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NoBorder 2016 program poster
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No Border 2016 Full Program
No Border 2016 Program schedule
Wednesday, July 13:
We start setting up the NoBorder Camp.
People can start camping from Thursday, July 14.
Friday, July 15:
Arrivals,
18:00 first plenary
21:00 concert
Saturday, July 16:
1st day of the Networking Meeting Balkan route
11:00: Women*Space (International women*groups and women* from the relocation centers)
During the day: Live mural painting by the NoBorder Graffiti
Crew
Evening: Disruptive Film Festival / Theater
Sunday, July 17:
Morning: caravan to the “relocation centers” around Thessaloniki
13:00: Migrants from the relocation centers address the NoBorder Camp in an open meeting
Midday/afternoon: 2nd day of the Networking Meeting Balkan route
Evening: Short Film Festival – Clips and Videos from external borders and from the Balkan Route
Monday, July 18:
Morning: caravan to the “relocation centers” around Thessaloniki
Afternoon: workshops
20:00 plenary «European‐Mediterranean networking»
Disruptive film festival / Short festival of Alban-speaking movies
Tuesday, July 19:
Morning: caravan to the “relocation centers” around Thessaloniki
Afternoon: workshops
20:00 plenary «Migrants self‐organizing»
Evening: Disruptive film festival / Short festival of Alban-speaking movies
Wednesday, July 20:
Morning to afternoon: protests at the detention centers at Paranesti (Drama) and Xanthi.
Evening: Concert: Baris Bal Trio (Istanbul/Thessaloniki) / Theater: Acts by Rhiad (Tunisia) and Dimitris Samir (Syria-Greece)
Thursday, July 21:
Morning: caravan to the “relocation centers” around Thessaloniki
Afternoon: “Migrants’ Pride” protest in the center of Thessaloniki
Evening: Concert
Friday, July 22:
Morning: workshops
12:00-15:00: open meeting / plenary on the struggle against the goldmines in Halkidiki
Afternoon: workshops
20:00 plenary «Networking of self‐organized structures»
Evening: Disruptive film festival / Short Iranian film festival
Saturday, July 23:
All day: protest at the Greek/Turkish border at the Evros fence
Evening: Disruptive film festival / Short Iranian film festival
Sunday, July 24:
Closing workshops day / Closing plenary
Networking Meeting Balkan route program
Saturday, 16th of July
11.00 – 13.00
Opening Plenary – Welcome, Introduction, Inputs, first Discussion
Input 1: “Everything is possible” – the amazing dynamics of 2015;
Input 2: After the EU-Turkey Deal – the new border regime in the Aegean;
Input 3: Back to the Underground railway – new/old challenges of support and solidarity;
Input 4: Between transit and common social struggles – how to connect the various aspirations and realities?
15.30 – 17.30
Workshop Slot I
Back to the Underground railway? Ongoing daily struggles and transnational perspectives on the Balkan route
Five parallel workshops:
1. The consequences after the EU-Turkey-deal;
2. Webguides: Welcome to Greece and Welcome to Italy;
3. Solidarity along the Balkan Route: from financial support to common actions against repression;
4. Live feed of w2eu as information tool – and Alarmphone Balkan as a new project?
5. Mapping and other ideas of support along the route.
(1.5 hours break)
19.00 – 21.00
Workshop Slot II
Solidarity and support: Self-organisation, mixed organisation, volunteers, transnationalisation
Four parallel workshops:
1. Experiences in social centers and squats;
2. Travelling groups/journeys (back) to the borders;
3. Multilingual newspapers and online magazine/platforms;
4. Between empathic support and unpaid crowd management; Ambivalences of the volunteers’ engagement.
Sunday, 17th of July
16.00 to 18.00
Workshop Slot III
Common social struggles, sensitivity versus criminalisation
Three parallel workshops:
1. Housing, health-service, education: perspectives of common social struggles for a social infrastructure;
2. Working, exploitation, rights: how to resist the racist hierarchies in the labour market?
3. Denouncement, criminalisation, sensitivity: How to break the fear and repression in the border areas?
19.00 to 21.00
Final plenary: Brief conclusions from the workshops, Discussion on Perspectives
Sunday later Evening (22.00…)
Short Film Festival – Clips and Videos from the external borders and from the Balkan Route
July 18, 19, 22 workshops program
Typical workshops’ day schedule:
8.00-9.30 breakfast
9.30-13.30 caravan to relocation centers
13.30-15.00 rest, snack
15.00-19.00 sessions
19.00-20.00 dinner
20.00-22.00 plenary
Monday, July 18:
Four parallel sessions (15.00-19.00)
A1. State and Hyperstate governmental policies for moving populations (Room 1)
a) Book presentation: Vogelfrei. Three texts on migration, deportation, capital and its state – Antithesis
b) The new state totalitarianism towards migrants and refugees – Antiauthoritarian Movement (AK)
c) The role of charity and of the army in managing migrant populations – Fabrika Yfanet squat / Thessaloniki
d) The latest deal between the EU and Turkey – Migrant Solidarity Network / Ankara
B. Strategies and practices for survival, solidarity and fighting for freedom (Room 2)
a) Pinknoise (Netherlands) – online privacy and safe communication
b) Hackborders project: Presentation of a tool for family members to find each other – http://hackborders.net/.
c) WatchThe Med Alarm Phone – experiences of the hotline for refugees and migrants in distress on sea, organized by activists of Alarm Phone
d) Silent University Athens Assembly – platform for knowledge sharing between refugees, mıgrants and locals.
C1. Solidarity, networking, communication, mutual aid and commoning of the moving populations (Room 3)
a) Adverse Humanitarianisms: institutional necropolitics and the urge to tame grass‐roots solidarity in transnational migration governance – Sonia Vlachou
b) Your struggle is also mine? Limits and options of fighting together – NoBorder activists
c) Migrants politicization in the radical movement – Genti Guri – Clandestina network
d) Fighting for freedom and living with migrants in Ljubljana – Anti-racist Front without Borders from Ljubljana, Slovenija
e) Interlinking Housing and Migration Struggles – The European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City
D. Sensing the Borders: affective migrant subjectivities and strategies of (self) representation
Plenary: «European-Mediterranean networking» (Room 1)
Tuesday, July 19:
Three parallel sessions (15.00-19.00)
A2. State and Hyperstate governmental policies for moving populations (Room 1)
a) The role of the university in managing migrants populations – Fabrika Yfanet squat / Thessaloniki
b) Antifascism as an inseparable part of the struggle for social emancipation – Collective for Social Anarchism Black & Red / Thessaloniki
c) A Social Movement for the Re-opening the Balkan routes. Legimitacy and Public Standing for the Refugee Movement – Joerg Finkenberger, Lisa Thomas
d) Solidarity economy and the refugee crisis: exploring bridges and expanding spaces of social solidarity – Freedom Coop
E. Gender aspects of immigration (women, lgbtq populations, sexism, gender violence, pregnancy) – Age aspects of immigration (Room 2)
a) Atelier Without Borders – Atelier Without Borders (Istanbul) children and activism
b) Book presentation: “In Our Own Words – Refugee Women in Germany tell their stories”, edited by IWSPACE (International Women Space)
c) Living in the shadow – Eliana Kanavelis, “Babylonia” journal
C2. Solidarity, networking, communication, mutual aid and commoning of the moving populations (Room 3)
a) The current situation of migrants in Morocco in combination with EU border politics – No Borders Morocco
b) The consequences of the EU migration regime in North Africa – Noborder Tunisia and Relatives of the disappeared
c) For a Collective Memory on Migrant Struggles – the idea of a multilingual online platform – activists from WatchTheMed Alarm Phone and Moving Europe
Plenary: «Migrants’ self-organizing» (Room 1)
Friday, July 22:
Morning – 2 parallel sessions (9.00-12.00)
F. Three hour training in direct action skills (9.00-12.00) (concert site)
Action Training for Direct Action – Openborder
G1. Connection between the struggles of the locals and the immigrants (10.00-12.00) (Room 2)
a) Working the border: Pioneer farmers and migrant farmworkers on the Israeli frontier
b) Action logistics and organizing long-term camps and actions – Max Mustermann
12:00-15:00
Open meeting / plenary on the struggle against goldmines in Ηalkidiki (Room 1)
“The State and capital write the history of pillaging life and nature, the movements write the history of resistance and freedom” – Beyond Europe: Halkidiki – The Comeback
Afternoon – 3 parallel sessions (15.00-19.00)
G2. Connection between the struggles of the locals and the immigrants (Room 1)
a) Participation and integration of refugees in the Initiative for a Self-organised School of Integral Cooperation / Freedom Coop as a tool for refugees and the No Border movement – Freedom Coop
b) Solidarity economies as an alternative for the labor exploitation – Istanbul migrant solidarity kitchen
c) The Paradigm Shift in Political Participation and Debates about the self‐organization of Migrants from Syria in Turkey – Hamisch – Istanbul Syrian cultural association
d) Solidarity and self-organizing against the new totalitarianism – Collective for Social Anarchism Black & Red / Thessaloniki
H. Living together and struggling together (Room 2)
a) Solidarity and self-organization against the french border in Ventimiglia (Italy): perspectives and strategies for future struggles – No Borders Italy
b) Living together and struggling together – Calais Migrant Solidarity
c) Towards a Transnational Social Strike – Workshop about Labour, Precarity and Migration – PrekärLab / Frankfurt
d) Presentation of the squat for migrants Dervenion 56 (Athens)
I. Solidarity structures, squats-social struggle centers (Room 3)
a) Perspectives on antiracist self-organization and squatting – A Beyond Europe discussion with activists from Athens, Milano, Frankfurt and other places.
b) Perspective and Organising in Izmir – Kapılar community center / Izmir
c) #Overthefortress / Agire nella crisi / Globalproject – Meltingpot
Plenary: «Networking of self-organized structures» (Room 1)
Artistic program
Friday, July 15:
Documentary “People without faces”
Concert:
Unshaped Ahead (loops &violin-based storytelling)
Lostre (ska punk)
Electro Vampires (atmospheric goth & glamor rock)
Turi Beri (jazz punk)
Guts Pie Earshot (deep cello trip hop)
Saturday, July 16:
Disruptive Film Festival (Sherry Millner & Εrnest Larsen, N.Y., USA)
Theater Performance by ΤΟ ΣΠΙΡΤΟ (The wooden match – Athens): Coriolanus, William Shakespeare
Sunday, July 17:
Short Film Festival – Clips and Videos from the external borders and from the Balkan Route
Film projection: “Detention Without Walls” (Bridget Holtom, “We Will Rise” – UK)
Monday, July 18:
Disruptive film festival
Short festival of Alban-speaking movies: (1) Kukumi (Isa Qosja, 2005)
Tuesday, July 19:
Disruptive film festival
Short festival of Alban-speaking movies: (2) Time of the Comet (Fatmir Koçi, 2008) (3) Tirana Year Zero (Fatmir Koçi, 2001)
Wednesday, July 20:
Two one-act plays, Arab poetry recitation, Kurdish songs – a compilation by Dimitris Samir, playwright (Syria-Greece)
Theater performance by Rhiad (Tunisia): “Huuriya Means Freedom”
Concert:
Baris Bal Trio (Istanbul/Thessaloniki) (traditional oriental & Ottoman court music),
Interrail (ethnic & Balkan tunes)
Thursday, July 21:
Concert: Λ.Ο.Σ., Dysfunctional narrations (rap), Katachnia (deep art crust), BMW Rockers 57 (speed ’n’ roll)
Friday, July 22:
Disruptive film festival
Short Iranian film festival: Morteza Jafari (a) Dreaming of Life, 2016 (b) Dreaming of Democracy, 2013
Saturday, July 23:
Disruptive film festival
Short Iranian film festival: Morteza Jafari (a) Dreaming of Life, 2016 (b) Dreaming of Democracy, 2013
* All days: Photo exhibition by Morteza Jafari (Iran)
Leila against borders – verso il No Border Camp di Salonicco[Italy]
Il viaggio dei Centri Sociali dell’Emilia-Romagna ad Atene e Salonicco in preparazione del No Border Camp, Thessaloniki 2016.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/tsuYo0XH3HE[/youtube]
CARAVANA A GRECIA (SPOT) – Iruña Ciudad de Acogida[Spain]
Apúntate ya a la Caravana a Grecia de Iruña Ciudad de Acogida. Correo electrónico: nafarkarabana@gmail.com / Web: ongietorrierrefuxiatuak.info/caravanagrecia2016/
Twitter: @KarabanaGrezia
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaUrMtVXQ-Q[/youtube]
WatchTheMed Alarm Phone Monthly Report 30th May – 26th June 2016
In the past four weeks, the WatchTheMed Alarm Phone was involved in 19 distress cases, of which 7 took place in the Aegean Sea, 7 in the Central Mediterranean and 5 in the Western Mediterranean Sea. While in most cases the safe arrival of all travellers could be confirmed, in some cases we had to witness the loss of life and human rights violations:
On the 11th of June, we were alerted to an illegal push-back operation of a refugee boat between Cesme and Chios. The boat had already entered Greek territory, when the Greek coastguard threatened the passengers with gun violence and forced them back to Turkey. A boat part of the Frontex mission was present but did not intervene. The Alarm Phone statement denouncing the incident can be found here: https://alarmphone.org/en/2016/06/15/watchthemed-alarm-phone-denounces-illegal-push-back-operation-with-frontex-present/?post_type_release_type=post.
On the 20th of June, after having sent a confidential letter to the Turkish authorities, the Alarm Phone published a joint statement with Sea-Watch to demand an independent investigation of a fatal distress case that had occurred on 19.03.2016 in the Aegean Sea, during which the Turkish Coastguards had denied entry to humanitarian search and rescue vessels in the area. The statement can be found here: https://alarmphone.org/en/2016/06/20/support-for-a-co-ordinated-humanitarian-search-and-rescue-operation-is-denied-does-the-turkish-coast-guard-hold-responsibility-for-the-deaths-of-two-persons-at-sea/?post_type_release_type=post
On the 26th of June, the Alarm Phone was informed about a boat that had capsized during an interception carried out by the Marine Royal (Moroccan Navy). Only 5 of the 8 passengers survived. In the name of the survivors and the families of the deceased, we published a statement, mourning the lost lives and demanding an investigation of the incident: https://alarmphone.org/en/2016/06/27/statement-26th-of-june-2016-three-deaths-in-the-straight-of-gibraltar-caused-by-the-arrival-of-the-marine-royal-moroccan-navy/?post_type_release_type=post
2,896 deaths in the Mediterranean have already been counted – merely over the first six months of this year. The real figure of human loss at sea remains unknown. On the 3rd of June, for instance, in a shipwreck south of Crete/Greece, the Greek Coastguard rescued about 340 persons and recovered nine bodies, while hundreds of other passengers were never found (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36443326). As MSF remarked in the beginning of the year, the death toll at sea resembles that of a war zone. Humanitarian organisations operating rescue vessel in the Mediterranean Sea have repeatedly denounced the lack of official rescue capacities present in the maritime zone off the coast of Libya. Humanitarian actors and crews of private cargo vessels work tirelessly to rescue people in distress. Whenever they move to disembark travellers, the likelihood of further disasters in the waters off Libya increases as their absence is not adequately compensated for.
Despite mass drowning and illegal push-back operations by the Greek coastguards in the presence of Europe’s border agency Frontex, we experience how EU institutions, national governments, and the mainstream media remain largely silent. Whereas past mass shipwrecks caused at least some reactions, even if often hypocritical ones, the silence that we now witness points to the normalizing of border cruelty and migrant deaths. While these lost lives are sought to be silenced, there are struggles that protest loudly and that do not accept the continuation of mass murder at sea. Migrant and solidarity communities and groups will not cease to denounce the cruelty that the European border regime commits, within the territories of European member states and far beyond.
From 24th-26th of June, migrant and solidarity activists, including Alarm Phone members organized a “Defencing Festival” at the Slovenian-Croatian border. In camps on both sides of the border, the divisive line in-between was protested (https://www.facebook.com/defencing/). From 15th-24th of July, there will be a no borders campaign and meeting in Thessaloniki where presumably thousands of migrant and activist groups will join forces to struggle against the cruel border policies of Europe (https://noborder2016.espivblogs.net/). Meanwhile our daily struggle of listening and responding to cases of distress in the Mediterranean continues. Summaries and links to last month’s individual reports per region can be found below.
Western Mediterranean Sea
On Thursday the 2nd of June 2016, at 11.15am, an Alarm Phone member alerted the shift team to a rubber boat, carrying 32 persons, including 2 women and one baby, who had left from Nador, Morocco at 3am local time. The engine of the boat had stopped working and the travellers were in panic. We passed on the information to the Spanish Coastguard in Almeria. The Spanish search and rescue agency Salvamento Maritimo searched for the boat with a helicopter and eventually spotted the boat at about 13 nautical miles from Melilla. At 5pm the Coastguard in Melilla confirmed that the travellers had safely arrived in Melilla and that the Red Cross had taken over (see: http://www.watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/518).
On Sunday, the 5th of June 2016, the Alarm Phone was alerted to one case in the Western Mediterranean. At 1.30pm, a migrant living in Morocco informed us about a boat that had left at 3am local time near Layoune, Morocco. At 1.40pm, we called the Spanish rescue agency Salvamento Maritimo in Las Palmas, who were already informed about the boat. At 10.45pm we found a news article by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo about the rescue of 58 persons who had left from Bojador the night before and who would be brought to the harbour of Gran Canaria. Among the travellers were 3 children and 1 pregnant woman. A few minutes later, S.M. confirmed that the travellers had been rescued and were brought to Gran Canaria (see: http://www.watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/519).
On Monday, the 20th of June 2016, the Alarm Phone was alerted to one case in the Western Mediterranean Sea. 13 travellers had left near Cap Spartel, close to Tanger, Morocco on a rubber boat equipped only with paddles and no engine. They had left in two boats, but as one boat had deflated right after the start, the travellers continued their journey in one boat. We managed to establish direct contact with the travellers and informed the Spanish search and rescue agency Salvamento Maritimo (S.M.) about the case. They were already searching for the boat. At 9am, we called back S.M. who announced that they had rescued a dinghy some minutes earlier, but they could not say whether this was the boat we had been in touch with. At 11.55 we spoke with S.M. again and they confirmed that the boat rescued was very likely the one we had been in touch with (see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/525).
On Friday, the 24th of June 2016, at 8.05am, a contact person alerted the Alarm Phone to a boat, carrying 8 persons (7 men 1 woman) in distress in the Western Mediterranean Sea. At 8.15 we talked to the travellers directly and they confirmed what the contact person had also told us, that they had started near Tanger. We immediately called the Spanish search and rescue agency Salvamento Maritimo (S.M.), who was already informed about the case and informed us that they had already started to search the boat in distress. We then attempted to reach out to the travellers again to tell them that help was underway, but the connection was too bad to communicate. We also got in touch with a person in Morocco, who called us about the same case. At 9.30am the contact in Morocco told us that the travellers saw two big boats near them. At 10am, we also reached the travellers and they said that they could see a white boat and the Spanish shore. They also recounted that they had talked to the Red Cross. At 10.30am, our contact person in Morocco confirmed the rescue of the boat to Spain (see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/526).
As already mentioned above, on Sunday, the 26th of June 2016, Alarm Phone was alerted to a case of interception by the Moroccan Navy, during which 3 persons died. (for the full report see here: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/531).
Aegean Sea
On Monday, the 30th of May 2016, after a long silence in the Aegean, we were informed about a group of travellers who had stranded on the Greek island of Samos. At 3.43am a contact person alerted us to the group of 15 travellers, who had stranded on a rocky part of the island. Shortly after the alert had reached us, the group was picked up by the Coastguard and was brought to the port (see: http://www.watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/517).
On Tuesday the 7th of June 2016, the Alarm Phone received a Facebook message by a contact person, alerting us to a distress case in the Aegean Sea. Shortly afterwards we received the phone number of some of the travellers as well as their GPS coordinates, showing the boat still close to the Turkish coast. We were informed that there were 45 people on board who spoke Kurdish and Arabic. Our shift team kept monitoring the trajectory of the vessel and, once it had crossed into Greek waters, we informed the Greek coastguards. Later on they confirmed that they had sent out a patrol boat to the location. At 6.48am our contact person informed us that the boat-people were able to see the coastguard vessel approaching. At 7.11am the Greek coastguards confirmed to us that they were escorting the vessel to the shores of Samos. At 8.06am we learned that the people had been transferred onto the patrol boat of the coastguards. At 9.58am, the Greek coastguards confirmed that the group had been brought to Samos, which was also confirmed by our contact person later on (see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/520).
On Saturday the 11th of June 2016, the Alarm Phone experienced a push-back operation by the Greek coastguards. We received a WhatsApp message at 3.59am from a contact person, alerting us to a vessel in distress off the Turkish coast, near Cesme. There were 53 people on board, among them 14 children and three elderly people. At 4.05am we received a second GPS position, showing them still in Turkish waters. They said that the Turkish Coastguards were following them. At 4.41am we learned that they had ‘escaped the Turkish Coastguards’. At 4.52am we were informed that they had reached Greek water and were moving toward a boat of the Greek Coastguards. We received pictures showing them being transferred onto the Greek Coastguards vessel. The pictures clearly showed also the presence of a Romanian vessel there, which is part of the Frontex mission. The Coastguards stated that they would bring them to Chios/Greece. However, at 5.22am, we received the information that the Greek Coastguards were not transferring them to Chios. We received photos showing them on a vessel of the Turkish Coastguards. The Greek Coastguards forced the people under the threat of force to move onto the vessel of the Turkish Coastguards. At 5.23am, we received a new location. This location showed that they were in Greek waters, about five hundred meters beyond the borderline. At 5.36am they confirmed that they were being pushed-back. At 7.09am we received an updated GPS position, showing them in the harbour of Cesme/Turkey. Later on we received the information that the group was taken to a prison (for direct testimonies and the full report, as well as our public statement denouncing the push-back, see here: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/521).
On Sunday the 12th of June 2016, at 3.40am, the Alarm Phone received a message from a contact person, alerting our shift team to 30 people who were about to leave Turkey on a boat in the direction of Samos. We agreed that he would monitor the situation and contact us if the group entered a situation of distress. At 4.35am, the same contact person informed us about another group on their way to Lesvos. Again, our contact person agreed to stay in contact with the group of 40 people and alert us if need be. Hours later we were informed that the second boat had safely arrived on Lesvos Island while the first boat had been intercepted by the Turkish coastguards (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/522).
On Thursday the 16th of June 2016, at 11.23pm, the Alarm Phone was alerted to a group of travellers seeking to cross the Aegean Sea from Cesme/Turkey. We received several GPS positions of their boat, showing their trajectory toward Chios Island. At 3.02am we were informed that the Turkish coastguard was following them and the travellers were worried that they might be caught and returned. However, already at 3.19am we learned that they had succeeded to reach Chios Island (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/523).
On Friday, the 24th of June 2016, at 1:17am, a contact person informed the Alarm Phone about a boat in distress in the Aegean Sea. We were told that the engine had stopped working and that the passengers were in panic, as water was entering the boat. The travellers had left from Turkey around midnight. The contact person provided us with a number, but we could not reach the travellers. Two other contact persons called us about the same boat. They had family members on board and were worried, as they could not reach them. At 2:10am we called the Greek Coastguard to see whether they knew about the case. They told us to call the Turkish Coastguard. At 2:15am, the first contact person called us to say that the travellers had safely arrived in Mytilene (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/527).
On Saturday, the 25th of June 2016, just before midnight the Alarm Phone was informed about 30 travellers (with several children, pregnant women and a disabled person among them) attempting to cross from Cesme, Turkey to Chios. On Sunday, at 1.50am they confirmed their safe arrival in Chios. (see:
http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/528)
Central Mediterranean Sea
On Sunday the 12th of June 2016, the Alarm Phone dealt with 4 emergency situations in the Central Mediterranean Sea. We received direct calls from 4 different satellite phones, alerting us to 4 vessels that had left from Northern Africa, from Libya as well as Egypt. We were able to re-charge the 4 satellite phones so that the travellers could continue making distress calls. Boat 1 with about 133 people on board was rescued by MSF’s Dignity I rescue vessel but unfortunately one of the travellers had passed away (case 1). Boat 2 with about 125 people on board was located very close to the Libyan coast with a malfunctioning engine and eventually the people were rescued by a cargo vessel and returned to Libya. Boat 3 with about 130 people on board was rescued by the Italian coastguard and boat 4 was rescued by merchant vessels and Frontex forces and brought to Italy. Overall, approximately 585 people were rescued, 1 dead body discovered, 125 people returned to Libya (see full report: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/524).
On Friday, the 24th of June 2016, at 7.49, the Alarm Phone received a direct call from a boat with about 100 travellers on the way from Libya to Italy. They urgently asked for help. They had left from Tripoli the day before around 1am. The officer of the Italian coastguard, to whom we passed on the Thuraya telephone number, promised to try to localize the boat. We charged the Thuraya phone and asked the travellers to send us their coordinates, but did not receive any answer. At 9.09am, we reached out to the Coastguard again, who had, in the meantime, localized the boat. The Italian Coastguard sent an Italian warship to rescue the boat. At 1.15pm, the start of the rescue operation and at 3.43pm the successful rescue operation was confirmed. The Italian Coastguard said that the warship had rescued about 100 persons from a rubber boat. At 8.22pm, a contact person whose family members had been on the rubber boat also confirmed their rescue and told us that they had been brought to Italy (see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/529).
On Sunday, the 26th of June 2016, the Alarm Phone was involved in two distress cases in the Central Mediterranean Sea. At 7.53am, we received an e-mail from Father Mussie Zerai concerning two boats on the way from Libya to Europe, carrying 120 people and 135 people respectively, who were in urgent need of assistance. The second boat was rescued by a German boat, as the travellers confirmed to us. The first boat is very likely to have been rescued again, but the boat could not be identified, because there were a lot of simultaneous rescue operations. On Sunday afternoon, the Italian Coastguard stated that they had coordinated the rescue of about 3,324 persons from 26 boats. Besides the Italian Coastguard and the Navy, civil rescue missions like MSF and Sea Watch again played a key role in the rescue efforts (see: http://watchthemed.net/index.php/reports/view/530).
http://moving-europe.org/report-on-police-violence-during-push-backs-from-hungary/
Currently, there are around 300 people per day arriving in Serbia. They
come either from Turkey through Bulgaria or from Greece through
Macedonia. The accounts we hear from people stopping over in Belgrade
are of difficult journeys, often with violent encounters with
authorities or gangs. In Belgrade, many people rest for a few days
before they continue their journey to the Hungarian border. There are
two transit zones where people can legally enter Hungary. However,
people often have to wait for weeks before it is their turn to enter.
The conditions of the camps at these transit zones are miserable.
Therefore, many people try to cross the fence into Hungary on their own.
After having entered Hungary, people face three scenarios. They are
either pushed-back to Serbia, detained for some time or sent directly to
open camps. From the open camps, most people try to continue their
journey towards Austria.
In the last days we witnessed an increased number of people who left for
Hungary returning to Belgrade. They crossed into Hungary, but were
caught by the police and pushed back to Serbia through a hole in fence.
Many people reported violent behaviour by the Hungarian police,
including pepper spray, electrical shocks, beatings and setting dogs on
them.
On Wednesday 22 June, at least 50 people returned from the border. We
spoke with people from a group of twelve and another group of 23 who
testified having had similar experiences. This is the recorded report of
one of them. It is representative of the experiences of many others. It
contains explicit details and images of physical violence.
“I went to Hungary three times. The first time after a walk of five
minutes the police came with dogs and beat me and then we were brought
to the border again and they sent me back. The second time I walked for
half an hour and they came and beat me again and they sent me back. The
third time I walked ten kilometres in three hours and again they beat me
and sent me back. So the Hungarian police is a big problem for refugees
because they beat them.
I walked for ten kilometres in Hungary and the police came and beat me.
They cut a hole in the fence and pushed us through the fence. We were
twelve persons and the police beat all twelve persons. One had a wound
on his head with blood. They had a helicopter. And they also used
electric shockers. And they also had pepper-spray. This is very
dangerous. If the refugees go back to Serbia they can not see anything.
They go there and fall in the fence with razors so they have a lot of cuts.
(shows wounds on a friend’s arm, right)
(shows a wound on a friend’s leg, left)
This is from a dog. The dog bit him. This was five days ago.
(shows his swollen and bruised foot)
My foot is hurt. I cannot walk. And this is also a problem, I cannot
walk and they beat me again and again. I could not walk very well all
the time because this was five days ago. If you can see this, my foot is
big and swollen.
I tried to cross the border three times in four days. No sleep, only
running and walking. We walked through dirty water like this (points up
to his neck) two times. We had nothing to drink, we drank the dirty
water from the ground. No food. The third time I walked ten kilometres
without water. And I have also kidney problems. I told the Hungarian
police that I have kidney problems and they beat me again. I told them
‘give me water’ but they didn’t give me water. And we had one family
with us. They beat one of the family one the head and broke another
one’s bones (points to the arm) and there was also one sleeping child,
five or six years. And the family and women, they beat them on their head.
Why do they beat us? They can bring us back but why do they beat us?
That is the problem. The same happens to a lot of other people. Maybe
one hundred. And they beat me only a little, but other people have their
heads broken.
We don’t want to stay in Hungary! We want to go to France, to Germany,
to Italy, to London. We just want to pass Hungary. Please, I am going to
Italy or London, but all misafir1 have problems in Hungary. Nobody wants
to stay in Hungary!
Why do they beat us? At first we all face the Bulgarian police and they
all beat us. The Serbian police they are very good. When they caught us
they did not touch us and said ‘go to the border, go to Subotica’ and
‘go to Belgrade’. They do not beat us. But why did the Hungarian police
beat us? And what is the rule of that ten kilometres? Why can they beat me?
They also beat children and women. We are men, but why do they beat
children? A lot of people said the Hungarian police is not allowed to do
that type of beatings. Why do they beat now?
My message is that: They cannot beat the refugees. Because refugees have
no food, no water. Then they beat them so they have even more problems.
My message to the other EU countries is that they should force Hungary
so they do not beat the refugees. Because they had a lot of problems,
that’s why they came in this country. They are not a million, not a
billion who come there. We had a lot of problems, that’s why we have to
come to Europe, Germany, France, Italy or Austria. If they have a new
law, that’s ok. But they can not beat us.
So my message is that all European countries should force Hungarian
police and Bulgarian police to stop beating us and they should help all
misafir.”
Alf is going to Thessaloniki in Greece.
Who is Alf Partout?
Alf Partout is a bus project which activist people live in driving through the world.
What does Alf Partout do?
Alf Partout makes action to abolish hierarchic, capitalist and based on dominance structures, for example ecological destruction.
Meeting places for the caravan:
1st of July 16; 11 Uhr; motorway service area Weiskirchen South on the motorway A3 around Frankfurt/Main
Estimated departure: 11:30 am.
2nd of July: Munich
The further route will probably be:
Vienna, Ljubljana, Skopje, Salonika
http://alfpartoutenglish.blogsport.eu/2016/06/10/planning-ticker-caravan/
More caravans:
Categories
Fotos from the march of 28/6
Sorry, this entry is only available in Ελληνικά.
Categories
Open Caravan actions schedule
So far, the following Open Caravan actions have been confirmed:
SlOVENIA
June 23, Ljubljana: Preparation Meeting at ROG social center + demo in support of ROG.
SLOVENIA-CROATIA
June 24-26th: “De-fencing Festival” at the Slovenian-Croatian Border.
SERBIA
July 2 -6, Belgrade. “The city is ours” days.
BULGARIA
July 10th, 14:00, Sofia: Protest in front of the detention center in Buzmanzi, Sofia.