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Balkanroute calling: carovana per la libertà di movimento

Sabato 19 giugno da Trieste a Maljevac confine croato-bosniaco

Il 29 maggio in tutta Italia e Europa iniziative di avvicinamento alla carovana, contro l’esternalizzazione delle frontiere e il rifinanziamento della guardia costiera libica.Sabato 19 giugno promuoveremo una carovana per la libertà di movimento, partendo da piazza Libertà di Trieste, crocevia di solidarietà e cura, con lo scopo di arrivare a Maljevac sulla frontiera croato-bosniaca. Attraversando stati e confini che incarnano l’ipocrisia delle politiche europee vogliamo denunciare chi attua respingimenti a catena e srotola filo spinato, per chiedere a gran voce l’apertura delle frontiere, la chiusura di qualsiasi campo di confinamento e la fine delle violenze e dei pushback.Siamo realtà sociali antirazziste e antifasciste, gruppi e associazioni impegnate nella solidarietà e nel soccorso civile via terra e via mare lungo i confini di questa Europa fortezza.
Vogliamo agire dal basso e in rete a livello europeo per creare momenti di rottura dell’ordinario e mettere in discussione fino in fondo il passato, il presente e il futuro dell’impianto securitario delle politiche sull’immigrazione.Non possiamo accettare né la politica di esternalizzazione delle frontiere, né quello che si configura come un vero e proprio regime del confine: lo abbiamo denunciato tuttə insieme a Trieste il 17 aprile, lo vogliamo rifare andando fin dove sta la frontiera esterna dell’Unione Europea, in Croazia, paese armato e pedina dell’UE lungo la balkan route nella sporca guerra contro i migranti.Saremo fisicamente presenti su quel confine perché è allo stesso tempo simbolo delle politiche europee e dispositivo materiale di contenimento, selezione dei flussi migratori e respingimento verso la Bosnia-Erzegovina. Essere a Maljevac per noi significa essere a Ceuta e Melilla, alle Canarie, a Lampedusa, a Lesvos e Evros.L’Europa e gli Stati membri continuano a sporcarsi le mani di sangue per difendere delle linee immaginarie dall’arrivo di persone, per impedire il loro movimento e negare l’accesso al diritto di asilo. Riducono in brandelli le principali Convenzioni e Costituzioni dove sono stati sanciti i diritti fondamentali, compreso quello di migrare. Basano la loro politica su dispendiosi accordi con le peggiori dittature e milizie corrotte, sulla militarizzazione dei confini con l’ausilio di Frontex e scrivono patti per rendere sistematiche la detenzione e le deportazioni.Vogliamo capovolgere una narrazione che parla costantemente di emergenza e di catastrofe umanitaria, quasi fosse una calamità naturale, senza individuare le cause e i responsabili che la determinano! Vogliamo che si cambi radicalmente rotta!Invitiamo tuttə a raccogliere il nostro appello e organizzare in occasione del 29 maggio – giorno in cui il Parlamento italiano discuterà un nuovo vergognoso finanziamento alla guardia costiera libica – iniziative di mobilitazione, assemblee, eventi pubblici contro un sistema di torture e violazioni dei diritti umani.
Verso il 19 giugno, verso la caravan for freedom of movement!- Per adesioni e informazioni: act4balkanroute@protonmail.ch

Tappe della caravan for freedom of movement:Sabato 19 giugno- > Trieste piazza della Libertà
– > confine Italia – Slovenia
– > Border Crossing Pasjak
– > Border crossing Maljevac

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Balkanroute Calling: Caravan for Freedom of Movement

Saturday 19 June from Trieste to Maljevac on the Croatian-Bosnian border

On May 29, throughout Italy and Europe, initiatives toward the caravan, against the externalization of borders and the re-funding of the Libyan coastguard.On Saturday 19 June, we will promote a caravan for freedom of movement, starting from Piazza Libertà in Trieste, a crossroads of solidarity and care, with the aim of reaching Maljevac, on the Croatian-Bosnian border. Crossing countries and borders that embody the hypocrisy of European policies, we want to denounce those who implement chain rejections and unroll barbed wire, to demand the opening of borders, the closure of all the detention camps and the end of violence and pushbacks.We are anti-racist and anti-fascist collectives, groups and associations engaged in solidarity and civil rescue by land and by sea along the borders of this fortress Europe.We want to act from below and network at European level, in order to create moments of breaking of the ordinary and to question the past, the present and the future of the securitarian system of immigration policies.We cannot accept neither the policy of externalisation of borders, nor what is configured as a real border regime: we denounced it all together in Trieste on April 17, we want to do it again by going as far as the external border of the European Union, in Croatia, an armed country and EU pawn along the Balkan route in the dirty war against migrants.We will be physically present on that border because it is both a symbol of European policies and a material device of containment, selection of migratory flows and rejection towards Bosnia and Herzegovina. For us, being in Maljevac means being in Ceuta and Melilla, in the Canary Islands, in Lampedusa, in Lesvos and in Evros.Europe and its Member States continue to get blood on its hands, defending imaginary lines against the arrival of people, preventing their movement and denying them access to the right to asylum. They tear to shreds the main Conventions and Constitutions where fundamental rights, including the right to migrate, are enshrined. They base their policy on wasteful agreements with the worst dictatorships and corrupt militias, militarising borders with the help of Frontex, and writing pacts to make detention and deportations systematic.We want to overturn a narrative that constantly speaks of emergency and humanitarian catastrophe, as if it were a natural disaster, without identifying the causes and those responsible for it! We want a radical change!We invite everyone to take up our appeal and organise mobilisation initiatives, assemblies, public events against a system of torture and human rights violations on May 29 – the day on which the Italian Parliament will discuss a new shameful funding for the Libyan coastguard.
Towards 19 June, towards the Caravan for Freedom of Movement!-

For participation and information: act4balkanroute@protonmail.ch

Stages of the Caravan for Freedom of Movement:Saturday 19th of June- > Trieste piazza della Libertà
– > Border crossing Italy – Slovenia
– > Border crossing Pasjak
– > Border crossing Maljevac

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Caravana por la libertad de movimientoSábado 19 de junio, de Trieste a Maljevac, frontera croata-bosniaEl 29 de mayo en toda Italia y Europa habrá iniciativas para unirse a la Caravana contra la externalización de las fronteras y la refinanciación de la guardia costera libia.El sábado 19 de junio promoveremos una caravana por la libertad de movimiento, que partirá de la Piazza Libertà de Trieste, lugar de cruce de solidaridad y cuidados, con el objetivo de llegar a Maljevac, en la frontera croata-bosnia. Atravesando los Estados y las fronteras que encarnan la hipocresía de las políticas europeas, queremos denunciar a quienes realizan contínuas expulsiones en caliente y levantan barreras de alambre de espino, para exigir con rotundidad la apertura de las fronteras, el cierre de cualquier campo de confinamiento y el fin de la violencia y de las expulsiones en caliente.Somos organizaciones sociales antirracistas y antifascistas, grupos y asociaciones comprometidos con la solidaridad y la ayuda civil por tierra y por mar a lo largo de las fronteras de esta Europa fortaleza.
Queremos actuar “desde abajo” y en redes, a nivel europeo, para crear momentos de ruptura de lo ordinario y cuestionar el pasado, el presente y el futuro del sistema de seguridad de las políticas de inmigración.No podemos aceptar ni la política de externalización de las fronteras, ni lo que se configura como un verdadero régimen de fronteras: lo hemos denunciado en Trieste el 17 de abril, queremos hacerlo otra vez yendo a la frontera exterior de la Unión Europea, a Croacia, país armado y peón de la UE en la ruta de los Balcanes en la guerra sucia contra las personas migrantes.Estaremos físicamente presentes en esa frontera, porque es a la vez un símbolo de las políticas europeas y un dispositivo material de contención, de selección de los flujos migratorios y de las expulsiones en caliente hacia Bosnia y Herzegovina. Para quienes vayamos y para quienes nos apoyan, estar en Maljevac significa estar en Ceuta y Melilla, en las Islas Canarias, en Lampedusa, en Lesbos y Evros.Europa y sus Estados miembros siguen ensuciándose las manos de sangre para defender líneas imaginarias contra la llegada de personas, para impedir su circulación y negarles el acceso al derecho de asilo. Hacen trizas las principales Convenciones y Constituciones en las que se consagran los derechos fundamentales, incluido el derecho a emigrar. Basan su política sobre acuerdos de despilfarro con las peores dictaduras y milicias corruptas y sobre la militarización de las fronteras con la ayuda de Frontex, y escriben pactos para hacer sistemáticas las detenciones y deportaciones.Queremos dar un vuelco a una narrativa que habla constantemente de emergencia y catástrofe humanitaria, como si se tratara de una catástrofe natural, ¡sin identificar las causas ni a los responsables de la misma! ¡Queremos un cambio radical de rumbo !
Invitamos a todas las personas a que hagan suyo nuestro llamamiento y organicen el 29 de mayo – el día en que el Parlamento italiano va a debatir una nueva financiación vergonzosa a los guardacostas libios – iniciativas de movilización, asambleas, actos públicos contra un sistema de tortura y de violación de los derechos humanos.Hacia el 19 de junio, ¡hacia la caravana por la libertad de movimiento!- Para inscribirse e informarse: act4balkanroute@protonmail.ch

Etapas de la Caravana para la libertad de movimiento:Sábado 19 de junio
– > Trieste piazza della Libertà
– > Frontera italiana – Eslovenia
– > Border Crossing Pasjak
– > Border Crossing Maljevac

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Balkanroute calling – eine Karawane für die Bewegungsfreiheit

Samstag 19. Juli von Triest bis Maljevac an der kroatisch-bosnischen Grenze

Am 29. Mai finden in Italien und ganz Europa Initiativen zugunsten der Karawane statt, um gegen das Outsourcing der Grenzen und gegen die Finanzierung der lybischen Küstenwache zu demonstrieren.Am Samstag 19. Mai starten wir eine Karawane für die Bewegungsfreiheit. Ausgangspunkt ist die Piazza Libertà in Triest, das Symbol für Solidarität und Pflege der Migranten. Unser Ziel ist Maljevac an der bosnisch-kroatischen Grenze zu erreichen. Indem wir Grenzen und Staaten überqueren, welche die heuchlerische europäische Politik verkörpern, wollen wir all jene anzeigen, die Push Backs betreiben und Drahtzäune aufziehen.Wir wollen mit lauter Stimme die Öffnung der Grenzen und die Schließung der Inhaftierungslager einfordern und das Beenden der Gewalt und der gewalttätigen Zurückweisungen von Menschen verlangen.Wir bekämpfen Faschismus und Rassismus, wir sind Gruppen und Vereine die Solidarität und Hilfe auf Land und Meer bieten, entlang der Grenzen dieses Europas, das als Festung dasteht und Menschen abschiebt. Wir wollen vom Grund auf und zusammenwirkend auf europäischer Ebene agieren, um das aktuelle System zu brechen und die Fundamente der gegenwärtigen und zukünftigen Einwanderungspolitik in Frage zu stellen.Wir können und dürfen das Outsourcing der Grenzen nicht akzeptieren. Ebenso akzeptieren wir diese Diktatur der Grenzen nicht. Wir haben all dies bereits am 17. April alle zusammen laut bekanntgegeben, und wir wollen es nun wieder machen, indem wir die äußere Grenze Europas und Kroatien erreichen, ein Staat der von Europa aufgerüstet wird, um diesen unfairen Krieg gegen die Immigration zu betreiben.Wir wollen physisch auf dieser Grenze anwesend sein, da diese Grenze ein Symbol der europäischen Migrationspolitik ist, ein Platz der Freiheitseinschränkung wo Migranten abgesondert und nach Bosnien und Herzegowina zurückgewiesen werden. Unsere Anwesenheit in Maljevac symbolisiert unsere Anwesenheit in Ceuta, Melilla, in den Kanarien, in Lampedusa, in Lesbos und auf Evros.Unser Europa und seine Mitgliedsstaaten beflecken sich mit Blut, um imaginäre Grenzen vor der Ankunft von Menschen zu verteidigen, um die Bewegungsfreiheit und das Recht auf politisches Asyl dieser Menschen zu vernichten. Die internationalen Abkommen und die Verfassungen dieser Staaten werden zunichte gemacht, und das grundlegende Recht zur Migration wird vernichtet. Diese Staaten schließen mit verschiedenen Diktaturen kostspielige Abkommen ab, um mit Hilfe von Frontex die Grenzen militärisch dicht zu machen und die Inhaftierung von Migranten und ihre Abschiebung alltäglich durchzuführen.Wir wollen diese Darstellungsart umkippen. Eine Darstellungsart in der andauernd nur von Notsituation und humanitärer Katastrophe gesprochen wird, so als würde es sich um eine natürliche Katastrophe handeln, wo es hingegen notwendig ist, die konkreten Gründe und Verantwortlichen ausfindig zu machen und anzuzeigen.Wir wollen einen krassen und klaren Kurswechsel!Wir laden alle dazu ein, am 29. Mai Initiative zu ergreifen, Treffen zu organisieren und die Leute zu mobilisieren, um dieses menschenrechtverletzende System anzuzeigen. Am 29. Mai wird das italienische Parlament eine neue schändliche Finanzierung an Libyen abstimmen.Auf zum 19. Juni, auf zur Karawane für die Bewegungsfreiheit!

Für Informationen und Unterstützung: act4balkanroute@protonmail.che

Etappen der Karawane:- > Triest – Piazza Liberta
– > Grenze Italien – Slowenien
– > Border Crossing Pasjak
– > Border Crossing Maljevac

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Balkanroute calling: caravane pour la liberté de mouvementSamedi 19 juin de Trieste à Maljevac, frontière croato-bosniaqueLe 29 mai dans toute l’Italie et l’Europe il y aura des initiatives de rapprochement à la caravane, contre l’externalisation des frontières et le refinancement des garde-côtes libyens.Le samedi 19 juin, nous promouvons une caravane pour la liberté de mouvement, à partir de la piazza Libertà de Trieste, carrefour de solidarité et de soins, dans le but d’arriver à Maljevac, sur la frontière croato-bosniaque. En traversant des États et des frontières qui incarnent l’hypocrisie des politiques européennes, nous voulons dénoncer ceux qui mettent en œuvre des refoulements en chaîne et des barbelés, pour demander à haute voix l’ouverture des frontières, la fermeture de tout camp de détention et la fin des violences et des refoulements.Nous sommes des réalités sociales antiracistes et antifascistes, des groupes et des associations engagées dans la solidarité et le secours civil par voie terrestre et maritime au long des frontières de la forteresse européenne.Nos actions partent d’en bas et visent à la construction d’un réseau européen pour créer des moments de rupture de l’ordinaire et remettre en cause le passé, le présent et l’avenir du système sécuritaire des politiques d’immigration.Nous ne pouvons accepter ni la politique d’externalisation des frontières, ni ce qui se présente comme un véritable régime de frontière : nous l’avons dénoncé ensemble à Trieste le 17 avril, et nous voulons le refaire en allant jusqu’à la frontière extérieure de l’Union Européenne, en Croatie, pays armé et pion de l’UE au long de la balkan route en cette sale guerre contre les migrants.Nous serons physiquement présent.e.s sur cette frontière, parce qu’elle est à la fois symbole des politiques européennes et dispositif matériel d’endiguement, de sélection des flux migratoires et de refoulement vers la Bosnie-et-Herzégovine. Être à Maljevac pour nous c’est être à Ceuta et Melilla, aux Canaries, à Lampedusa, à Lesvos et à Evros.L’Europe et les États membres continuent à se salir les mains pour défendre des lignes imaginaires contre l’arrivée des personnes, pour leur empêcher le mouvement et leur refuser l’accès au droit d’asile. Ils déchirent les principales Conventions et Constitutions qui consacrent les droits fondamentaux, y compris celui de migrer. Ils fondent leur politique sur des accords onéreux avec les pires dictatures et milices corrompues, sur la militarisation des frontières à l’aide de Frontex et signent des pactes pour systématiser la détention et les déportations.Nous voulons renverser ce récit qui ne parle que d’urgence et de catastrophe humanitaire, comme s’il s’agissait d’une calamité naturelle, sans pourtant identifier les causes et les responsables qui la déterminent. Nous exigeons un changement radical !Nous invitons tou.te.s à recueillir notre appel et à organiser, à l’occasion du 29 mai – quand le Parlement italien discutera un nouveau et honteux financement aux garde-côtes libyens – des initiatives de mobilisation, des assemblées, des manifestations publiques contre un système de torture et de violation des droits humains.Vers le 19 juin, vers la caravan for freedom of movement!-

Infos et adhésions : act4balkanroute@protonmail.ch

Étapes de la caravan for freedom of movement:Samedi 19 juin
– > Trieste piazza della Libertà
– > frontière Italie – Slovénie
– > Border Crossing Pasjak
– > Border Crossing Maljevac

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!

Wo: Kotbusser Tor, Berlin-Kreuzberg

Am 21. und 22. Februar 2017 findet der 20ste Europäische Polizeikongress im Berliner Congress Centrum (BCC) statt. Zu diesem Anlass wollen wir am 18.02.2017 mit einer Demonstration durch Kreuzberg unseren Widerstand gegen die repressive Politik der Herrschenden zum Ausdruck bringen und den Vertreter_innen der europäischen Sicherheitsbehörden im Vorfeld gebührenden Empfang bereiten. Das Motto des diesjährigen Polizeikongress‘ lautet „Europa grenzenlos? Freiheit, Mobilität, Sicherheit“ und schürt die Angst vor grenzüberschreitendem Terrorismus, rüstet die Polizei 4.0 für ihre Arbeit im Cyberraum und thematisiert die Aufrüstung der Grenzen der Festung Europa. Diese Schwerpunktsetzung spiegelt die Hauptpunkte des derzeitigen Sicherheitsdiskurses der Repressionsbehörden wider und wird auch auf dem G20-Gipfel im Juli in Hamburg weitergeführt werden.
Ausnahmezustand – repressive Ordnungspolitik

In Zeiten zugespitzter gesellschaftlicher Konfliktlagen, die in den Augen der Herrschenden als Konsequenzen von Krisen auftreten – die Schlagworte Finanz- und Flüchtlingskrise sind in aller Munde –, wird auf repressive ordnungspolitische Maßnahmen zurückgegriffen. An der Peripherie der sogenannten westlichen Zivilisation wird mit Krieg und Besatzung versucht, Ordnung nach westlichem Standard herzustellen, die europäischen Außengrenzen werden polizei-militärisch aufgerüstet, um die legitime Migration aus Krieg und wirtschaftlicher Not zu verunmöglichen, und im Inland wird der Polizeiapparat hochgerüstet, um gegen kommende soziale Spannungen gewappnet zu sein. Das ordnungspolitische Instrumentarium, auf das dabei zurückgegriffen wird heißt: Ausnahmezustand. Dass der Ausnahmezustand nicht nur nach Terroranschlägen wie in Paris über ganz Frankreich verhängt (und seitdem nicht mehr aufgehoben) wird, wird dadurch deutlich, dass auch große Teile des Berliner Stadtgebiets zu sogenannten Gefahrengebieten erklärt werden. Hier wie dort sind den Repressionsbehörden im Namen der Sicherheit die gleichen Befugnisse gegeben, die jede_n unter Generalverdacht stellt, der_die sich in diesem Gebiet aufhält. Diese reichen von erhöhter Polizei- (und Militär-) Präsenz, anlassunabhängigen Personenkontrollen bis hin zu Demonstrationsverboten. Aber egal ob im Friedrichshainer Nordkiez, am Görlitzer Park oder dem Champs-Élysées: Freiheit stirbt mit Sicherheit!
Smart City – digitale Datenrepression

Der Generalverdacht erstreckt sich aber nicht nur auf die Bevölkerung bestimmter Regionen. Seit den Enthüllungen Edward Snowdens ist bekannt, dass Digitalisierung von westlichen Geheimdiensten unter Federführung des us-amerikanischen NSA mit Zuarbeit unter anderem des deutschen BND dazu genutzt wird, Bewegungs- und Sozialprofile eines_r jeden einzelnen zu erstellen. Im Klartext heißt das, dass die Verbindungsdaten einer jeden E-Mail und eines jeden Telefongesprächs gespeichert und ausgewertet werden – anlass- und verdachtsunabhängig. Wenn Digitalisierung und die damit einhergehende Verdatung des alltäglichen Lebens voranschreiten, bedeutet das auch, dass den Repressionsbehörden immer mehr Daten zur Verfügung stehen, mit denen ihre Vorstellung von geordneten Verhältnissen umgesetzt werden können, die nicht das gute Leben für alle zum Ziel hat, sondern den status quo ante für diejenigen, die von den krisengeschüttelten kapitalistischen Verhältnissen profitieren.

In diesem Kontext ist auch die „Smart City Strategie Berlin“ zu sehen. Mit diesem 2015 veröffentlichten Strategiepapier verlautbart die Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung und Umwelt, dass Berlin beim weltweiten Rennen um die smarteste Stadt 4.0 ganz vorne mit dabei sein will. Konkret bedeutet das eine digitale Vernetzung von allem mit allem: Smartphones und Tablets kommunizieren mit Straßenlaternen für gute Beleuchtung auf dem nächtlichen Heimweg, Autos mit Ampeln für reibungslosen Verkehr und die Menschen mit ihrer Wohnungseinrichtung für vollen Kühlschrank und kuschlige Wärme. Für die Repressionsbehörden kann sich aus diesen so gelieferten Daten ein umfassendes Bild darüber ergeben, wer sich wann wo und mit wem aufhält und können dementsprechend ihre Einsätze ausrichten.

Dass Berlin sich schon auf dem Weg zur Smart City befindet, wird dadurch deutlich dass sich unter anderem in Kreuzberg Firmen finden, die diese Entwicklung vorantreiben, wie zum Beispiel Zalando und Deliveroo. Zuletzt wurde bekannt, dass auch Google Ende 2017 ein sogenanntes Smart Lab im ehemaligen Umspannwerk in der Ohlauer Straße eröffnen will. Damit hat eine der größten Datenkraken, die der Zusammenarbeit mit Repressionsbehörden zumindest nicht abgeneigt ist, einen Sitz in Berlin, mit dem Start-ups gezielt gefördert werden sollen. Dadurch werden auch Gentrifizierungs- und Stadtentwicklungsprozesse beschleunigt, weil durch Start-ups mit einem Zuzug von Young Urban Professionals gerechnet werden kann, die im hippen Kreuzberg nach Wohnraum suchen. Dass es die Aufgabe der Repressionsbehörden sein wird, für den reibungslosen Ablauf in der „Smart City Berlin“ auch unter Mithilfe digitaler Tools und Daten zu sorgen, ist abzusehen.
Biometrische Firewalls um die Festung Europa

Konkret sind die Repressionsbehörden schon dabei, soziale Kontrolle mit Hilfe digitaler Technik zu implementieren. So werden derzeit für jede_n Bewohner_in Afrikas (1,2 Milliarden Menschen) Personalausweise mit biometrischen Bildern gedruckt, mitunter in der Bundesdruckerei in Kreuzberg. Sinn und Zweck des ganzen ist die biometrischer Erfassung eines gesamten Kontinents. Gleichzeitig werden innerafrikanisch Grenzstationen mit biometrischen Lesegeräten ausgerüstet, um die EU-Außengrenzen bereits auf dem Festland vor Migrationsbewegungen zu schützen. Dass Afrika auch als „Zukunftskontinent“ beim G20-Gipfel in Hamburg eine Rolle spielen soll, ist dabei sicherlich kein Zufall.

Demonstration

Wir wollen ein deutliches Zeichen gegen reale und digitale Repression setzen. Wir wollen kraftvoll und entschlossenen unseren Widerstand gegen den permanenten Ausnahmezustand, Überwachung und Kontrolle zum Ausdruck bringen.

On 5th February 2017, most of the adults among the 711 refugees residing in a state-run Camp in the former Athens National Airport (Camp Elliniko II), in the majority coming from Afghanistan, started a hunger strike to protest against their degrading living conditions demanding for their transfer to homes, papers and freedom of movement for all. As reported by one of the refugees, it is very likely that residents of the two other camps in Elliniko (the nearby Olympic baseball and a hockey stadiums) might join in the protest tomorrow.

Among the 1,600 refugees living in the three camps of Elliniko there are some who are there already since one year. Elliniko Camp was opened already back in autoumn 2015, in a period where thousands were arriving to Greece and many stayed homeless in the parks and squares of Athens.
Planned as a temporary solution to ‘clear’ the capitals’ streets from the many homeless and repeatedly announced to be closed as belonging to one of the most infamous camps in Greece, it still stayed open until today, but always portrayed as ‘provisory’ under the UNHCR-category ‘informal site’.

Refugees used to live in the former airport throughout 2016 for months suffering under overcrowdedness, filthy insufficient toilettes and showers, inadequate food and without any information or legal aid. While the population has been reduced visible, the camp still is inadequate to host refugees and living conditions remain poor. Many highly vulnerable people still stay there. There are elderly, pregnant women, single mothers, people with mental health problems, people with chronic and
heavy diseases etc. In the meantime, many refugees are living there since one year.

Amongst others, refugees who started the protest complained about the quality of the food, lack of basic needs as for example milk and diapers for babies and toddlers, no hot water, no laundry, lack of translators for sick persons who have to go to hospital and no coverage of their transportation there. It is matter of survival, they state. They do not care about having more clothes or more food. But: food which doesnt’ make sick. Enough food, in order not to be hungry. Heating in order not to freeze.

“There are only a hand full of persons among us who speak English
and who can translate. They have to accompany anyone who gets sick to
the hospital, as the authorities and NGOs do not provide us with
translators for these purposes nor are there translators found in the
hospitals. We don’t even get the transportation costs re-funded for the
public transport used while accompanying some sick person. Some of us
got fined more than 30 times already for using the public transportation
without tickets. We will have severe problems in our asylum procedure,
to get an ID and passport, if recognized, if we have open fines to pay.
And they will increase successively if unpaid.”

Refugees living in Elliniko are suffering also mentally from the living conditions in the camp and their insecure situation in Greece and Europe.

“There are often fights. No one feels safe. People are in a
miserable state. they don’t know what to do. Many fear to stay forever
in Greece, where even Greek people cannot survive. There are no jobs,
there is no future. We fear European policies, which aim to increase
deportations of Afghans. Some of us have their relatives back in
Afghanistan. They cannot sleep at night, because they left them back in
conflict. There are people staying here who drink and fight. There is no
safety in the camp. There is no survival in Greece and there is no
safety in Afghanistan.”

More than 60% of the refugees in all three Elliniko Sites are women and
children

Amongst the refugee population in the camp are women with their kids awaiting their transfer to another European state where their husbands are. There are small kids with Asthma, like this 4-year-old girl who has to go to hospital almost every single night. People lock the doors to protect the salon from the cold, so no fresh air can enter. Many people smoke inside, others cook. The sewage water from the toilettes smells. So many get problems to breath. There is also a young man who had so
severe psychological problems, that he had to be transferred into the psychiatric clinic for a month. He was paranoid, thinking at any point someone wanted to kill him. He is taking medicaments now, but he is back in the camp, staying among 700 persons with his family. There is this pregnant lady in her 6th month, who often gets pains and has to visit the hospital again and again. She still lives there. Another woman just gave birth in there one month before. She is also still there.

Now, the refugees are trying to rase their voices to the world. They are already self-organised, having elected five representatives and holding plenaries since months. Now they want to provoke change, as they cannot suffer any longer.

“I am in danger in Afghanistan. I am even in danger in Greece. I was
told to get myself an appointment at the Asylum Service via Skpye, but
Skype isn’t responding.”

A woman holding a speech on the protest today said:

“We left Afghanistan because of the life-threatening situation and
for a future for our children. You closed the borders in front of us.
You locked us up in Greece. Now you are responsible to provide us with
what is needed to survive at least. Our children get sick here, and the
one doctor we have here for a few hours a day doesn’t give them medicine
but tell them to go an drink some water or some juice. We have the right
to have a good doctor, to have medicine. Even a pregnant woman gave
birth here, because the ambulance came so late.”

“There are mice in here. There is so much garbage outside. People
get sick from being here.”

Most adult refugees living in the camp attended the hunger strike today and plan to continue until the authorities, UNHCR and Danish Refugee Council (DRC) who are responsible in the camp listen and react to their demands:

– Open homes! Open the cities! Immediate evacuation of all into
dignified living conditions!

“We need to stay in the city and in our own rooms or flats. We don’t
want to be transferred to just another tent camp or prefab camp at the
margins of society! We want our children to go to school and we want to
go to work and earn our own living by ourselves in order to build up our
lives independently. We want to be free and participate in daily life as
all others do in this country.”

– Give papers and residence to stay to all refugees and allow anyone who
wants to move to another country to relocate legally and to join their
relatives! No discrimination of certain nationalities!

“The relocation program is discriminative. The right of free
movement should be given to all refugees. Many have their mothers,
fathers, brothers or sisters, their children or grandparents abroad.
Everybody has the right to be with his or her families. All people have
the right to live and work, somewhere, where it is possible to survive.
Even Greeks are searching for jobs outside of Greece. They are surviving
by returning to stay with their families. We have no one to help us
here, no one to open his or her house for us or to give us food. If
there is a chance to survive here, to find a job here, then we will
stay. As long as there isn’t, we should be allowed to move on legally.”

– Stop deportations to Turkey! Stop deportations to Greece! Stop
deportations to Afghanistan! Stop deportations to any unsafe countries!
The right to life for all!

“We fight for our rights. We fight for the rights of the others too.
The ones who are on the islands now, should be allowed to come to the
mainland, to seek asylum here, to stay here. Currently, people hardly
arrive to Greece anymore. The Turkish and the Greek Coast Guard,
together with the European Coast Guard fight refugees back on the sea
border. They stop them, from arriving to a place for asylum and
protection. The few who still come should be given a chance to stay.
Some of them who were allowed to move to the mainland arrive to Athens
without a place to stay. They are not permitted in the camps. Others
come to Athens without permit. They even have to return to the island.
We want freedom for all.”

“They want to start returning refugees who have been fingerprinted
here after March 15th of this year, back to Greece. No one can survive
here. We like to be in Greece. There are some nice people here, the
weather is good and the mentality of the Greeks is a little bit like our
own. But there are no jobs and there is no help for us. So how can we
find a home? How can we secure food for our kids? We also liked much
more to be in our homes in Afghanistan. But there is so safety but but
only war.”

“Europe is talking about the deportation of Afghans. Some countries
started already to return our people back even though their lives are in
danger in Afghanistan. Our president has signed a deal with Europe to
get money in exchange for taking refugees back. But our own politicians
keep their families in Europe for their own safety. European governments
advice their own citizens not to visit our country for safety reasons.
If we go back, we will die. Everybodys’ lives matter!”

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

Time:Wednesday, 25th of January 2017, 7 pm
Location: Aquarium (near Südblock)
Skalitzer Str. 6, U8/U12 Kottbusser Tor

german version bellow

Our initiative has been working on a criticism of the so-called ‘EU Migration Management’ launched in 2015. African and Asian states are forced to control and prevent migration. The European countries are drawing borders in Africa once again. Negotiations often take place in secret, bilaterally or on EU level (e.g. the so-called ‘Valetta Process’).
Security and life of millions of people are sold for couple of billion Euros.
Examples of the current policy of fortress Europe:

• Provision of technical equipment for identification and surveillance
• Equipment and training for police, border guards and (para)military troops
• Readmission agreements and deportations even without passport papers and identification
• Civil and military cooperation with non-democratic states, dictatorships, war criminals

We think our protest has to be voiced clearly.

There are different objectives and arguments and a variety of possible actions. We’d like to invite you to take part in the discussion and preparation of protests.

Contact for the present: buendnis_gegen_lager@riseup.net

Translations are planned, we’d like to ask for support.

EN_ Einladung Vernetzungstreffen EU Afrika Konferenz

DE_Einladung Vernetzungstreffen EU Afrika Konferenz

G20 calender for download

—

Einladung zu einem Vernetzungstreffen zur Vorbereitung von Protesten

– gegen die G20-Africa Partnership-Konferenz –

vom 12.-13. Juni 2017 in Berlin

Zeit: Mittwoch, 25.1.2017, 19 Uhr
Ort: Aquarium (neben Südblock), Skalitzer Str. 6, U8/U12 Kottbusser Tor

Eine Gruppe von Leuten beschäftigt sich seit einigen Monaten kritisch mit dem „EU Migrationsmanagement“ seit 2015. Afrikanische und asiatische Staaten werden genö-tigt, Auswanderung und Transitmigration zu kontrollieren und zu verhindern. Die europäischen Staaten ziehen wieder die Grenzen in Afrika.

Die Verhandlungen finden bilateral oder auf EU-Ebene (u.a. Valetta-Prozess) und häufig unter Ausschluss der Öffentlichkeit statt.

Die Sicherheit und das Leben von Millionen von Menschen soll mit vielen Milliarden Euro verkauft werden.

Beispiele der aktuellen Abschottungspolitik:

– Lieferung von technischem Geräten zur Identifikation und zur Überwachung
– Ausrüstung und Training für Polizei, Grenzschutzbehörde und (para)militärischen Truppen
– Rücknahmeabkommen und Abschiebungen auch ohne Passpapiere und Identifikation
– Zivile und militärische Kooperation mit undemokratischen Staaten, Diktaturen, Kriegsverbrechern

Wir denken, dass unsere Kritik deutlich werden muss.

Es gibt verschiedene Adressaten, verschiedene Argumente, verschiedene Ausprägungen der politischen Arbeit. Beteiligt euch an der Diskussion und der Vorbereitung von Protesten.

Kontakt (vorläufig): buendnis_gegen_lager@riseup.net

Übersetzungen sind eingeplant, wir bitten um Unterstützung.

G20 Kalender zum download

Dienstag | 19. April 2016 | 19 Uhr | Bandito Rosso | Lottumstraße 10a

Die Abschottung der EU wird immer weiter vorangetrieben. Kriegsschiffe von EU und Nato sind im Mittelmeer im Einsatz um Geflüchtete an der Überfahrt zu hindern. Außerdem soll die EU-Grenzschutzbehörde Frontex neue Befugnisse erhalten und zu einem europäischen Grenz- und Küstenwachsystem umgebaut werden. Geflüchtete werden in sogenannten Hot Spots in Griechenland und Italien registriert, festgesetzt und ein großer Teil wird direkt abgeschoben. Diejenigen, die es schaffen in die BRD zu kommen, sind mit Gesetzesverschärfungen wie dem Asylpaket II, Unterbringung in Lagern, Residenzpflicht, rassistischer Hetze und gewalttätigen Übergriffen konfrontiert. Neben dem staatlichen Rassismus erstarken rechte Bewegungen wie »Pegida« und die »Alternative für Deutschland«. Gewalttätige Übergriffe auf Geflüchtete und ihre Unterkünfte haben rasant zugenommen. Es zeigen sich deutliche Parallelen zu den rassistischen Mobilisierungen der 1990er Jahre. Der linke Aktivist Matthias Monroy wird über die Abschottungspolitik der EU und die Frage wie im Sommer 2015 die Mauern der Festung Europa ins Wanken kamen, sprechen. Der Refugee-Aktivist Turgay Ulu geht auf die Situation von Geflüchteten in der BRD und die Perspektiven der Refugee-Bewegung ein.

Flyer zur Veranstaltung

Friday, 18th December, at 3pm, in front of the European Commission, Unter den Linden 78

Call for action: