AYS Daily Digest 20/4/21: With every step, proof that people are not meant to settle, feel at home, or ‘integrate’
By: Are You Syrious
Tags: Dublin, Digest, Europe, Greece, Refugees

GREECE

People are claiming that asylum officials and police officials are asking asylum seekers for sums of 700 to 800 Euro to process their asylum applications faster, this source says, publishing a video that documents the mistreatment of people in front of one of the asylum centres.

On Lesvos, at the infamous “Moria2” camp, people are protesting poor and insufficient food distributed at the camp, reportedly refusing to eat it and withdrawing to tents instead.

Also, as Franziska Grillmeier reports, most of the newly arrived people on Lesvos are transferred to the quarantine camp of Megala Therma in the north of the island. In the south, 6,050 are staying in Mavrovouni camp.

On trial

A young man from Syria is on trial today in Lesvos, threatened with decades in prison. Because the man, known as K.S., fled to Greece together with his wife & children on a rubber boat, he is now accused of “illegal entry”, “facilitating illegal entry” and “provoking a shipwreck”.

The Greek state had unlawfully suspended the right to asylum as part of a political dispute between Turkey and the EU, and systematically brought criminal charges of “illegal entry” against migrants seeking protection in Europe, Borderline Europe writes, reporting about the case.

Event announcement — Coordination against evictions:

CROATIA

Still no changes in the treatment of asylum seekers by the banks

As we reported earlier, in November last year AYS collected a number of testimonies from people who had lost the right to a bank account, were forced to change their bank account to the most simple account (with few options) or had their bank cards and accounts taken away. Together with other organisations gathered in the Coordination for Integration in Croatia, we demanded action from the Ombudswoman, who in turn reached out to the banks in February this year.

Since we have not received any news since this comunication, and things have not changed, AYS is now demanding a concrete answer from both the Ombudswoman and the Bank Union. We hope for a change in the approach to the people under international protection who until now have been treated as “people from third countries” and are deprived of financial independence, just because they come from Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq or other countries “labeled” by the banks. This serious lack of judgment is affecting many people in a vulnerable position who are receiving state and other kinds of financial support.

ITALY

45 people land in Lampedusa

The media are reporting on the first landing after last Thursday’s group of 17.

Now, a group of 45 people originally from Tunisia landed in Italy; after the initial health check done directly on the Favarolo pier in Lampedusa, they were reportedly taken to the hotspot.

In the meantime, Alarm Phone has reported about being alerted by approximately 42 people in distress off Zuwara, Libya, as the plight of many people continues.

SPAIN

New arrivals in the south

According to local reports, the Spanish Civil guard and Maritime rescue teams rescued people who were on board a small boat in the high seas near to Alborán. Leaving Bouyafart in Morocco on Monday, the group arrived at the port of Motril in Granada the next day. All 33 people were reported to be in a good state and after having taken Covid-19 tests, they will be placed in the reception facilities.

Meanwhile, Morocco is buying drones and other border equipment from Turkey. By definition, this is a “medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled and autonomous operation”. They can fly up to 220 km/h and can stay in the air for up to 27 hours.

Paperless — Stateless — Deprived of a decent life

News from the No Name Kitchen team in Ceuta: “Stateless* in the city where you were born”

Many Moroccans are trapped in the Spanish territory of Ceuta without documentation or rights. When the land border between Ceuta and Morocco was open, people living in Castillejos and Benzú, Moroccan municipalities very close to Ceuta, could enter and leave without a visa, as it is not possible to register in Ceuta without a visa, No Name Kitchen explain.

What does not being registered mean? Not being registered in your place of residence means not being able to access education, not being able to send your children to school, not having access to social services and unemployment benefits, and not being entitled to public health care. In times of global pandemic, it also means not having the right to receive the covid-19 vaccine.

This is made more difficult by the fact that the land border with Morocco has been closed indefinitely since March 2020, leaving many undocumented or irregular Moroccans trapped in Ceuta and without the possibility of returning to their country to receive the rights they are deprived of in Spain. In this way, many people remain stateless in their hometowns. Without registering their residence, it seems impossible their situation will change, keeping the rights to which they are entitled permanently outside of their reach.

Read the story about one such family who are deprived of chances to have a decent life where they live and were born, documented by the local NNK team. (Photo: Irina Samy, via NNK)

GERMANY

Protests as deportations continue

A protest is planned on Sunday before the deportation prison in Darmstadt after a decision to deport 40 Pakistani nationals on Tuesday. Four of them have partly fulfilled the conditions for their right to stay, it is reported.

Not far from Darmstadt, Adeel P lived in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg with his wife, with whom he was married even before fleeing Pakistan. Her asylum procedure had not yet been completed, as she had only arrived later than her husband. In these cases, the spouse’s asylum procedure is always awaited. “Despite this, Adeel was arrested,” says Timmo Scherenberg, managing director of the Hessian Refugee Council.

The space for civil society and public and critical debates in Pakistan is also shrinking. Religious conflicts continue to lead to deaths, and religious minorities are systematically persecuted, but European continues to send people back there.

DENMARK

Experts are against the “safe Syria” grounds for deportations & new legislation

A parliamentary majority in Denmark has agreed to back the Liberal party’s proposal that formed a series of legislation changes on naturalisation of new Danish citizens, including the measures focused on making it easy for the naturalization to be “revoked as broadly as possible”.

Foreign nationals applying to become Danish citizens could reportedly face individual interviews designed to test whether they have “Danish values”.

In a line of accusations, critique and opposition to the Danish government’s decision to deport people back to Syria, marking it a safe place to return to, a number of experts are now sharing their insights in the latest of critical letters addressing the decision of the official Denmark:

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