The 17-years old refugee died of a gunshot

Contrary to the claims made by the port police (that the young refugee died because of suffocation), the doctor in charge of Symi medical centre stated that the young refugee death was most probably caused by the gunshot he received.

15 year-old refugee dead during port police operation in the Greek island of Symi

A 15 year old refugee was, according to initial reports, shot and killed when port authority and FRONTEX officers stopped a boat with refugees in the southeastern Aegean island of Symi.

An officer and a suspected smuggler were also injured during the incident on Saturday noon.

According to reports, the port authorities identified a boat approaching Greek territorial waters carrying suspected undocumented immigrants. Then, there was an exchange of fire, during which the young refugee was killed.

Update: Port authorities unofficially say that the 15-years old refugee was already dead because of suffocation.

71 refugees found dead in truck in Austria

71 refugees have been found dead in a truck in Austria, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Balkan leaders gathered in Vienna to decide on how to tackle together “the biggest migration crisis to hit Europe since World War II”.

The vehicle was found on a parking strip off the highway in Burgenland state, police spokesman Hans Peter Doskozil said at a Thursday press conference with Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner.

Statement & information about the situation of the refugees & immigrants in Kos Island

Once, a long time ago, but not so far so as to pretend we have forgotten about it, thousands of people – familiar faces, and even more familiar names – began their trail seeking a better tomorrow. They were crammed up in trains, welcomed by hostile police squads, registered by authorities, slept in areas unfit even for animals, worked the worst jobs – and to top it all, they were branded as subhumans, scum and blackheads, so they would be belittled as workers, and become dispossessed as human beings.

Presently, the history of refugees and immigrants – which never ceased to exist, since states, nations and wars are ever present – is going through a revival, only this time, we are on the other side of the sea, awaiting the arrival of scores of thousands of migrants, risking their lives to cross the borders of Europe; a Europe that is culpable for what goes on in the lands these people left behind. With its army scattered all over the world, and in league with every authoritative powers-that-be residing in these areas, usurping resources and soils for centuries, Europe remembers its security whenever there is a price to pay for the choices it has made. How else could it be, when its policy, stretching from the English Channel to the shores of the Dodecanese, aims to devaluate human existence until it reaches bottom, and to promote a denigrated workforce in order to fill in the vacancies of its hemorrhaging industry?

In this context, it is not at all surprising that the “first time left” government passes the buck further away, being essentially indifferent to what will become of the immigrants, and attempting – in vain – to put on a charitable face. The hollow labors of this government, and mostly the attitude of its police (see police violence, money paid under the table, cover-ups of illegal acts in the process of looking after its own etc.), proves that all the above are true beyond any shadow of doubt. Besides, the Greek army continues, even in financially difficult times, to maintain its presence in twelve countries, based on the strategic needs of a state that never strays far from its militaristic humble beginnings.

The expression of a misanthropic and racist speech from the part of the municipal authorities is also unsurprising; whenever their façade cracks, all rhetoric about human rights disappears, the city’s public toilets are closed, the water is turned off, and their previous attitude is replaced by a far right discourse (“recapturing the city”, “there will be blood”, “not even water…”) typical of European governments; and neonazis, bulked-up thugs and other invertebrates are being paid to clean up the parks by force, dispersing threats all around.