Background information
WatchTheMed Alarm Phone Six Weeks Report 10th October – 20th November 2016
Violence against migrants and NGOs escalates – Record numbers of crossings and deaths in the Central Med read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europa, Afrika, Asien
EU Policies Put Refugees At Risk
A lack of leadership, vision, and solidarity based on human rights principles are at the core of the European Union’s dismal response to refugee and migration challenges. The mismanagement and politicization of a surge in boat migration in 2015, when over one million migrants and asylum seekers traveled to the EU by sea, has led to a humanitarian and political crisis largely of the EU’s own making that needs to be addressed with the utmost urgency. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europäische Union
Informationsveranstaltung zur Situation von Geflüchteten auf Lesbos und das Mosaik Support Center For Refugees and Locals am 1.12.16 in Berlin
Seitdem der EU-Türkei-Deal in Kraft getreten ist kommen deutlich weniger Geflüchtete auf den griechischen Inseln an als im letzten Jahr. Die Chancen auf eine Weiterreise sind aber gleich null. Deswegen sitzen mehr als 14.000 Geflüchtete auf den Inseln in völlig überfüllten Lagern unter desaströsen Bedingungen fest. Neben diesem kompletten Versagen staatlicher Institutionen gibt es aber auch Menschen und Organisationen die sich solidarisch verhalten und unabhängig von staatlicher Förderung Unterstützungsstrukturen aufbauen. read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei, Europäische Union
„Völliges Versagen der Flüchtlingspolitik?! – Flüchtlinge auf der griechischen Insel Lesbos“
Am Montag, 28. November 2016, um 18:00 Uhr, wird unter anderem mit Frau Efi Latsoudi, Julian Koeberer und dem Zuwanderungsbeauftragten Stefan Schmidt über die Flüchtlingssituation auf den griechischen Inseln diskutiert werden. read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Deutschland
Gutachten zu Rechtsproblemen: Unbegleitete minderjährige Flüchtlinge in Österreich
Junge Menschen, die geflüchtet sind, werden vorrangig als Asylsuchende behandelt – und nicht als das, was sie sind: Kinder und Jugendliche. Tausende minderjährige Flüchtlinge sind in Österreich in völlig ungeeigneten Großquartieren untergebracht, ohne individuelle Betreuung, ohne angemessene Tagesstruktur, ohne Perspektive. „Das ist eine untragbare Situation“, sagt SOS-Kinderdorf-Geschäftsführer Christian Moser. Denn laut Gesetz hat jedes Kind Anspruch auf den Schutz und die Fürsorge, die für sein Wohlergehen notwendig sind. Das bestätigt jetzt ein Rechtsgutachten. read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Österreich / Schweiz
A border expert told us why we keep building more walls and why they won’t work
In 1990 there were 15 border walls in the world — today there are almost 70. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Weltweit
Nowhere else to go - Forced returns of Somali refugees from Dadaab Refugee Camp, Kenya
In May 2016 the Kenyan government announced its intention to close Dadaab refugee camp by 30 November 2016. Dadaab is the world’s largest refugee camp and home to over 280,000 refugees, 260,000 of whom are Somalis. Most have lived there for years and, in some cases, two decades. In making the announcement, the government made clear that it intended Somali refugees to return to Somalia. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Afrika
Destruction of the Shantytown
The communication exercise around the destruction of the Calais shantytown was smoothly conducted. Guided tours for journalists, a press room provided, strictly regulated preview of the hangar where there would be the sorting and putting of people on buses , a maximum of reporters on the first day, when the most of the people who had been waiting for months to be able to make their application for asylum in France would get on the buses, the mobilization of associative support to give the impression of a consensual process, the denial of access when things went wrong. And it must be said that few media made any effort to look behind the scenes. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europäische Union
Impressions from Mytilene – October 2016
When we returned to Mytilene in October 2016, during the same week the citizens of Lesvos finally did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize for their courageous support of refugees both at sea and after arriving on their island. Everywhere in the media still reviews of the last year – and not much about the changes and the current situation. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei
Lesvos turns into a deportation hub to Turkey
Already for weeks, tensions on the Aegean islands run high after the Greek government announced to open three more so-called “hot-spots” only for “pre-removals” on the islands of Lesvos, Chios and Kos. They are, in fact, deportation prisons. Local residents and municipalities oppose these plans. At the same time, the atmosphere within the camps is boiling over. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei
Europe Wishes to Inform You That the Refugee Crisis Is Over
But the humanitarian and political crises of the great Syrian exodus are just beginning. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Nordafrika, Naher Osten, Europäische Union, Europa, Afrika
Preghiera interreligiosa per i migranti morti in mare
Celebrazione interreligiosa al cimitero dei Rotoli dove sono sepolti i migranti. Padre Guarino: "La loro memoria ci deve spronare da vivi ad impegnarci perché il sistema cambi" read more
Language(s): Italienisch / Italiano
Region(s): Italien / Malta
„Als Tito lebte, hatten wir noch Rechte“
Sami Bekir ist Rom und kommt aus Mazedonien. Vor Diskrimierung und Gewalt flüchtete er nach Sachsen. read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Osteuropa, Deutschland
Migrant detention in the european union: a thriving business
Migrant detention at the borders and within the EU plays an important role in the markets developed in response to political programmes to stem migration flows. Since the 1990s, migrant detention has developed constantly to become the preferred method of migrant population management in Europe and beyond. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europäische Union
Hotspot Italy - How EU's flagship approach leads to violations of refugee and migrant rights
They have placed a particularly large burden on Greece, but also on Italy, which has led efforts to save lives at sea and has seen over 150 thousand irregular arrivals for each of the last three years. Rather than creating a bold, orderly system providing safe avenues for people to seek protection in Europe, and advocating for the respect and protection of human rights in countries where conflict and persecution are displacing people, European leaders have resorted to negotiating with human rights violating governments to stop them coming. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta
Voices from the border - Voix des frontières
Perspectives on the deadly European border regime and the struggle for the Freedom of Movement by West African and North African activists. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Nordafrika
2016 - Map of camps
Today, as in the past, many exiles are seeing their hopes dashed in closed camps in European countries, which on the one hand claim to be models of human rights, while on the other, demand that migrants remain outside the European Union
(EU). read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Nordafrika, Naher Osten, Europäische Union
Incident Report Sea Watch 21.10.2016
The present report refers to the aggressive interference by the Libyan Coastguard in a rescue operation coordinated by MRCC and involving Sea-Watch 2unit and tanker vessel OKYROE. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta, Nordafrika
Greece in 2016: Vulnerable People Get Left Behind
Seven months after the closure of the border with FYROM, more than 50,000 people are currently stranded in Greece of which over 15,000 on the islands. As though that weren’t enough, the implementation
of the EU-Turkey statement at the end of March 2016 has strengthened the policy of deterrence run by the EU by putting in place an organized way to deny access to a safe environment to those having fled war-torn countries and in search of protection. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei
Calais’ shantytown: October census
There are in the shantytown and in the structures created by the state (containers camp and center Jules Ferry) 8143 people, against 10,188 in September. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europäische Union