by Coliberation Berlin

Diesen Freitag organisieren wir eine Demo, um auf die grausame Situation an der östlichen EU-Grenze (Polen) aufmerksam zu machen und dagegen zu protestieren. Kommt alle und teilt unsere Wut über diese Situation!

by Borderline – Europe

Panel discussions on the illegal activities of the EU border agency and its glaring control deficit.

Criticism of practices that violate human rights has accompanied the “European Border and Coast Guard Agency”, or “Frontex” – since its founding in 2004.

From its involvement in illegal pushbacks to its cooperation with the so called “Libyan Coast Guard”: in addition to the reports of those affected and eyewitnesses, extensive video material provides evidence of these practices. Finally, the EU Parliament created the Frontex Scrutiny Group to investigate. According to the group´s report, Frontex is aware of illegal activities in the Mediterranean, but does not intervene.

Moreover, the report states that agency head Fabrice Leggeri has removed incriminating material. With unparalleled cynicism, the agency now comments that the MEPs could not prove Frontex had engaged in illegal activities. However, this was not the task of the committee.

The lack of will to investigate or admit wrongdoing or to ensure basic human rights is part of the agency’s modus operandi. Frontex puts the protection of borders above the protection of people who are in danger.

Nevertheless, Leggeri always manages to wriggle out of the accusations, no sanctions have been imposed so far and the agency continues to expand. As per its regulation, Frontex is independent, its director may not take instructions from the member states or the Commission. This has created a legal vacuum for the agency.

At the same time, the power of the Frontex director continues to grow: planes and drones for aerial surveillance under its own control, a fleet of vehicles with surveillance technology, a new armed border force under Leggeri’s command.

Why is it so difficult to indict and prosecute the illegal activities of the agency? To whom is Frontex actually accountable? What are Leggeri’s new narratives and how can we debunk them?

We will discuss with activists and experts who are confronted with the practices of Frontex at various EU external borders and in different fields of work. Together we then want to show possibilities of civil resistance.

Panel 1: Current border practices of Frontex
Situation reports from the EU external borders, on the new mandate and technical equipment of the agency

Bérénice Gaudin (Sea-Watch Airborne)
Milena Zajovic (Are You Syrious/ Border Violence Monitoring Network)
Petra Molnar (Associate Director, Refugee Law Lab, York University)
Phevos Simeonidis (Disinfaux Collective)
Moderation: Vera Deleja-Hotko (investigative Journalistin, FragDenStaat), Matthias Monroy

Panel 2: Tactics of civil resistance against Frontex
On the interlocking of political, legal, and practical struggles against the agency’s activities and its new narratives

Luisa Izuzquiza (Frag den Staat)
Omer Shatz (Lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, Legal Director of Front-Lex)
Bernd Kasparek (bordermonitoring.eu)
Amandine Bach (Political Advisor, Frontex Scrutiny Group)
Moderation: Matija Vlatković (ECCHR), Niamh Ní Bhriain (TNI Amsterdam)

To attend in person, register here: https://www.so36.com/…/36144-tickets-quo-vadis-frontex…

For live stream visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5iEpmQrxCU

von AntiRa Vernetzung NRW

Seit der Corona-Pandemie spitzt sich die Situation in den Lagern sowohl an den EU-Außengrenzen als auch in der BRD zu.

Während überall in der Gesellschaft Kontaktreduzierung und Social Distancing propagiert wurden, mussten Menschen in den Lagern auf engem Raum zusammenzuleben und sich Schlaf-, Essens- und Waschräume teilen. Den infolgedessen auftretenden Infektionen unter den Bewohner*innen wurde auch in NRW durch Ketten-Quarantänen begegnet. Anstatt die Bewohner*innen durch eine dezentrale Unterbringung zu schützen, wurden sie der Ansteckungsgefahr ausgesetzt und durch neu auftretende Infektionen über Wochen eingesperrt.

Hier verdeutlicht sich auf drastische Weise die systematische Ungleichbehandlung und Entrechtung von Geflüchteten, denen selbst das Recht auf Gesundheit und Leben in Zeiten einer gefährlichen Pandemie verweigert wird.
Dies ist nicht einfach eine Überforderung in der Corona-Krise, sondern in dem „System Lager“ seit Jahren strukturell angelegt. Massive Gesetzesverschärfungen ermöglichen es, dass den Menschen in den Lagern fundamentale Rechte u.a. auf Privatsphäre, Beschulung, medizinische Regelversorgung oder Arbeitsmöglichkeiten systematisch vorenthalten werden.

Viele Menschen sind bis zu 2 Jahre dem Kreislauf von Enge, permanenten Kontrollen, Monotonie, Angst vor Abschiebung und Gewalt ausgesetzt. In den abgelegenen Lagern wird ihnen der Kontakt zur übrigen Bevölkerung faktisch unmöglich gemacht, und die politische und soziale Vernetzung mit anderen Geflüchteten erschwert. 

Ihre Isolation ist politisch gewollt. Sie soll einen reibungslosen Ablauf der schwerpunktmäßig aus NRW-Landesunterkünften stattfindenden Abschiebungen ermöglichen und zugleich die öffentliche Debatte über die von der Gesellschaft abgeschotteten Lager verhindern.

Diese Selbstverständlichkeit von Entrechtung und Isolation geflüchteter Menschen muss durchbrochen werden. Es muss endlich eine gesellschaftliche Auseinandersetzung zum Thema der Aufnahme und menschenwürdigen dezentralen Unterbringung von Geflüchteten geben.

Mit den No-Lager-Aktionswochen wollen wir dies in die Öffentlichkeit tragen, antirassistische Akteure vernetzen und ein solidarisches Zeichen an die Menschen in den Lagern senden.

Beteiligt euch an den Aktionen!
Bleiberecht für alle!
Close the camps – break isolation!

Sammellager in NRW und das Corona-Virus

Enge, Isolation und schlechte Infrastruktur machen krank. Nicht nur, aber ganz besonders während einer Pandemie.

Wer in Deutschland einen Asylantrag stellt, wird mit Lagerhaft nicht unter sechs Monaten bestraft. In NRW sind es mitunter bis zu zwei Jahren. So sieht es der Stufenplan der Landesregierung vor. Von dieser Regelung, die die Kommunen entlasten und Abschiebungen erleichtern, vor allem aber abschrecken soll, weicht die Landesregierung auch während der Corona Pandemie nicht ab.

Während überall sonst Menschenansammlungen vermieden werden sollen, müssen sich Leute in Sammelunterkünften zu sechst einen Schlafraum und mit Hunderten anderen Duschen und Esssäle teilen. Wie nicht anders zu erwarten, infizierten sich viele unter diesen Bedingungen. Zum Höhepunkt der zweiten Welle stand allein in NRW praktisch die Hälfte aller Landesunterkünfte unter Quarantäne.

Verschärft wurde die Situation gerade zu Beginn der Pandemie sowohl durch schlechte Kommunikation als auch durch fehlende Infrastruktur. Fast nirgendwo gab es Schutzmasken, fast überall zu wenig Desinfektionsmittel. Zwar versuchte die Landesregierung in NRW, aufgrund von Alter oder Vorerkrankungen besonders gefährdete Personen in Jugendherbergen sicherer unterzubringen und so die Belegung insgesamt zu entzerren. Andererseits wurden Transfers in die Kommunen bis Juni 2020 ausgesetzt, so dass die regulären Einrichtungen eher voller als leerer wurden.
Ein iranischer Geflüchteter berichtete, dass die Essenszeiten in seinem Lager zwar ausgedehnt wurden, damit nicht alle auf einmal in der Kantine sitzen – gleichzeitig gab es in der Einrichtung aber nur in einem einzigen Raum stabiles WLAN, so dass sämtliche BewohnerInnen sich dort knubbelten, wenn sie sich über COVID-19  informieren oder wissen wollten, wie es ihrem  Angehörigen und FreundInnen geht. 

Onur Şahin, der während der zweiten Welle selbst an Corona erkrankte, berichtet auf die Frage, ob sich die Situation in seiner Flüchtlingsunterkunft in Kassel in der zweiten Welle verändert hat:

„Im Mikromanagement hat sich nichts geändert. Sie haben nur Zettel aufgehängt an die Wände: Abstand halten, Maske, Nase und Mund bedecken. Und Hände waschen. Das war die einzige Maßnahme. Sie hatten keine strukturierten Pläne für die verschiedenen Camps. Als es im Oktober einen Corona-Fall gab, haben sie uns nichts davon gesagt.“ 

Und Mariama Jatta erinnert sich:

„ Als Corona anfing, haben sie in der Stadt verkündet: “Okay, es gibt diese neue Regelung in Deutschland, dass nur ein paar Leute zusammenkommen dürfen. Wenn es mehr sind, muss man aus dem gleichen Haushalt kommen.” Ich dachte mir: “Okay, dieses Gesetz wurde gemacht, und sie haben uns dabei komplett vergessen.” Sie haben überhaupt nicht bedacht, dass dies ein Haushalt mit 700 Leuten ist. Denn dies ist ein Haushalt. Wir teilen uns die Küche, wir teilen uns das Bad, wir haben Kontakt, die Kinder spielen zusammen. Und es wurden keine Vorsichtsmaßnahmen getroffen. Wir hatten keine Desinfektionsmittel, keine Informationen. Wir wurden nicht richtig über die Corona-Regeln und alles andere informiert. Es gab keinerlei Kommunikation.“

ZITATE AUS: GEFÄHRDETES LEBEN. ALLTAG UND PROTEST IN FLÜCHTLINGSUNTERKÜNFTEN WÄHREND DER CORONA-PANDEMIE

Auch bei der Impfkampagne laufen geflüchtete BewohnerInnen von Sammellagern in NRW Gefahr, aus den Augen und aus dem Sinn zu geraten: Obwohl sie in der Priorisierungsgruppe 2 der Impfverordnung aufgeführt sind, hatte die Landesregierung NRW es bis April 2021 noch nicht einmal geschafft, ein Konzept für die Information und Impfung der BewohnerInnen abzustimmen. 

Erst durch öffentlichen Druck kam in den zuständigen Ministerien Bewegung in die Sache. Doch auch Ende Mai haben die wenigsten BewohnerInnen von Landesunterkünften eine Impfangebot, geschweige denn einen vollen Impfschutz bekommen. 

Die Isolation der BewohnerInnen hat sich durch die Corona-Pandemie noch einmal erheblich verschärft: Der Besuch von Ehrenamtlichen oder FreundInnen in der Einrichtung ist untersagt, und im Quarantänefall ist für die Betroffenen kein Verlassen des Geländes mehr möglich. Dabei ist die Situation schon zu „normalen“ Zeiten von massiver Isolation geprägt: Schulbesuch für Kinder, Ausbildung, die Sprache lernen, Freunde kennenlernen, Arbeit finden, eine Therapie beginnen, Ankommen und zur Ruhe kommen…. all das, was nach einer oft traumatischen Flucht eigentlich dringend nötig und wichtig wäre, geht vom Lager aus nicht oder fast nicht. 

Gleichzeitig finden immer wieder Abschiebungen aus den Lagern heraus statt, die ebenfalls während der Pandemie nie unterbrochen wurden. Für alle anderen Bewohnerinnen und vor allem für Kinder stellt das Miterleben von frühmorgendlichen Razzien und Abschiebungen einen enormen Stress dar. Viele leiden unter Schlaflosigkeit und entwickeln psychische Probleme. 

Wir sind deshalb der Meinung, dass die Lagerpflicht für Geflüchtete abgeschafft gehört. Sammelunterkünfte für Geflüchtete können nur eine Unterbringungsmöglichkeit in den ersten Wochen für diejenigen sein, die sonst keine Unterkunft haben. Der Sinn und Zweck von Lagern über diese erste Unterbringung hinaus besteht aber einzig und allein in der vereinfachten Verwaltung und Kontrolle von Menschen, in der Vereinfachung von Abschiebemaßnahmen und in Abschreckung. Das darf kein Grund sein, Menschen in Isolation und unter  krankmachende und gefährliche Bedingungen zu zwingen, ihnen Monate und Jahre ihres Lebens zu rauben, in denen sie sich keine Zukunft aufbauen können.

Wenn letzten Endes psychisch zermürbte Menschen in die Kommunen kommen, ist niemandem geholfen. 

Aufruf zum Mitmachen!

Einladung an die ZUE Bewohner*innen

Wir sind mehrere antirassistische Organisationen, die für die Schließung der großen Lager und für eine menschenwürdige Unterbringung von geflüchteten Menschen eintreten. 

Alle sollen einen Platz und eine Zukunft hier haben. Zu diesem Thema wird es vom 19. bis 27.6.2021 in verschiedenen Städten (Aachen, Bochum, Düsseldorf, Köln, Münster…) Aktionen geben.
Z.B. am 25.6.2021 um 17 Uhr eine Demonstration in Düsseldorf.

Wenn Ihr Lust habt, aus eurer Perspektive vom Leben im Lager zu berichten, schickt eure Fotos und Filme (ohne erkennbare Gesichter), Zeichnungen und Texte an folgende Email: info@no-lager.eu, sie werden dann auf der Webseite no-lager.eu veröffentlicht.
Dort findet Ihr auch alle Informationen zu den verschiedenen Aktionen in den Städten.

Downloads

• Plakat 1
• Plakat 2
• Plakat 3
• Plakat 4
• Plakat 5 – Demoplakat
• Flyer

Am 22. April bekommen wir, vom Alarmphone, die Nachricht, dass 130 Menschen im Mittelmeer ertrunken sind. Wir hatten die lybische und die europäischen Küstenwachen viele Stunden im Voraus informiert. Sie haben sich geweigert zu handeln. Eine Woche später wollen wir in Wut und Trauer auf die Straße gehen, um den Ertrunkenen zu gedenken.

Europe, your borders kill!

Kundgebung Oranienplatz

29.04.2021, 18.30 Uhr

Tragt Masken und haltet Abstand

von No Border Assembly // website – twitter – facebook

This brochure has gathered a list of corporations that profit from deportations, from managing detention centers, from building fences, selling ships, drones or planes patrolling the Mediterranean, subcontracted security guards, providing data collection, border surveillance software, id control mechanisms, racist policy consultation, prison construction and any other form of oppression that limits peoples freedom of movement and right to stay.

The external borders of Europe are not in Berlin, but the border regime is all around us. This regime consists of more than just the state. In capitalism, many forms of border oppression are subcontracted to corporations. Borders are very profitable. Therefore this market is dominated by huge multinational corporations. And since keywords of the European borders are militarisation and surveillance, the list of corporate border profiteers is full of the usual suspects that also profit from war, prisons and privacy infringement.

The goal of this booklet is to promote action in Berlin and Brandenburg. Hence the focus is very much on companies that have an office in Berlin or action possibilities based on local struggles.

-> READ FULL BROCHURE HERE <-

List of Border Profiteers

1. DEPORTATION COLLABORATORS
✗ Lufthansa – Eurowings
✗ Privilege Style
✗ Corendon Airlines
✗ Turyol / Jalem Tur
✗ Enter Air

2. BORDER MILITARISATION
✗ Airbus – Hensholdt
✗ Otokar – Koç Holding
✗ Thales

3. DETENTION INDUSTRY
✗ European Homecare
✗ Pulsm – Morten Group
✗ Markgraf
✗ Baukontor Lange

4. SURVEILLANCE SOFTWARE
✗ Sopra Steria
✗ Cevision

5. PRIVATE GUARDS
✗ City Schutz
✗ Securitas
✗ L&S Sicherheit
✗ Secura Protect

6. BORDER CONSULTANCY
✗ McKinsey

umsonst und draußen

Gegen die G20-Afrika-Partnerschaftskonferenz!

Für globale Bewegungsfreiheit und selbstbestimmte Entwicklung!

Freitag, 26. Mai, 20:30 Uhr
„Zu reich für den Frieden – Raubbau im Kongo“.
Der Kongo ist ein Land reich an Rohstoffen. Doch er gehört zu den ärmsten afrikanischen Ländern, denn die Rohstoffe werden entweder von Drittländern ausgebeutet oder so umkämpft, dass die Produktion lahm liegt. Daran beteiligen sich auch deutsche Unternehmen. Der Film zeigt das Problem am Beispiel des Minerals Coltan, das für den Bau von Mobiltelefonen oder Computern äußerst begehrt ist. Sprache: deutsch. Im Fall von Regen im New Yorck, Bethanien, Mariannenplatz 2a.

Freitag, 9. Juni, 20:30 Uhr
„Les Sauteurs – Those who jump“ (2016) mit Koregisseur Abou Baker Sidibé, Geflüchteter aus Mali. Er filmt nach 14 Monaten im Camp auf der marokkanischen Seite vor Mellila (die spanische Enklave auf marokkanischem Festland), vor dem Grenzzaun nach Spanien. Dabei dokumentiert er seinen und den Alltag der Geflüchteten, ihre Selbstorganisation, ihre erfolglosen und die erfolgreiche Erstürmung des unüberwindbar erscheinenden Grenzzauns.
Sprachen: Bambara, Französisch, Untertitel englisch. Im Fall von Regen im New Yorck, Bethanien, Mariannenplatz 2a.

Aktionstage vom 2. Juni bis 13. Juni 2017
Im Zuge der Präsidentschaft über die G20-Staaten lädt Deutschland zur „G20-Afrika-Partnerschafts-Konferenz“ ein. Die sogenannten „Migrations- partnerschaften“ entpuppen sich jedoch als Maßnahmen um Migration zu verhindern, Ziel von privaten Investitionen ist der Profit. Das Wohl der Menschen in Afrika ist damit nicht gemeint. Wir setzen dem unseren Protest, unsere Hoffnung auf ein besseres Leben jenseits der kapitalistischen Zurichtung dieses Planeten und jenseits von Mobilitätskontrolle, sowie unseren Willen, eine solidarische Welt zu realisieren, entgegen!

Mehr Infos und Termine unter: http://wirsindwuetend.blogsport.eu/

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Video Rally on Oranienplatz – free and outside

Against the G20 Africa Partnership Conference!

For global freedom of movement and self-determined development!

Friday, May 26th, 8:30 pm
“Too rich for peace – destructive exploitation in Congo“
Congo is a country very rich in ressources. However, it is also one of the poorest African countries, because the ressources are either being exploited by third countries or fought over and its production stopped. German companies are also involved. The movie shows the problem on the example of Coltan which is a crucial material of mobile phones and computers. Language: German. In case of rain, at New Yorck Bethanien, Mariannenplatz 2a.

Friday, June 9th, 8:30 pm
“Les Sauteurs – Those who jump” (2016) with co-director Abou Baker Sidibé, a refugee from Mali. After fourteen months, he films in the camp on the Moroccan side in front of Mellila (the Spanish enclave on Moroccan mainland), before the border fence to Spain. In doing so, he documents his daily life and the self-organization of the refugees, their unsuccessful and successful storming of the insurmountable border fence.
Languages: Bambara, French, Subtitles English
In case of rain, at New Yorck Bethanien, Mariannenplatz 2a.

Action days from June 2nd to June 13th 2017
In the course of its presidency of the G20-states Germany „G20 African Partnership Conference“. The so-called „Migration Partnerships“ however turn out to be measures to prevent migration, the goal of private investment is profit. Obviously, the well-being of people in Africa is not of concern. Against that, we will set our protest, our hope for a better life beyond the capitalist domination of this planet and beyond mobility control, and our will to realize a world in solidarity!

More information and dates: http://wirsindwuetend.blogsport.eu/

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Démonstrations vidéo sur le Oranienplatz –
gratuit et en plein air

Contre la conférence de partenariat G20-Afrique! Pour la liberté global de mouvement et le développement autodéterminé!

Vendredi, 26 Mai 20h:30
« De la richesse pour la paix – l’exploitation au Congo » Le Congo est un pays riche en matières premières. Mais il est l’un des pays les plus pauvres d’Afrique, parce que les matières premières sont soit exploités par les pays puissants soit ils se battent entre eux «ou concurrentiel, «jusque la production soit paralysé. Les entreprises allemandes y participent aussi..Le film montre par exemple les problemes du minérale de coltan avec lequel sont fabriqué les téléphones et des ordinateurs qui sont extrêmement populaire et très recherché. Langue: Allemand. En cas de pluie, a New Yorck, Bethanien, Mariannenplatz 2a.

Vendredi, 9 Juin 20h:30
“Les sauteurs-Ceux qui sautent”(2016) Avec le Co-régisseur Abubaker Sidibe qui avait fui le Mali. Il filme 14 mois après sa fuite au camp des réfugiés du côté marocain avant Mellila (l´enclave espagnole sur le continent marocaine), avant la clôture de la frontière vers l´Espagne. Il a documenté sa vie quotidienne et l’auto-organisation des fugitifs, leur échec et leur succès et la prise d´assaut de la clôture frontalière qui paraissait insurmontable.
Langues: bambara, français, sous-titres anglais. En cas de pluie, a New Yorck, Bethanien, Mariannenplatz 2a.

Jours d’action du 2 Juin à 13 Juin, 2017
Au cours da la présidence des pays du G20 l´Allemagne invite certains pays á un conférence sur le partenariat G20 Afrique. Les soit disant “partenariat migratoir“. Mais ca se révélent être des mesures visant á empêcher la migration. L´objectif c´est le profit de l´investissement privé. Ce n´est pas destinés au sors du bien être des gens en Afrique. Nous allons protester contre. Notre espoir d’une vie meilleure au-delà discipline capitaliste cette planète et au-delà du contrôle de la mobilité
c´est contraire a la réalisation de notre volonté d´un monde solidaire.

Plus d’informations et dates:
http://wirsindwuetend.blogsport.eu

We published a zine about the Röszke 11, that provides an overview and gerneral analysis. It summarizes the story of the Röszke 11, the political context, and similar cases of criminalization in Greece and Luxembourg. You can download it when you click on the pdf-signs above or below. The version above is the smaller web-file, the one below is the large file for printing, the cover (front and back) and the rest of the zine are in 3 separate files. Spread and print it!
Resistance and struggle continues!

Written by Riot Turtle

Up to 300.000 people (according to organisers) took the streets of Barcelona yesterday. Police authorities estimated that about 160.000 people joined the protests. The huge demonstration demanded from the government in Madrid to immediately meet its pledge to take in thousands of refugees. People were mobilised with the slogan volem acollir (“We want to welcome them” in Catalan).

Marchers were carrying placards and banners- many in the Catalan language – accussing the Madrid government of dragging its feet over the issue. Protesters say it has not honoured its pledge made in 2015 to allow more than 17,000 refugees into Spain within two years. Over that time, the Spanish state has accepted only about 1,100 refugees.

The rally, organised by a group calling itself Casa Nostra Casa Vostra (Our home is your home), finished at the Mediterranean coast in Barcelona – a symbolic location given the more than 5,000 refugees who lost their lives trying to cross the sea last year alone.

Many protesters chanted “Open the borders!” and oppose European border closures that left thousands of refugees trapped in Greece, Serbia and Italy. Another demand of the protesters are equal rights for refugees and migrants.

As a part of the Enough is Enough team supported refugees in Greece and Serbia earlier this month, we already noticed that many of the activists who are supporting refugees on the so-called Balkan route were, apart from other countries, coming from Catalunya, Basque country and other parts of Spain. Some Basque and Catalonian activists even challenged EU border closures by acts of civil disobedience and were arrested in Greece.

Yesterdays mass demonstration for the rights of refugees can be seen as an encouraging sign that more and more people are opposing European border closures and willing to join protests against the inhumane and racist policies against refugees of many EU governments. Earlier this month several German states decided to stop deportations of Afghan refugees to the war torn country after massive protests in airports and in front of state parliaments.

More than 5,000 lives lost in the Mediterranean in 2016 and several Shipwrecks already in 2017 – Stop the Mass Dying at Europe’s maritime Gates!

WatchTheMed Alarm Phone 2 Month Report

21^st November 2016 – 15^th January 2017

On the 3^rd of January, at 5.21am, the WatchTheMed Alarm Phone shift team received the first distress call of 2017, from a boat in the Ionian Sea (an embayment between Greece and Italy). This was the first time that we received a call from this part of the Mediterranean Sea. The 55 people on board undertook the dangerous journey to reach a safe place after having risked already the perilous sea passage from Turkey to Greece. Some of the passengers had joined the boat in Greece, escaping the appalling conditions of the Greek camps. When the travellers called us, they had already spent 30 hours at sea. We alarmed the Italian Coastguard, who eventually rescued the precarious passengers and brought them to Italy. We kept in touch with one of them – a boy, one of 12 children on board, who had travelled all the way from Turkey and who hoped to be reunited with his uncle in Germany. He told us that his uncle had undertaken the same journey as a young man, fleeing from violence in the 1990s. One week later, the boy informed us that he had reached Germany already. While this particular story seems to have found a happy end, it demonstrates how many people, including children, have to continue to risk their lives on dangerous sea journeys to reach EUrope, as safe corridors for them do not exist.

This cruel reality was confirmed once again in the most harrowing of ways in the second week of January. On Friday the 13^th of January, our shift team supported a boat in the Western Mediterranean Sea. They were already close to Spain but lost orientation. The Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo searched for them but then, in the evening, decided to not continue their search overnight, which, in our eyes, was a far-reaching mistake. They seemed to problematically assume, without evidence, that the boat was still in Moroccan waters, and that Moroccan authorities were actively searching for them. When they were finally detected, one woman had lost her life on the boat, and two men remain missing. Another boat that had left from Morocco, carrying 12 people and including two small children, remains missing. The hope to find any of them alive is fading, not least as the six corpses that were already found may be from this boat.

A day later, on Saturday the 14^th of January, Father Zerai alerted us to a boat carrying more than a hundred people in an emergency situation in the Central Mediterranean Sea. They were in acute distress and the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre sent out Search and Rescue vessels. However, rescue came too late for the vast majority of travellers. The vessel capsized, and only 3 men and 1 woman survived. While it was initially reported that there were about 100 fatalities, the survivors now report of many more, of possibly up to 180 people who were killed by Europe’s borders.[1]

As these cases show, the EUropean strategy of border closure does not work to stop the movements of people, but makes their journeys only lengthier, costlier, and more dangerous. The risk to perish on the way to EUrope has further increased. In 2016, the overall number of sea arrivals via the Mediterranean has dropped to 361,709, compared to about 1 million in 2015. At the same time, while the number of sea arrivals in Greece decreased after the infamous EU-Turkey deal in March 2016, the closure of the Balkan route, and worsening conditions in Greek internment camps, the arrivals from North Africa to Italy increased: more than 181,000 people successfully embarked on the perilous journey via the Central Mediterranean to Italy – even more than in the preceding years. The number of people who died or went missing in the attempt to cross has gone up from 3,771 in 2015 to more than 5,000 in 2016.[2] The real number of EUrope’s border fatalities in the Mediterranean is likely to be even higher, given that many cases are not documented.

The staggering number of sea fatalities resemble those of war zones and should prompt, with great urgency, a radical re-orientation in the ways in which EUrope governs its borders. If there were safe ways to cross, the 5,022+ would still be alive. But what we witness instead are novel draconian measures to stop people from entering EUrope. Deterrence policies are further on the rise, the sea is increasingly militarised and borders are externalised. In line with EU border externalisation strategies, as showcased with the EU-Turkey deal in March 2016, the EU is now collaborating with Libyan forces to attempt to undermine unauthorised migrant crossings in the Central Mediterranean.

The rescue and survival of those in distress at sea is obviously not a priority for Europe. Without those who struggle every day to make migrant journeys a little bit less dangerous, who have sent out humanitarian search and rescue vessels or operate, like us, hotlines to support those in distress, 2016 would have been even deadlier. And these are the actors who now face an attack by the European border agency Frontex! Frontex accused humanitarians of colluding with smugglers – a cynical accusation meant to undermine their valuable and desperately needed work and divert attention from the real causes of migrant suffering and death.[3] They do not want civilian actors and activists in the sea monitoring their border enforcement practices. They want the sea to kill. The border agency’s objective is clear: reduce search and rescue activities off the coast of Libya and let even more people drown as a policy of deterrence.

Doctors without Borders have powerfully responded to these allegations, stating: “Smugglers may indeed ‘profit from our presence’, as they will profit from the EU naval forces that work beside us and profit altogether much more from war and poverty across the world and the desperate people who look for an escape route which the EU still refuses to provide. Search and rescue is not a solution, it’s a band aid that will never prevent people from dying at sea. With more than 4,800 people drowned, suffocated, burned to death or missing in 2016 alone, we are effectively patrolling a graveyard in the Mediterranean Sea. […] MSF did not create smugglers, just like MSF did not create the conflicts and deep inequality many of those we rescue flee. Until politicians reverse this absurd situation in which we find ourselves, MSF will continue to try and save the maximum number of lives as possible, both on land and on sea.”[4]

In 2017, we will continue to support the disobedient movements that continue despite the increasing militarization, externalization of borders, and anti-search and rescue missions.

Just like in the Central Mediterranean, crossings in the Western Mediterranean have increased in 2016 – both to mainland Spain and the Spanish enclaves. On the 9^th of December 2016, 438 people managed to climb the fences to the Spanish colony of Ceuta; the biggest group in a decade to enter Ceuta. In the very beginning of 2017, on the 1^st of January, 1100 people tried to enter Ceuta. This led to clashes with Moroccan and Spanish police forces, and out of the 1100 people only 2 made it to Ceuta. The others were either stopped before they could reach the fences, or immediately pushed back to Moroccan territory. Only a few days later, on the 5^th of January, hundreds of Moroccan police officers attacked all the camps in the forests around Nador, where they burned down the camps and arrested many. This massive attack came just weeks after it was announced that Morocco would restart their regularisation campaign. This shows clearly the massive gap between Morocco’s official human rights discourse and the de facto treatment of migrants in Morocco. While many people try to jump the fences to Ceuta and Melilla, others continue to attempt to cross the rough sea in winter. One of the reasons for their crossings is the high level of repression they face in Morocco.

For the year to come, we promise to struggle on to make sea crossings a little less dangerous, as we have done in the past two years when we supported more than 1,775 boats in distress. In 2016 alone we did so in 500 cases. We are determined to speak up against those who show hostility towards the newcomers, who preach hatred and seek to divide us. We will welcome those who had to risk their lives to find protection in a new community, a trans-border community that is inclusive and open, based upon the principles of global justice and the freedom of movement for all. We believe that a world without borders is possible, in which both Frontex and the smugglers would then have disappeared.[5]

Summaries of Alarm Phone Distress Cases

 In the past two months, the WatchTheMed Alarm Phone was alerted to situations of distress in all three regions of the Mediterranean Sea. We were engaged in 18 distress cases, of which 9 took place in the Central Mediterranean (including the case in the Ionian Sea), 6 in the Western Mediterranean and 3 in the Aegean Sea. You can find links to the individual reports of the past 6 weeks below.

Central Mediterranean Sea

On Tuesday the 22^nd of November 2016 at about noon, Father Mussie Zerai alerted the Alarm Phone to a boat in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea and forwarded a Thuraya satellite phone number to us. We immediately recharged the credit of the phone and tried to call the travellers, but did not reach them. At 1.45pm, we informed the Italian MRCC about the boat in distress and forwarded its satellite phone number. At 6pm, the coastguard confirmed to us that the boat was found and that all travellers had been rescued. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/602

On Sunday the 27^th of November 2016 at 9.20am, Father Mussie Zerai informed the Alarm Phone about a rubber boat in distress with 110 travellers on board, including 30 women and many children and babies. He forwarded their GPS position and Thuraya satellite phone number to us and we tried to call the phone, but without success. At 9.50am, he informed us about a second boat, the first one had started together with, but has lost sight of. At 10.15am, we called the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Rome and forwarded all information we had received so far. At 4.20pm the MRCC confirmed to us that the first boat had successfully been rescued, and at 5.20pm the confirmation of the rescue of the second boat followed. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/603

On Tuesday the 29^th of November 2016, at 7.40am, we received a distress call from travellers near Tanger Med, Marocco. We could not get more information, because the phone connection broke off and we did not manage to get in touch with the travellers after the first contact. At 1:15pm, we eventually decided to call the Spanish search and rescue agency Salvamento Maritimo. They told us that they had not rescued any boats today, but that the Moroccan Marine had intercepted the boat we had been in touch with and another one. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/594

On Monday, the 5^th of December 2016 at 5.35am, a contact person alerted us to a boat north of Sabratha carrying 70 travellers, amongst them families and five children. At 6.55am we decided to pass on the information we had about time and place of departure to the Italian coast guard. For the rest of the day both we and the contact person kept trying to reach the travellers, but without success. At 3am the following morning we got a confirmation that the travellers had been rescued to Catania, Italy. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/597

On Tuesday, the 6^th of December 2016, we were alerted, via Father Mussie Zerai, to two boats in distress. In both cases Father Mussie Zerai had already informed the Italian coast guard. At 3.54am we learned about the first vessel, carrying 156 people, and we were forwarded their satellite phone number and their position, showing that they were north east of Tripoli. At 4.55am we informed the Italian coast guard about the vessel. At 5.20am we reached the travellers for the first time, and they gave us a new position.  From around 9.30am we could no longer reach the travellers, and by monitoring their credit we could see that they were also not in contact with others. At 11.25 Father Mussie Zerai alerted us to a second vessel in distress. He didn’t know their exact position, but forwarded their satellite phone number. At 11.36am we reached the travellers, but communication was almost impossible. At 12.28am we reached the boat again, and this time we learned that they were a group of around 100 travellers, amongst them women and children. We also managed to get their position. After this call we called the Italian coast guard and passed on the coordinates of the vessel. From around 2.30pm it was no longer possible to reach the travellers. In the evening we found a newspaper article stating that 473 travellers had been rescued by the Italian coast guard today in five different rescue operations. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/598

On Saturday, the 10^th of December 2016 at 7.10am, Father Mussi Zerai alerted us to a group of 150 travellers in distress on their way from Libya to Italy, forwarding us their satellite phone number. At 7.40am we managed to reach the boat, but the connection was bad, and it was not possible to get any information. At 8.00am we reached the boat again, and this time we managed to get their position, which we passed on to the Italian coast guard. At 11.20pm we got a confirmation from the Italian coast guard that the vessel had been rescued and that all the travellers were safe. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/599

On Tuesday, the 3^rd of January 2017 at 5.21am the Alarm Phone was called by a group of 53 travellers in distress on their way from Greece to Italy. We later managed to re-establish contact to the boat, and were informed that they had been travelling for more than 30 hours, and that amongst the 53 people were 12 children. We called the Italian coast guard and passed on the information and position. At 6.20am we received a confirmation from the travellers that the rescue vessel had arrived. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/600

On Friday the 13^th of January 2017, our shift team was alerted to a boat in distress in the Central Mediterranean, carrying about 90 people. At 5.10pm we were able to speak to the travellers. We spoke to the Italian MRCC in Rome at 5.20pm and passed on the information we had. At 6.30pm we spoke to the travellers again and instructed them how to find their GPS position. They also informed us that they could see a big vessel nearby which, however, was not reacting to their calls for help. At 6.50pm they finally passed on their GPS position to us which we passed on to MRCC Rome. At 7.37pm, MRCC Rome thanked us for the provided information and told us that rescue operations were ongoing. At 10pm, MRCC Rome confirmed that the boat had been rescued and all people on board were safe. On the day, about 550 people were rescued in the Central Mediterranean Sea, and two dead bodies were recovered. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/607

On Saturday the 14th of January 2017, our shift team was alerted by Father Zerai at 5.43am to a vessel in distress in the Central Mediterranean, carrying over a hundred people. In the following hours, we tried to reach the travellers repeatedly on their Thuraya satellite phone, but we could not get through. The MRCC Rome informed us at 12.22pm that they were searching for the boat but they were unwilling to pass on any further information. Then the news broke in the media about a tragedy in the Central Mediterranean. MRCC Rome still refused to provide further information. Father Zerai then confirmed to us the day after what we had already feared: the boat had capsized. There were more than 100 people on the boat, and only a few survived. At 11.45am, MRCC Rome also confirmed that the boat had capsized, with only 3 men and 1 woman surviving. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/608

Western Mediterranean Sea

On Monday the 21^st of November 2016 at 5pm, a contact person called the Alarm Phone, informing us about 8 travellers who had departed from Tanger/Morocco in the direction of Tarifa/Spain on a rubber boat on the morning of that day. He forwarded their phone number to us and asked us to alert the Spanish rescue organization Salvamento Maritimo (S.M.). We did so and stayed in contact with both S.M. and the contact person during the following hours, but the travellers could not be found. On the next day at 2pm, the contact person informed us that the travellers had been rescued by fishermen and had been brought back to Morocco. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/592

On Thursday the 24^th of November 2016 at 7.35am, the Alarm Phone was called by a contact person from Morocco and informed about a rubber boat that had left Tanger/Morocco at 5am, with 10 men and one woman on board. We were provided with the travellers’ phone number and were able to talk to the travellers at 8am. We alerted the Spanish rescue organization Salvamento Maritimo (S.M.) at 8.15am. At 9.56am, the Spanish MRCC in Madrid called us and confirmed to us that the 11 travellers had been rescued by S.M. and were brought to Tarifa/Spain. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/593

On Tuesday the 6^th of December 2016, at 9.03am, the we received a call from 11 people, including two women, in distress on their way from Morocco to Spain. They had already been on their way for around 6 hours, and the boat was starting to lose air. At 9.22am we alerted the Spanish rescue organisation, Salvamento Maritimo (S.M.), to the case. At 11.23 we got a confirmation that the boat had been intercepted by the Moroccan Navy. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/595

On Saturday the 10^th of December 2016, at 9.00am, a contact person alerted us to a boat on its way to Tarifa, forwarding us the phone number. We managed to reach the travellers who informed us that they were a group of 10 people, including one woman, and that they had left six hours earlier. At 9.25 we called the Spanish rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo (S.M.) who told us that they working on coordinating the rescue. At 11.44am we called S.M. again, and they confirmed that the travellers had been intercepted by the Moroccan Navy. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/596

On Tuesday, the 3^rd of January 2017 at 12.05am, we were alerted by a contact person to a group of 33 travellers, amongst them four women, on their way to Spain. They had left Morocco at 4am from a beach close to Nador. Communication with the boat was very difficult. At 2.45pm we passed on the information about the vessel to the Spanish search and rescue organisation, Salvamento Maritimo (SM), in Almeria. We later spoke to the travellers who told us that water was leaking into the boat, and that they could see the aircraft of SM above them. At 7.30pm we got a confirmation that the boat had been rescued and all the travellers were safe. They were all taken back to Nador. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/601

On Friday the 13^th of January 2017, our shift team was contacted by travellers on a vessel in the Western Mediterranean. In several phone conversations with the boat-people, we learned that there were 10 people on a black rubber boat that had left from Tangier/Morocco about 2am. They could not specify the exact location of their departure and were also not able to pass on their current GPS position. We reached out to Salvamento at 8.38am and passed on all the acquire information. They informed us that they were engaged in another Search and Rescue operation and wondered whether this was the boat in question. […] At 9.44am, Salvamento told us that they were in contact with the boat but not yet able to find them. As of 10.44am, we were unable to reach the boat-people any longer. […] The next day we learned that Caminando Fronteras knew of 21 people who had disappeared the day before, with two bodies already found on the beaches of Tarifa. […] The following days we received further information about the shipwrecks. […] By the time Salvamento found the boat, one woman had died on board and two men had gone missing. The survivors, 5 men and 2 women were brought to Ceuta. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/609

Aegean Sea

On Thursday the 24^th of November 2016 at 6.45pm, a contact person informed the Alarm Phone about eight travellers who had stranded on the Greek island of Samos and forwarded a phone number to us. At 7.20pm we reached them and learned that they were seven men and one woman. They were walking in a forest but had lost orientation, even not knowing on which island they had arrived. We explained to them how to find out their position and asked them to walk on in order to find a road or even to reach a village. On the afternoon of the next day we received confirmation from the contact person that they had been picked up by the police on Samos island and had been brought to the refugee registration centre. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/604

On Friday the 25^th of November 2016 at 10pm, the Alarm Phone was directly called by a woman who informed us about a friend of her, who was stuck in a forest close to the river Evros at the Turkish-Greek border for two days. She had lost contact to him 8 hours ago and was afraid that he was injured or had lost consciousness. She forwarded his last known GPS position to us, which was on the Greek side of the border, close to the village of Souflion. In the following hours we tried to reach various numbers of the Greek police and other organizations in this area, all without success. At 1.15am, we reached the Hellenic Rescue Team and convinced them to call the local emergency number 112 and to forward the GPS position of the man. At 7.40am we learned from the Greek police that they had searched at the given position and in the surrounding, but did not find anybody. In the evening of this day, the contact woman confirmed to us that a friend of her had found the missing person. He was in need of a doctor but had survived and reached Greece. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/605

On Friday the 13th of January 2017, our WatchTheMed Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a contact person to a vessel in distress in the Aegean Sea. Shortly after midnight, our contact person informed us via Facebook about an inflatable boat near Demircili, in Turkey, seeking to reach Samos/Greece. The boat had departed about an hour earlier but now had problems with the engine. We tried to reach the travellers repeatedly, but were unable to get through. At 2.26am, the Turkish coastguard confirmed to us that the group had safely returned to land. http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/606

[1] http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/fluechtlingsboot-117.html

[2] http://data.unhcr.org/mediterranean/regional.php

[3] https://www.ft.com/content/3e6b6450-c1f7-11e6-9bca-2b93a6856354

[4] http://msf-analysis.org/bounties-not-bodies-smugglers-profit-sea-rescues-though-no-clear-alternative-available/

[5] http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/12/2016-year-world-stopped-caring-refugees-161227090243522.html