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Refugee crisis: latest news from across Europe (4.7.16): new report on the companies profiting from Europe's border control industry, report on Softex camp in northern Greece.
04 July 2016
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Border Wars: The arms dealers profiting from Europe's refugee tragedy (Transnational Institute, link):
"While tens of thousands of refugees have died fleeing terrible violence and hardship to get to Europe, not everyone has lost out. This report exposes the military and security companies that have profited from the tragedy, winning contracts to provide the equipment to border guards, the surveillance technology to monitor frontiers, and the IT infrastructure to track population movements."
Report:
Border Wars (pdf) and:
Executive summary (pdf)
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European Council adopts Migration compact despite NGOs statement (ECRE, link):
"The adopted proposal contains no safeguards to ensure that human rights, rule of law standards and protection mechanisms when the EU strikes deals with governments it deems useful for stopping migration to Europe. These governments include countries with a poor human rights record, such as Sudan and Eritrea, countries where a large share of refugees flee from. ECRE’s Aspasia Papadopoulou warned that this EU pressure could result in those countries increasing the use of detention or border enforcement. “Partner countries will be well aware that they have their own leverage in the form of would-be migrants and asylum seekers hoping to reach Europe. They’ll negotiate hard to get what they want out it,” Papadopoulou states."
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"Have you seen this camp?" Softex camp in Northern Greece (ECRE & AIRE Centre, link):
"We first heard about the conditions in Softex the day we arrived, when the Save the Children team in Polykastro explained us that many who were evacuated from Idomeni were brought there. The new official camps, quickly arranged to host thousands of people, are mostly abandoned warehouses. The official Softex camp used to be an old textile factory.
The camp is situated in the industrial outskirts of Thessaloniki, alongside a narrow and busy road. The back entrance to the camp is wide open, while the official entry at the other end is guarded by the Greek army. Opposite the camp is a Volvo garage with four huge dogs barking non-stop at passers-by."
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Una caravana partirá a Grecia para reclamar el respeto a los derechos de los refugiados [A caravan will leave for Greece to reclaim the respect of refugees' rights] (Diagonal, link): On 16 July, 10 buses will leave from Barcelona and head for Thessaloniki in Greece, in order to call attention to the violations of thousands of asylum-seekers' human rights and to highlight the responsibility of the institutions of the EU and its Member States.