EU: MED-CRISIS: (17.8.15)
17 August 2015
GREECE: MYTILENE/LESVOS:
Masked 'Commandos' Are Attacking Refugee Boats Off This Idyllic Greek Island (Huffington Post, link):
"out of nowhere came a nightmare -- a speedboat with four masked men charging toward them as they bobbed in international waters. Clad in all black and armed with guns and whips, the men bellowed at terrified passengers to stop the motor, Mohamed recalled.
"They shot at the boat with three bullets," Mohamed later recounted as he stood in a crowded parking lot in the beach town of Molyvos hours after arriving, against all odds, at the island. Hundreds of refugees sat around him, exhausted and caked in sea salt and sweat, as tourists slowed their pace to stare. "They hit us with six-meter-long sticks," he said, a few men sitting with him nodding in agreement. "They circled around us trying to flip our boat."
KOS:
Body of Syrian boy, 16, found at base of Greek island cliff (News Republic, link)
Greece sees risk of ‘bloodshed’ in migrant-crowded island (euractiv, link):
"Greece dispatched extra police on the island of Kos after its mayor warned of bloodshed if the tensions created by the massive arrival of immigrants worsen, the Greek press reported. Meanwhile, human rights groups denounced the ‘disgraceful’ conditions in other EU countries trying to cope with the surge in refugees."
EC, Greece have 'game plan' for migrant influx (ekathimerini.com, link):
"As thousands of undocumented migrants continue to arrive on the islands of the eastern Aegean, the European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs Dimitris Avramopoulos has indicated that Greek and European authorities have a “game plan” to tackle the mounting crisis. Avramopoulos, who met with several ministers during a visit to Athens last week, told reporters in Brussels on Friday that they have drafted “a game plan... a plan for how we can work together to address a problem that is not Greek, a problem that is European.”"
Greek authorities begin to move refugees out of Athens park (ekathimerini.com, link)
Europe’s Front Door: The Refugee Crisis on Lesvos Island (fletcherforum.org)
GERMANY:
Opinion: Feed asylum applicants - don't give them money (DW, link)
EU:
At least 2,300 Mediterranean deaths in 2015 - IOM - Over 250,000 asylum seekers have landed in Europe (ANSA, link)
UK:
The exploitation of migrants has become our way of life (Guardian, link)
ITALY:
Migrants' 49 bodies, 416 survivors reach Catania (ANSA, link)
CZECH REPUBLIC:
National Democracy protests against accepting refugees (Prague Monitor, link):
"More than 200 demonstrators protested against the accepting of refugees and criticised the Czech government's migration policy at a rally convoked by the extremist National Democracy organisation at Prague-Vysehrad Saturday."