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Refugee crisis: latest news from across Europe 24.8.16

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01 August 2016

 Afghan migrant 'shot dead by hunting party' in Serbian woods (Telegraph, link):

 

"olice have arrested a member of a hunting party in Serbia after a young Afghan migrant was shot dead in the woods near the Bulgarian border.

Security forces in Pirot were patrolling the woods, in the southeast of Serbia, when they "heard a shot and then met six migrants, one of whom had been shot in the chest." They then came across four hunters at the scene and arrested one of them on suspicion of shooting the 20-year-old migrant.

A Serbian defence ministry spokesman said: "Upon the arrival of emergency services, doctors could only establish the death of a 20-year old male citizen of Afghanistan." It gave no further details"

 Germany’s new problem border: Poland - The southern migratory route may be closed, but the eastern one is open (Politico, link):

"Angela Merkel thought she had regained control over Germany’s borders. Turns out the problem might have just shifted.

The German chancellor’s decision to open up the country to refugees led to wave after wave arriving through the so-called Western Balkans route into the south of Germany. That route’s now all-but closed but official statistics, and local law enforcement, suggest Merkel now needs to look east, to the border with Poland, where the number of illegal crossings has skyrocketed. That is putting pressure on the police and raising concerns about radical Islamists slipping through the cracks."

 Germany to accept hundreds of migrants to boost EU program: Italy (Reuters, link):

"Germany has agreed to take in hundreds of migrants who are blocked in Italy in a move that might revive the European Union's failed relocation program, Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said on Tuesday.

As part of a deal to relieve pressure on Europe's frontline states in the migration crisis, the European Commission last year devised a plan aimed at moving thousands of new arrivals away from Italy and Greece towards other EU members.

Under the scheme, up to 40,000 migrants could be relocated from Italy over two years, but so far only a few hundred have been flown out with many EU allies apparently reluctant to welcome in asylum seekers and refugees."

 European Court of Human Rights: General deterioration of security situation in Iraq entails a real risk for the applicants if returned to their country of origin (pdf):

"The case concerned three Iraqi nationals who had sought asylum in Sweden and whose deportation to Iraq had been ordered....

Against a background of a generally deteriorating security situation, marked by an increase in sectarian violence and attacks and advances by ISIS, large areas of the territory were outside the Iraqi Government’s effective control. In the light of the complex and volatile general security situation, the Court found that the Iraqi authorities’ capacity to protect citizens had to be regarded as diminished. Although the current level of protection might still be sufficient for the general public in Iraq, the situation was different for individuals belonging to a targeted group. The cumulative effect of the applicants’ personal circumstances and the Iraqi authorities’ diminished ability to protect them had to be considered to create a real risk of ill-treatment in the event of their return to Iraq."

 Are You Syriuos (23.8.16, link)

Number of arrivals

Despite a deal between the EU and Ankara, the number of arrivals on Aegean islands continues to soar. A total of 1,138 migrants and refugees landed on Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros over the past 10 days, bringing the total number to 11,343. Greece has at least 41,000 refugees and migrants who are seeking asylum, mostly Syrians eligible to relocate within the EU, the migration minister said on Tuesday. Yiannis Mouzalas told a news conference that Greek and UN services had recorded 54,000 refugees and migrants on Greek territory between June and the end of July. Over 41,000 of them on the mainland have expressed interest in asylum, or have made formal requests. Another 2,000 have agreed to be returned home. At the same time, there are another 11,000 people currently being processed on Greek islands after landing there from neighboring Turkey. The migration minister admitted that there are additionally “around 4,000” people who are avoiding follow-up registration as they hope to cross the border with the help of smugglers. But denied reports that hundreds of people were being allowed to sneak across the border to the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria. New arrivals, total of 18 today all landed on Lesvos."

Volunteering opportunities in Athens

"If new to volunteering in Athens, please consider spending your first couple of days at the Ellinikon Warehouse helping with the sorting of donations. If you can only volunteer for 1 day or a few hours then the Warehouse is the best place to help. Please contact the project/team leaders directly to sort out your volunteering arrangements and more info can be found http://www.greecevol.info/

RefuComm team looking for volunteers

"In Athens the team have been setting up in squats, printing, flyering, translating information building up new teams for advice clinics to go into the squats. In Germany they have been getting ready to add new information on the Greek Islands, reunification and educational materials to the website and we have been improving ease of use for the website. Volunteers are needed in the following area: Media Management, Social Media, Fundraising, Researchers, Writers, Translators, Administration if you can help out, email refucomm@gmail.com "

Bad conditions in Samos camp

"The conditions in the camp are still very bad with very poor quality food, lack of drinking water and not enough capacity to house the many people there, some for over five months!

There are still unattended minors living there, You can help out by: mobile pay: +45 60 10 66 24 (DK), AL-bank: reg. nr. 5358, konto nr. 0244228. (DK) or International donations: IBAN nr. : DK4853580000244228 / SWIFT adr. : ALBADKKK "

 Austria's refugee crisis: One year on (The Local.at, link):

" Crisis dissipates in Austria: The number of asylum applications fell dramatically in Austria in 2016 compared to the previous year. The solidarity movement has also become less conspicuous. Politicians who helped to care for and manage the movement of refugees last year are now preparing to implement some of Europe’s toughest asylum measures. How might the country react today if another group of 71 refugees was found in the back of a van having suffocated? No doubt with sadness, but it would be unlikely to elicit the same powerful solidarity movement. At the other end of the scale, the earlier rise in anti-Muslim extremist protests this year has also somewhat calmed in the summer. Is there less fire in the belly of the anti-refugee movement now the crisis is less acute? The far-right’s presidential candidate Norbert Hofer is tipped to win the presidential election re-run in October but the question remains whether he'll be able to secure the same support without a refugee crisis to talk about."