AYS Weekend Digest 24–25/10/20: Tragic end of 7 young lives trying to reach the EU
By: Are You Syrious
Tags: Migration, Digest, Europe, Refugees, Serbia

AYS Weekend Digest 24–25/10/20: Tragic end of 7 young lives trying to reach the EU

The remains of seven people found in a container of fertilizer that arrived to Paraguay from Serbia / State-sponsored separation of mothers and children in Denmark / News, recommended reads & more updates Are You Syrious? Follow Oct 26, 2020 · 9 min read

“Moria 2” — Photo: moria 2 refugees — See contribution under “Worth reading” for another story from Moria2…

FEATURED

Just as one far right group is being finally labeled illegal in Greece, another one is becoming more powerful, in their immediate Balkan neighborhood, Serbia. The country that has seen a slight spike in arrivals in the recent weeks, but has been unable to approach the situation in an organized and humane way, is now seeing radical groups gather around Serbia’s capital. With a mission to “clean the city” of people on the move, who are uncared for, homeless and left on their own or rely on the scarce capacities of the organisations and individuals still putting an effort into providing assistance.

“We have seen the peaceful and completely non-violent people on the move across the city of Belgrade being frisked and asked to raise their hands, brutally beaten, verbally molested, and yelled at. They were commanded to leave the place, threatened their legs will be broken if they are seen around…”, Info Park witnessed.

The camps are full and poorly run. Reportedly, more than 6,000 people are staying in very difficult circumstances in camps across the country, while almost the same number is struggling sleeping rough outside the official accommodation capacities.

At the same time, pushbacks to Serbia from Romania, Hungary and Croatia continue, and so does people’s desperate struggle to reach the EU by all means. Seven more people lost their lives in a tragic way.

Paraguayan police found the remains of seven people, reportedly in an advanced stage of decomposition, in a container of fertilizer that arrived from Serbia. Asphyxiation was the likely cause of death. The container had left Serbia in July, passing through Croatia, the first country in the EU — their likely destination — before it continued through Egypt, Spain and Argentina on its way to Paraguay.

Many similar tragedies take place along the highway leading from Serbia to Croatia, that was in the past, ironically, known as “the highway of brotherhood and unity”. People are found under buses, inside trucks and squeezed in vans, with their fate in the hands of the criminals, their last resort..

ALGERIA

SEARCH AND RESCUE AT SEA

From the Alarm Phone team:

Today we grieve about at least 11 people who died of Europe’s ruthless border regime, incompetent SAR authorities & EU member states who build up the Libyan Coastguard to prevent people from fleeing and who do nothing to prevent them from drowning. Yet another shameful day in the Med.

GREECE

Collective pushback by the Greek coast guard

In the past week, the Greek coast guard performed an extensive pushback involving 197 people and 7 life rafts. The coast guard divided the people on two coast guard vessels, 121 men and boys on one vessel and 76 people, families on the other. “Reports from the refugees clearly states that some of them were abused while onboard the HCG vessel, footage and video testimony has been provided. Most of their phones was confiscated by the Greek coast guard, but a few managed to hide their phones, and was able to send out distress messages”, ABR reported. Another boat carrying approximately 22 people managed to land on Lesvos. The people have reportedly been hiding in the woods, scared that the police will send them back to Turkey. For more updates on the arrrivals, see Aegean Boat Report page.

The recently published Migration pact is getting increasingly criticised from different sides, for the same reasons. However, states seem to believe it and reinforce it.

The accelerated border procedures aim to expedite application processes that currently can take months, if not years, to complete. But they also raise significant questions of fairness and effectiveness, as it will be difficult to maintain such exacting, rather unrealistic timelines while respecting procedural safeguards and applicants’ rights. It is also easy to see how any delays in such a tight turnaround process would then ultimately result in a continuation of Moria-like overcrowded camps and closed reception centres within EU borders.

This is what the future might look like for even more people… :

FRANCE

Activists report that 4 expulsions were documented in the Calais area, they included minors, as usual. In total, reportedly, 19 tents and 6 laptops were seized.

Phones wanted!

Mobile teams urgently need phones to distribute to people in Calais and Dunkirk. As they point out, “a phone is a real lifeline for the people we support but our stocks are currently very low so we are launching our campaign, asking you to organise collections in your local areas.”