1951 Geneva refugee convention - Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association

1,971 migrants died or disappeared in the Mediterranean in 2021

Luke Vella - Malta Today — Wed, 09 Feb 2022 09:11:28 +0000

On ‘CommemorAction Day’ 36 NGOs gather in Senglea to remember migrants that died, went missing or faced prosecution whilst crossing borders

1,971 migrants died or disappeared in the Mediterranean in 2021, and at least 23,000 over the past decade, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

On “CommemorAction” Day on Sunday, 36 NGOs gathered by the habour in Senglea, to remember all those that faced prosecution, died, went missing, or disappeared whilst crossing the sea and the world’s borders.

They remarked that although the Mediterranean remains one of the world’s deadliest migratory routes, Maltese authorities are looking away from their duties to protect the lives of people seeking asylum in our search and rescue zone.

“Today, we join people across the world to strongly denounce the deadly violence of the world’s border regimes and call on responsible authorities to respect human rights, international law and the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention, and to act humanely to prevent deaths and disappearance of lives,” the NGOs said.

“It is an established fact that Maltese authorities collaborate with the Libyan Coastguard in illegal pushbacks. We regularly read reports of Malta ignoring distress calls and refusing disembarkation to the rescued. We witness asylum seekers being subjected to degrading and humiliating treatment,” they said.

They said the “imprisonment” of people on Captain Morgan boats in 2020, was a tragic case in point. “We call on authorities to remember that saving lives at sea is a legal and moral obligation.”

They remarked that human rights and international laws safeguard the right to seek asylum and oblige states to treat asylum seekers with respect and dignity at every stage of the process.

“We call on EU institutions to offer strong assistance measures to ensure Malta and other Member States can offer the safety and dignity migratory peoples are entitled to,” the NGOs said.

This event was one of many taking place to mark the Global Day of “CommemorAction”, where people stand in solidarity with the relatives of those who died or disappeared along migratory routes and call for action to prevent this from happening again.

CommemorAction Day occurs on 6 February, as on the day in 2014, Spanish border police killed at least 15 people attempting to cross into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Tarajal. The NGOs said those migrants drowned as the Guardia Civil armed with aggressive riot gear fired rubber bullets into them.

“This tragedy has become a shameful symbol of deadly migration policies across the world. Spanish courts have since then ruled that no crime was committed and acquitted the Guardia Civil officers. The victims’ families still wait for justice.”

The first CommemorationAction took place on the 6 February 2019 in Oujda, where families of deceased, missing or disappeared migrants called for an end to border violence.

“The Tarajal massacre is but one example of 20 years of aggression where victims remain without justice, graves without names and borders without rights.”

The event was organized by aditus foundation; African Media Association; Anti-Poverty Forum Malta; Blue Door English; Department for Social Policy and Social Work; Department of Gender and Sexualities, University of Malta; Drachma LGBTI and Drachma Parents Group; Fondazzjoni Sebh; Free El Hiblu 3 Campaign; Great Oak Malta Association; Integra foundation; Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS); Justice and Peace Commission – Archdiocese of Malta; KOPIN; Kunsill Nazzjonali taż-Żgħażagħ; L-Għaqda ghall-Ġustizzja, Ugwaljanza u Paċi; LGBTI+ Gozo; Malta Gay Rights Movement (MGRM); Malta Humanist Association; Maltese Association of Social Workers; Men Against Violence; Migrant Women Association Malta; Moviment Graffitti; OASI Foundation; Office of the Dean – Faculty of Education; Office of the Dean, Faculty for Social Wellbeing; Paulo Freire Institute Foundation; President Emeritus, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca; Repubblika; Richmond Foundation; Segretarjat Assistenza Soċjali – Azzjoni Kattolika Maltija; SOS Malta; SPARK15; St Jeanne Antide Foundation; Sudanese Community; The Good Shepherd Sisters – Dar Merħba Bik Foundation.

Source: https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/114810/1971_migrants_died_or_disappeared_in_the_mediterranean_in_2021#.YgODF-rMJPY

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Syrian refugees leaving Germany over family reunification policy

Deutsche Welle — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 06:00:14 +0000

Syrians granted limited asylum but denied the right to fetch relatives are departing Germany for Turkey by using smugglers, say German media. The cases, if confirmed, bizarrely reverse the “Balkan route” drama of 2015.

Thousands of Syrian refugees are attempting to leave Germany despite being legally entitled to stay, according to a report to be aired Thursday on German public broadcaster ARD.

Stuck in Germany without close relatives because of Berlin’s all but refusal to allow family reunions, the refugees were said to be using traffickers to reach their families in Turkey, saying “we’d rather die together than live apart.”

The journey, now in reverse, retraces the same risky routes they used from the outset of Syria’s six-year war, reported “Panorama,” a Hamburg-based investigative program and its offshoot channel Strg_F.

The reports coincided Thursday with a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling in favor of family reunions for juvenile refugees entering adulthood.

One smuggler told reporters he was guiding 50 individuals, mostly Syrians with right of residency in Germany, from EU member Greece into Turkey across the border river Evros to be reunited with family members in a Turkish refuge.

The crossing cost about 200 euros ($247), he said. Without visas, they were entering Turkey, with whom the EU struck a multibillion-euro refugee deal in 2016 to close sea routes leading into Balkan nations such as Serbia.

Syrians were exchanging information of “reverse escapes” on social media, said “Panorama” and Strg_F, the German equivalent of the computer keyboard combination of Control F.

One young Syrian told of failing to get a foothold in Germany and feeling embarrassed because he had ended up living in Frankfurt’s red-light district. “Bye-bye Frankfurt,” he tells the camera team, filming a nighttime scene with him from a high-rise platform overlooking Germany’s financial hub.

‘Dramatic consequence’ of German policy

The trend was the “dramatic consequence of the catastrophic error of [Germany’s] coalition government (against) family reunions, said Günter Burkhardt, director of Pro Asyl, a Frankfurt-based pro-refugee network backed by churches, unions and rights groups.

Burkhardt was referring to a limited asylum, based on a 2011 EU directive and instituted in German asylum law in 2016, called “subsidiary protection,” which offers lesser protection than awarded via the 1951 Geneva refugee convention.

Under the coalition deal binding Chancellor Angela Merkel’s new three-party government, Germany only admits 1,000 close relatives of “subsidiary protection” refugees on “humanitarian grounds” each month.

Dominik Bartsch, the representative in Germany for the refugee agency UNHCR, was quoted by Panorama as saying he had heard of cases of Syrians leaving for Turkey, but he could not quantify them.

‘Absurd’ twist, say Greens

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) said it did not collate data on such departures, because foreigners with valid residency permits could travel into foreign territory beyond Europe.

The Greens’ parliamentary group spokeswoman on refugee issues in Germany’s Bundestag, Luise Amtsberg, described the situation as “absurd,” given the EU’s deal with Turkey.

The young Syrian man who failed to get a foothold in Germany and ended up in Frankfurt’s red-light district was interviewed by Strg_F.

‘Bye-bye Frankfurt’

The Strg-F team said Facebook entries showed that the young Syrian man it filmed, and identified as Basel, was far from being alone in departing Germany — in his case after three years residence.

“His girlfriend is in Syria. He hopes to fetch her to Turkey as fast as possible,” say the documentary makers, adding that the couple’s plan for Germany has imploded.

Before getting asylum in Germany, Basel’s bid to reach Europe had involved three traumatic boat capsizes.

“We check the Facebook group. Basel is not the only one who’s leaving Germany on this day. There are hundreds.”

From Thessaloniki in Greece, Syrians such as Basel were then crossing the river Evros at night into Turkey, but without a visa, the reporter narrates.

ipj/ng (epd, dpa, AFP, KNA)

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/syrian-refugees-leaving-germany-over-family-reunification-policy/a-43358055

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