Alarm Phone Weekly Report 14-20 March 2016‏

Dear all

Please find below and attached the latest Alarm Phone Weekly Report:
http://alarmphone.org/en/2016/03/20/the-week-that-europe-agrees-on-inhumane-deal-with-turkey-many-die-at-sea/?post_type_release_type=post


Please spread widely. Best, Maurice

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The week that Europe agrees on inhumane deal with Turkey, many die at sea

Alarm Phone Weekly Report 14-20 March 2016

On the 18th of March 2016, the EU and its 28 member states agreed on a
deal with Turkey that would systematically put into practice collective
expulsions of all those arriving in Greece in an ‘irregular’ manner. In
return for future visa-free travel for Turkish citizens and 6 billion of
Euros, the Turkish government agreed to accept the forceful return of
survivors of sea crossings back to Turkish territory. In its desperate
attempts to deter migration movements, the EU continues to further
externalise its border and declares Turkey a ‘safe country’. Turkey,
whose government is waging war internally against the Kurdish population
and political opponents, would thus become a de facto prison for
millions of refugees
(http://w2eu.info/greece.en/articles/greece-turkey-deal.en.html).

The ‘one in, one out’ deal, where the EU agreed to resettle one Syrian
refugee from within Turkey for one refugee to be returned after
surviving the sea crossing, is not merely cynical and in violation of
international human rights conventions and European law, it seems also
wholly unfeasible as past relocation programmes have clearly
demonstrated. More than that, the Greek islands and the installed EU
‘hotspots’ that were once envisioned as registration and identification
facilities have now turned into sites of closed detention and
pre-removal. As a result, the UNHCR has suspended some of their
activities in the hotspots on Greek islands, stating that ‘the UNHCR is
not a party to the EU-Turkey deal, nor will we be involved in returns or
detention’ (http://www.unhcr.org/56f10d049.html).

The EU-Turkey deal came into effect on the 20th of March and we can
already see direct consequences: On Saturday, Greek police forces began
on Lesvos and Chios to coerce thousands of refugees onto ferries that
would return them to Turkey. Refugees had to pay for the ferry tickets
themselves and NGOs and organisations were told to leave the Greek
islands. Through this deal, not only those who were deemed to be not in
need of protection, including those from Pakistan, Morocco, Algeria and
elsewhere, but also those considered in need, for example from Syria,
are now forcefully returned
(http://bordermonitoring.eu/griechenland/2016/03/eu-tuerkei-deal-und-seine-folgen/#more-1478).
The right to asylum which, in any case, should not be determined by
nationality but on an individual basis, becomes increasingly undermined.

As always, people will not cease to try to overcome border obstacles but
these obstacles are now becoming even more violent and deadly. What this
EU-Turkey deal means, in practice, was vividly captured in videos,
showing vicious attacks of Turkish coastguards on refugee vessels. One
incident was captured by the travellers themselves, who filmed how
Turkish coastguards attacked them with a long pole at sea. On the 18th
of March, a video showed a 40 minute long attack by two Turkish
coastguard vessels, one trying to disable the engine with a pole while
the other one seemed to be trying to flood and capsize the vessel
(http://migrantreport.org/turkish-coastguard-attack-fleeing-refugee-boat/).
These scenes are the result of this deal, the direct effect of EU
governments trying to deter migrant mobilities. The travellers of the
second boat struggled on, escaped and finally reached Greece. However,
they could have easily been murdered in the attacks.

During the past week, our Alarm Phone members were alerted to 15
distress situations in the Aegean Sea. In two cases we had to directly
witness the deadliness of Europe’s borders. On the 19th of March, we
were alerted to a boat east of Lesvos, still in Turkish waters. The
travellers informed us that two people had fallen into the water. It
took the Turkish coastguards more than an hour to arrive at the scene
and even when they arrived they did not act immediately. The dead body
of one of the refugees, an 8 year old boy, was found while the other
person remains missing. Both Turkish and Greek authorities concluded
their searches. How can it be that the coastguard’s capacities are now
deployed for forceful interceptions and attacks on refugee boats rather
than rescue operations? How many people will drown as a direct consequence?

On the 20th of March, our shift teams were told about a group of 45
people who had reached the Greek island of Ro. Shortly before arriving,
the boat capsized. While most of them were able to swim ashore, two
young girls disappeared. In anxious exchanges with the group, they
informed us that they were still searching the water for the girls. When
the Greek coastguards arrived, they could recover only their dead
bodies. Two other refugees died after suffering heart attacks when
arriving on Lesvos
(http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/three-baby-syrian-refugee-girls-drown-between-turkey-greece.aspx?pageID=238&nid=96664,
http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2016/03/20/two-refugee-baby-girls-drowned-on-first-day-of-eu-turkey-deal/).

We cannot find words to express our anger, grief and disbelief about
these current developments in the Aegean region. More forceful than
ever, the EU deploys every means available to deter migration movements
and, in the process, is responsible for the unabated dying at sea, and
human rights violations within and beyond European territory on a mass
scale. These new policies of deterrence will not remain unopposed.
Calling for the opening of the Greek-Macedonian border, a refugee tried
to self-immolate in Idomeni
(http://uk.reuters.com/news/picture/self-immolation-in-idomeni?articleId=UKRTSBNPM).
Protests have also spread on the islands against forceful deportations
and for the right to the freedom of movement
(http://infomobile.w2eu.net/2016/03/22/detention-deportation-centre-vial-on-chios-island-hurria-means-freedom/).
We will continue to struggle against Europe’s shameful actions in these
dark times and we stand in solidarity with those who are directly
affected by these murderous policies and who fight to cross borders.



Summaries of Alarm Phone cases, 14-20 March 2016

Our weekly report can also be found on our Alarm Phone website:

http://alarmphone.org/en/2016/03/20/the-week-that-europe-agrees-on-inhumane-deal-with-turkey-many-die-at-sea/?post_type_release_type=post

On Monday the 14th of March 2016, our Alarm Phone shift team was alerted
to one distress situation in the Aegean region, near Chios Island. At
6.48am we received coordinates of a vessel in distress through our
Syrian activist allies. We learned that there were 41 people on the
vessel, including 17 children, and they had problems with reigniting
their engine. They were still in Turkish waters, on their way to Chios.
We established contact to the vessel at 7.20am but communication was
difficult due to the noisy wind. Shortly afterwards we received the
confirmation that they had been brought back to Turkey by the Turkish
coastguards (see: http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/476).

On Thursday the 17th of March 2016, at 10.20pm, our shift team was
alerted by activist Nawal Soufi to a vessel in distress. She forwarded
coordinates of a vessel that was on its way to Chios but still in
Turkish waters, as well as a phone number of passengers on that vessel.
We immediately reached out to the boat-people but could not reach them.
We then tried to contact them via WhatsApp which was also not possible.
Due to the limited information we tried to retrieve more details from
Nawal but she was unable to send us any further information. […] At
11.52pm the activist group United Rescue informed us about a boat that
was said to have capsized near Chios. The coordinates they had differed
so that it is hard to tell whether this was the same boat in question.
Shortly after midnight they told us that the boat they had heard about
had safely reached Chios. At 00.33am, we finally heard back from the
boat-people. They wrote ‘thank god’ and later ‘I’m fine’. We asked
whether they had all reached the island safely but we did not receive a
response. We tried to call the number but it was not reachable. Then, at
00.45am, someone from the Nawal activist group informed us that the boat
was safe. At 00.48am we again received WhatsApp messages from the
boat-people, suggesting that they were fine. (see:
http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/480).

On Friday the 18th of March 2016, our Alarm Phone shift teams were
alerted to 5 distress cases in the Aegean region. One vessel on its way
to Chios was able to reach the island independently while two vessels
were rescued by coastguards. Two groups had stranded on Pasas Island and
were later found and transferred to Chios (see:
http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/481).

On Saturday the 19th of March 2016, our Alarm Phone shift teams were
alerted to 5 emergency situations in the Aegean region. The travellers
on two boats were brought to Greece while those on three other boats
were returned to Turkey. In one distress case, following the account of
the travellers, 2 people went missing and later we learned that the dead
body of one person was found and identified. One group had stranded on
Pasas Island and were later found and transferred off the island (see:
http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/482).

On Sunday the 20th of March 2016, our Alarm Phone shift teams were
alerted to 3 emergency situations in the Aegean region. One group had
stranded on Pasas Island and needed support. They were presumably later
transferred to Chios Island. One vessel in distress in Turkish waters
was found and rescued by the Turkish coastguards. Another group had
nearly reached Ro Island when their vessel flipped over and the group
had to swim ashore. The Greek coastguards later found and transferred
the group but two young girls could not be rescued, they had passed away
already (see: http://watchthemed.net/reports/view/483).