Somalis in Greece

source: http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?sid=14200&tirsan=3

Glimpse of-hope for Somali immigrants suffering in Greece to improve in the near

A massive demonstration in which all illegal immigrants at any level of age, with full participation of Somalis in Greece has peacefully happened on 4^{th November, 2009}

The purpose of demonstrators was to ask the Greek government to clarify what the future holds for illegal immigrants in Greece.

What problems are the Somalis experiencing in Greece?

The life- issue of Somali immigrants in Greece is really ineffable and seems strange. There is no any one who felt an obligation to write and verbalize about dire complaints and hardships of the immigrants, especially Somalis in Greece. Most of Somalis in home, Africa and Asia are obsessed about going to Europe by any means, believing that poverty, ignorance, lack of healthcare, poor education, unemployment and uncertainty of the future are the only signs in the life outside Europe. To avoid those horrendous and aching scenarios in Africa and Asia, most of Somalis choose more than other immigrants in the world to wildly embark upon death – life journeys to get to – as they believe – the most comfortable and prosperous countries in Europe, Scandinavian nations or Great Britain in particular in search of unfailing future together with what the best life in those countries can offer to everyone. Although there are many travel routes in which Somalis exert, all of them don’t succeed in accomplishing the painful travels they face so some all the time take a risk and lose their lives on their way to their desiring destinations after they drown in either Mediterranean sea or red sea. A great number of Somali prisoners who are immigrants – because their country already turned to a ghost land – are in the jails of the countries like Libya, Tanzania Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and others.

Some Somali immigrants successfully completed their adventurous trips to Europe but some got trapped in Greece where in recent times became only route for Somalis illegally departing to Europe. There their dreams of life changing came to an end in despair. These people have encountered a lot of hardships in the life and lacked any way to get out of Greek country while their families who arranged the travels financially and morally for them anxiously wait to find any kind of life – support from them.

Ms. Safio Isaq Anshur, a Somali female immigrant in Greece’s capital Athens talked at length about the living conditions of Somalis and said, “The living standoff between Somali immigrants and Greek officials had been frequent and there were arrests conducted against immigrants especially Somalis in Greece after complaint demonstrations were held. There are many Somalis here who failed in resumption of the travels to their already allocated countries

Ms. Safio Isaq Anshur who genuinely talked in her magnificent report which she forwarded to most of Somali speaking websites went on and said, “Greek security forces at all times without indiscrimination shackle Somalis youth in groups after they demonstrate how they are not pleased with the ways Greece deals with them,”

Greek government authorities regularly address about the situation in order to find a lasting solution to the plight of Somali immigrants. The officers put strong recommendations forward to Somalis living in the country to take Greek permanent immigrants documents and the government would handle the needs of Somalis or to enroll themselves in UNHCR offices in the country and that is not lovable for them. These substantial advices from Greece went to deaf ears because Somali migrants who are so far on move of passing though Greece to Scandinavia or UK are extremely scared to be ever stuck in Greece because of their fingerprints taken by the police.

Although regular demonstrations in which Somalis in Greece turn out increase zero, the call from the officer has instantly inspired all immigrants in Greece in general and Somalis in particular with a little of life hope. This follows after Greek authorities in office received countless requests from supreme agents of Somali immigrants, encouraging Greece to crack down on the living conditions of immigrants

After arresting the biggest number of Somali prisoners in the last week, Greek foreign Minister held talks with representatives from Somali-Greek Diaspora. Among the discussed matters in meeting was Somali inmates who some of them had been in jails for long

Somali Greek Diaspora activist, Mr. Ilyaas Ali, called at some of Greek detention centers in Athens like Elidabon,Kiria and another prison in the vicinity of Athens airport where the detainees are mostly Somalis to assess the conditions and make out the arrested number of Somalis. This evaluation visit seems to the suffering Somalis in Greece the start of release of hundreds of Somalis in jails and the route to better life in the near future.

Translated /Written by

Ustaad Mohamed – Nur Hersi Abdi Tallman

Tallmog@hotmail.com

 

Nairobi – Kenya

Sender from Greece Safiya Isaaq Canshuur

 

Saafi43@hotmail.com

EU plans joint ‘charter flights’ to deport immigrants

 

source: EURACTIV

5 November 2009

EU plans ‘charter flights’ to deport illegal immigrants

Published: Wednesday 4 November 2009

EU leaders have for the first time asked for the creation of joint charter flights to deport illegal immigrants. These flights would be financed by Frontex, the European agency in charge of the EU’s external borders.

UN chief at the 3rd Global Forum on Migration & Development, on the “poor migrant asylum record” of Greece

source: earth times

 

UN chief hopes Greece’s will address its poor migrant asylum record

Athens – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed hope on Wednesday that Greece will address its poor migrant asylum record in accordance with human rights laws. “I know that all states, including Greece have the right to determine the stay of migrants but I sincerely hope that this will be addressed with the settlement of human rights and laws,” Ban said during 3rd Global Forum on Migration and Development.

“As the host organizer, Greece may have the moral and political responsibility in seeking a settlement of the issues,” Ban told journalists.

undeclared blood

In the last few days the mass media  in Greece have been producing all kinds of elaborate arguments in favour of the young police woman who was critically injured by the bullets of some obscure urban gorilla group.

There has been much more blood shed than that in Greece , much more. Blood that remained in the shadow of public attention.

Some horrible reminders:

At least eight refugees (women and children) drown in the Aegean – one more unspeakable tragedy

Immigrant victim of police torture passes away in Athens

Greece: 5 immigrants murdered in one year, 50 in the last decade

(and in the Mediterranean The massacre continues: 459 deaths in the first 6 months of 2009)

plus the horrible deaths at work, the so called “labor accidents” (many immigrants among them) – list “brought to attention”  by Alice’s blog).

According to the Labor Inspectors, the following fatal industrial accidents have been officially recorded in the last 10 years   :

• 2000 127 accidents
• 2001  188 accidents
• 2002  153 accidents
• 2003  145 accidents
• 2004  127 accidents
• 2005  111 accidents
• 2006  128 accidents
• 2007  115 accidents
• 2008  142 accidents
• it is estimated that in 2009, 57 people lost their lives at work.

1293 dead workers

Stop another 5 year program of death and detention!30 Nov – 1 Dec 2009, Brussels – Transnational Protests against Justice and Home Affairs Meeting

SOURCE: NO RACISM NET

Stop another 5 year program of death and detention!

30th of November and 1st of December 2009 in Brussels – Transnational Protests in front of the EU – Justice and Home Affairs – Meeting

Refugee Protection and Migrants Rights instead of a brutal EU-Border-regime! No to the repressive Stockholm program! After Tampere and The Hague, the Stockholm program will constitute the next 5-year-framework for Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) within the EU and its memberstates. The new program claims to build up the ‘area of freedom, justice and security’. But in fact it will continue to implement an even tighter regime of surveillance and control and will promote a securitisation of social life, undermining all civil rights and privacy despite contrary claims.

The situation in Turkey: a text by Oktay Durukan from the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly

This is the text Oktay Durukan presented at the Public Event, Open Discussion in Thessaloniki: “People in mid-air: between deportation and asylum”.

Oktay Durukan from the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly (HCA) in Istanbul, Turkey.

HCA is an Istanbul-based Turkish human rights organization, working on a diversity of issues. Since 2004, protection of refugees and vulnerable migrants in Turkey became one of our priority areas of activity. We run a relatively extensive, specialised program to provide free legal counselling and assistance to individuals who want to seek asylum protection in Turkey. We litigate to intervene in situations involving prolonged arbitrary detention and risk of refoulement. We also monitor state policies and practices, write reports on protection gaps. We organise trainings for lawyers and other professionals.

Who are asylum seekers present in Turkey

Pagani detention centre in Lesvos to close down (for now?)

source: After the Greek Riots blog

#119 | One Less Prison: Pagani detention centre in Lesvos to close down (for now?)

The “migrant welcoming centre” (that is a prison in the government’s doublespeak) of Pagani in Lesvos was one of the main targets of the No Borders camp that took place in the island last August, with activists calling for the immediate closing down of a detention centre in which, “living” conditions were a disgrace, even by greek prison standards… On 22.10, a government official (Sp. Vougias) visited the prison to inspect living conditions there. Astonishingly, only hours after his visit, a 17-year old migrant detainee was severely beaten before being offered 350 euros by police, to keep silent about the attack…

Εurope at the Frontline of the Great Enclosure – Counterarguments to the 3d Forum on Immigration & Development.

The text below presents, in the briefest possible form, counterarguments to the 3rd Forum on Immigration and Development (GFMD2009) that is taking place on the 4th and 5th of November 2009 in Athens, Greece (after two preparatory «Civil Society Days» on the same subject hosted by the Onassis Foundation). It intends to decode certain points that are kept vague in the rhetorics of the GFMD2009, as are the «root causes of migration in light of the current global economic crisis», «migrant integration, reintegration and circulation for development», as well as «policy and institutional coherence and partnerships», the three topics of the GFMD2009 roundtable discussions.

One of the Iranian hunger strikers was taken to hospital

source: athens indymedia post

Today, at 7:20 p.m., one of the hunger strikers was taken to the hospital as he had pain in the kidneys, was throwing out blood and was urinating blood. The ambulance took him from Propilaia and transfered him to the hospital, where he received first aid and the doctors prescriped him some medication. Late the same night, the Iranian political refugee returned to Propilaia and he will continue the hunger strike until the satisfaction of their demands, as he decided.

iranianrefugeesfromtipf.blogspot.com

“Excuse me, Mr. Minister – she said – what difference is there between dying at sea and dying in Libya?”

source: fortresseurope.blogspot

The massacre continues: 459 deaths in the first 6 months of 2009

ROME, 2 July 2009 – The number of deaths at the border fell for the first time over the last three years. In the first semester of 2009, the victims reported by the international press along the routes of emigration in the Mediterranean have been 434, to which the 25 people who disappeared along land borders must be added, including the three boys who ended up under lorries in the Italian Adriatic harbours. Last year, over the same period, there had been 985 documented deaths. The figures –based on news from the international press- were divulged by the Fortress Europe observatory. The main reason for the decrease in shipwrecks is the objective decrease in the number of arrivals, particularly in Italy and Spain. Since the start of returns to Libya on 7 May, arrivals by boat in Sicily can be counted on one hand. And in the Canary islands in Spain, there has not been any arrival by boat in the months of April and May, and very few boats arrived in the archipelago in June. This is an effect of the returns in the high seas and joint patrol operations enacted by Frontex in Senegal and Mauritania. However, it is still too early to compare data. In fact, very little news arrives from the press in countries to the south of the Mediterranean on this issue. For this reason, it cannot stated with any certainty whether the deaths have decreased or whether the shipwrecks occur further away from the gaze of our cameras, off the Libyan coast or in the high seas.

In detail, according to the data collected from the international press by Fortress Europe, there were 339 victims along the route towards Malta and Lampedusa in the first semester of 2008 (compared with 650 in the same period of 2008), 87 off the Spanish coast (compared with 136 in 2008) and 8 in the Aegean Sea (compared with 199 in 2008), between Turkey and Greece. There is only news of one victim on the way between Algeria and Sardinia. A corpse that was fished out of the water near to the Cavoli island in the Cagliari region, whose origin may lie in a shipwreck about which there are no available details. Other three emigrants, most probably Afghan refugees, lost their lives under lorries that disembarked in the Italian Adriatic harbours after the crossing from Greece. In Egypt, three refugees were killed after being shot by the Egyptian police at the border with Israel. Two people died in Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in Morocco, as they tried to climb over the six-metre barrier that seals that border. There were also two victims in Calais, in France, where the harbour and Channel Tunnel represent an obligatory passage to enter England illegally. Finally, there were supposedly at least 14 victims of the crossing of the Sahara during the first half of the year, according to the very few pieces of information arriving from Saharan countries.

June has also been a month in which deaths were counted: 29 in the Gibraltar Strait, off the Spanish coasts; 3 in Egypt, shot by the police at the Israeli border; and one in Italy, who was called Amir Rohol, was 19 years old and an Afghan asylum seeker. He died after falling off an articulated lorry that had disembarked in Ancona, along the junction between Clearway 76 and the A14 motorway.

Many are likely to use this data to justify the returns to Libya. Joseph St. John, an official from the Maltese interior ministry also stated this during a seminar in which I took part on 17 June in Malta. Refuse entry to save human lives. From the audience, an Ethiopian woman refugee raised her hand to intervene. “Excuse me, Mr. Minister – she said – what difference is there between dying at sea and dying in Libya?”. I don’t feel that there is much more to add about this.

Change in khaki: a very Socialist repression looms in Greece

Submitted by taxikipali on Oct 9 2009 at libcom.org

Continuing waves of mass police operations in down town Athens set the pace for new era of repression in Greece

Everyone thought it was just a show of power – but it proved to be the Socialist government’s plan for “change” after 5 years of brutal right wing rule.

The police invasion of Exarcheia, the Athens alternative-radical hub, on the early hours of Friday 9 October was evaluated by most journalists, activists and veteran politicians as a power-show of the new government, in response to a limited solidarity attack against banks in the area just out of Exarcheia earlier the same day. Minister of Public Order Mr Chrisochoidis, the notorious anti-terrorist mastermind of the last Pasok administration, appeared to many as just typically determined to show who is the new boss. But the continuing waves of police invasion (3 by Friday 19:00 pm) into an area which is commonly acknowledged as the most vibrant intellectual, student and political hub of the country, with hundreds of people stopped and checked, many manifold times in the same day, shops stormed, and locals humiliated by being made to kneel on the pavement and body-searched, has come to prove the new government’s self-professed “antiauthoritarianism” a bitter joke.

Pasok, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, now in power has a long record of police brutality.

Immigrant victim of police torture passes away in Athens

source: tvxs

An immigrant fell victim of police brutality

A brutal incident of police violence occurred on the evening of September 26 in Nikaia, Athens.   The victim a 25 year old immigrant, who died yesterday of his wounds. Petros Constantinou of the movement “Together against racism and the fascist threat”, talked to tvxs about the events that caused Pakistanis’ Mohammed Kamran Atif death.

On 26 September,  at01.30 at night, 15 police officers raided the house of the young immigrant at 82 Ilioupoleos str., Nikaia, shouting and beating both himself and his family. The neighboors who witnessed the incident say that the deceased was just semi-conscious,  and that while he was being carried out of his house his head kept banging on the stairs while he and his family were getting off the house crawling.   Against him there was a complaint for child beating.

He was then taken to the Nicaia police station, which turned into a torture chamber.   Kamran remained in detention for two days.  The charge against him remained ungrounded, and the complainant withdrew his charge .  Kamran was then released and he himself described to his family the horrific moments he had gone through.   “He was tied hand and foot and banged with clubs and then subjected to electroshock  with wires on his hands and knees” is the testimony of  Kamran’s amily.

Both the family and the neighbors knew about the abuse Kamran had suffered . Fear kept him away from the hospital since Kamran had no documents.

The police tried to cover up the incident.   Kamran’s brother was pressured and misled to testify that his brother brought no bruises when he left the police station.

Tomorrow on (Sunday 11 Oct) at 16:00 in the house of Mohammed Atif Kamran  an interview and a protest wil take place organised by the Pakistani community in Greece,  “United Against Racism and the Fascist Threat” and ” ANTARSYA.

Greece: 5 immigrants murdered in one year, 50 in the last decade

• source: clandestina article at athens indymedia
• translated by mich at de.indymedia.org

Five immigrants were killed by cops and coast guards during last year in Greece. More than fifty humans have been killed the last ten years because of “luckily gun-fires”, “unclear situations”, “health problems”, “unreasonable self-suicides”, the “reasonable rage of citizens”. In this list there are no cases of deaths that were caused because of inexistent safety measures in workplaces (13 dead immigrants ONLY during the olympic games’ constructions. On this list the deaths because of land-mines at Evros river, or shipwrecks in the Aegean sea are not included, as well as the cases of  gun-fire exchange, which were filed as’ “legal self-defense” cases although its certain they were plain murders.  In this list there are only cases of straight murders.

The blood list:
9/10/2009:Death of Mohamed Kamran Atif, who was beated up after 15 cops entered a pakistan workers’ poor house on 26th of September at Nikaia district in Athens.

27/7/2009: Death of Kurd immigrant Arivan Osman Abdulah, who was hospitalized in comma, after being beated up by coast guards at Igoumenitsa’s harbour on 3rd April 2009.

23/3/2009: Death of 24 year old Mazir, who was found in comma, on 6th December, in the stream of Votanikos, 600 meters away from the cops’ Immigrants’ Authority Offices at Petrou Ralli St. and was hospitalized in comma.

3/1/2009: Husein Zahidul, immigrand from Bagladesh loses his life in the same stream of Petrou Ralli St.

24/10/2008: In Petrou Ralli stream was found dead Mohamed Ashraf from Pakistan, after a barbarian cop chase close to Immigrants’ Authority Offices

22/2/2008: Abdukarim Yahya Idris from Sudan gets beated up and murdered by three cops.

8/11/2007: Ilmi Lates, 45 years old and father of five children, was found by border guards close to Levaia village, the guards fire on his back from close distance and falls dead on the ground.

8/11/2007: Imprissoned Pakistan in farm jail of Kassandra was found hung in his cell. The courts have decided to send him back to his country.

11/10/2007: Afgan prisoner, 27 years old, was found hunged in his cell in Korydallos jailhouse.

18/8/2007: Tony Onuoha, 25 years old from Nigeria gets killed in Kalamaria district, Thessaloniki.

15/4/2007: Leonidas Kaltsas, 20 years old from Albania, hunged in cells of Youngsters Authority in Liosia district.

28/3/2007: Mathiea Domin, 16 years old from Poland, prejailed in Avlona, commits suicide in Korydallos’ psychological hospital.

21/11/2006: A dead immigrand from Makreb in the Omonoia cop office.

October 2006: Greek Authorities are blamed for throwing in the sea almost 40 immigrants without papers. Turkish coast guards in Karaburun openseas close to Smyrnee collected 6 corpses and 31 alive of them.

13/2/2006: Patras. A 15 year old Afgan immigrant heavily injured by coast guards and a 29 year old who also presented at the event, fall dead under unclear circumstances.

5/2/2006: Dead, under unclear circumstances, immigrant from Iran at Omonoia cop station.

1/1/2006: Rethymno, Crete. Edisson Yahai killed, 18 years old, killed in his home by a team of greek youngsters (they have earlier a conflict with a group of alban youngsters), with 17 stabs by knife on his head, cheast, back, arms and legs. The victim has not participated in the conflict.

11/4/2005: Lamia city. Dead immigrant from Nigeria in the city’s cop station. The murdered immigrant was buried without a doctor to check the corpe to investigate the reason of death.

4/9/2004: After the match of national teams of Greece and Albania starts a pogrom against the alban immigrants in Athens, Thessaloniki, Larisa, Kilkis, Ileia, Kavala, Zante, Ioannina, Patra, Corfu, Paros, Rethymno, Kalamata, Volos, Rodos… almost all around the greek areas that alban immigrants live there. On Zante island, Gramos Palushi, a 20 years old immigrant, fell dead because of the knife of Panagiotis Kladis. Also two more immigrants in the hospital because of this killer.

11/8/2004: Luan Berdelima, 36 years old, economical immigrand from Albania lost his life because he was unluck to face some macho locals

13/3/2004: Jandeus Kocheva, 36 years old, dead in the cop station of Vyronas district in Athens.

13/1/2004: Mohamed Hamut, 42 years old from Syria, dead because of “health problems” in cops station of Rethymno, Crete. The doctor who checked the corpe stated that he was beated up all around his body.

23/9/2003: Vulnet Bititsi, 18 years old from Albania shoted and killed by border guards at Krystalopigi.

2/11/2002: Alban immigrant, 32 years old, shoted and killed by border guards at Kastoria.

1/12/2001: Border guards shot against two young albans in a village close to the borders at Thesproteia area, one falls dead.

21/11/2001: Cop Giannis Rizopoulos murders at America Square, Athens an immigrant from Albania, Gentjan Celniku 20 years old.

29/4/2001: Burdaki Taveus, 38 years old from Poland, commited suicide in the cop station of Kos island. He was found hung in his cell, after he was arrested and waiting for months to be sent back to Poland.

1/8/2001: O. Pazil from Turkey gets killed by coast guards around the sea space of Kos island.

4/6/2001: Afrim Salla, 15 years old from Albania, gets shot and loses the ability to move his legs, after -as Greek Police stated- the gun of the border guard fired by luck.

13/2/2001: Konstantin Katur, 47 years old from Romania, dies in a cop station. Despite his heavy injure no cop took him to a hospital.

23/11/2000: Chavahir Katsani, 22 years old from Albania and Ryon, 15 years old from Albania are shoted and killed by a greek at Galatista village at Halkidiki.

1/11/2000: Bledar Qoshku, 20 years old from Albania, was killed -as Greek Police stated- after he and a cop started shoting against each other. The gun that Bledar Qoshku should carry was never found.

10/8/2000: A 20 years old immigrand from Albania gets killed by border guards at Ieropigi, Kastoria.

14/6/2000: Border guards shoot and kill an immigrand at Evros river.

25/7/2000: A 22 years old immigrand gets shot and killed by greek army general at the greek-bulgarian borders.

15/6/2000: Yoval Badjar, 25 years old gets killed by G. Pistolas, a border guard, at Megalo Dereio village at Evros river.

27/4/2000: An under-18 immigrant from Albania gets murdered by cop, with a bullet on his neck, during a revolt at Avlona jailhouse.

25/3/2000: Nikos Leonidis, 17 years old from Georgeen, gets killed by mr. Atmatzidis, an undercover cop, in Thessaliniki.

21 & 23 of October, 1999: P.Kazakos, 23 years old, guard at ERT (governmental TV-channel) starts shooting generaly against immigrants. Victims of him: Kofi Tony from Ghana dead. Saad Abdelhadi, 30 years old from Egypt has serious moving problems. Hindir Serif, a 25 years old kurd, loses the ability to move his legs. Kurd Rasul Posef, Ahmed Nasar from Pakistan, Timoty Abdul from Nigeria and Mohamed Datnon from Bagladesh were not so heavily injured.

7/4/1999: An alban woman gets killed by Greek Police at the greek-macedonian borders.

18/3/1999: Lanti Peppa, 20 years old from Albania gets killed in Kastoria by Greek Police.

13/3/1999: Arben Vezi from Albania gets killed at Kozani by cop named Athanasios Kanavas.

November 1998: A. Hoxoli, 20 years old from Albania gets killed by A. Gougousis, because the victim tried to steal his horse. After this, the killer tried with some relevants of him to hide the dead body.

23/10/1998: Marco Boulatovic, a 17 year old student gets shoted at his heart in Thessaloniki by cop named Vantoulis because he was a “suspect for stealing”.

October 1998: Shbobek Miesic, from Poland, dies in the cop station of Meligalas because cops refused to transfer him to a hospital despite the doctor’s orders.

15/6/1998: At Megara city gets killed a youngster from Albania.

5/6/1998: Bokari Baho, 28 years old, falls dead because of “fear shots” of a border team.

April 1998: Ose Ogbuefi, from Nigeria gets murdered “for cheap reason”. The killer E.Kyriakopoulos and his friends refuse to state that felt sorry for the assasination.

Also:
4/8/2009: A 29 years old woman from Albania comited suicide at the cop station of Hersonisos, Crete because she did not want to be sent back to Albania.

12/7/2008: A 48 year old man from Gorgeen commited suicide in his cell in Kassandreia jailhouse, Thessaloniki because he didn’t want to be sent back to his country.

9/10/2009:Death of Mohamed Kamran Atif, who was beated up after 15 cops entered a pakistan workers’ poor house on 26th of September at Nikaia district in Athens.

27/7/2009: Death of Kurd immigrant Arivan Osman Abdulah, who was hospitalized in comma, after being beated up by coast guards at Igoumenitsa’s harbour on 3rd April 2009.

23/3/2009: Death of 24 year old Mazir, who was found in comma, on 6th December, in the stream of Votanikos, 600 meters away from the cops’ Immigrants’ Authority Offices at Petrou Ralli St. and was hospitalized in comma.

3/1/2009: Husein Zahidul, immigrand from Bagladesh loses his life in the same stream of Petrou Ralli St.

24/10/2008: In Petrou Ralli stream was found dead Mohamed Ashraf from Pakistan, after a barbarian cop chase close to Immigrants’ Authority Offices

22/2/2008: Abdukarim Yahya Idris from Sudan gets beated up and murdered by three cops.

8/11/2007: Ilmi Lates, 45 years old and father of five children, was found by border guards close to Levaia village, the guards fire on his back from close distance and falls dead on the ground.

8/11/2007: Imprissoned Pakistan in farm jail of Kassandra was found hung in his cell. The courts have decided to send him back to his country.

11/10/2007: Afgan prisoner, 27 years old, was found hunged in his cell in Korydallos jailhouse.

18/8/2007: Tony Onuoha, 25 years old from Nigeria gets killed in Kalamaria district, Thessaloniki.

15/4/2007: Leonidas Kaltsas, 20 years old from Albania, hunged in cells of Youngsters Authority in Liosia district.

28/3/2007: Mathiea Domin, 16 years old from Poland, prejailed in Avlona, commits suicide in Korydallos’ psychological hospital.

21/11/2006: A dead immigrand from Makreb in the Omonoia cop office.

October 2006: Greek Authorities are blamed for throwing in the sea almost 40 immigrants without papers. Turkish coast guards in Karaburun openseas close to Smyrnee collected 6 corpses and 31 alive of them.

13/2/2006: Patras. A 15 year old Afgan immigrant heavily injured by coast guards and a 29 year old who also presented at the event, fall dead under unclear circumstances.

5/2/2006: Dead, under unclear circumstances, immigrant from Iran at Omonoia cop station.

1/1/2006: Rethymno, Crete. Edisson Yahai killed, 18 years old, killed in his home by a team of greek youngsters (they have earlier a conflict with a group of alban youngsters), with 17 stabs by knife on his head, cheast, back, arms and legs. The victim has not participated in the conflict.

11/4/2005: Lamia city. Dead immigrant from Nigeria in the city’s cop station. The murdered immigrant was buried without a doctor to check the corpe to investigate the reason of death.

4/9/2004: After the match of national teams of Greece and Albania starts a pogrom against the alban immigrants in Athens, Thessaloniki, Larisa, Kilkis, Ileia, Kavala, Zante, Ioannina, Patra, Corfu, Paros, Rethymno, Kalamata, Volos, Rodos… almost all around the greek areas that alban immigrants live there. On Zante island, Gramos Palushi, a 20 years old immigrant, fell dead because of the knife of Panagiotis Kladis. Also two more immigrants in the hospital because of this killer.

11/8/2004: Luan Berdelima, 36 years old, economical immigrand from Albania lost his life because he was unluck to face some macho locals

13/3/2004: Jandeus Kocheva, 36 years old, dead in the cop station of Vyronas district in Athens.

13/1/2004: Mohamed Hamut, 42 years old from Syria, dead because of “health problems” in cops station of Rethymno, Crete. The doctor who checked the corpe stated that he was beated up all around his body.

23/9/2003: Vulnet Bititsi, 18 years old from Albania shoted and killed by border guards at Krystalopigi.

2/11/2002: Alban immigrant, 32 years old, shoted and killed by border guards at Kastoria.

1/12/2001: Border guards shot against two young albans in a village close to the borders at Thesproteia area, one falls dead.

21/11/2001: Cop Giannis Rizopoulos murders at America Square, Athens an immigrant from Albania, Gentjan Celniku 20 years old.

29/4/2001: Burdaki Taveus, 38 years old from Poland, commited suicide in the cop station of Kos island. He was found hung in his cell, after he was arrested and waiting for months to be sent back to Poland.

1/8/2001: O. Pazil from Turkey gets killed by coast guards around the sea space of Kos island.

4/6/2001: Afrim Salla, 15 years old from Albania, gets shot and loses the ability to move his legs, after -as Greek Police stated- the gun of the border guard fired by luck.

13/2/2001: Konstantin Katur, 47 years old from Romania, dies in a cop station. Despite his heavy injure no cop took him to a hospital.

23/11/2000: Chavahir Katsani, 22 years old from Albania and Ryon, 15 years old from Albania are shoted and killed by a greek at Galatista village at Halkidiki.

1/11/2000: Bledar Qoshku, 20 years old from Albania, was killed -as Greek Police stated- after he and a cop started shoting against each other. The gun that Bledar Qoshku should carry was never found.

10/8/2000: A 20 years old immigrand from Albania gets killed by border guards at Ieropigi, Kastoria.

14/6/2000: Border guards shoot and kill an immigrand at Evros river.

25/7/2000: A 22 years old immigrand gets shot and killed by greek army general at the greek-bulgarian borders.

15/6/2000: Yoval Badjar, 25 years old gets killed by G. Pistolas, a border guard, at Megalo Dereio village at Evros river.

27/4/2000: An under-18 immigrant from Albania gets murdered by cop, with a bullet on his neck, during a revolt at Avlona jailhouse.

25/3/2000: Nikos Leonidis, 17 years old from Georgeen, gets killed by mr. Atmatzidis, an undercover cop, in Thessaliniki.

21 & 23 of October, 1999: P.Kazakos, 23 years old, guard at ERT (governmental TV-channel) starts shooting generaly against immigrants. Victims of him: Kofi Tony from Ghana dead. Saad Abdelhadi, 30 years old from Egypt has serious moving problems. Hindir Serif, a 25 years old kurd, loses the ability to move his legs. Kurd Rasul Posef, Ahmed Nasar from Pakistan, Timoty Abdul from Nigeria and Mohamed Datnon from Bagladesh were not so heavily injured.

7/4/1999: An alban woman gets killed by Greek Police at the greek-macedonian borders.

18/3/1999: Lanti Peppa, 20 years old from Albania gets killed in Kastoria by Greek Police.

13/3/1999: Arben Vezi from Albania gets killed at Kozani by cop named Athanasios Kanavas.

November 1998: A. Hoxoli, 20 years old from Albania gets killed by A. Gougousis, because the victim tried to steal his horse. After this, the killer tried with some relevants of him to hide the dead body.

23/10/1998: Marco Boulatovic, a 17 year old student gets shoted at his heart in Thessaloniki by cop named Vantoulis because he was a “suspect for stealing”.

October 1998: Shbobek Miesic, from Poland, dies in the cop station of Meligalas because cops refused to transfer him to a hospital despite the doctor’s orders.

15/6/1998: At Megara city gets killed a youngster from Albania.

5/6/1998: Bokari Baho, 28 years old, falls dead because of “fear shots” of a border team.

April 1998: Ose Ogbuefi, from Nigeria gets murdered “for cheap reason”. The killer E.Kyriakopoulos and his friends refuse to state that felt sorry for the assasination.

Also:
4/8/2009: A 29 years old woman from Albania comited suicide at the cop station of Hersonisos, Crete because she did not want to be sent back to Albania.

12/7/2008: A 48 year old man from Gorgeen commited suicide in his cell in Kassandreia jailhouse, Thessaloniki because he didn’t want to be sent back to his country.

Human Rights Watch on Greece: Unsafe and Unwelcoming Shores

http://www.hrw.org,

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/10/09/greece-unsafe-and-unwelcoming-shores,

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Greece: Unsafe and Unwelcoming Shores

October 12, 2009

Between August and September 2009, Human Rights Watch interviewed 16 migrants who had been arrested on Samos, Symi, and Chios Islands, and the port towns of Patras and Igoumenitsa. The Greek authorities transferred them to detention centers close to the land border with Turkey and held them in the border police stations of Soufli, Tichero, and Feres, as well as in the Venna and Fylakio-Kyprinou (Fylakio) detention facilities. Two detained migrants described to us how Greek police forcibly pushed them across the river into Turkey from where Turkish authorities sent them back to Afghanistan.

One of them is a 17-year-old unaccompanied Afghan boy who told us over the phone that he was arrested on Symi Island, transferred to Fylakio detention center, and expelled with 11 other persons to Turkey:

We were one group of 12 persons they took out [from the detention center]. They drove us in a car…. for maybe one and a half hours. We arrived in the forest around 9 p.m.; they kept us there until midnight…. They told us not to move, otherwise the Turkish police would find us. It was [next to] a small river…. This side was Greece, the other side was Turkey.

The boat was a metal boat, a long metal boat. Inside the boat there was one policeman; he started the engine and after we arrived to the other side he told us to get out quickly and the boat went straight back. When the [Turkish] police arrived two of us explained what happened. The Turkish police came back to that place with us and said we should sit and that more persons might be coming. But the Greek police didn’t send more people.

We were for 12 days in [Turkish] detention. They beat me too much….  When the Turkish police beat me they said I should call my family to send me money to return to Afghanistan. I asked them not to send me back to Afghanistan, because I had problems. I asked them to keep me. But they didn’t care.

Near our house are Taliban; they are close…. I’m scared all the time. I’m a tenth grade student but I can’t go to school.[1]

The other person pushed back told us he was arrested on Samos Island, transferred to Fylakio detention center, expelled in a group of 45 or 50 persons, arrested by Turkish police, and taken to a detention center in Edirne: “I stayed for one week in Edirne. There were a lot of persons who had been deported from Greece. There were Afghans, Pakistanis, and Sri Lankans.”[2] Human Rights Watch visited that detention center in 2008 and found conditions there to be inhuman and degrading.[3]

Another eight people said they witnessed Greek police taking migrants out of detention centers at nightfall in trucks or vans. Four of them told us that those taken from the detention centers later got in touch with detainees who stayed behind and told them that the Greek police had expelled them. One Afghan boy who was arrested on Symi Island described the scene he witnessed from his cell at Fylakio detention center:

Forty three persons were taken away from my group [of 91 persons]. One Iraqi had a friend among those [taken away]. He called Iraq from the detention center, and that friend said he had been deported. That Iraqi was part of our group. We were all in the same cell.

First [Greek police] asked them to sign something. … it was around the evening time, around 6 p.m. maybe. Then they searched them… the police took away everything they had: toothpaste, papers written in Greek, they took it from their pockets… After that they were taken into a truck without windows. It was completely closed, an army-colored truck. People entered from the back. I saw the truck with my own eyes and I saw how people entered.

Each time a new group [of detainees] arrived the truck came…. 67 persons arrived in one group and they took away 57 persons from that group….  Six or seven times new groups arrived…. For a small group the white van came, for a big group the truck came.[4]

Another person told us he had been arrested in Patras ahead of the authorities’ destruction of a large makeshift camp and then transferred with a group of 120 persons to Fylakio detention center. He told us that four of his friends had been deported from there: “They asked us, ‘Do you have relatives or friends?’ I said I had an uncle. Four friends of mine said they didn’t have family and they were deported. One of them called my friend and told him he was in Afghanistan…. They deported them after about two weeks. They were taken away in a small white car.”[5]

Greece’s Dysfunctional Asylum System

Greece effectively has no asylum system. It recognizes as few as 0.05 percent of asylum seekers as refugees at their first interview. A law adopted in July abolished ameaningful appeals procedure. The effect of the new law is that a person who is in need of international protection as a refugee in Greece is almost certain to be refused asylum at the first instance, and having been refused has little chance of obtaining it on appeal. The new law leaves asylum seekers with no remedy against risk of removal to inhuman or degrading treatment, as required by article 39 of the EU’s procedures directive and articles 13 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. As a result of this legislative change, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) withdrew from any formal role in Greece’s asylum procedure.

Many of those we interviewed said they did not want to apply for asylum in Greece because they had heard that Greece rejects everyone. Some believed mistakenly that they could apply for asylum in other European countries. Access to legal counsel or interpreters is virtually impossible in detention centers in the north and those in need of protection may be unable to access asylum procedures. An Afghan detainee held in Soufli border police station, for example, was informed about her rights in English, a language she does not understand.

Apart from sporadic visits by a lawyer from the Greek Council for Refugees operating under a government agreement, no lawyers or organizations offer pro-bono legal aid in Greece’s northern region. Athens-based lawyers who offer pro-bono legal aid told us they are not able to access and speak to detainees in the north unless they present to authorities the names of persons detained. Even when they have the names of detainees, police in the Evros border region might ask them to obtain an additional permit from central police authorities to see persons detained; or police may not respond to their query whether a certain detainee is still held there. Conversations between lawyers and detainees furthermore are rarely confidential and lawyers said that police interrupted their talks and asked them to finish their conversations with detainees.[6]

Even those with access to legal aid and wanting to apply for asylum are not necessarily able to access the minimal procedures that do exist. According to the Greek Council for Refugees, on July 30, Greek police handed over 40 Turkish citizens, among them 18 asylum seekers, including four unaccompanied children, to their Turkish counterparts under a bilateral readmission agreement. Police on Crete, where the group initially arrived, refused to receive their asylum applications despite interventions by local lawyers. The asylum seekers were deported even though the Greek Council for Refugees intervened with the responsible Ministry.[7] In addition, on July 17, Human Rights Watch saw more than 1,000 asylum seekers lined up all night at Athens’ main police station trying to file asylum claims, largely in vain.

Greece is bound by the international legal principle of non-refoulement not to expel or return a person to a place where he or she would face persecution, torture, or inhuman or degrading treatment. This obligation applies not only to direct returns into the hands of persecutors or torturers, but also to indirect returns to countries from which persons are subsequently sent to a state where they face such threats. The circumstances of what constitutes inhuman or degrading treatment for an unaccompanied child may differ significantly from that of adults and Greece is obliged to take “measures and precautions” against such treatment when returning a child.[8]

Inhuman and Degrading Detention Conditions

Greece is also bound under European and international law to protect migrants from inhuman and degrading treatment while in Greece.  Persons held in detention centers in the north described to us conditions that would violate these obligations. Furthermore, unaccompanied children were detained jointly with adults across detention centers in the north, itself a violation of binding international standards.

People detained at the Soufli border police station, for example, told us that two detainees have to share one dirty mattress and that they are never allowed to go outside. One detainee, a 16-year-old girl in the company of her husband, told us that she felt constantly intimidated in a cell with more than 20 adult men.[9] People detained at Tichero border police station told us they slept on dirty mattresses or on the floor without blankets, and that the bathroom was filthy, with an unbearable smell.[10] Those held in the Venna detention facility said the place was infested with cockroaches and mice, and they complained about a lack of enough warm clothing. Those detained included a disabled man who had lost one arm and could not fully use his other arm but was subjected to the same regime. With the exception of Fylakio detention center, the conditions were compounded by a lack of access to medical care. Except for those held at Venna, those interviewed said they received only two meals per day, which they said was insufficient.

Detainees held at Fylakio detention facility spoke of comparatively better, albeit overcrowded, detention conditions. All persons who had been held there, however, said they experienced or witnessed violence and ill-treatment by guards. Two described an incident in which guards allegedly beat up an Arabic-speaking detainee after he tried to escape.

I saw an Arab who tried to escape. Police caught him and beat him up badly. They took him to the telephone room and covered the window with black plastic. Afterward I went to make a phone call and saw that guy with blood on his head and in handcuffs.[11]

Police also allegedly used violence when intervening in fights among detainees or to punish those who did not stay quiet at night:

I saw once with my own eyes that three policemen beat one person. They beat him in the corridor because he quarreled [with others]. They beat him for a short time with batons, with their hands, and they also kicked him.[12]

We received additional allegations of police violence from persons detained at Tichero and Feres border police stations, and from a person held at an unknown location near Komotini.[13]

Several persons interviewed said it was forbidden to make phone calls from Soufli and Tichero border police stations. One detainee at Soufli told us: “One detainee said if you have a lawyer you might get released but we don’t have a telephone so how can we contact our family to get us a lawyer?”[14] Another person said that although detainees held at Fylakio detention centers were permitted to make phone calls on Mondays and Thursdays, no calls were allowed during the first ten days.[15]

Asked whether they tried to file a complaint, one detainee told us: “I never complained to anybody. We didn’t complain. It wouldn’t have helped if we’d said anything. The captain would have told us to stay quiet.”[16] Although the police chief in charge of the Fylakio detention facility assured us he would investigate any allegation of ill-treatment brought forward by detainees, he added that he has never received any complaints.[17]

The EU’s Failure to Hold Greece Accountable

Human Rights Watch has repeatedly called on the European Union to hold Greece accountable for its violation of European asylum standards, including while recent arrests and transfers were still ongoing. Yet, despite having a mandate and a duty to enforce member states’ implementation of EU legislation, the European Commission  has not spoken out against Greece’s effective abolition of the right to seek asylum or to appeal rejected asylum claims, or its abusive detention and expulsions of migrants, including children. In fact, Jacques Barrot, vice-president of the European Commission responsible for justice, freedom, and security, was on an official visit to Greece when the new presidential decree was published that effectively eliminated the appeals procedure in violation of binding EU standards.

The European Commission’s failure to call publicly for Greece to remedy these serious violations of EU standards and European and international human rights and refugee law sends a worrying signal that abuses may go unchecked. It is vitally important for the Commission to take the opportunity of a new administration in Athens to press in the strongest terms for immediate and fundamental reform of Greece’s asylum system, meaningful access to protection, and an end to abuse.

The Commission should without delay issue a reasoned opinion on Greece’s current breaches of EU standards on asylum and migration, identifying the steps needed to bring Greece back into conformity with EU and human rights law. It should also make clear to Athens that unless the new government takes those steps, the Commission will refer its failure to uphold EU standards to the European Court of Justice.

In two reports published in 2008, Human Rights Watch further called on European governments to stop sending migrants and asylum seekers, including unaccompanied children, back to Greece under the Dublin II regulations. We concluded that Greece violated both EU standards and international human rights law by holding migrants in unacceptable detention conditions, by preventing persons in need of protection from seeking asylum, and by failing to protect unaccompanied migrant children.

Under the European Union’s Dublin II regulations, the country where a person first entered the EU is generally held responsible for examining that person’s asylum claim, whether or not the person applied there. While the Dublin II regulations are premised on the notion that all EU member states have comparable asylum and migration practices, there are wide disparities, with some countries like Greece effectively offering no protection at all. This disparity underscores the importance of reforming the Dublin system while at the same time ensuring that EU member states are held to account for their failure to respect their obligations under EU law.  Only then can the EU take meaningful steps toward creating a common European asylum system.

New Greek Government Should Take Urgent Action to Stop Abuses

Human Rights Watch calls on the new government in Greece to take urgent steps to end abuses against refugees and migrants, including children. We reiterate the recommendations we made to the-then Minister of Interior in August:

Issue a public statement committing the government to treating migrants apprehended in Greek territory in a humane and dignified manner. Guarantee all migrants unhindered access to the asylum procedure and protection from refoulement.

Immediately ensure that the practice of illegal expulsion across the Evros River be stopped; carry out an investigation leading to identification and levying of appropriate sanctions of officials involved in such illegal acts.

Rescind Presidential Decree 81/2009, create a functioning asylum system in which trained staff assess asylum claims on the basis of confidential and private interviews, and allow for a fair and independent review of appeals.

Refrain from detaining unaccompanied migrant children and from summarily deporting them without prior assessment of the risks they face upon return. Create sufficient number of care places for all unaccompanied migrant children in Greece. Consider the granting of temporary residence for unaccompanied children on humanitarian grounds, as provided for in article 44(c) of Law 3386/2005, to protect them from repeated arrest and detention until a durable solution in their best interests is found.

Close substandard detention centers and open new facilities ensuring adequate space, cleanliness, recreation, access to health care, and legal and family visitation necessary for humane conditions of detention. Migrants should only be detained as a last resort, when actual proceedings for their deportation are ongoing, and when it is the only method necessary to secure persons’ lawful deportation, and when the necessity of detaining them is subject to regular review, including by the judiciary. Asylum seekers should not be detained.

Ensure full access for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Human Rights Watch, and other reputable organizations to all migration detention facilities, Coast Guard vessels and facilities, and to entry and border points and the border region.

[1] Human Rights Watch telephone interview (S-15-09), September 28, 2009. (name withheld)

[2] Human Rights Watch telephone interview (S-16-09), September 29, 2009. (name withheld)

[3] Human Rights Watch, Greece/Turkey: Stuck in a Revolving Door: Iraqis and Other Asylum Seekers and Migrants at the Greece/Turkey Entrance to the European Union, November 2008, ISBN 1-56432-411-7, http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/11/26/stuck-revolving-door-0, p.6.

[4] Human Rights Watch interview (S-3-09), September 8, 2009. (name and place withheld)

[5] Human Rights Watch interview (S-5-09), September 8, 2009. (name and place withheld)

[6] Human Rights Watch interview with Marianna Tzeferakou and Danai Angeli, Athens, September 6, 2009.

[7] Email correspondence from Greek Council of Refugees to Human Rights Watch, August 21, 2008.

[8] Mubilanzila Mayeka and Kaniki Mitunga v. Belgium, (Application no. 13178/03), October 12, 2006, available at http://www.echr.coe.int/, para. 69.

[9] Human Rights Watch interview (S-11-09 and S-12-09), September 10, 2009 (names and place withheld). Human Rights Watch interview with (S-13-09), September 11, 2009 (name and place withheld). The European Court of Human Rights held in a recent judgment that detention conditions at Soufli border police station amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment. S.D. v. Greece, (Application no. 53541/07), June 11, 2009, available at http://www.echr.coe.int/, paras. 53-54.

[10] Human Rights Watch interview (S-2-09), September 7, 2009 (name and place withheld). Human Rights Watch interview (S-6-09), September 9, 2009. Human Rights Watch telephone interview (S-14-09), September 28, 2009 (name and place withheld).

[11] Human Rights Watch telephone interview (S-1-2009), August 20, 2009. Another detainee referred to the same incident (S-4-09).

[12] Human Rights Watch interview (S-3-09), September 8, 2009 (name and place withheld).

[13] Human Rights Watch interviews (S-2-09) September 7, 2009 (name and place withheld). Human Rights Watch interviews (S-6-09, S-7-09, S-8-09), September 9, 2009 (names and place withheld). Human Rights Watch interviews (S-11-09, S-12-09), September 10, 2009 (names and place withheld).

[14] Human Rights Watch interview (S-13-09), September 11, 2009 (name and place withheld).

[15] Human Rights Watch interview (S-3-09), September 8, 2009 (name and place withheld).

[16] Human Rights Watch interview (S-5-09), September 8, 2009 (name and place withheld).

[17] Human Rights Watch interview with Giorgos Salamagas, chief of police Orestiada, Fylakio detention center, September 10, 2009.

© Copyright 2008, Human Rights Watch

Nigerians protest against the police in Thessaloniki

adopted from http://www.enet.gr/?i=news.el.article&id=91539

Nigerians are infuriated because of the indifference of the Police

the Nigerian community in Thessaloniki is in ferment after the death of a 38 year old fellow Nigerian immigrant  who was hit by a car and died helpless on the pavement.

The 38 year old Victor Entokpai lost his life while going to work in the industrial area of Sindos at dawn last Friday and his compatriots, friends and relatives, denounce police’s inaction and racist behavior.

“If we hadn’t been Nigerian immigrants, the police would have reacted more quickly.  Now I think that they are indifferent ” said his widow Sandra,  Sandra, who arrived at the Thessaloniki courthouse holding in her hands her three minor children. “All I want is to find and punish the driver who dragged and left my husband,” she said.

Along with 40 other community members went to court not only to protest for Viktor’s death, but also to show their  solidarity to another community member who allegedly beat a police officer during an stop-and-search.  Brought against the prosecution for “mere bodily injury”, “contempt and resistance. Referred to the flagrant Three-Member Criminal Court where requested and obtained a postponement.

Tied and beaten: “humanitarian treatment” of refugees by police in Pharmakonisi

Photos taken this summer at Pharmakonisi, Aegean, published at Athens Indymedia by Syspeirosi Anarchikon.

Release for 1,200 illegal migrants from police holding cells, no deportation for immigrant’s children announced the Government

source: Kathimerini

Release for 1,200 illegal migrants

Citizens’ Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis yesterday announced the impending release of 1,200 illegal immigrants from police holding cells around the country while also heralding a overhaul of the coast guard and police force to deter traffickers from bringing would-be migrants to Greece.

The freed immigrants would be given a month to leave the country and offered financial incentives for their repatriation, the minister said, noting that migrants facing trial on criminal charges would not be subject to release.

Chrysochoidis said that more measures were in the pipeline, including the reform of legislation to ensure greater rights for the children of migrants. “Child migrants who have grown up in Greece and merit protection status will not be subject to deportation,” he said.

“First and foremost we want to discourage illegal entry but we must also drastically improve our country’s human rights record,” Chrysochoidis told reporters following talks with top police and navy officials. The minister added that Greece would “no longer be a free-for-all but neither a hell pit for human souls.” To this end, and in an apparent reaction to complaints lodged against Greece by international rights groups earlier this week, Chrysochoidis also heralded the creation of a police department that would probe alleged rights violations by officers. The plan is for the unit to operate in cooperation with the Ombudsman, Giorgos Kaminis, who last week highlighted the problem of illegal immigration when he appeared at the new government’s first ministerial meeting.

Chrysochoidis said another priority would be reorganizing the coast guard with the aim of intensifying sea patrols and curbing a relentless influx of migrants to islands in the eastern Aegean.

Earlier this week, the European Union’s border-monitoring agency Frontex reported a 47 percent increase in the number of illegal immigrants entering Greece through its sea border with Turkey. This sharp increase came even as Italy and Spain, also external EU border states, reported a 60 percent drop in illegal arrivals partly due to repatriation agreements signed with Libya and Senegal respectively.

and a short announcement commenting on this at Athens Indymedia

“Amnesty” a ploy by “antiauthoritarian” PASOK

“Amnesty” for 1200 administratively detained immigrants  promised the minister “protector of citizens” M. Chrisochoïdis; they will be given one month to leave the country as well as financial incentives!

The “sensitive” and “humanitarian” measures can not hide the real intentions of the dominants.   This is in principle the implementation of plans of their predecessors, Pavlopoulos-Markogiannakis, which is done with the knowledge that, among other things, for many immigrant detainees deportation was impossible or their detention would have to cease with legal acrtion and in that case as well they would have to leave the country within one month all the same.

At the same time “virtue operations” [police raids] are still conducted on a large scale in many areas of Attica, which leaves no doubt that  this will be transferred in the so-called historic center of Athens with intensity.  The detention centers, then, are drained only to be quickly refilled, when the center of Athens will be evacuated this time for good from the immigrant  ”taint”.

The idea is to directly demonstrate the “effectiveness” of a government which strugges from the early start to look “different”.  This is  ”amnesty” to “criminal” undocumented migrants, which ensures social approval for broader repressive approaches that appear to be in the pipeline.

The same trick of  ”social amnesty” was applied by PASOK and A. Papandreou in 1981 who released many prisoners of minor penalties.

(Published by Syspeirosi Anarchikon)

www.anarchypress.gr

Revolt in Pagani last Saturday

from no border lesvos 09

Revolts, revolts

After the last revolt, we didn’t receive much news from Pagani. But now, there is this bit which we would like to share with you:

Last Saturday there was a revolt in Pagani. The prisonners set fire in their cell and the police was forced to open the door and put out the fire, so that the prisoners would not suffocate. 3 prisoners had to be brought to hospital. The prisoners’ demands are to be registered and to be set free and not to be kept imprisonned some more and some less long.

went tolast night 14/10 there was once more a revolt in pagani. Women and men started it. The prisononers said that the police hit two prisoners and took them away, probably to the police jail. The policemen told the prisnoners that everytime a revolt starts they will take two
people out of them to prison. Even if they did not take part in the revolt.

Last week a woman was brought to Pagani after giving birth, and was set free after three days only because of the pressure from outside.

Today the jungest prisoner is a mere30 days old.

The police together with the local authorities is responsible for the punishing attitude towards the prisoners, responsible for the imprisonment of minors and women and children.

No Deportations to Baghdad campaigns

source: http://no-racism.net/article/3143

No Deportations to Baghdad

On Thursday, 15. Oct 2009, early morning, a specially chartered plane provided by Air Italy deported 39 people from London to Baghdad. Activists call for a demonstration on Saturday and a campaign against Air Italy.

Message from the campaigning group Stop Deportation

The first deportation to Baghdad deported around forty people early on Thursday the 15th October on a specially chartered plane provided by Air Italy. This marks a shift in government policy which since 2005 has sent people back to Iraqi Kurdistan but not to Iraq. Now they have begun, deportations to Iraq are sure to continue putting the lives of many in danger.

Demonstrate on Saturday to build
resistance to deportations to Iraq!
Saturday 17 October 2009, 2pm
Parliament Square, London

Deporting people to a war zone like Iraq puts the lives of many deportees at risk. As recently as the 11th October, three car bombs exploded in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, killing at least 19 people. Violence and bloodshed continue throughout the country, which saw 1,891 civilian deaths in the first six months of this year alone. There are also widespread food shortages, lack of access to clean drinking water and other grave humanitarian crises in many areas.

The British government, through its participation in the war on and occupation of Iraq since 2003, is responsible for these crises and the consequent displacement of millions of Iraqis. Instead of helping accommodate refugees fleeing war and violence, it is now sending them back en masse to face their possible death. Charter flight deportations in particular limit detainees legal recourse and are especially violent – see :: stopdeportation.net for more information.

We call upon all groups, organisations and individuals opposed to this brutal action by the UK government to stand with us in calling for all deportations to Iraq to be stopped. Join us to demonstrate against mass deportations to Iraq this Saturday the 17th October, at 2pm, at Parliament Square.

If you would like to add your or your organisation’s name to a :: statement against deportations to Iraq, or for any further information, please emailstopdeportation (at) riseup.net.

Campaign Against Air Italy

Air Italy was involved in the forcible removal by a charter flight leased to UK Border Agency of 39 Iraqi’s who had sought asylum in the UK, to an unknown destination in Iraq on Wednesday 14th October from Stansted Airport in the United Kingdom.

The :: National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns call for protests against the deportation airline. :: Details and model letter here.

print version

Events is Nikaia, Athens, following the demonstration in memory ofMohamed Karman Atif and against state murders

All texts copied below from libcom.org, submitted by taxiki pali.

More updates and photos at http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/

Athens anti-torture demo leads to clashes and occupation of city hall

The city hall of Nikea, an industrial and prominently communist suburb of Athens, is under occupation since Saturday 17/10 afternoon by anarchists demanding the release of people arrested during clashes with riot police outside the police department where a Pakistani immigrant, Mohamed Karman Atif, was tortured by beating and electric shocks ileading to his death last week

The demo, organised by several anarchist collectives, marched to the police station, where it was confronted by strong riot police forces. The protesters tried to break through the blockade by throwing stones to the police. In the clashes that ensued several people were detained, out of which some are being reported as arrested and charged.

The protesters then regathered and occupied the city hall in a surprise move. The mayor of the suburb, a Communist Party (KKE) cadre, has visited the occupied city hall and has declared that the police should by no means attempt to evacuate the 300 protesters who remain in it, nor arrest anyone leaving the premises.

What follows is the first communique of the occupied city hall:

Communique of the Occupied City Hall of Nikea
400 protesters gathered today October 17 in the streets of Nikea in a march of rage against the recent assassination of the 25 year old pakistani immigrant Mohamed Karman Atif by torture in the police station of Nikea, a march called by anarchist collectives and a local assembly of the area. We crossed the main streets of the area, from the house of the murdered man and moved towards the police station. Strong riot police forces (MAT) and motorised police forces (Z-team) that “accompanied the demo have proved the official stance of the now Socialist Ministry of Public Order (Ministry of Citizens Protection): whitewashing and protecting torturers murderers, the police occupation of the area. All that was happening will continue as normal: beatings, torture, humiliations in all the police stations of the country. During the protest march there was strong rain. But what rained near the police station of Nikea was not just water drops. The riot police brigade blocking the way to the police station received a rain of stones. The organised continuation of the march and the retreat from the hot-spot was hampered by a combined force of riot policemen at the back and on the sides of the march. Our defenses held, while locals from the sidewalks swore and verbally attacked the police army of occupation. Yet, in a cloud of tear gas and glob attacks some got cut off from the march and as a result they were detained. The march was completed in the location perivolaki, as planned and given the detentions a great number of the protesters moved to occupy the city hall demanding the immediate release of the hostage comrades. Some people who decided to leave were stopped by motorised police forces and were also detained. The exact number of detentions is yet not known, but is certainly double-digit. The process of arrest has already started for some. This is the apex of the new state dogma of “democracy and strength” as announced by the new minster of Public Order Michalis Chrisochoidis against the world of the insurgency and anyone potentially resisting. It is like two days ago during the demo of the Perama shipyard workers and unemployed at the Ministry of Labour. It is like the now police-occupied Exarcheia. It is like the recent persecutions of high-school occupations. It will be the same with the dockworkers of Peiraeus who are against the sell-out to COSCO, or the 1,400 workers of the Skaramangas shipyards threatened to be sacked.Police barbarity is only the repressive side of state-capitalist barbarity: oppression, exploitation, subjugation, death. The new political management’s main role is to manage the social dimension of the crisis of our times: the all-expanding disobedience to and clash with the demands of political and economic power. There is no place for illusions. No change will come from no new government. This has always been the case.State terrorism continues and with it continues the struggle for social and individual liberation, for a free world without power.

Immediate release of detained protesters!
Removal of all accusations against them!
Immediate retreat of all police forces from the neighborhoods of Nikea and from around the city hall!
The assembly of the occupied city hall of Nikea.

An update:

5 out of the 8 arrested protesters who were led to the courts today are being charged under the “anti-hood” law of the previous government which transforms any breach of the law into a criminal offence if the court accepts that the protesters were wearing hoods or covering their faces. This means that any breach of the law “under a hood” can be punished by maximum 10 years imprisonment. Given that many anarchists in greece wear hoods as a symbol of their ideology this is considered to be a re-activation of the 1930s “idionimo” which imprisoned and exiled people of communist convictions. The parody of justice is even more apparent by the fact that in the day of the march it was raining, so penalising wearing a hood is more or less a conviction to illness or a prohibition of protest in winter conditions.

It is the first time that the onerous anti-hood law is being applied.

As a result, the occupation of the Nikea city hall holds strong.
It must be noted that bourgeois media have imposed a total black-out on the events, pointing out that the Minister of Public Order, who was decorated by the CIA in 2003 for his anti-guerrilla operations, has activated his old methods of “media guidelines”, i.e. censorship on issues of human rights and civil order that might be harmful to the government.

Workers support city hall occupation in Nikea

The municipal workers association of Nikea stand in solidarity with anarchists occupying the city hall since Saturday.

As the occupation of the city hall of Nikea enters its third day, the support of locals so visual during the protest march regarding the police torture and death of Mohamed Karman Atif, which led to serious clashes with the police and 8 arrests last Saturday 17/10, has been expressed in a communique by the municipal worker’s association of Nikea.

Communique of Workers Association of the municipality of Nikea about murder–detentions-occupation

Nikea City Hall is occupied by anarchist groups from the afternoon of Saturday after a protest, for the death of the unfortunate Pakistani immigrant that took place in the Police Station of Nikea.

The Workers Association demands that the forces of repression leave from within the boundaries of the historic City of Nikea. The occupation of the City Hall by the protesters is a political act, and the attempt to criminalise it is unacceptable and undemocratic.

The workers of Kokkinia [red neighborhood] disapprove strongly the attack of the forces of repression against the demonstrators and the mindless use of chemical gasses in a densely populated area. The police rule imposed cannot intimidate protesters and workers.

We demand the immediate clarification of the case of the death of our fellow human being, the immigrant. We call the Minister of Protection of Citizens [Minister of Public Order] to deal himself with this dark case and not attempt to conceal or whitewash this tragic case.

The Association of Workers protests strongly against xenophobia and racism that extreme-right centers and para-centers are trying to impose on Greek society.

WE DEMAND

-THE REPRESSION FORCES NOT TO RAID THE NIKEA CITY HALL.

-THE IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF THE POLICE FORCES FROM WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE CITY OF NIKEA.

-THE CLARIFICATION OF THE CASE OF THE DEATH OF THE PAKISTANI IMMIGRANT.

-THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF GREEK POLICE AND THE FIRING OF EXTREME-RIGHT ELEMENTS IN ITS RANKS.

Political refugees from Iran hunger strike in Athens

HUNGER STRIKE UNTIL WE ARE FREE!

We are political refugees from Iran, protected by the special status from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. We cannot return to Iran because we face the danger of imprisonment nor can we go legally to another country.

Although we are re recognised as political refugees, the Greek state refuses to give us our legal rights and at the same time gets funds from the European Union without using this money to support the refugees.

We demand the international regulations to be implemented and the Greek state give us all the required papers (white card, travel documents).

We request the help and the support of individuals and organisations in Greece and all other european countries.

We go on a hunger strike on Monday 19 October, in Propylaia, Athens protesting peacefully until the satisfaction of our demands.

source:athens indymedia

Arrested for protesting against flagrant brutality. A petition against police violence.

source/SIGN THE PETITION AT:

http://www.petitiononline.com/nomadic1/petition.html

To:  The Greek Minister of Citizen Protection

Following the December revolts in Greece, police violence against migrants and activists in Greece is becoming more and more intense. The xenophobic turn of the mainstream media combined with the electoral rise of the extreme right wing party LAOS have played a vital role in legitimizing police violence against both foreigners and citizens who dare to protest. Ironically these tactics are part of an overall plan to “protect the citizen” by openly demonstrating the ability of the state to control those who participated in the December revolts. While “scoop” operations and deportations take place daily all over the country subjecting migrants to different forms of physical and psychological violence, activists who react against it are also becoming subject to the arbitrary violent and terrorizing tactics of the police. Recently Mohamed Kamran Atif, a migrant from Pakistan, has died after being tortured in detention at the police station of Nikaia. During the protest march organized in response, several activists were arrested and imprisoned.

Few days later Dimitris Parsanoglou, a sociologist and anti-racist activist, has been arrested and detained without a legal representative for three days because he protested against the arbitrary arrest and beating by the police of a migrant in a central spot of Athens.

We ask from the Greek government to

- stop police violence against migrants and activists

- stop “scoop” operations and arbitrary deportations of migrants

- stop arbitrary arrests and imprisonment of activists of all nationalities

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

View Current Signatures

The Stop police violence against migrants and activists in Greece Petition to The Greek Minister of Citizen Protection was created by and written by Nomadic Universality(phatzopoulos@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service.

“OUT THE BACK DOOR”: REPORT ON ILLEGAL DEPORTATIONS FROM GREECE

Based on evidence gathered during investigations in Greece, Turkey and Iraq between April and

September 2009, and corroborated by reports and fi ndings of international human rights

monitoring bodies and NGOs, we argue that the principle of non-refoulement is severely

threatened by the Greek practice of illegal deportations, and consequently by transfers of asylum

seekers to Greece under the Dublin II Regulation.

In this report we present specifi c instances of illegal deportations by the Greek authorities of

persons with pending asylum cases, as well as of other groups. Such deportations take place in

such an arbitrary manner that there is no basis for claiming that Dublin returnees enjoy a higher

degree of protection than others.Out the Back Door:

Report by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC), the Norwegian Organisation for Asylum Seekers (NOAS) and Aitima.

The report is available here.

Out the Back Door:  Dublin II Regulation and illegal deportations from Greece

Based on evidence gathered during investigations in Greece, Turkey and Iraq between April and September 2009, and corroborated by reports and fi ndings of international human rights monitoring bodies and NGOs, we argue that the principle of non-refoulement is severely threatened by the Greek practice of illegal deportations, and consequently by transfers of asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin II Regulation.

In this report we present specifi c instances of illegal deportations by the Greek authorities of persons with pending asylum cases, as well as of other groups. Such deportations take place in such an arbitrary manner that there is no basis for claiming that Dublin returnees enjoy a higher degree of protection than others.

UNHCR delegation visits Pagani, Lesvos, urges closure

source: http://www.unhcr.org/print/4ae1af146.html

PAGANI DETENTION CENTRE, Greece, October 23 (UNHCR) – A UNHCR delegation has called for a crowded migrant detention centre on the Greek island of Lesvos to be closed after visiting the facility with a senior government official.

More than 700 men, women and children are packed into the Pagani centre, which lacks space and adequate hygiene and sanitation facilities to cope with such a large number of people, many of whom might be asylum-seekers and thus of concern to the UN refugee agency.

“Freedom, freedom, freedom,” the detainees chanted, as Deputy Citizens’ Protection Minister Spyros Vougias and the UNHCR delegation, led by Giorgos Tsarbopoulos, visited the facility on Thursday.

Both men condemned the poor conditions, which included about 200 women and children living in one ward with just two toilets and one shower. They saw damp mattresses soiled by water leaking from the toilets.

Deputy Minister Vougias, visiting Pagani during his first week in office, apologized to the detainees, who are mainly from Afghanistan and Somalia. “What I have seen today is a human tragedy, with conditions in which no human being should be kept,” he said.

“There is an urgent need to release vulnerable groups,” the minister stressed, while pledging that the government would improve the processing of new arrivals and work to ensure better living conditions.

Tsarbopoulos, head of the UNHCR office in Greece, said Pagani “should be shut down,” adding that the situation there reflected the impasse of policies applied at entry points, which led to people being detained.

He said UNHCR recommended that appropriate reception facilities, with screening mechanisms and expert staff, should be established at entry points, including islands like Lesvos which faces Turkey. These would help identify people in need of international protection and afford them special care.

“In parallel, drastic changes to the asylum system should be immediately introduced and the relevant responsibilities should be removed from the police and transferred to a political body,” Tsarbopoulos said, adding that he hoped the government’s commitment to improvement would result in concrete action.

Some 5,500 irregular migrants and asylum-seekers were detained in Lesvos during the first eight months of this year after crossing from Turkey, compared to more than 13,000 in 2008 and 6,100 in 2007. Most originated from conflict-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia.

By Ketty Kehayioylou in Pagani Detention Centre, Greece

“As the Vice Minister turned his back” – Pagani Update

source and more photos here

A few days ago, news arrived about the vice Minister visiting Pagani, describing it with the words “Dantes Inferno”. Today, our faithful source in Mytilini reports about new revolts in the Detention Center of Pagani.

Today the revolts in Pagani started again. After the Vice Minister of internal affairs visited Pagani two days ago, the violent habits returned to Pagani. Prisoners reported about a huge police brutality after the visit. Some of the prisoners where calls out, one after the other, to the prison Jard. There they where badly beaten by the police. The prisoners felt save, telling the vice Minister about there situation, but in the end there where punished for there statements in front of the visitor. A complain against the police was made by the prisoners.

A group of estimated 70 people was freed today. It was upsetting for some who are imprisoned in the detention Center of Pagani for more then 25 days. Another revolt started. on one point one of the cells was set on fire. for a long time none, aside from the prisoners,reacted in direction of turning off the fire. Not the Gard not the police. Fireman arrived around one hour after the fire started.
The Atmosphere in the detention Center is very tense. The people inside are serious about there demand to be freed. They will continue with there protest for freedom until the Detention Center is finally closed.

Also, a little video.

At least eight refugees drown in the Aegean – one more unspeakable tragedy

source: associated press

8 Afghan immigrants drown as boat sinks in Greece

By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS
Associated Press Writer

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A small boat loaded with Afghan families smashed onto the rocks and sank off an island in the Aegean Sea on Tuesday, causing three immigrant women and five children to drown.

The deadly accident highlighted the plight of thousands of migrants who risk their lives every year to reach the European Union.

Athens accused neighboring Turkey, from where the vessel set off, of doing little to stop thousands of illegal immigrants from arriving in Greece. Human rights groups, however, urged Greece to improve its treatment of migrants and its handling of asylum applications.

The coast guard said high waves swept the flimsy boat with 18 on board onto a rocky shore on Lesvos. Seven men, a woman and a child – all Afghans – swam ashore and were hospitalized for observation.

One of the 10 survivors, only identified as a Turkish man, was arrested on smuggling charges.

Under Greece’s tough immigration laws, traffickers involved in fatal accidents face life terms and a minimum euro500,000 ($750,000) fine.

Later Tuesday, the coast guard rescued another 45 illegal immigrants found abandoned on an uninhabited islet off the island of Anafi in the southeastern Aegean.

Lying only five miles (eight kilometers) from Turkey’s western shore, Lesvos is one of the main points of arrival for illegal immigrants, who use rickety boats to slip through a porous sea border dotted with hundreds of islands.

Deputy Citizen’s Protection Minister Spyros Vougias said the incident merited an official complaint to Turkey.

“We need a solution to the problems Turkey causes by tolerating the actions of human traffickers,” he said. “There must be an end to this slave trade.”

Greece also wants more support from other EU members and has begun receiving assistance from the bloc’s new border protection agency, Frontex.

“Every day, Greek authorities have to handle the security of 300-400 people seeking a safe destination in Greece,” Citizen’s Protection Minister Michalis Chryssochoides said. “We lack sufficient infrastructure, funds and cross-border cooperation.”

Some 5,500 people were detained on Lesvos in the first eight months of this year, compared to more than 13,000 in 2008.

Often fleeing war zones in Asia and Africa, the migrants pay thousands of dollars to smuggling gangs for a long and perilous journey to the west. Accidents at sea are frequent, while migrants trying to enter by land from Turkey face border minefields that have claimed at least 82 lives since 1994.

A spokeswoman for the United Nations refugee agency said Tuesday’s drownings showed that migrants from war-torn countries are not deterred by strict anti-migration policies.

“As long as there are wars and violations of human rights, people will continue to be desperate and risk their lives,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokeswoman Ketty Kehagioglou said.

Kehagioglou urged the government to improve the screening process for asylum seekers and create better migrant holding facilities.

She said UNCHR officials who visited the Pagani center on Lesvos last weekend saw some 700 people held in “appalling, outrageous” conditions.

“In one ward, there were more than 200 women and children with only 2 toilets,” Kehagioglou said. “Their mattresses were soiled with water from the toilets and the smell was unbearable.”

The Socialist government, elected three weeks ago, has pledged to improve migrants’ rights.

—

Associated Press Writer Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki contributed to this report.

Survivor of boat-accident imprisoned in Pagani!

Report from Lesvos antira ‘09.  Links to posts of this blog with frequent updates and photos on Lesvos situation are on the right sidebar.

10 people survived boat accident

Published on 27. October 2009.

A boat with 18 refugees drowned tonight close to Lesvos, Greece. This is what the Media reports about.

18 refugees crosed the sea between Turkey and Greece with a Boat. The sea was very stormy tonight. The boat crashed against a rock and the boat drowned. Some fisherman rescued them, for eight people the rescue came to late.

The Media makes it look like there has been a storm tonight. But in fact the sea was very calm around Lesvos.

Our source in Lesvos reported that some of the survivors are still in the hospital, the minors are accommodated in a Hotel in Mytilini, Lesvos and one man is in Pagani.

My name is Arif Khani Soldier. My wife, my daughter and me survived the accident. My family is in the hospital but they brought me here to the prison. I can not see or talk to them.

Palestinian minors and other refugees tortured in Greece

A long report on the situation by The Palestine Telegraph

SOS Palestinian minors and other refugees tortured in Greece – 5 women 3 children drowned in Aegean

Greece, October 27, 2009 (Pal Telegraph) -

The photo is from the 17 year old Palestinian victim (from "Eleytherotypia" newspaper)

A 17 year old Palestinian has accused his guards of brutally beating him, in the Pagani “detention center” for immigrants without papers, in the island of Lesvos, close to Turkey. The incident happened just a few hours after the vice minister of the newly named “Ministry of Protection of the citizens” has visited the place and expressed his indignation over the living conditions of hundreds of immigrants stuffed in an old depot transformed to a nasty prison. The vice-minister left, the newspapers wrote articles about how much the new “socialist” government cares about human rights, and the policemen punished the immigrants and refugees that dared to denounce their ill treatment to the vice-minister by torturing them even more!

“Shut down Pagani, shut down all detention camps!” march in Mytilene

Solidarity with Immigrants march

Today, Friday, October 30, 18.00

Sapphous Sq., Mytilene, Lesvos