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  • EU; Africa; Middle East: Fortress Europe blog details 108 deaths in October 2008

EU; Africa; Middle East: Fortress Europe blog details 108 deaths in October 2008

01 November 2008

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The Fortress Europe blog which tracks the deaths of migrants during their migration journey, has recorded 108 deaths of migrants at Europe's borders in October 2008.

" There have been at least 108 victims in October along the European borders. In Morocco, a boat carrying 50 migrants had a shipwreck leaving a sole survivor, whereas five migrants wre found dead on cayucos that arrived in the Canary islands, and other two corpses were recovered in Malaga. In the Aegean Sea, between Turkey and Greece, the victims have been at least 20 in a single month. To these, one must add the 18 migrants who died in a road accident in the lorry in which they were travelling, concealed, on the Turkish/Greek border. And another two people died as they were travelling concealed in lorries in Spain. Meanwhile, one man drowned in Calais as he sought to embark on a ship travelling to England. With him, the man who dived in to attempt to save him also died. Bullets are still being fired in Egypt, along the Israeli border; there have been a further three deaths in this month. The roll call of victims is also joined by the five who drowned in a lake on the Albanian/Greek border and the two dead bodies that were found in the high sea off Malta, in the Channel of Sicily, victims of yet another 'phantom shipwreck'.

This month's report by 'Fortress Europe' focuses on Tunisia. The mining town of Redeyef has been the scene of a ten-month uprising, and the police has carried out arrests and practised torture against trade unionists and journalists, killing two demonstrators. This is the climate of repression that is pushing many youths from the Gafsa region to attempt to 'burn' the border(expression used to refer to leaving their country 'illegally'). This is the dictatorship to the south of Lampedusa."

Fortress Europe: October 2008
Fortress Europe homepage

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