Libya, currently at the forefront of the EU's policy to stop unsanctioned migration into southern Europe, has begun mass forced deportations of Nigerians. In the past 5 days over 600 Nigerians have been flown back to Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
The deportees come mainly from the Zamwia-Zamzu prison in Tripoli and had been move to a camp at Sahba in the centre of the country prior to removal.. According to one migrant, "We were given the option to voluntarily buy our air tickets and return to Nigeria. But some of us who don't have money were given free tickets and deported to Nigeria. Each day since September 1, 2009 the Libyan authorities have been deporting 140 people from Sahba Camp alone."
"We were beaten like animals; treated like outcasts; and condemned to death even before any proper prosecution process could take place. More than 200 of us were packed inside a room like frozen fish," another said.
"We were lucky to be alive. We were beaten, treated like slaves, but we thank God that we were not summarily executed. Many Nigerians have been so killed and as we are talking many will still be killed." The claim that Libya has subjected 'illegal' migrants to summary execution has been denied by the Libyan authorities but rumours are rife amongst the migrants populations and, Libya has a long history of prison brutality and summary executions. Just a month ago at Benghazi prison, 6 Somali detainees were killed and more than 50 others injured in a mass stabbing incident when prison guards armed with batons and knives tried to prevent a mass escape.
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Denmark, Migration & Islamophobia
Yesterday Denmark deported 22 Iraqis, a number of whom had been among the 19 asylum seekers arrested during the violent eviction of Brorson's Church in Copenhagen on 13 August. Eighty migrants, which included a number of families with children, had sought shelter in the church in May after having their asylum applications refused, some had already been deported by the time of the eviction and it is and it is understood that the remaining women and children were able to escape during the confusion on the raid.
The early morning eviction had apparently been negotiated with church authorities and the police had promised the raid would be peaceful. The police however trashed the church's interior and their violent tactics spilled out on to the street where over 300 protesters, many from the migrants support group Kirkeasyl, were beaten, peppersprayed and arrested during a sitdown blockade to try and prevent the bus containing the migrants leaving. Running battles between the police and protesters also continued for a number of hours afterwards. [Video]
Denmark has some of Europe's most repressive immigration laws, all introduced since the 2001 election of the right-wing coalition led by Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Liberal Party won control by pledging to reduce immigration (under the slogan "refugees must not become immigrants") and lower taxes. One member of the coalition is the ultranationalist Dansk Folkeparti (DPP), the country's third-largest party with 12% of the vote and 22 seats under Denmark's partial PR system. As a key member of the centre-right government coalition, it has drafted tough new asylum policies and cut aid to the developing world and in the 2007 elections it increased its share of the vote to 13.8% and now has 25 MPs.
New immigration laws introduced in 2002 severely restricted the right to asylum [1] and, amongst others issues, the right of entry of foreign spouses. As a result the number of migrants allowed into Denmark under family reunification procedures decreased 70% between 2001 and 2006 to 4,198. During the same period the number of asylum permits granted decreased [8,739] by 82.5% to 1,095 and the recognition rate fell from 53% to 18%. [2] Also introduced were reductions in public benefits [3] designed to create 'incentives' for immigrants to 'integrate' and join the Danish workforce were also introduced.[4] Settled migrants have to sign a contract which stipulates that they must do to get a job or learn the Danish language. If they fail to do so, they will have their benefit reduced.
As a consequence of the dramatic drop-off of the numbers of asylum seekers reaching Denmark, it has been able to close nearly 50 of its detention centres since 2002. Yet at the same time it introduced legislation such as the new Aliens Act which allow the indefinite detention of 'failed' asylum seekers [5]. As a result, in 2007 it was estimated that 40 % of all asylum-seekers were being held for more than three years in reception centres after receiving their final refusal of a residence permit. A visit by MEPs to the Sandholm detention centre in 2008 found detainees who had been there for more than eight years, unable to work or take part in life in the surrounding community. Such lengths of detention are having severe effects on the detainees mental health, particularly amongst the children.
It is not just the government's attitude to potential asylum seekers that is fermenting social division. The DPP is vehemently anti-Islamic and has stage a number of stunts that have added fire to an already bubbling cauldron of social resentment. In May 2008 the PP forced through legislation that saw the wearing of headscarves in Danish courts banned. In 2005 the Danish daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten published controversial cartoons of the prophet Mohammed and the following year members of the DPP youth wing followed suit in a widely distributed film of a summer camp Mohammed cartoon competition that also provoked worldwide protests.
This anti-Islamic and general anti-immigrant sentiment is now widespread in Danish society. It is common practice in Copenhagen of police searching people on grounds of race and, in February this year, a 65-year-old male immigrant was severely beaten by police during a car search. A number of children, all younger than thirteen, who tried to help the victim were also brutalised. This provoked seven consecutive nights of rioting in largely Muslim neighborhoods of Denmark's largest cities including Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense.
A number of major newspaper also exacerbated the situation by reprinting the notorious Mohammed cartoons. This then allowed them the luxury of blaming the riots on fundamentalist Muslims. The real reasons however were outlined by a group calling itself "Drengene fra indre Nørrebro" (the boys from inner Nørrebro), who sent a letter to a national newspaper saying that the riots had been about discrimination and harassment by police to immigrants on the urban estates.
[1] The so-called ‘de facto status’, which covers asylum seekers who are not protected by the Geneva Convention, was changed to ‘B-status’, severely restricting the chance of achieving protection status for people fleeing from war and refugees and having a severe subjective fear of returning to their country. [See: Amnesty International report]
[2] Applications fell from 12,512 in 2001 to 1,960 in 2006. In 2008, 1453 asylum applications were granted and the figures for new applications was 2410, with a recognition rate of 50%. [Official statistics]
[3] People who have not resided permanently in Denmark for at least seven of the last eight years and haven’t worked for at least 2 ½ years, are not entitled to claim regular social welfare benefits. Instead they are restricted to the so-called “starting allowance”.
[4] The measure however appear to be failing, with Denmark being ranked the second-worst performer out of 28 mostly EU countries for migrant eligibility to enter the labour market in the 2007 Migrant Integration Policy Index. On the same index it was ranked the fourth-worst for family reunion.
[5] Anti-terrorist legislation means that non-Danish citizens who are considered to be a threat towards the Danish national security can either be expelled or allowed leave to remain in Denmark on a so-called ‘tolerated stay’. There is no legal right to know on what grounds it has been decided that they can safely be removed to the country to which they are to be expelled or to challenge the decision.
The early morning eviction had apparently been negotiated with church authorities and the police had promised the raid would be peaceful. The police however trashed the church's interior and their violent tactics spilled out on to the street where over 300 protesters, many from the migrants support group Kirkeasyl, were beaten, peppersprayed and arrested during a sitdown blockade to try and prevent the bus containing the migrants leaving. Running battles between the police and protesters also continued for a number of hours afterwards. [Video]
Denmark has some of Europe's most repressive immigration laws, all introduced since the 2001 election of the right-wing coalition led by Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Liberal Party won control by pledging to reduce immigration (under the slogan "refugees must not become immigrants") and lower taxes. One member of the coalition is the ultranationalist Dansk Folkeparti (DPP), the country's third-largest party with 12% of the vote and 22 seats under Denmark's partial PR system. As a key member of the centre-right government coalition, it has drafted tough new asylum policies and cut aid to the developing world and in the 2007 elections it increased its share of the vote to 13.8% and now has 25 MPs.
New immigration laws introduced in 2002 severely restricted the right to asylum [1] and, amongst others issues, the right of entry of foreign spouses. As a result the number of migrants allowed into Denmark under family reunification procedures decreased 70% between 2001 and 2006 to 4,198. During the same period the number of asylum permits granted decreased [8,739] by 82.5% to 1,095 and the recognition rate fell from 53% to 18%. [2] Also introduced were reductions in public benefits [3] designed to create 'incentives' for immigrants to 'integrate' and join the Danish workforce were also introduced.[4] Settled migrants have to sign a contract which stipulates that they must do to get a job or learn the Danish language. If they fail to do so, they will have their benefit reduced.
As a consequence of the dramatic drop-off of the numbers of asylum seekers reaching Denmark, it has been able to close nearly 50 of its detention centres since 2002. Yet at the same time it introduced legislation such as the new Aliens Act which allow the indefinite detention of 'failed' asylum seekers [5]. As a result, in 2007 it was estimated that 40 % of all asylum-seekers were being held for more than three years in reception centres after receiving their final refusal of a residence permit. A visit by MEPs to the Sandholm detention centre in 2008 found detainees who had been there for more than eight years, unable to work or take part in life in the surrounding community. Such lengths of detention are having severe effects on the detainees mental health, particularly amongst the children.
It is not just the government's attitude to potential asylum seekers that is fermenting social division. The DPP is vehemently anti-Islamic and has stage a number of stunts that have added fire to an already bubbling cauldron of social resentment. In May 2008 the PP forced through legislation that saw the wearing of headscarves in Danish courts banned. In 2005 the Danish daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten published controversial cartoons of the prophet Mohammed and the following year members of the DPP youth wing followed suit in a widely distributed film of a summer camp Mohammed cartoon competition that also provoked worldwide protests.
This anti-Islamic and general anti-immigrant sentiment is now widespread in Danish society. It is common practice in Copenhagen of police searching people on grounds of race and, in February this year, a 65-year-old male immigrant was severely beaten by police during a car search. A number of children, all younger than thirteen, who tried to help the victim were also brutalised. This provoked seven consecutive nights of rioting in largely Muslim neighborhoods of Denmark's largest cities including Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense.
A number of major newspaper also exacerbated the situation by reprinting the notorious Mohammed cartoons. This then allowed them the luxury of blaming the riots on fundamentalist Muslims. The real reasons however were outlined by a group calling itself "Drengene fra indre Nørrebro" (the boys from inner Nørrebro), who sent a letter to a national newspaper saying that the riots had been about discrimination and harassment by police to immigrants on the urban estates.
[1] The so-called ‘de facto status’, which covers asylum seekers who are not protected by the Geneva Convention, was changed to ‘B-status’, severely restricting the chance of achieving protection status for people fleeing from war and refugees and having a severe subjective fear of returning to their country. [See: Amnesty International report]
[2] Applications fell from 12,512 in 2001 to 1,960 in 2006. In 2008, 1453 asylum applications were granted and the figures for new applications was 2410, with a recognition rate of 50%. [Official statistics]
[3] People who have not resided permanently in Denmark for at least seven of the last eight years and haven’t worked for at least 2 ½ years, are not entitled to claim regular social welfare benefits. Instead they are restricted to the so-called “starting allowance”.
[4] The measure however appear to be failing, with Denmark being ranked the second-worst performer out of 28 mostly EU countries for migrant eligibility to enter the labour market in the 2007 Migrant Integration Policy Index. On the same index it was ranked the fourth-worst for family reunion.
[5] Anti-terrorist legislation means that non-Danish citizens who are considered to be a threat towards the Danish national security can either be expelled or allowed leave to remain in Denmark on a so-called ‘tolerated stay’. There is no legal right to know on what grounds it has been decided that they can safely be removed to the country to which they are to be expelled or to challenge the decision.
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
Berlusconi - How Dare The EU Question My Right To Drown Foreigners
In his latest fit of pique, Il Duce Silvio Berlusconi said Italy was ready to block the European Council if members of the European Commission or their spokespersons continued to make statements on matters regarding member states. "My position will be clear and precise: we will not give our vote, thus blocking the function of European Council, unless it is clear that no commissioner or their spokesperson can speak in public about any issue''.
All this because Dennis Abbott, a spokesman for EC Vice President Jacques Barrot, said on Monday that letters had been sent to Italy and Malta asking for details on an incident regarding 75 African migrants intercepted at sea and sent back to Libya Sunday. If the man can't stand people asking questions of his racist government's treatment of migrants then maybe he should resign and join a monastery. Not that they would have him, given his current standing with the Catholic Church!
The Italian government have been on the offensive recently, together with Greece and, in a rare show of unity, Malta calling on the rest of the EU to bear their 'fair share' of the 'burden' of the costs of policing 'illegal' migration into Europe via the Mediterranean. In response, the EU has unveiled a 'Joint EU Resettlement Programme', which it claims is aimed at discouraging 'illegal' immigrants by increasing its granting of refuge to migrants from the world's conflict zones. The EU accepted just 6.7% of the 65,596 refugees granted asylum last year.
Yet this is not quiet what the Italians were hoping for when the idea was announced last month. They were clearly expecting the plans to include proposals for an internal EU 'relocation' policy that would amke othe EU states take their 'share' of the migrants entering Europe via the Mediterranean countries. At the time Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini appeared to be somewhat placated by the possibility of new 'burden-sharing' proposals. After claiming that the money involved to spread the impact was ''peanuts" and that it was a ''problem of public opinion'', not financial issues, that was behind the EU members' reluctance to help so far, he grudging claimed that Italy would seek ''mediation rather than clashes'', at the planned discussion of current EU immigration policy to be held during the Foreign Ministers meeting at the end of October. He spoilt it a bit by saying that "the veto bomb will not be dropped, unless it is necessary," i.e. unless Italy gets its way.
All this because Dennis Abbott, a spokesman for EC Vice President Jacques Barrot, said on Monday that letters had been sent to Italy and Malta asking for details on an incident regarding 75 African migrants intercepted at sea and sent back to Libya Sunday. If the man can't stand people asking questions of his racist government's treatment of migrants then maybe he should resign and join a monastery. Not that they would have him, given his current standing with the Catholic Church!
The Italian government have been on the offensive recently, together with Greece and, in a rare show of unity, Malta calling on the rest of the EU to bear their 'fair share' of the 'burden' of the costs of policing 'illegal' migration into Europe via the Mediterranean. In response, the EU has unveiled a 'Joint EU Resettlement Programme', which it claims is aimed at discouraging 'illegal' immigrants by increasing its granting of refuge to migrants from the world's conflict zones. The EU accepted just 6.7% of the 65,596 refugees granted asylum last year.
Yet this is not quiet what the Italians were hoping for when the idea was announced last month. They were clearly expecting the plans to include proposals for an internal EU 'relocation' policy that would amke othe EU states take their 'share' of the migrants entering Europe via the Mediterranean countries. At the time Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini appeared to be somewhat placated by the possibility of new 'burden-sharing' proposals. After claiming that the money involved to spread the impact was ''peanuts" and that it was a ''problem of public opinion'', not financial issues, that was behind the EU members' reluctance to help so far, he grudging claimed that Italy would seek ''mediation rather than clashes'', at the planned discussion of current EU immigration policy to be held during the Foreign Ministers meeting at the end of October. He spoilt it a bit by saying that "the veto bomb will not be dropped, unless it is necessary," i.e. unless Italy gets its way.
Why The Crisis In Somalia Has A Direct Effect On Migration Numbers
In recent weeks there has been a large increase in the numbers of Somali migrants trying to make the crossing from the northern African coast to Europe despite an overall decrease in crossing via this route. Even more appear to be crossing from the Horn of Africa to Yemen. The number of Somali refugees that have arrived on the Yemeni coasts during August is officially put at 2675, which includes more that 1,000 women and 100 children.
Just last weekend, reports from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) indicate that 16 Somalis drowned after smugglers ferrying them to Yemen forced them overboard into the Gulf of Aden, 64 others from the 2 boats managed to successfully swim to shore.
On Monday (31 August) 75 mainly Somali migrants, included 15 women and three minors, in an overcrowded inflatable were intercepted by the Italian Navy 24 nautical miles south of the island of Sicily. In a conversation with a BBC reporter in Italy, who they managed to contact by satellite phone, they said: "We told the Italian military that we wanted to request asylum and asked them not to hand us over to the Libyans because we were afraid of going to jail, but they wouldn't listen to us,.'
Under Italian law, have been permitted to enter the country and make asylum applications but, as part of Italy's new 'push-back' policy all, except 1 injured man, were taken all the way back to Libya on an Italian naval vessel, after first having refused to board a Libyan naval vessel which had come to take them part of the way back to Tripoli. The day after (Tuesday) another group of 84 Somali migrants were rescued off Malta by a Maltese army patrol boat.
All this comes after a statement by Oxfam condemning the "total failure of the international community to deal effectively with the Somalia crisis and help end the war is resulting in a spiral of human suffering and exodus to neighbouring countries." Poor sanitation and little access to basic services such as water and medicine due to an ineffective response are creating a public health emergency in camps. With Somalis fleeing "one of the world’s most brutal conflicts and a desperate drought, only to end up in unimaginable conditions in camps that are barely fit for humans" is it any wonder than some take the desperate choice of trying to flee to countries that they no doubt realise don't want them.
So far this year, some 36,000 Africans have reached Yemen by crossing by sea from northern Somalia, and the UNHCR is expecting a sharp increase in the number of Somalis seeking refuge in Yemen in the coming weeks due to a worsening security situation in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. In the rest of Somalia, thousands of internally displaced people are facing a food crisis as food shipments have been disrupted the civil war.
And to if that wasn't bad enough, Yemen faces its own humanitarian crisis, with aid officials warning of the threats of dehydration, malaria and diarrhoea in northern Yemen’s refugee camps. These camps house thousands of displaced highlanders escaping the fighting between government forces and Houthi guerrillas that has forced more than 35,000 tribespeople from their homes across the rugged, mountainous terrain around Sa’ada city in the past two weeks.
Just last weekend, reports from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) indicate that 16 Somalis drowned after smugglers ferrying them to Yemen forced them overboard into the Gulf of Aden, 64 others from the 2 boats managed to successfully swim to shore.
On Monday (31 August) 75 mainly Somali migrants, included 15 women and three minors, in an overcrowded inflatable were intercepted by the Italian Navy 24 nautical miles south of the island of Sicily. In a conversation with a BBC reporter in Italy, who they managed to contact by satellite phone, they said: "We told the Italian military that we wanted to request asylum and asked them not to hand us over to the Libyans because we were afraid of going to jail, but they wouldn't listen to us,.'
Under Italian law, have been permitted to enter the country and make asylum applications but, as part of Italy's new 'push-back' policy all, except 1 injured man, were taken all the way back to Libya on an Italian naval vessel, after first having refused to board a Libyan naval vessel which had come to take them part of the way back to Tripoli. The day after (Tuesday) another group of 84 Somali migrants were rescued off Malta by a Maltese army patrol boat.
All this comes after a statement by Oxfam condemning the "total failure of the international community to deal effectively with the Somalia crisis and help end the war is resulting in a spiral of human suffering and exodus to neighbouring countries." Poor sanitation and little access to basic services such as water and medicine due to an ineffective response are creating a public health emergency in camps. With Somalis fleeing "one of the world’s most brutal conflicts and a desperate drought, only to end up in unimaginable conditions in camps that are barely fit for humans" is it any wonder than some take the desperate choice of trying to flee to countries that they no doubt realise don't want them.
So far this year, some 36,000 Africans have reached Yemen by crossing by sea from northern Somalia, and the UNHCR is expecting a sharp increase in the number of Somalis seeking refuge in Yemen in the coming weeks due to a worsening security situation in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. In the rest of Somalia, thousands of internally displaced people are facing a food crisis as food shipments have been disrupted the civil war.
And to if that wasn't bad enough, Yemen faces its own humanitarian crisis, with aid officials warning of the threats of dehydration, malaria and diarrhoea in northern Yemen’s refugee camps. These camps house thousands of displaced highlanders escaping the fighting between government forces and Houthi guerrillas that has forced more than 35,000 tribespeople from their homes across the rugged, mountainous terrain around Sa’ada city in the past two weeks.
Ethnic Charter Flight To Cameroon, Imminent!
Campaign Against Charter Deportations To Cameroon press release:
UKBA have served 'Open ended removal directions' on an unknown number of Cameroonian families, individual men & women, who are all currently in detention. They have not and will not be told the date/time of the removal, only that it will take place before the 15th September 2009. It may well happen this week.
Despite the constitution and laws of Cameroon prohibiting the practice of torture, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatments, according to US Department of State Human Rights Report Cameroon 2008 (published 25/2/09) , "there were credible reports that security forces tortured, beat, and otherwise abused prisoners and detainees, including demonstrators and a human rights worker arrested during the February riots. The government rarely investigated or punished any of the officials involved."
The report also stated that "The government's human rights record remained poor, and it continued to commit human rights abuses. Security forces committed numerous unlawful killings. Security forces also engaged in torture, beatings, and other abuses, particularly of detainees and prisoners. Prison conditions were harsh and life threatening. Authorities arrested and detained anglophone citizens advocating secession, local human rights monitors and activists, persons not carrying government-issued identity cards, and other citizens. The government restricted citizens' freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association, and harassed journalists. Impeded citizens' freedom of movement. Other problems included widespread official corruption; societal violence and discrimination against women; female genital mutilation (FGM); trafficking in persons, primarily children; and discrimination against pygmies, ethnic minorities, indigenous people, and homosexuals. The government restricted worker rights and the activities of independent labor organizations. Child labor, hereditary servitude, and forced labor, including forced child labor, were problems."
According to IRIN Yaounde, 26 August 2009, Cameroon as of end of 2008, more than 23,000 detainees were being held in facilities with a capacity for 16,000 people, according to CNHDL. Prison conditions are "draconian, inhuman and degrading", a report released 12 August by the national commission on human rights and freedoms (CNDHL), which condemns both the physical conditions and the slowness of the judicial system. For years human rights watchdogs in and outside Cameroon have decried prison conditions in Cameroon. In addition to overcrowding, the organization cited the following as the most serious problems it found in visits to five of the country's prisons: high death rate among detainees, absence of hygiene and medical care, shortage of toilet and washing facilities, failure to separate minors from the rest of the prison population and overall dilapidation of detention areas. Lack of food is also a problem, CNHDL says. "The food ration comes to less than 100 CFA francs (21 US cents) per prisoner per day."
Please support the fight against charter flight removals to Cameroon by:
Sending Email/faxes to Rt Hon Alan Johnson, Home Secretary, demanding that this flight be cancelled on humanitarian grounds (especially in light of the numerous Human Rights reports expressing concerns about Cameroon authorities attitudes and actions particularly towards cultural and political persecution).
Model letter.
Fax: 020 8760 3132,
UKBApublicenquiries@UKBA.gsi.gov.uk
CITTO@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Please send copies of emails and faxes sent to:
Campaign Against Removals to Cameroon
g_macv@yahoo.co.uk
For further info please contact:
Geraldine Agbor - Tel 078 8194 8859
Update: Friday 4th September
Unfortunately the flight went ahead on Thursday evening on a Titan Airways charter from Stanstead Airport.
UKBA have served 'Open ended removal directions' on an unknown number of Cameroonian families, individual men & women, who are all currently in detention. They have not and will not be told the date/time of the removal, only that it will take place before the 15th September 2009. It may well happen this week.
Despite the constitution and laws of Cameroon prohibiting the practice of torture, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatments, according to US Department of State Human Rights Report Cameroon 2008 (published 25/2/09) , "there were credible reports that security forces tortured, beat, and otherwise abused prisoners and detainees, including demonstrators and a human rights worker arrested during the February riots. The government rarely investigated or punished any of the officials involved."
The report also stated that "The government's human rights record remained poor, and it continued to commit human rights abuses. Security forces committed numerous unlawful killings. Security forces also engaged in torture, beatings, and other abuses, particularly of detainees and prisoners. Prison conditions were harsh and life threatening. Authorities arrested and detained anglophone citizens advocating secession, local human rights monitors and activists, persons not carrying government-issued identity cards, and other citizens. The government restricted citizens' freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association, and harassed journalists. Impeded citizens' freedom of movement. Other problems included widespread official corruption; societal violence and discrimination against women; female genital mutilation (FGM); trafficking in persons, primarily children; and discrimination against pygmies, ethnic minorities, indigenous people, and homosexuals. The government restricted worker rights and the activities of independent labor organizations. Child labor, hereditary servitude, and forced labor, including forced child labor, were problems."
According to IRIN Yaounde, 26 August 2009, Cameroon as of end of 2008, more than 23,000 detainees were being held in facilities with a capacity for 16,000 people, according to CNHDL. Prison conditions are "draconian, inhuman and degrading", a report released 12 August by the national commission on human rights and freedoms (CNDHL), which condemns both the physical conditions and the slowness of the judicial system. For years human rights watchdogs in and outside Cameroon have decried prison conditions in Cameroon. In addition to overcrowding, the organization cited the following as the most serious problems it found in visits to five of the country's prisons: high death rate among detainees, absence of hygiene and medical care, shortage of toilet and washing facilities, failure to separate minors from the rest of the prison population and overall dilapidation of detention areas. Lack of food is also a problem, CNHDL says. "The food ration comes to less than 100 CFA francs (21 US cents) per prisoner per day."
Please support the fight against charter flight removals to Cameroon by:
Sending Email/faxes to Rt Hon Alan Johnson, Home Secretary, demanding that this flight be cancelled on humanitarian grounds (especially in light of the numerous Human Rights reports expressing concerns about Cameroon authorities attitudes and actions particularly towards cultural and political persecution).
Model letter.
Fax: 020 8760 3132,
UKBApublicenquiries@UKBA.gsi.gov.uk
CITTO@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Please send copies of emails and faxes sent to:
Campaign Against Removals to Cameroon
g_macv@yahoo.co.uk
For further info please contact:
Geraldine Agbor - Tel 078 8194 8859
Update: Friday 4th September
Unfortunately the flight went ahead on Thursday evening on a Titan Airways charter from Stanstead Airport.
Saturday, 29 August 2009
Pagani Detention Centre & Lesvos No Border Camp 2009
The Lesvos No Border camp is currently under way on the picturesque Aegean island, home to the less than picturesque Pagani detention centre. Pagani is, like many other Greek detention centres, a converted warehouse. Sited 5 km from Mitilini, the capital of Lesvos, it was originally designed to hold around 250 migrants but current numbers exceed 1,000, at least 200 of whom are unaccompanied children.
On 19 August, 160 of the unaccompanied minors detained in Pagani went on hunger strike to demand their immediate freedom. All of them are detained in just one room, where they share one toilet, many need to sleep on the floor due to lack of beds. Some of the minors are only eight or nine years old. 50 of them have been detained for over 2 months, the others have been in Pagani for several weeks already. Detention of minors is of course illegal under Greek and International law.
Video footage recorded by some of the children shows the room where they sleep, two or even three together, in a pile of bunk beds or in layers on the floor. In appalling scenes, children with severely wounded legs claim that there is no medical treatment. Other footage shows over 150 women and 50 babies crammed into to a single room 20 x 15 m with little or no exercise, fresh air or access to adequate food and medical care. [Video 1, 2, 3, 4]
Since the beginning of August a MSF team that includes a psychologist and translator has been working inside the detention centre. “We have seen that there is an urgent need for psychosocial support for many detainees inside the center," says Micky van Gerven, head of mission of the MSF project for migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees in Greece. “Most of them have endured a very difficult and perilous journey to reach Greece and are faced with an uncertain future in the country."
MSF had previously operated in the camp provided primary health care and psychosocial support during the summer of 2008 but withdrew after interference from the Greek authorities made it impossible to continue their mission. They have only recently returned after an agreement was concluded with the national and local authorities to ensure collaboration and access for MSF to undocumented migrants in the camp.
However, following the recent new restrictive anti-immigration legislation doubling the length of detention and severely restricting appeals against deportation decisions, together with the mass arrests instituted across Greece, the numbers in the already overcrowded detention centres have gone through the roof.
On 21 August, with tension inside the detention centre escalating, 930 detainees, including women and children, also went on hunger strike demanding their release, hanging on balusters and crying for freedom. This resulted in the release of 38 refugees the same day, including a pregnant woman with little children. However, whilst they were issued with papers they received no other support and were stuck on the island with no ferry ticket and no money for food.
On 24th, the UNHCR director for Greece Giorgos Tsarbopoulos visited Pagani and talked to activists from the No Border camp who had gathered outside. Earlier on in the day he had called for the immediate closure of another camp on the island, the over-crowded Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity facility at Agiassos for unaccompanied minors. The UNHCR later released a statement deploring the conditions inside Pagani and, following representations, the Greek government agreed to remove all unaccompanied minors from the camp by the end of the month.
It is difficult to get a accurate picture of exactly what is going on inside the detention centre, but in the past week roughly 250 migrants have been released. They have been given 30 days to proceed with their journey or face being detained again. That is of course if they can manage to get off the island at the busiest time of the year when everyone tries to travel home from the large cities and all the ferries are booked. News has also reached the No Border Camp today (29 Aug) that 450 people are due to be either released or moved from the camp and that (somehow) ferry tickets have already been booked, but it is still to be confirmed.
To keep up to date with events at the Camp visit the camp website: http://lesvos09.antira.info/
On 19 August, 160 of the unaccompanied minors detained in Pagani went on hunger strike to demand their immediate freedom. All of them are detained in just one room, where they share one toilet, many need to sleep on the floor due to lack of beds. Some of the minors are only eight or nine years old. 50 of them have been detained for over 2 months, the others have been in Pagani for several weeks already. Detention of minors is of course illegal under Greek and International law.
Video footage recorded by some of the children shows the room where they sleep, two or even three together, in a pile of bunk beds or in layers on the floor. In appalling scenes, children with severely wounded legs claim that there is no medical treatment. Other footage shows over 150 women and 50 babies crammed into to a single room 20 x 15 m with little or no exercise, fresh air or access to adequate food and medical care. [Video 1, 2, 3, 4]
Since the beginning of August a MSF team that includes a psychologist and translator has been working inside the detention centre. “We have seen that there is an urgent need for psychosocial support for many detainees inside the center," says Micky van Gerven, head of mission of the MSF project for migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees in Greece. “Most of them have endured a very difficult and perilous journey to reach Greece and are faced with an uncertain future in the country."
MSF had previously operated in the camp provided primary health care and psychosocial support during the summer of 2008 but withdrew after interference from the Greek authorities made it impossible to continue their mission. They have only recently returned after an agreement was concluded with the national and local authorities to ensure collaboration and access for MSF to undocumented migrants in the camp.
However, following the recent new restrictive anti-immigration legislation doubling the length of detention and severely restricting appeals against deportation decisions, together with the mass arrests instituted across Greece, the numbers in the already overcrowded detention centres have gone through the roof.
On 21 August, with tension inside the detention centre escalating, 930 detainees, including women and children, also went on hunger strike demanding their release, hanging on balusters and crying for freedom. This resulted in the release of 38 refugees the same day, including a pregnant woman with little children. However, whilst they were issued with papers they received no other support and were stuck on the island with no ferry ticket and no money for food.
On 24th, the UNHCR director for Greece Giorgos Tsarbopoulos visited Pagani and talked to activists from the No Border camp who had gathered outside. Earlier on in the day he had called for the immediate closure of another camp on the island, the over-crowded Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity facility at Agiassos for unaccompanied minors. The UNHCR later released a statement deploring the conditions inside Pagani and, following representations, the Greek government agreed to remove all unaccompanied minors from the camp by the end of the month.
It is difficult to get a accurate picture of exactly what is going on inside the detention centre, but in the past week roughly 250 migrants have been released. They have been given 30 days to proceed with their journey or face being detained again. That is of course if they can manage to get off the island at the busiest time of the year when everyone tries to travel home from the large cities and all the ferries are booked. News has also reached the No Border Camp today (29 Aug) that 450 people are due to be either released or moved from the camp and that (somehow) ferry tickets have already been booked, but it is still to be confirmed.
To keep up to date with events at the Camp visit the camp website: http://lesvos09.antira.info/
Thursday, 27 August 2009
News Digest
Having been out of action for the past week, due to circumstances beyond our control, we return with a digest of some of the news that you may have missed.
Malta, Italy and Libya:
The stretch of the Mediterranean between Libya and the Malta/Lampedusa area has long been a major route for clandestine migration into Europe, and the Maltese and Italian governments have long sought solutions to decreasing the numbers attempting to cross the sea from Libya. Italy and Libya have recently concluded a pact that saw them agree to operate joint naval patrols and for Italy to be able to return migrants (contrary to international law) directly to Libyan waters without processing any potential asylum applications.
At the same time the simmering political row between Italy and Malta over maritime jurisdiction has reached boiling point. The Italian island of Lampedusa is 200km south of Sicily and 130 km west of Malta (Malta itself is only 90 km from Sicily) and there has long been disputes over exactly who is responsible for dealing with migrant boats in the area, each having refused to take responsibility for vessels that they say are in the other's maritime 'search & rescue zone'.
Now both sides are taking an even hard line on dealing with each other, as well as with floundering migrants. Malta has long argued that it bears a burden out of all proportion to its size and its detention centres have been grossly overcrowded for years, whilst the recent increasingly repressive political atmosphere in Italy has seen the Italian navy even less likely to render humanitarian aid to migrants in trouble at sea. Now they merely tow them back to the African mainland.
The latest flare-up stems from an incident on 20 August when a boat with 5 exhausted and weakened Eritreans, including a 7-year old boy, landed on Lampedusa. The Eritreans claimed that they were the only survivors and that the other 73 passengers had all died of lack of food and water and been thrown overboard. The boat had left Libya 3 weeks before but had run out of fuel 3 days into the voyage. They had been given bread and water by a passing fishing boat at one point but apparently had refused assistance, other than life jackets and fuel, from an Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) vessel 2 days before they arrived at Lampedusa, saying they wished to continue on to Italy.*
Both the UNHCR and the Vatican were quick to express their outrage and blame both sides. However, that did not stop the Italian opposition from claiming the migrant's arrival on Italian territory as a failure of the Berlusconi regime's immigration policy, a policy that will see the migrants face a fine of €10,000.
Franco Frattini, Italy's Foreign Minister in turn blamed Malta, claiming it's search & rescue zone was "too large for tiny Malta", sparking a war of words with Maltese officials. He also turned his fire on the rest of the EU for not doing enough to stop the migrants from reaching Italy and not sharing the 'burden' of those that did. In response the EU's duty president, Swedish Premier Carl Bildt, promised that the matter would be discussed by EU foreign ministers at the end of October. A relocation project is also due to be unveiled in September by the EU justice commissioner, Jacques Barrot.
The mainstream Italian media were also not slow to get involved in the controversy, whipping themselves up into a frenzy, with Il Giornale claiming that Malta is the "most racist country in Europe." And, in an act of rank hypocrisy, the paper also warned of the threat of growing far-right and police brutality against immigrants in Malta. [video link]
In recent day more boats have been intercepted in the area. Two days ago 57 migrants were rescued by Italian coastguards off of Lampedusa. One was evacuated to the island suffering from dehydration whilst the remainder were taken to Sicily. And just today 79 Somalis landed in two groups on Malta, with one dead migrant from one of the groups being recovered from the sea.
It seems that however much the Italians and Maltese want to bicker over who is responsible for the migrants that make it across the Mediterranean alive, no one wants to take responsibility for the ones that fail in their quest for a better life. Migrants from across the world will continue to want to come to Europe however high EU governments high they build the walls of Fortress Europe and however loud they trumpet their desire to keep them out.
* The AFM has also released a photograph of the 20 August boat casting doubt on the migrants' story and claiming that it is far too small to have set sail with 78 passengers.
G4S:
On 24 August G4S announced that its profits have soared since winning new contracts to run Brook House and Tinsley House IRCs at Gatwick airport. The 2 detention centres are expected to generate £10 million and £5m a year respectively for the company over the next five years.
In other news G4S was fined £5,000 after UK Border Agency officers found the firm had employing an illegal worker at its Glasgow offices. A spokesman for G4S claimed that it was an "isolated incident" after it was found an employee was working in excess of the 20 hours a week permitted for a resident on a student visa.
Netherlands:
In the early hours of 23 August part of the construction site of a new detention centre at the Fairoaksbaan, Rotterdam Airport in The Netherlands was set on fire. On-site offices used by the management of the planning and construction companies responsible for the construction were targeted in protest against the continuing construction of Fortress Europe and was planned to coincide with the start of the international No-Border Camp on the Greek island of Lesvos.
Canada, Roma & Fingerprints:
Canada has imposed swingeing visa restrictions on Czech citizens in an attempt to prevent Roma people form going to Canada to claim asylum. Canada's Immigration Minister, Jason Kenney, claimed the aim was to stop “economic migrants jumping the queue” who could easily move to “26 other Western democracies in the European Union.” He also paid lip-service to the fact that the Roma faced social and economic discrimination but that the Czech Republic was “in compliance with the European human rights law" and that there “is no policy of state-sponsored persecution against the Roma.”
This clearly ignores the fact that, whilst the Roma have the right to free movement within the EU, their chances of finding work in other countries is severly restricted because of widespread anti-Roma prejudice. And in the Czech Republic itself, despite recent anti-discrimination legislation designed to put the country in step with European Union human rights law, persecution of the Roma is on the increase.
Amnesty International recently said that, “Roma in the country continue to suffer discrimination at the hands of both public officials and private individuals, including in the areas of housing, education, health care and employment. Not only do they face forced evictions, segregation in education and racially motivated violence, but they have been denied justice when seeking redress for the abuses against them.”
Other recent news sees the signing of a data sharing agreement between the UK, Canada and Australia to share fingerprint data of people applying for asylum or resisting deportation. New Zeland and the United States are expected to sign-up in the near future, mirroring the type of cooperation between the five states that operates under the UK-USA Security Agreement on signals intelligence. It is not known whether this agreement will give the 4 non-EU countries access to Eurodac fingerprint data system.
Malta, Italy and Libya:
The stretch of the Mediterranean between Libya and the Malta/Lampedusa area has long been a major route for clandestine migration into Europe, and the Maltese and Italian governments have long sought solutions to decreasing the numbers attempting to cross the sea from Libya. Italy and Libya have recently concluded a pact that saw them agree to operate joint naval patrols and for Italy to be able to return migrants (contrary to international law) directly to Libyan waters without processing any potential asylum applications.
At the same time the simmering political row between Italy and Malta over maritime jurisdiction has reached boiling point. The Italian island of Lampedusa is 200km south of Sicily and 130 km west of Malta (Malta itself is only 90 km from Sicily) and there has long been disputes over exactly who is responsible for dealing with migrant boats in the area, each having refused to take responsibility for vessels that they say are in the other's maritime 'search & rescue zone'.
Now both sides are taking an even hard line on dealing with each other, as well as with floundering migrants. Malta has long argued that it bears a burden out of all proportion to its size and its detention centres have been grossly overcrowded for years, whilst the recent increasingly repressive political atmosphere in Italy has seen the Italian navy even less likely to render humanitarian aid to migrants in trouble at sea. Now they merely tow them back to the African mainland.
The latest flare-up stems from an incident on 20 August when a boat with 5 exhausted and weakened Eritreans, including a 7-year old boy, landed on Lampedusa. The Eritreans claimed that they were the only survivors and that the other 73 passengers had all died of lack of food and water and been thrown overboard. The boat had left Libya 3 weeks before but had run out of fuel 3 days into the voyage. They had been given bread and water by a passing fishing boat at one point but apparently had refused assistance, other than life jackets and fuel, from an Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) vessel 2 days before they arrived at Lampedusa, saying they wished to continue on to Italy.*
Both the UNHCR and the Vatican were quick to express their outrage and blame both sides. However, that did not stop the Italian opposition from claiming the migrant's arrival on Italian territory as a failure of the Berlusconi regime's immigration policy, a policy that will see the migrants face a fine of €10,000.
Franco Frattini, Italy's Foreign Minister in turn blamed Malta, claiming it's search & rescue zone was "too large for tiny Malta", sparking a war of words with Maltese officials. He also turned his fire on the rest of the EU for not doing enough to stop the migrants from reaching Italy and not sharing the 'burden' of those that did. In response the EU's duty president, Swedish Premier Carl Bildt, promised that the matter would be discussed by EU foreign ministers at the end of October. A relocation project is also due to be unveiled in September by the EU justice commissioner, Jacques Barrot.
The mainstream Italian media were also not slow to get involved in the controversy, whipping themselves up into a frenzy, with Il Giornale claiming that Malta is the "most racist country in Europe." And, in an act of rank hypocrisy, the paper also warned of the threat of growing far-right and police brutality against immigrants in Malta. [video link]
In recent day more boats have been intercepted in the area. Two days ago 57 migrants were rescued by Italian coastguards off of Lampedusa. One was evacuated to the island suffering from dehydration whilst the remainder were taken to Sicily. And just today 79 Somalis landed in two groups on Malta, with one dead migrant from one of the groups being recovered from the sea.
It seems that however much the Italians and Maltese want to bicker over who is responsible for the migrants that make it across the Mediterranean alive, no one wants to take responsibility for the ones that fail in their quest for a better life. Migrants from across the world will continue to want to come to Europe however high EU governments high they build the walls of Fortress Europe and however loud they trumpet their desire to keep them out.
* The AFM has also released a photograph of the 20 August boat casting doubt on the migrants' story and claiming that it is far too small to have set sail with 78 passengers.
G4S:
On 24 August G4S announced that its profits have soared since winning new contracts to run Brook House and Tinsley House IRCs at Gatwick airport. The 2 detention centres are expected to generate £10 million and £5m a year respectively for the company over the next five years.
In other news G4S was fined £5,000 after UK Border Agency officers found the firm had employing an illegal worker at its Glasgow offices. A spokesman for G4S claimed that it was an "isolated incident" after it was found an employee was working in excess of the 20 hours a week permitted for a resident on a student visa.
Netherlands:
In the early hours of 23 August part of the construction site of a new detention centre at the Fairoaksbaan, Rotterdam Airport in The Netherlands was set on fire. On-site offices used by the management of the planning and construction companies responsible for the construction were targeted in protest against the continuing construction of Fortress Europe and was planned to coincide with the start of the international No-Border Camp on the Greek island of Lesvos.
Canada, Roma & Fingerprints:
Canada has imposed swingeing visa restrictions on Czech citizens in an attempt to prevent Roma people form going to Canada to claim asylum. Canada's Immigration Minister, Jason Kenney, claimed the aim was to stop “economic migrants jumping the queue” who could easily move to “26 other Western democracies in the European Union.” He also paid lip-service to the fact that the Roma faced social and economic discrimination but that the Czech Republic was “in compliance with the European human rights law" and that there “is no policy of state-sponsored persecution against the Roma.”
This clearly ignores the fact that, whilst the Roma have the right to free movement within the EU, their chances of finding work in other countries is severly restricted because of widespread anti-Roma prejudice. And in the Czech Republic itself, despite recent anti-discrimination legislation designed to put the country in step with European Union human rights law, persecution of the Roma is on the increase.
Amnesty International recently said that, “Roma in the country continue to suffer discrimination at the hands of both public officials and private individuals, including in the areas of housing, education, health care and employment. Not only do they face forced evictions, segregation in education and racially motivated violence, but they have been denied justice when seeking redress for the abuses against them.”
Other recent news sees the signing of a data sharing agreement between the UK, Canada and Australia to share fingerprint data of people applying for asylum or resisting deportation. New Zeland and the United States are expected to sign-up in the near future, mirroring the type of cooperation between the five states that operates under the UK-USA Security Agreement on signals intelligence. It is not known whether this agreement will give the 4 non-EU countries access to Eurodac fingerprint data system.
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