An article in the Guardian for all of those who have found it difficult to understand the ins and outs of where refugees are 'allowed' to make asylum applications, why so many refugees are prevented from making applications in their country of choice and are forced to return to countries like Greece and Italy where they either have little or no chance of making a successful asylum application and/or the country's government have made it patently obvious that 'foreigners are not welcome here'.
On the subject of Greece, the UK Border Agency has suspended the return of asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin Regulations and are going to process their asylum applications in the UK. As NCADC point out this is because of the massive backlog (around 1300 cases) that has been created by the Greek authorities feet dragging on processing requests for the return of refugees to them as a safe third country and not because of the fact that the UK can offer the applicants some meagre form of legal aid and potentially a better than 1 in 100 chance of being granted asylum, or due to multiple human rights abuses endured by asylum seekers in Greece.
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
More On The Brussels No Border Camp
From the 25th September until the 3rd October, a No Border Camp will take place in Brussels.
- What is it ?
A « no border » camp is a meeting of participants from many countries to fight against Fortress Europe, and to think about and act on the topic of frontiers, migration and the right for everybody to move and live anywhere they want.
- Where is it ?
The camp takes place on Tour et Taxi, come with your camping equipment to meet and talk with campers-activists from everywhere. The activities will take place in various different places (squats, cinema, concerts hall, bars? For more details see the programme) and on Brussels' streets.
- What can we do there ?
Tons of activities !!! From a simple chat to an impassioned debate ; from a concert to a movie or documentary projection ; from an anonymous action to a noisy and colourful demo?.there is something for everyone!
- In the programme :
- Sa 25/09: Building up the camp
- Su 26/09: Commemoration march for the death of Semira Adamu (killed by
Belgian policemen during her deportation)
- Mo 27/09: European migration policy and the militarization of borders
- Tu 28/09: Detention centres and deportations
- We 29/09: Capitalism and migration
- Th 30/09: Living clandestinely and the struggle of migrants
- Fri 01/10: The externalization of the European border policy
- Sa 02/10: Big No Border demonstration
- Su 03/10: Evaluation and cleaning up
During the whole week a programme concerning women and migration is planned in the Gesu squatted monastery.
You can follow the news of the activities via links to the Nomade newspaper and Radio No Border on the website.
We are waiting for you and your friends, with your smile, your indignation, your rage, to participate in the different activities organised throughout the week.
Come also (and mostly) for demonstrating together on Saturday 2nd October against the (anti)migrations politics decided by European Union, its member states and its partner countries.
No borders, no nations !
Noborderians greetings.
Some campers
Programme : http://www.noborderbxl.eu.org/spip.php?rubrique172
Website : www.noborderbxl.eu.org
- What is it ?
A « no border » camp is a meeting of participants from many countries to fight against Fortress Europe, and to think about and act on the topic of frontiers, migration and the right for everybody to move and live anywhere they want.
- Where is it ?
The camp takes place on Tour et Taxi, come with your camping equipment to meet and talk with campers-activists from everywhere. The activities will take place in various different places (squats, cinema, concerts hall, bars? For more details see the programme) and on Brussels' streets.
- What can we do there ?
Tons of activities !!! From a simple chat to an impassioned debate ; from a concert to a movie or documentary projection ; from an anonymous action to a noisy and colourful demo?.there is something for everyone!
- In the programme :
- Sa 25/09: Building up the camp
- Su 26/09: Commemoration march for the death of Semira Adamu (killed by
Belgian policemen during her deportation)
- Mo 27/09: European migration policy and the militarization of borders
- Tu 28/09: Detention centres and deportations
- We 29/09: Capitalism and migration
- Th 30/09: Living clandestinely and the struggle of migrants
- Fri 01/10: The externalization of the European border policy
- Sa 02/10: Big No Border demonstration
- Su 03/10: Evaluation and cleaning up
During the whole week a programme concerning women and migration is planned in the Gesu squatted monastery.
You can follow the news of the activities via links to the Nomade newspaper and Radio No Border on the website.
We are waiting for you and your friends, with your smile, your indignation, your rage, to participate in the different activities organised throughout the week.
Come also (and mostly) for demonstrating together on Saturday 2nd October against the (anti)migrations politics decided by European Union, its member states and its partner countries.
No borders, no nations !
Noborderians greetings.
Some campers
Programme : http://www.noborderbxl.eu.org/spip.php?rubrique172
Website : www.noborderbxl.eu.org
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
It's Not Just People Smugglers Who Exploit Refugees
a comment piece by Lyn Bender originally published by The Age
The tragic news of the recent suicide of a person detained in Villawood illustrates the big price that can be paid in human life because of our treatment of asylum seekers.
We accuse people smugglers as traffickers and profiteers in human misery, however, they are just the usual small fry victims who take the rap. With 4903 people in detention, 700 children and 21 centres, business is booming in the displaced people sector. At least $1 billion dollars a year is being spent to detain asylum seekers and the figure is bound to rise as boats keep appearing on the horizon, in response to wars, floods, drought, famine and human rights abuses. What a boost to Australia's GDP.
The Shire Council in the Town of Derby is hailing the proposed reopening of Curtin Detention Centre as an economic yippee for the town, 40 kilometres away from the centre. Especially as staff for the centre will live in the town and are expected to boost local business including that of nearby Weipa.
SBS World News has reported that in July 2010, West Wimmera Shire chief Jim McKay had appealed to the then immigration minister Chris Evans that an investment be made in a Wimmera processing centre rather than offshore. Mayor Ron Hawkins is reported to have said that this would boost the struggling town and bring much-needed jobs. His proposal was rejected.
This is all so yesteryear. In 2001 the Australian government agreed to pay $10 million to Nauru to detain 500 asylum seekers. Nauru with its depleted phosphate resources and poor economy needed the money.
The current government is considering setting up business in Timor — another vulnerable struggling state that the minority government under PM Julia Gillard figures could use the business. In a mutually beneficial deal Timor gets the money and we push untidy boat people offshore and look like we have found our own unique solution.
Again there is nothing new in all of this. According to recently released [2009] British cabinet Documents of 1979, Margaret Thatcher had considered buying an island with Australia in the Philippines or Indonesia to permanently settle Vietnamese refugees.
In 2002, when I was employed by the Woomera detention centre as a psychologist, I lived in the town of Woomera. The locals told me that the Reception and Processing Centre had made a difference in the town. The centre boosted jobs and consumption. The town did not welcome the prisoners but enjoyed the custom that emanated from the ongoing detention. The small hospital was not so happy that its beds were filled with people who were regularly rescued from suicide attempts and who had embarked on hunger strikes.
The local fireman, who was also the ambulance driver, found rescuing people from these attempts to be nerve wracking.
There is an abundance of research testimony and reportage from the period of the Pacific Solution that attests to the damage and trauma that detention inflicts on an already traumatised population. "A last resort?", the report of the National Inquiry into Children in Detention, was tabled in parliament on May 13, 2004.
But it is not just the trauma to the children we should be concerned about. Nor even the damage to families or the single men who embark on these absurdly dangerous voyages. They have a noble cause: a bid to save themselves and their families. Those who seek to profit from their plight can claim no such moral high ground.
The employees at the Detention Centres were poorly trained and frequently not emotionally equipped (who would be?) to manage the task of imprisoning traumatised people. They were inadequately supported in the job and subjected to abuse and violence. They became the bad guys inflicting often unintentional violence. I witnessed attempts to restrain hysterical detainees, that diminished the sense of the officers' self worth. Some became stressed and traumatised. Young nurses at Woomera questioned their own integrity in working at the centre, as did I. For that reason I felt compelled to speak out about the treatment of asylum seekers. And it seems here we go again. We all sustain moral wounds through any exploitation of the misery of the world's refugees: whether they are used to fire up electorates for votes, or simply are targeted to make us feel falsely secure in a massively changing world. Rather than harming and imprisoning the dispossessed, there is a better way all round.
We could reduce suffering and boost our economy by investing in infrastructure rather than prisons. We could feel more secure and gain self-respect and moral integrity by welcoming nurturing and integrating refugees within our communities.
The tragic news of the recent suicide of a person detained in Villawood illustrates the big price that can be paid in human life because of our treatment of asylum seekers.
We accuse people smugglers as traffickers and profiteers in human misery, however, they are just the usual small fry victims who take the rap. With 4903 people in detention, 700 children and 21 centres, business is booming in the displaced people sector. At least $1 billion dollars a year is being spent to detain asylum seekers and the figure is bound to rise as boats keep appearing on the horizon, in response to wars, floods, drought, famine and human rights abuses. What a boost to Australia's GDP.
The Shire Council in the Town of Derby is hailing the proposed reopening of Curtin Detention Centre as an economic yippee for the town, 40 kilometres away from the centre. Especially as staff for the centre will live in the town and are expected to boost local business including that of nearby Weipa.
SBS World News has reported that in July 2010, West Wimmera Shire chief Jim McKay had appealed to the then immigration minister Chris Evans that an investment be made in a Wimmera processing centre rather than offshore. Mayor Ron Hawkins is reported to have said that this would boost the struggling town and bring much-needed jobs. His proposal was rejected.
This is all so yesteryear. In 2001 the Australian government agreed to pay $10 million to Nauru to detain 500 asylum seekers. Nauru with its depleted phosphate resources and poor economy needed the money.
The current government is considering setting up business in Timor — another vulnerable struggling state that the minority government under PM Julia Gillard figures could use the business. In a mutually beneficial deal Timor gets the money and we push untidy boat people offshore and look like we have found our own unique solution.
Again there is nothing new in all of this. According to recently released [2009] British cabinet Documents of 1979, Margaret Thatcher had considered buying an island with Australia in the Philippines or Indonesia to permanently settle Vietnamese refugees.
In 2002, when I was employed by the Woomera detention centre as a psychologist, I lived in the town of Woomera. The locals told me that the Reception and Processing Centre had made a difference in the town. The centre boosted jobs and consumption. The town did not welcome the prisoners but enjoyed the custom that emanated from the ongoing detention. The small hospital was not so happy that its beds were filled with people who were regularly rescued from suicide attempts and who had embarked on hunger strikes.
The local fireman, who was also the ambulance driver, found rescuing people from these attempts to be nerve wracking.
There is an abundance of research testimony and reportage from the period of the Pacific Solution that attests to the damage and trauma that detention inflicts on an already traumatised population. "A last resort?", the report of the National Inquiry into Children in Detention, was tabled in parliament on May 13, 2004.
But it is not just the trauma to the children we should be concerned about. Nor even the damage to families or the single men who embark on these absurdly dangerous voyages. They have a noble cause: a bid to save themselves and their families. Those who seek to profit from their plight can claim no such moral high ground.
The employees at the Detention Centres were poorly trained and frequently not emotionally equipped (who would be?) to manage the task of imprisoning traumatised people. They were inadequately supported in the job and subjected to abuse and violence. They became the bad guys inflicting often unintentional violence. I witnessed attempts to restrain hysterical detainees, that diminished the sense of the officers' self worth. Some became stressed and traumatised. Young nurses at Woomera questioned their own integrity in working at the centre, as did I. For that reason I felt compelled to speak out about the treatment of asylum seekers. And it seems here we go again. We all sustain moral wounds through any exploitation of the misery of the world's refugees: whether they are used to fire up electorates for votes, or simply are targeted to make us feel falsely secure in a massively changing world. Rather than harming and imprisoning the dispossessed, there is a better way all round.
We could reduce suffering and boost our economy by investing in infrastructure rather than prisons. We could feel more secure and gain self-respect and moral integrity by welcoming nurturing and integrating refugees within our communities.
Villawood Rooftop Protest Ends
The Villawood rooftop protests by 11 detainees has ended after nearly 30 hours. Some of the men had threatened to jump from the roof if their asylum claims were not re-examined, whilst others cut their arms and chests to write a sign on a sheet in blood that read "We need help and freedom". All had been refusing food and water and two men collapsed from exhaustion in the midday heat and were taken to hospital. The authorities responded by bringing in a cherry-picker, placing protective mats around the perimeter of the building and trying to negotiate with the detainees.
A large group of supporters also gathered outside the detention centre to voice their support, whilst 12 protesters who had chained themselves to the Immigration Department offices near Sydney's Central Railway Station were arrested. Meanwhile, Professor Patrick McGorry, mental health expert and, ironically, Australian of the Year, has warned that that this type of protest involving self-harm will become more frequent as the overcrowding pressures within the detention centres increase and the time taken to process asylum claims lengthens.
A large group of supporters also gathered outside the detention centre to voice their support, whilst 12 protesters who had chained themselves to the Immigration Department offices near Sydney's Central Railway Station were arrested. Meanwhile, Professor Patrick McGorry, mental health expert and, ironically, Australian of the Year, has warned that that this type of protest involving self-harm will become more frequent as the overcrowding pressures within the detention centres increase and the time taken to process asylum claims lengthens.
Right-Whinge Crocodile Tears
What a laugh! The Daily Telegraph yesterday was bemoaning the rise of the far-Right in Europe and blaming it on the failure of governments to tackle issues such as immigration, the burqa and mosque building that they have regularly been highlighting. Maybe, if they and their fellow Rightist propaganda sheets would stop peddling this constant tide of reactionary filth, the end result might just be a halt in the rise of the fascist Right?
After all, they only have to look at the comments left on the on-line forums attached to this type of story to see how much they are stirring up this type of reactionary dissent. But then again, they are hardly going to stop publishing such staple and sure-fire circulation boosting stories, are they? What other reason is there to buy such rags other than the daily dose of bile-stimulating reaction?
Maybe they should consider this, and its not very often that we get all Biblical, but "they that sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind."
After all, they only have to look at the comments left on the on-line forums attached to this type of story to see how much they are stirring up this type of reactionary dissent. But then again, they are hardly going to stop publishing such staple and sure-fire circulation boosting stories, are they? What other reason is there to buy such rags other than the daily dose of bile-stimulating reaction?
Maybe they should consider this, and its not very often that we get all Biblical, but "they that sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind."
UK Suspends Returns Of Asylum Seekers To Greece
The UK Border Agency has announced today the suspension of the return of asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin Regulation. With immediate effect, the backlog of approximately 1300 cases and all new cases will have their applications heard in the UK, and not Greece.
This will come as a great relief to all those facing return to the “broken asylum system” of Greece. The decision-making process in the UK leaves a lot to be desired but at least we have legal aid (for now, and only just) and the initial sucess rate is more than Greece’s 1%.
The decision comes as a result of the Court of Appeal’s decision to refer the case of NS (formerly known as Saeedi) to the Court of Justice of the European Union. It appears that this process could take up to two years, so the UK Government has decided to use it’s powers to assess asylum claims in the UK during this period, rather than have the applicants wait for the outcome.
The UK Border Agency has stressed that this decision is purely pragmatic, and is in no way related to the multiple human rights abuses and the near impossibility of claiming asylum in Greece, as highlighted time and again by the United Nations refugee agency, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, etc.
http://ncadc.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/uk-suspends-returns-of-asylum-seekers-to-greece/#respond
This will come as a great relief to all those facing return to the “broken asylum system” of Greece. The decision-making process in the UK leaves a lot to be desired but at least we have legal aid (for now, and only just) and the initial sucess rate is more than Greece’s 1%.
The decision comes as a result of the Court of Appeal’s decision to refer the case of NS (formerly known as Saeedi) to the Court of Justice of the European Union. It appears that this process could take up to two years, so the UK Government has decided to use it’s powers to assess asylum claims in the UK during this period, rather than have the applicants wait for the outcome.
The UK Border Agency has stressed that this decision is purely pragmatic, and is in no way related to the multiple human rights abuses and the near impossibility of claiming asylum in Greece, as highlighted time and again by the United Nations refugee agency, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, etc.
http://ncadc.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/uk-suspends-returns-of-asylum-seekers-to-greece/#respond
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