registered. The Asylum Service resumed full operations on May 18 but the Greek Council of Refugees, a non-governmental group providing legal assistance to asylum seekers, said that no new asylum applications had been lodged by the end of May with the exception of people under administrative detention.

    Greek law requires authorities to provide for the reception of third-country nationals who are arrested due to unlawful entry or who stay in Greece under conditions that guarantee human rights and dignity in accordance with international standards. During the reception and identification procedure, authorities should provide socio-psychological support and information on the rights of migrants and asylum seekers, including the right to apply for asylum, and refer vulnerable people such as unaccompanied children and victims of torture to social services.

    Mostafa (a pseudonym), 19, from Afghanistan, said that in mid-April, Greek police rounded him up from Diavata camp, took him to a police station near the camp, and then transferred him to another small detention site near the border, where he was detained for a night, then forced onto a boat and expelled to Turkey:

    When they [the police] came to check my papers [at Diavata camp] I told them I couldn’t renew them because the office was closed but they didn’t listen to me…. They didn’t allow us any time. They just took us to the bus and said: “We will take you to renew the papers.” They were beating us the whole time…. [T]hey took us to the police station near the camp, there were more people, 10 people altogether…. [T]hey kept us in the rain for a few hours and then they transferred us to the border. There were two children with us – around 15 or 16 years old….When they took us to the police station, they took my coat, I was just with pants and a t-shirt and then at the border, they took these too. They took everything, my money, ID, phone.

    Mostafa gave the following description of the detention site near the border and the secret expulsion that followed:

    It was like a small police station. There were toilets. There were other migrants there. It was around four and a half hours away from the border. They carried us in a bus like a prison. We stayed in this small jail for one night, no food was given. It was at 10 or 11 o’clock at night when they took us to the border. I crossed with the boat. There were 18 people in one boat. It took six or seven minutes – then we arrived on the Turkish side. [T]he police were standing at the border [on the Greek side] and looking at us.

    Two men giving accounts about two separate incidents, said that the police took them to an unofficial detention site near the border. They described the detention locations as “small jails” and said they were detained there for a day or two.

    Four out of the six asylum seekers said that Greek security forces had abused them, throughout their summary deportation, beating them with heavy metal, plastic, or wooden sticks.

    Mohamed (a pseudonym), 24, from Afghanistan, said:

    They had a stick that all the police have with them…. The stick was made of plastic, but it was very heavy. They had black uniforms. I couldn’t see all of the uniform – I couldn’t see their faces – if I looked up they would beat us. They beat one migrant for five minutes…. There were eight of them – they asked us if we came from Thessaloniki and we said yes and then they started beating us.

    All of those interviewed said the Greek security forces stripped them of their clothes, leaving them in either just their underwear or just a basic layer, and took their possessions, including personal identification documents, money, telephones, and bags before pushing them back to Turkey.

    In a report published in March, Human Rights Watch documented that Greek security forces and unidentified armed men at the Greece-Turkey land border detained, assaulted, sexually assaulted, robbed, and stripped asylum seekers and migrants, then forced them back to Turkey. At the end of June, Greece’s Supreme Court Prosecutor opened a criminal investigation initiated by the Greek Helsinki Monitor, a nongovernmental group, into the pushbacks and violence documented by Human Rights Watch and others, as well as into the shooting and deaths of two people in Evros in March.

    Human Rights Watch documented similar situations in 2008 and 2018. In March 2019, the Public Prosecutor of Orestiada in Evros, initiated an investigation regarding the repeated allegations of systematic violence against migrants and asylum seekers at the Evros river, based on the Human Rights Watch 2018 report, and a report by three nongovernmental groups, including the Greek Council for Refugees.

    Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN), a nongovernmental group, has built an extensive database of testimony of people being pushed back from Greece to Turkey over the Evros river. Between March 31 and April 28, BVMN has reported at least 7 incidents involving more than 306 people. Among these cases, at least six people had legal documents regularizing their stay in Greece when they were summarily expelled.

    https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/07/16/greece-investigate-pushbacks-collective-expulsions

    #refoulements_collectifs #migrations #asile #réfugiés #life_rafts #Grèce #refoulement #push-backs #refoulements #frontières

    –—

    sur les #life_rats :
    https://seenthis.net/messages/840285
    #life_raft #liferafts

    • Press Release: New Legal Centre Lesvos report details collective expulsions in the Aegean Sea

      Greek authorities are unlawfully expelling migrants who have arrived in Greece, and abandoning them at sea on motorless, inflatable vessels. In a report released today by Legal Centre Lesvos, testimonies from 30 survivors detail the systematic, unlawful and inherently violent nature of these collective expulsions.

      Since the Greek authorities’ one month suspension of the right to seek asylum on 1 March 2020, the Greek government has adopted various unlawful practices that are openly geared towards the deterrence and violent disruption of migrant crossings, with little regard for its obligations deriving from international law and specifically from the non refoulement principle – and even less for the lives of those seeking sanctuary.

      While collective expulsions from Greece to Turkey are not new, in recent months Greek authorities have been using rescue equipment – namely inflatable, motorless life rafts – in a new type of dystopic expulsion. Migrants are violently transferred from Greek islands, or from the dinghy upon which they are travelling, to such rafts, which are then left adrift in open water.

      In addition to the well-documented practice of non-assistance to migrant dinghies, the Greek authorities have damaged the motor or gasoline tank of migrant dinghies before returning the vessel – and the people on board – to open waters, where they are subsequently abandoned.

      These collective expulsions, happening in the Aegean region, are not isolated events. Direct testimonies from survivors, collected by the Legal Centre Lesvos, demonstrate that they are part of a widespread and systematic practice, with a clear modus operandi implemented across various locations in the Aegean Sea and on the Eastern Aegean islands.
      The information shared with the Legal Centre Lesvos is from 30 survivors, and testimonies from 7 individuals who were in direct contact with survivors, or were witness to, a collective expulsion. These testimonies, related to eight separate collective expulsions, were collected between March and June 2020, directly by the Legal Centre Lesvos.

      Collective expulsions are putting peoples’ lives at risk, are contrary to Greece’ international legal obligations and violate survivors’ fundamental and human rights, including their right to life and the jus cogens prohibitions on torture and refoulement. When carried out as part of a widespread and systematic practice, as documented in our report, these amount to a crime against humanity.

      Collective expulsions should undoubtedly be condemned, in the strongest possible terms; however, this is not sufficient: it is only through the immediate cessation of such illegal practices that the protection of human rights and access to asylum will be restored at the European Union’s external borders.

      Lorraine Leete, attorney and one of the Legal Centre Lesvos’ coordinators, said that:
      “The Greek authorities are abandoning people in open water, on inflatable and motorless life rafts – that are designed for rescue – with no regard for their basic safety, let alone their right to apply for asylum. Such audacious acts show the violence at the core of the European border regime, and the disregard that it has for human life.

      Greek authorities have denied reports of collective expulsions as “fake news”, despite a plethora of undeniable evidence, from survivors and various media outlets. This is untenable: evidence shared with the Legal Centre has shown that collective expulsions are happening in the Aegean sea, with a systematic and widespread modus operandi that amounts to crimes against humanity. They are being carried out in the open, in plain view – if not with the participation – of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex. European Authorities are complicit in these crimes as they have thus far failed to act to prevent further pushbacks, or hold Greek authorities accountable.”

      https://legalcentrelesvos.org/2020/07/13/press-release-new-legal-centre-lesvos-report-details-collective-e

      –---

      Pour télécharger le #rapport:


      http://legalcentrelesvos.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Collective-Expulsions-in-the-Aegean-July-2020-LCL.pdf

      #Mer_Egée #Méditerranée

    • BVMN Visual Investigation: Analysis of Video Footage Showing Involvement of Hellenic Coast Guard in Maritime Pushback

      The following piece is a product of a joint-investigation by Josoor and No Name Kitchen on behalf of the Border Violence Monitoring Network.

      Introduction

      Since the spring, consistent and well-documented reports have shown masked men aggressively pursuing boats full of refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers in the Aegean Sea, before either destroying or off-loading the boats and initiating illegal return operations to Turkey.

      One investigation which Josoor contributed to, analyzed a set of materials documenting masked men operating from an inflatable boat off the island of Lesvos in early June. Testimonies recorded on the BVMN database [June 5th; June 3rd] as well as other media reports describe a series of incidents where Hellenic Coast Guard [HCG] vessels approach boats carrying men, women and children in the Aegean between Turkey and Greece and variably drove them back, intimidated them, or destroyed and removed their engines. Several of these operations have been marked by direct physical violence at the hands of the HCG. A more recent report from the New York Times referenced at least 1,072 asylum seekers being abandoned at sea by Greek officials in at least 31 separate expulsions since March.

      The consistency of these reports underscore a broader pattern of maritime pushbacks which, in many ways, mirrors the similarly illegal procedures which have become commonplace throughout Greece and along the Balkan Route.

      Despite numerous witness testimonies of this behavior, direct evidence linking specific Hellenic Coast Guard Vessels to these illegal practices remain sparse. New video evidence obtained by the association Josoor [a BVMN-member based in Turkey] from an incident on July 11th, may provide a crucial new perspective in the analysis of this behavior.

      https://giphy.com/gifs/U6MK9HH9ZdM33U74aA

      In this investigation, we will focus on a series of four videos [Link to videos 1, 2, 3, & 4] filmed on July 11th and obtained on the same day, showing masked men on a medium-sized vessel approaching a dingy filled with women and children. The man who filmed this video sent the materials over to Josoor while still on the dinghy, after this he reported being returned to Turkey and held in detention for a period of two weeks. The purpose of this analysis is to better identify the individuals and the vessel involved in the operation which resulted in the pushback of the group.

      Given the initial lack of a witness testimony for this event [which was unable to be obtained for several weeks due to the respondent’s detention in Turkey], we had limited material to work with. In order to address these shortcomings, we utilized various open-source techniques such as geolocating the video using topographic satellite renders, stitching together the scene with compiled images, and conducting research on the origins of the vessel carrying the masked men.

      Geolocating of the 11 July Incident

      An important part of this investigation was the geolocation of the incident in order to better understand the dynamics at play, and verify the pushback element.

      A useful hint in geolocating these videos was the distinct mountain lines featured in the background in two of the clips. In order to do this, we first isolated the ridge-lines shown in the backgrounds of these two clips by using a photo-stitching technique to produce a panorama of the scene.

      Using Google Earth’s topographic satellite renders of the Aegean Sea around the coastlines of Lesvos, we were then able to geolocate these two clips. In the background of the alleged pushback operation is the shore of Lesvos; Mytilini can be seen in the center right as the populated area in the background of the videos. This indicates that the dinghy was being chased east towards Diliki, Turkey as it was intercepted by the HCG vessel.

      This geolocated area matches with information posted from Turkish Coast Guard of a rescue operation on July 11th at 10:00 am off the coast of Dikili, Turkey. This was their only reported rescue of that day.

      Identification Of HCG Vessel Involved in the July 11th Incident

      The vessel in question’s colour is light grey and features a white and blue striped symbol towards the bow on the starboard side: the symbol of the Hellenic Coast Guard.

      Slightly farther towards the bow of the boat on its starboard side, the lettering marking the vehicle’s identification within the HCG can also be seen: ΛΣ-618

      The boat in question is one of two Faiakas-class fast patrol crafts (FPCs) currently operated by the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG) – this one being the ΛΣ-618 and the other being ΛΣ-617. Under a contract awarded by the HCG in April 2014, the Montmontaza-Greben shipyard, located on the island of Korcula, Croatia, was awarded a 13.3 million euro ($15.5 million) contract to supply six of these vessels which are listed as POB-24G.

      The POB-24 vessels are 24.6 meters long, and are equipped with two diesel engines that enable a maximum speed of 30 knots and a range of 400 miles. The vessels are staffed by a crew of seven but can be augmented by up to 25 additional personnel if needed.

      Importantly, the acquisition of these vessels by the HCG was majority financed via the European Commission’s External Borders Fund which provided for 75% of the cost, with the rest consisting of domestic funding. The first of POB-24G vessels, ΛΣ-617, was delivered in February 2015 whereas ΛΣ-618 was launched into service several months later in August 2015. These boats have enhanced the operational capacity of the HCG by relieving pressure from its aging Dilos-Class patrol vessels.

      Identification of the officers present in the 11 July Incident

      While the men seen approaching the dinghy on board the ΛΣ-618 took steps to conceal their identities, context clues within the videos allowed us to draw a better picture of who exactly they were and what their behavior was.

      Six men can be counted standing on board the ΛΣ-618. The men wear dark colored clothing with short-sleeved shirts marked with a logo on their upper right torsos and have either dark colored shorts or long trousers on. All six have their faces covered with either black balaclava masks or neck gaiters – an important point to keep in mind when considering that in June, the Hellenic Coast Guard’s spokesperson stated that “under no circumstances do the officers of the Coast Guard wear full face masks during the performance of their duties”.

      The men in the image above are wearing clothes which share similarities with the uniforms worn by the Hellenic Coast Guard, as the picture below shows.

      The man closest to the bow of the boat holds a weapon which appears to be an FN FAL assault rifle whereas the man second from the stern looks at the group with either a camera or a pair of binoculars. FN-FAL rifles have been carried by Greek government forces since the 1970s, thus falling in line with the scene we are shown in the videos.

      Treatment of the refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers on board the dingy

      Our investigation of the events documented in this video, and what happened next to the refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers on board the dingy, prioritized a fact-finding search within the clips themselves. On the day of the incident, a Syrian man on board the dinghy sent four videos to Josoor. He claimed to have sent them from the dinghy as they were being approached by the vessels initially and then later after they were cast afloat into Turkish waters.

      In one of the videos, at least 32 people on board the now motorless dingy can be seen floating in largely calm waters. The video shows a largely mixed passenger demographic with the men, women, and children on the boat having a varied representation of skin colors. Turkish Coast Guard records from their single intervention of the coast of Dikili on July 11th reports a group of 40 refugees assisted of which 21 were Syrian, 8 Congolese, 4 Somali,
 3 Central African, 2 Palestinian, 
1 Senegalese, and 1 Eritrean. Accounting for the boat passengers not shown within the video, these numbers correspond with the video footage inside the dinghy.

      Giving his testimony of the event several weeks later to Josoor, the man who filmed these videos described that upon its initial approach of their dinghy, the AE-618 had a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) deployed next to it which approached them. Allegedly, one of the officers spoke in English to a member of the dinghy group, who expressed their intention to claim asylum. The officer responded negatively to this request and told them that because of COVID-19, they would not be allowed to enter the island and had to return to Turkey. The respondent described that at first, the driver of the dinghy did not follow that order and subsequently the officers destroyed the engine of the dinghy and beat its driver with batons. As other group members tried to protect the driver, they were also beaten with batons.


      The officers subsequently dragged them to Turkish waters and then left the group floating there with the broken engine. After spending several more hours in the water, the Turkish Coast Guard arrived at the scene to rescue the passengers aboard the dingy. They took them to a quarantine detention center, from where they were released after 15 days.

      With closer analysis, the video footage is able to corroborate this account. In the final video sent by the Syrian dinghy passenger, the dinghy is shown to be floating quietly in the ocean. There is no indication of the ΛΣ-618 being present at this point and the group inside the dinghy appears uncertain. At one point in the video, the cameraman pans towards the stern of the boat and briefly shows its motor. When comparing a still of the motor in the final video to a still from the dinghy’s motor during its initial flight from the ΛΣ-618, it becomes clear that it was tampered with in the intervening time. Given the many substantiated reports of boat motor destruction at the hands of the HCG, it is most likely that the balaclava-clad men on the ΛΣ-618 destroyed the dinghy’s motor before setting it adrift towards Turkey

      Contextualizing the incident on 11 July

      In contextualizing the incident of 11 July in the broader practices of the HCG in the Aegean, it is important to look at the documented history of aggression of the ΛΣ-618. On March 7th, 2020 the boat ΛΣ-618 was involved in an incident with a Turkish Coast Guard boat wherein the Greek boat entered Turkish waters and was chased in close proximity at high speeds by the Turkish boat. More recently, in the early morning hours of August 15th, the boat was documented participating in an incident along with Nato and Frontex vessels [and several helicopters], blocking a boat carrying women and children from entering into Greek waters.

      Pushbacks in the Aegean Sea have been reported on a daily basis these past few months. Given the persistence of pushbacks in the area as well as the strong presence of Frontex vessels on the Aegean Sea, the tacit support that the European Union lends to the Hellenic Coastguard in these illegal practices must be considered. The EU-funded acquisition of the ΛΣ-618 represents just a portion of the close to 40 million euros which the EU has afforded the HCG to procure new vessels within the last five years. These boats, as it has been shown in this investigation, are being used to illegally push vulnerable people back to Turkish waters – a gross misuse of power.

      https://giphy.com/gifs/J4ClIZSSzrAUjmFySd

      Conclusion

      This investigation began by analysing a series of four videos showing masked men in a vessel approaching a small dinghy filled with refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers on the Aegean Sea who later claimed to be pushed back to Turkey from Greek waters. Using Earth Studio and photo-stitching techniques, we were first able to geolocate the video to somewhere on the Aegean between Mytilini, Greece and Diliki, Turkey. We were then able to identify the vessel as the Hellenic Coast Guard’s ΛΣ-618 Faiakas-class fast patrol craft by highlighting the clear HCG emblem visible on its side and it’s ship identification number. This allowed us to make a strong conclusion that the masked men on this boat, who wore uniforms identical to those previously worn by the vessel’s crew-members, were acting in an official capacity. Finally, we were also able to contextualize the ΛΣ-618 documented history of aggressive pursuits of boats carrying refugees and asylum seekers in Greek waters and also highlighted the vessel’s EU-linked acquisition from a Croatian boatbuilder.

      When put together, this analysis clearly links the materials shown in the videos to the well documented trend of maritime push-backs by the HCG in the last months. To be clear, the findings of this investigation directly contradicts the claims of the Hellenic Coast Guard’s spokesperson who recently stated that “under no circumstances do the officers of the Coast Guard wear full face masks during the performance of their duties”. Going even further, this investigation disproves the statement of Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas who told the New York Times in August that “Greek authorities do not engage in clandestine activities.” This investigation also further confirms the conclusion of previous investigations that the Hellenic Coastguard is engaging in pushbacks, casting strong doubt on Prime Minister Mitsotakis statement from August 19 that “it has not happened.”Pushbacks, whether they be on land or on sea, are illegal procedures, emboldened and made more efficient by EU funding mechanisms.

      https://www.borderviolence.eu/bvmn-investigations-analysis-of-video-footage-showing-involvement-of-
      #analyse_visuelle #architecture_forensiques

    • Small Children Left Drifting In Life Rafts In The Aegean Sea!

      In yet another shocking breach of international law, men, women and children have been beaten, robbed and forced onto a life raft by Greek authorities, despite repeated government claims that it does not undertake ‘pushbacks’ of refugees into Turkey. Thirteen men, women and children were forcibly removed from a refugee camp in Lesvos on Wednesday night by uniformed operatives, who claimed the refugees were being taken to be tested for COVID-19. Instead, they were forced into an isobox, repeatedly beaten with batons, stripped of their possessions and forced into the sea on an inflatable life raft.

      On Wednesday night (17th February 2021) at around 19.00 EET, a boat carrying 13 people – 5 children, 3 women and 5 men – landed east of Eftalou, in northern Lesvos. They came ashore and walked into the woods to avoid being seen by people, because they were afraid of being found and pushed back to Turkey by the Hellenic coast guard.

      At 20.00, they contacted Aegean Boat Report on Whatsapp for help. It was a cold night and the children were freezing so the group needed to find shelter. At 20.10 they sent both their live location and regular location on Whatsapp, which showed they were just 300 meters from the quarantine camp in Megala Therma, Lesvos.

      At 20.18 the new arrivals were sent the camp’s location, and directions to it from their position. At first, they were scared of the police, but they decided to listen to the advice they were given, and walked to the camp. Infuriatingly and unforgivably, in light of what happened next, the refugees were proven correct to mistrust the Greek port police to accept and protect their rights as human beings.

      At 21.15, the 13 people arrived outside the Megala Therma camp, where they were met by that night’s port police duty officers, were told to wait inside the camp, while one officer made a phone call on his mobile phone. While the officer made this call, camp residents gave the new arrivals blankets and raisins, because the 13 were freezing and no support was provided by the police. At this point, the new arrivals were inside the camp, and the women and children used the toilets. This detail is important, because what happened next means these people were removed by force from a camp managed by the Greek Ministry of Migration, and illegally deported.

      When the officer returned, he told the new arrivals they were going to be taken to be tested for COVID-19, which camp residents who overheard found odd, because this is not usually done at night. On Wednesday evening there where 29 residents in the quarantine camp, so there are many witnesses of their arrival and later removal by police. There is no doubt that the 13 people later deported were inside Megala Therma camp.

      Aegean Boat Report has obtained a detailed description of the two officers on duty that night, and in coordination with a shift protocol from the port police, it would be fairly easy to determine the identity of these two officers in any official investigation.

      Police told the new arrivals to hand over their phones. They had eight phones between them, but at this stage they only handed three to the police. The officers then demanded that they walk west on the dirt track, but the people refused. They didn’t trust the police, because residents in the camp had told them that testing was not performed at night. The police insisted and the 13 people, five of them children, did not feel they could resist officer carrying guns.

      They walked for about 15 minutes, and arrived at a small white container. They were told to wait outside the container, and about 30 minutes later an officer arrived with a key and locked them inside. When they had calmed down enough, they wrapped the children in blankets, helped them to sleep, and at 22.36 EET, made a video which they sent, along with their location, to Aegean Boat Report.

      Local residents in the area confirm that police have placed a white container/Isobox next to the dirt track in this exact location, and the video sent by the new arrivals from inside the container, combined with the location sent at the same time, confirm that this was where they were locked up.

      After about one hour, a black or dark blue van arrived, and four men wearing unmarked dark blue or black, seemingly military, uniforms and balaclavas, and carrying batons entered the container shouting. The refugees, particularly the children, were very frightened, and the uniformed men screamed “Get up! Get up!” and hit people with batons to force them to stand. They immediately frisked them one by one, even the children, and stole their belongings, bags, money and three of the remaining mobile phones. The refugees report that the men paid particular attention to the women, putting their hands in private areas by force, which was especially humiliating, a violation which they were powerless to prevent. The officers next forced the men, women and children one by one into the back of the van like cattle. Those who resisted were again beaten with batons.

      The refugees said it felt like they had travelled for hours in the van, but it was difficult to get a real feeling of time in their situation. When they eventually arrived, they were taken out of the van, each struck 2-3 times with batons and ordered to look at the ground. Those who didn’t were beaten again. They had arrived in a port, made of concrete, which had floodlights, a fence, and a flat roofed square building. But as they were beaten every time they tried to look around, it was hard for them to be certain about their surroundings. From their description, travel time from the container, and the travel time in the boat to the point they were abandoned in a life raft, it’s fairly certain that the port is the Schengen port in Petra, north-east Lesvos, which has been used frequently in the last months for illegal deportations by the Hellenic coast guard. (Another Proven Pushback!)

      In similar previous cases, people have been taken from the port in large vessels, but this time they were put on a small boat, described by the refugees as a grey rubber speedboat with two engines and a four-man crew. They were placed in the front of the boat, which was piloted by one crew member in its centre. The boat described is almost certainly a Lambro coastal patrol RIB used by the Hellenic coast guard, usually to help people in distress. The five children, three women and five men were forced onto this RIB by four men in the same dark military uniforms and balaclavas as those who had robbed, beaten and forced them into a van. The refugees could not say if they were the same four men who had picked them up and beaten them at the container, but they, too, beat the men, women and children as they forced them into the RIB, ordering them to “look down”.

      They were travelling in the boat for less than 30 minutes, including a short stop close to a large grey vessel, after only 10 minutes. One of the officers spoke on the radio with the large vessel in a language the refugees thought was Greek, and was certainly not English. They described the vessel as grey with blue and white stripes on the front – a description which matches the appearance of the Hellenic Coast Guard vessels which patrol the border area.

      The boat stopped after approximately 30 minutes, and then an orange tent shaped inflatable life raft was cast over the side. One of the officers went into the raft and put up a small light inside, then the officers pushed the people into the raft one by one. This took only a few minutes, and as soon as all 13 people had been forced into the raft, the boat with the Greek officers left the men, women and children alone, in the dark, helplessly drifting in the sea. Not one of the people – even the children – in the life raft were given life jackets, and sea water had already found its way into the life raft.

      At 01.29, they a video was sent to Aegean Boat Report, showing the people inside the life raft. Soon after, alone, cold, tired, powerless, and vulnerable, the refugees began to panic. Using one of the phones they had managed to hide when they were robbed by the uniformed officers, they called the Turkish coast guard.

      At 04.10 the Turkish coast guard reported they had found and rescued 13 people from a life raft drifting outside Behram, Turkey.

      Aegean Boat Report received a third video the following day, this time from inside a bus, and a location that showed they were heading towards Ayvacik, Turkey.

      This video is of the same people in the video from the container on Lesvos, and from the life raft helplessly drifting in the Aegean Sea.

      And there is absolutely no doubt who is responsible for their illegal deportation. Despite the fact that the Greek government continues to claim to follow all international laws and regulations.

      Last week, the minister of asylum and immigration, Notis Mitarachis, once again denied claims that Greece is pushing refugees back to Turkey, calling the allegations “fake news,” and claiming they are part of a strategy promoted by Turkey. For some reason he has not chosen to explain this strategy. (Greek migration minister calls allegations of migrant pushbacks ‘fake news’)

      And yet, even as Mitarachis and his government continues to make these claims, more and more people are illegally set adrift in the Aegean Sea, having been forcibly removed from refugee camps, beaten, stripped of their possessions, and forced onto inflatable rafts by uniformed people operating in Greece.

      https://aegeanboatreport.com/2021/02/22/small-children-left-drifting-in-a-life-raft-in-the-aegean-sea-appr

    • Uno-Flüchtlingshilfswerk zählt Hunderte mutmaßliche Pushbacks

      Das Uno-Flüchtlingshilfswerk (UNHCR) erhöht wegen der Rechtsverletzungen in der Ägäis den Druck auf die griechische Regierung. Seit Beginn des vergangenen Jahres habe man »mehrere Hundert Fälle« von mutmaßlichen Pushbacks registriert, sagte die UNHCR-Repräsentantin in Griechenland, Mireille Girard, dem SPIEGEL.

      Das UNHCR habe den Behörden die entsprechenden Hinweise übergeben. In allen Fällen lägen der Organisation eigene Informationen vor, die auf illegale Pushbacks an Land oder auf See hindeuten. »Wir erwarten, dass die griechischen Behörden diese Vorfälle untersuchen«, sagte Girard. »Das Recht auf Asyl wird in Europa angegriffen.«
      Pushbacks verstoßen gegen internationales Recht

      Der SPIEGEL hat seit Juni 2020 in gemeinsamen Recherchen mit »Report Mainz« und Lighthouse Reports gezeigt, dass die griechische Küstenwache Flüchtlingsboote in der Ägäis stoppt, den Motor der Schlauchboote kaputt macht und die Menschen wieder in türkische Gewässer zieht. Anschließend setzen die griechischen Beamten die Migrantinnen und Migranten auf manövrierunfähigen Schlauchbooten auf dem Meer aus. Manchmal benutzen sie auch aufblasbare orange Rettungsflöße. Am griechisch-türkischen Grenzfluss Evros kommt es zu ähnlichen Aktionen.

      DER SPIEGEL

      Diese sogenannten Pushbacks verstoßen gegen internationales und europäisches Recht – unter anderem, weil den Schutzsuchenden kein Zugang zu einem Asylverfahren gewährt wird. Griechenland bestreitet die Anschuldigungen pauschal, bei den Augenzeugenberichten und geolokalisierten Videos handele es sich um »Fake News«.

      Auch die europäische Grenzschutzagentur Frontex ist in die Pushbacks verwickelt, sie führt in der Ägäis gemeinsame Operationen mit der griechischen Küstenwache durch. In mindestens sieben Fällen befanden sich Frontex-Einheiten in der Nähe von Pushbacks, in einigen Fällen übergaben die europäischen Grenzschützer den Griechen die Flüchtlinge sogar, diese übernahmen dann den Pushback. Ein deutscher Bundespolizist im Frontex-Einsatz verweigerte deswegen den Dienst.

      Die EU-Antibetrugsbehörde Olaf, das EU-Parlament und die Ombudsfrau der EU untersuchen derzeit die Pushbacks. Eine interne Frontex-Untersuchung konnte nicht alle Vorfälle aufklären.

      Die griechischen Behörden schleppen selbst Geflüchtete zurück aufs Meer, die bereits europäischen Boden erreichen konnten. Der SPIEGEL konnte zwei dieser Fälle zweifelsfrei nachweisen. Im April 2020 war eine Gruppe Asylsuchender auf Samos angekommen, im November eine auf Lesbos.
      UNHCR dokumentierte Pushback von Lesbos

      Das UNHCR hat nun ebenfalls einen solchen Fall aufgezeichnet. Am 17. Februar 2021 seien 13 Asylsuchende auf Lesbos angelandet, sagte Girard. Griechische Inselbewohner hätten das UNHCR alarmiert, die Organisation habe dann den lokalen Behörden Bescheid gegeben.

      Die griechische Polizei habe die Geflüchteten in einen Container in einem Quarantänecamp im Norden der Insel geführt. Dann seien vermummte Männer gekommen, hätten die Migrantinnen und Migranten, darunter Frauen und Kinder, zum Hafen gefahren und die Menschen in einem aufblasbaren Rettungsfloß antriebslos auf dem Meer zurückgelassen. Später wurden sie von der türkischen Küstenwache gerettet.

      Das UNHCR habe den Fall detailliert rekonstruiert sowie Zeugen und die Überlebenden interviewt. Es bestehe kein Zweifel, dass die Menschen auf Lesbos angekommen und illegal in die Türkei zurückgeführt worden seien, sagt Girard. Solche Aktionen seien illegal. »Der Vorfall muss untersucht werden und Konsequenzen haben.«

      Die teilweise gewalttätigen Aktionen führten dazu, dass Geflüchtete sich inzwischen oft vor den Behörden versteckten, so Girard weiter. »Die Asylsuchenden sind ohnehin schon traumatisiert, wenn ihnen nun in Europa wieder Gewalt angetan wird, retraumatisiert sie das«, sagt Girard. »Besonders die Kinder haben damit noch jahrelang zu kämpfen.«

      https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/uno-fluechtlingshilfswerk-zaehlt-hunderte-mutmassliche-pushbacks-a-01b3fb03-

      #vidéo

  • UNHCR Serbia Update, November 2019

    • 1,035 asylum seekers reported collective expulsion from neighbouring countries (439 from Romania, 357 from Hungary, 133 from Croatia and 96 from BiH). 51% of them alleged to have been denied access to asylum and 19% maltreatment by authorities of these countries. Amongst them were asylum seekers, who were expelled to Serbia outside lawful procedures from Hungary (three) or BiH (two), though they had never been in Serbia before. The terrible danger of irregular movements was again illustrated in the early morning of 11 November, when a dinghy with ten migrants heading from the port of #Apatin towards Croatia overturned in the Danube, leading to four missing passengers, feared to have drowned.

    https://reliefweb.int/report/serbia/unhcr-serbia-update-november-2019
    #Serbie #push-back #refoulement #refoulements #push-backs #refoulements_collectifs #asile #migrations #réfugiés #Roumanie #Hongrie #Croatie #Bosnie #Bosnie-Herzégovine #par_ricochet

    Il y a aussi, dans ce rapport, la nouvelle de #décès #morts :

    The terrible danger of irregular movements was again illustrated in the early morning of 11 November, when a dinghy with ten migrants heading from the port of #Apatin towards Croatia overturned in the Danube, leading to four missing passengers, feared to have drowned

    Sur les #refoulements_en_chaîne...

    Comme ce qui se passait en 2013, et que j’avais signalé dans un texte écrit pour la revue Vivre Ensemble (@vivre) paru en septembre 2014 :
    Serbie | L’antichambre de l’Europe

    Une fois récolté l’argent nécessaire, ils et elles reprennent leur route vers l’Europe, souvent via la Hongrie. L’UE ayant renforcé les contrôles à la frontière hongro-serbe, les migrants restent fréquemment bloqués en Serbie. Quant à ceux qui parviennent à la franchir, ils risquent de se retrouver… en Grèce ! Les conditions d’accueil en Hongrie conduisent en effet nombre de migrants à refuser de donner leurs empreintes digitales pour ne pas s’y trouver coincés par le jeu du système Dublin. Ils sont alors acheminés vers la frontière serbe, selon les témoignages que nous avons recueillis. Et lorsqu’ils sont interceptés en Serbie, ils sont condamnables à une peine de prison (10 à 15 jours) ou à une amende et reçoivent un ordre d’expulsion. Parfois, ils sont directement retransférés en Macédoine. La Macédoine ayant notamment signé un accord de réadmission avec Athènes, les migrants peuvent, au final, se retrouver en Grèce. Un pays structurellement défaillant en matière de protection, au point que les renvois Dublin y sont illégaux depuis 2011. La Hongrie continue ainsi d’y renvoyer indirectement les migrants, par le jeu de refoulements en chaîne.

    https://asile.ch/chronique/serbie-lantichambre-de-leurope

    ping @isskein