Refugee crisis: latest news from across Europe (3.10.16)
03 October 2016
-
Germany wants migrants sent back to Greece and Turkey (euractiv, link):
"Germany called yesterday (2 October) for asylum seekers who entered the European Union via Greece to be forced to return there, while also urging Athens to send more migrants back to Turkey.
In an interview with a Greek daily, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said he wants to reinstate EU rules which oblige asylum seekers to be sent back to Greece as the first EU country they reached.
“I would like the Dublin convention to be applied again… we will take up discussions on this in a meeting with (EU) interior ministers” later in October, he told the Greek daily Kathimerini."
- EU:
Service level agreement between European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and Frontex for the provision of surveillance tools and services in support of Frontex activities (pdf)
-
LEAD NGOs denounce Italy's «Nazi-style» migrant repatriations to Sudan By Alvise Armellini, dpa (europeonline-magazine.eu, link):
"Italy has started a "Nazi-style" policy of mass migrant repatriations to Sudan based on a secret police cooperation deal, in flagrant breach of international law, human rights groups said on Tuesday.
Last month, Italian police stopped about 50 irregular migrants from Sudan at Ventimiglia, a town on the border with France. They were put in a European Union-funded hotspot detention centre and 48 of them were flown back to Khartoum within a matter of days.
"We are returning people to genocidal governments," the director of Amnesty International‘s Italian branch, Gianni Rufini, said in Rome. "It‘s bit like having about 50 German Jews in 1943 and sending them back to Germany," he added.
Rufini spoke at a press conference in the Italian Senate in Rome organized by Tavolo Nazionale Asilo, a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that deal with migration issues and criticize restrictive border policies.
Filippo Miraglia from ARCI, another speaker at the event, qualified Italian authorities‘ actions as "Nazi-style."
-
Irish Refugee Council welcomes and echoes Children’s Ombudsman’s call that children in Direct Provision have access to his office (link):
"The IRC welcomes Children’s Ombudsman Dr Niall Mudoon’s continued commitment and desire to ensure that all children in Ireland have equal access to his Office before the end of 2016.
Caroline Reid, Communications Officer with the IRC said, “If we want to be a society that values the equal treatment of children, we should move away from discriminatory practices that fail to fully protect young people and effectively deny them access to independent oversight and complaints mechanisms, in situations where they believe that they are being adversely affected by an action of the State.”
As Dr Muldoon rightly points out in the Children’s Ombudsman Report for 2015, “1,400 children are spending the formative years of their lives in direct provision, in circumstances that inhibit their potential to thrive & curtail their full enjoyment of basic rights.”"
-
Hungary PM claims EU migrant quota referendum victory (BBC News, link):
"Hungarian PM Viktor Orban has declared victory in a referendum on mandatory EU migrant quotas, despite a low turnout that appeared to render it invalid.
Nearly 98% of those who took part supported the government's call to reject the EU plan. But only 43% of the electorate voted, short of the 50% required to be valid. A government spokesman said the outcome was binding "politically and legally" but the opposition said the government did not have the support it needed.
Mr Orban urged EU decision makers to take note of the result and said he would change Hungary's constitution to make the decision binding."
-
UK immigration faces 140 years’ worth of visa applications post-Brexit (workpermit.com, link):
"According to a study carried out by Oxford University’s Migration Observatory, UK immigration faces 140 years’ worth of visa applications if all European nationals, currently in Britain, applied for residency in the aftermath of Brexit. Experts say that the Home Office would struggle to cope with a deluge of permanent residency filings.
Currently, UK immigration officials process approximately 25,500 permanent residency applications from EU nationals, and their dependents, annually. However, the Migration Observatory calculated that if the estimated 3.5 million EU citizens, presently residing in the UK, applied for permanent residence it would be the equivalent of processing 140 years’ worth of visa forms in just 12 months."
-
Are you Syrious (2.10.16, link)Greece
Greece:
Numbers
"According to the official numbers, 3 new persons are registered on Lesvos, 98 on Chios, and 19 at Megisti. With the recent arrivals, the total number of arrivals since the Turkey deal hit 20.000. More than 14.000 of them are still stuck on the islands.
Comparison 5/9–30/9
Lesvos: From 5388 to 5942 (+554)
Chios: From 3316 to 3678 (+362)
Samos: From 1351 to 1582 (+231)
Kos: From 1531 to 1863 (+332)
Total: From 12.515 to 14.053 (+1538)"
RefuComm communication and information for refugees: RELOCATION IMPORTANT CHANGES: Greece, Italy: Main change:
"The countries that were eligible for relocation before this report were: Syria, Eritrea, Central African Republic, Seychelles, Dominica, Bahrain, Laos, and Saudi Arabia. According to the latest quarterly report (Quarter 2 2016) published by Eurostat on 22 September, the nationalities eligible for relocation as from now are Syria, Eritrea, Burundi, Mozambique, Bahrain, Bhutan, Qatar, and Yemen.
The nationalities, which met the 75% eligibility threshold according to the Eurostat data from quarter 1 of 2016, that do not meet this threshold anymore, are Central African Republic, Seychelles, Dominica, Laos and Saudi Arabia.
Although Iraqis are no longer eligible for relocation, this does not affect those Iraqis already identified as persons in possible need for international protection (thus, those preregistered can still be relocated). This would also apply to applicants belonging to the other nationalities that are no longer eligible for relocation."
People at Samos needs your help
During September, over 400 new arrivals were registered in Samos. Volunteers are expecting that the number could increase during October. Among new arrivals, are many children, as well as disabled people. If you can help, please consider donating to
Samos Volunteers Gofundme.
No Border Kitchen Lesvos is back, up and running again. After being evicted from Tsamakia Beach it took some time to reorganize but now they have a new place. Unfortunately, due to the eviction volunteers and equipment have been lost. Therefore No Borders Kitchen Lesvos urgently needs new volunteers and also financial support.
-
Refugee crisis: 600 children have died crossing Mediterranean in 2016 (Independent, link)
"Figures not normally broken down by age, but new Save The Children analysis shows scale of crisis for young people fleeing conflict
At least 600 children have died this year trying to cross the Mediterranean sea in a bid to escape war, poverty and persecution, Save the Children has said.
Data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and newly-analysed by the charity, highlights two children a day on average have died or disappeared between January 1 and September 26 2016.
The figures have been released by Save the Children to coincide with the third anniversary of a shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy, in which more than 300 people were killed trying to reach Europe's shores."
- Greece:
Reports that police harassed refugee kids to be probed (ekathimerini.com, link):
"A prosecutor has ordered a preliminary investigation into reports that five refugee children were harassed by officers at a police station in Omonia Square in the center of Athens last Tuesday.
According to reports, the five minors, aged between 9 and 14, were stopped in the street by officers and taken to the local precinct because they were carrying bags containing plastic guns and costumes for a theatrical show."
-
Vulnerable refugees to be moved from 'squalid' camps on Greek islands (Guardian, link):
"Unaccompanied minors, the elderly and infirm will be moved to mainland Greece, says government, in response to concerns about worsening conditions."