Refugees

Tanzania: Burundi Situation Map - Burundian refugees in the region, 30 April 2024

Tanzania: Réfugiés Burundais dans la région, au 30 avril 2024

Apercu de l'opération du Burundi - 30 Avril 2024

Burundi Operational Overview - 30 April 2024

Bhasan Char Bangladesh Inter-Agency Operational update, March 2024

Bhasan Char Bangladesh Inter-Agency Coordination: Management Support, Shelter Non Food Items Sector Fact Sheet, 31 December 2023

oPt: What are the vulnerability criteria recommended by Shelter Cluster Palestine?

Afghanistan: Kunduz: DACAAR Provides Safe Water and Hygiene Messages

Chad: Sudan Crisis Health Situation Dashboard (As of 12 May 2024)

The EU Border Agency Frontex Continues To Support Pushbacks In Greece

The EU Border Agency Frontex Continues To Support Pushbacks In Greece

At first light on February 19, a boat carrying 37 people, amongst them 13 small children, ended up in distress deep inside Greek waters, south east of Plomari, Lesvos south.

















First on scene was the Bulgarian coast guard vessel “Balchik”, which is stationed on Lesvos as part of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex operation, Poseidon.







Under normal circumstances, any coast guard vessel would immediately initiate rescue if they came across a boat in distress. Unfortunately for these 37 people, there is nothing “normal” about the situation in the Aegean Sea, where for some reason international law and fundamental rights don’t seem to apply.



The group was relieved that the boat coming to their rescue was a Frontex vessel, and not the Greek Coast Guard. They knew that the Greek coast guard would immediately push them back to Turkey, but surely this vessel wouldn’t, or so they believed.



The Bulgarian Frontex vessel “Balchik” stopped at a safe distance, put a rescue RIB in the water, and approached the drifting overloaded rubber boat. The people onboard waved and shouted towards them, begging to be rescued, tried to explain that there was water coming into the boat, and they had many children onboard.









Again, under normal circumstances, the crew on the rescue RIB would first assess the situation, then start a rescue operation to transport people from the unseaworthy, fragile rubber boat, to the larger coast guard vessel.



For some reason, this didn’t happen.



The Bulgarian Frontex vessel and their rescue RIB, didn’t attempt to start any rescue operation, they only observed, while people in the rubber boat were begging them to help them. From video we have received, we can clearly see that none of the passengers in the rubber boat had life jackets. While observing from a distance, the crew of the Bulgarian Frontex vessel must also have seen the total lack of any rescue equipment onboard.









If something had suddenly happened to the rubber boat, that led to people ending up in the sea, the two officers in the rescue RIB wouldn’t have had any possibility of rescuing them all.



The RIB from the Bulgarian Frontex vessel didn’t even have life jackets with them to hand out to the people in distress, a clear indication that they had no intention whatsoever to rescue them.






After approximately 45 minutes, a Greek coast guard vessel arrived on location, and the Bulgarian Frontex vessel was ordered to leave the area. Why the Greek coast guard ordered Frontex to leave is quite obvious to the rest of us, but for the captain of the Bulgarian Frontex vessels, it didn’t seem to raise any concerns at all.



According to operational procedures, Greek authorities must, when ordering a Frontex asset to leave an incident, give a reason for this order, this reason should then be referenced in the report by the Frontex asset. Also, the Bulgarian Frontex vessel should have filed a report after the incident, as the agency’s rules state its operatives must report any incident in which there are suspicions or indications that violations of international laws or human rights have been committed.



Remember that they are not told to report when they are certain of such a violation, but when there is any possibility one has been or will be committed. We must assume that Frontex assets in the Aegean Sea under Operation Poseidon, are fully aware of the widespread and systematic pushback tactics by Greek authorities. For this reason, whenever a Frontex vessel is ordered to leave an incident involving refugees, it should be apparent to Frontex that there is a high probability that human rights violations will take place.







This should of course be reflected in the reports by Frontex, if such reports are written at all.



The procedures are crystal clear, any suspicion of human rights violations must at all times be reported, so why is this consistently “forgotten” by all Frontex assets in Greece under operation Poseidon?

















Why are no such reports being filed by Frontex personnel in Greece? Over the last four years 3.000 pushback cases have been documented in the Aegean Sea, involving 82.000 people. These has been carried out by Greek authorities, heavily supported by Frontex and the EU Commission.



Perhaps this is why Frontex systematically ignores their duty to report on human rights violations in the Aegean Sea, covering up for Greek atrocities while protecting their own oppression?



In this incident, 37 people, 13 small children, were handed over to the Greek coast guard, who towed the fragile overloaded rubber boat back to Turkish waters, and set them adrift. They were left helplessly drifting in the middle of the sea. The Greek authorities didn’t even bother to provide them with life jackets or any other form of rescue equipment, they just left them.







Before leaving these vulnerable people adrift, they made sure to destroy the boat’s engine, removed the petrol, and took away all phones onboard, so that the people couldn’t document the crimes committed by Greek authorities, nor could they call for help if something went wrong.



At 11am, the Turkish coast guard found and rescued a group of 37 people, amongst them 13 small children, drifting in a fragile overloaded rubber boat off the coast of Karaburun, Turkey.









There isn’t much doubt on what happened here, nor who was responsible. Nevertheless, the Greek coast guard denied that they had pushed the boat back, claiming that the boat had turned around and headed back towards Turkey by their own means.



The boat carrying 37 people had turned around and headed back to Turkey, travelled 20km with a destroyed engine without petrol, and while traveling back, they had thrown all their phones in the sea. This is the explanation given by Greek authorities.







This case should have been immediately reported by the captain of the Bulgarian Frontex vessel “Balchik”. A Serious Incident Report (SIR) should have been filed based on the imminent danger of this group being pushed back to Turkey by Greek authorities.



No such report was filed, and the Bulgarian Frontex vessel deliberately covered up yet another illegal pushback in the Aegean Sea by Greek authorities. The cases we report on are only the tip of the iceberg. A very small percentage of these cases are ever documented to such an extent that it is possible to investigate.



In most cases there is no footage available. The criminals are getting away with the crimes, because Frontex are helping Greek authorities to cover up their crimes. Normal procedure in the Aegean Sea is that Frontex is assisting Greek authorities in stopping boats deep inside Greek territory waters, and is then ordered away, so that they won’t be a direct witness to the crimes and fundamental rights violations performed by Greek authorities.



They are basically told to look away, and are most happy and eager to comply, no questions asked, all in the name of EU border policy.



This particular case, and many similar cases, have been reported to the Fundamental Rights Officer of Frontex, not by Frontex assets involved as they definitely should, but by Aegean Boat Report.



This so that these cases can be investigated properly to see if Frontex is following its fundamental rights obligations in accordance with EU and international law.



In this case, as in many other similar cases, the conclusion is clear.



Frontex is not following its fundamental rights obligations in accordance with EU and international law, and Greek authorities are responsible for systematic illegal deportation of people from their territory.





















































Frontex fundamental rights officer, Jonas Grimheden, has repeatedly recommended Frontex suspends operations in Greece, based on years of systematic fundamental rights violations by Greek authorities.







So far, Frontex’s Executive Director, Hans Leijtens, Frontex management board, nor the EU Commission, has taken any notice of his recommendations.



Instead of suspending operations, they have significantly increased support and funding to Greek authorities, sending a strange message regarding the rule of law in Europe.



Last year many investigations were undertaken by the Fundamental Rights Office in Frontex. The two highest-profile cases were the Pylos shipwreck, where over 650 people were killed by Greek authorities in a fatal pushback attempt June 14 last year, and the Lesvos pushback on April 11, filmed by Fayad Mulla, and brought to light by the New York Times.













These two Serious Incident Reports had high public interest. The question is, did they actually have any impact, lead to any significant changes, or have any consequences for the Greek authorities?













The answer is unfortunately no, in both cases. None of these reports had any impact as far as we can see, no changes to the better have been made, and there are no consequences for the Greek authorities, nobody has been held accountable, and most likely nobody will.



This is not an acceptable situation. Whatever the reasons people have for wishing to escape their homelands, nobody deserves to be stripped of their possessions and set adrift to risk their lives at sea, and there is no excuse for anyone – let alone the world’s wealthiest political bloc and its members states – to do so.



EU taxpayer’s money is being spent on this outrageous crime, even as the EU itself demands to be regarded and respected as a promoter and protector of international law and fundamental human rights.



At what point do we the people of the EU and elsewhere demand that the EU lives up to its self-declared standards, and that Frontex stops aiding and abetting crimes in European waters?



Even if we cannot expect the current Greek government to behave like anything other than a vicious criminal cabal, such an expectation should be the least we can demand of the European Union and its agencies.

aegeanboatreport.com

oPt: Once again, nearly half of the population of Rafah or 800,000 people are on the road, having been forced to flee since the Israeli forces started the military operation in the area on 6 May

oPt: Gaza: HI response to the humanitarian crisis

Peru: DTM - Encuesta de Monitoreo de Flujos: TerminaleRegión Desaguadero, Perú, Ronda 1 (Octubre - Dicimbre 2023)

Projet 21 - TCHAD: Monitoring de protection - Rapport mensuel (Avril 2024)

Operational Update: Medical Aid Arrives in Iraqi Kurdistan, Egypt, and More

Violence in Mali drives increased surgical needs among women and children

World: Traite des êtres humains, mouvements migratoires mixtes et protection en mer : Rapport de la Rapporteuse spéciale sur la traite des êtres humains, en particulier les femmes et les enfants, Siobhán Mullally (A/HRC/56/60)

World: Trafficking in persons, mixed migration and protection at sea: Report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Siobhán Mullally (A/HRC/56/60) [EN/AR/RU/ZH]

World: Human Rights Council intersessional panel: High Commissioner urges rights of migrants in transit are upheld

Türk deeply regrets adoption of ‘foreign influence’ law in Georgia

Brazil: Latin America & The Caribbean Weekly Situation Update as of 17 May 2024

Sudan Situation: UNHCR External Update #61, 9-15 May 2024

We thought we were safe: Repression and refoulement of refugees in Thailand [EN/KM/TH/ZH]

World Should Rally to Halt Unfolding Atrocities in Darfur

World Should Rally to Halt Unfolding Atrocities in Darfur

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Damage to Babiker Nahar Pediatric Hospital in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur following an airstrike, May 11, 2024.
© 2024 Ayin Network



Hundreds of thousands of civilians are at risk of again becoming victims of atrocities, this time in the North Darfur city of El Fasher, amid fighting between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), as well as allied militias. Fighting began in April, and the last week has seen fierce clashes in and around the city, including deliberate attacks on civilians, burning of residential neighborhoods, and indiscriminate bombing and shelling. Tens of thousands of people in El Fasher have already been displaced, with many civilians trapped in the city without access to aid. A telecommunications blackout is also hampering real-time reporting.














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Damage to Babiker Nahar Pediatric Hospital in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur following an airstrike, May 11, 2024.
© 2024 Ayin Network



Observers within the United Nations, governments, and civil society have warned an attack on El Fasher would cause immeasurable suffering. On May 15, the United States sanctioned two high-level RSF commanders, one for involvement in leading the attacks on El Fasher, but greater focus on civilian protection is needed. Satellite imagery indicates fires in the eastern part of the city since at least April 18, with an increase from May 10 to 12, days when fighting in the city spiraled. The images show burn marks in the city that suggest targeting of non-Arab neighbourhoods. We also geolocated videos posted online of RSF soldiers close to residential areas ablaze. This is consistent with the RSF and allied forces’ modus operandi in West Darfur last year. Bombing and shelling in the city is also costing lives. On May 15, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders or MSF), one of the only aid groups present in El Fasher, said the South Hospital, which it supports, had received 454 casualties, 56 of them succumbing to their injuries since May 10. MSF also reported that on May 11, an SAF airstrike 25 meters from a pediatric hospital had killed two children and at least one caregiver and forced the hospital to stop operations. The strike left an approximately 5 meter-wide crater near the hospital visible on satellite imagery. Last week Human Rights Watch released a report documenting war crimes and crimes against humanity by the RSF and allied militias in West Darfur’s El Geneina. The ongoing assault in El Fasher bares stark similarities to these findings and warns of a tragedy which may repeat itself. Concerted global action is needed now. The UN Security Council and the African Union’s Peace and Security Councils should meet, deploy a civilian protection mission to Sudan, and call on their respective institutions to press warring parties to ensure trapped civilians can safely flee.

www.hrw.org

Enduring Legacy of Photojournalist Killed in Central African Republic

Enduring Legacy of Photojournalist Killed in Central African Republic

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French photojournalist Camille Lepage at Bonga Bonga stadium in Bangui, Central African Republic, on October 6, 2013.
© 2013 Sylvain Cherkaoui/AP Photo



This week marked ten years since the death of Camille Lepage, a French photojournalist who was killed while working in western Central African Republic (CAR). She was a true friend to a country in need of people to bear witness to abuse. Camille was 26. Months before her arrival in CAR in 2013, an alliance of rebel groups known as the Seleka took control of Bangui, the capital. By then they had also seized control of most of the country’s provinces, and its fighters unleashed waves of violence against civilians across the country. Camille arrived later that year as Christian and animist militias, known as anti-balaka, began to organize counter attacks against the Seleka. The group frequently targeted Muslim civilians, associating them with the Seleka. As the humanitarian situation rapidly deteriorated, hundreds of thousands of people fled the country as refugees, while others were displaced internally. As people were fleeing, Camille went in. She used her camera lens to tell the story of those who had been left behind. She knew it was a forgotten crisis and knew she had a way to help. Camille’s photos continue to be some of the most striking images that illustrate the human cost of the conflict in those early years. She gave faces to the victims and survivors, capturing in an image the fear of battle, the agony of losing a loved one, the injustice of war crimes. I remember accompanying her on a protest, where people called for justice for a slain judge. Ten years on, the images she took that day still stand as a testament to CAR’s indefatigable calls for justice and accountability. Since Camille was killed, the Central African Republic continues to be one of the most dangerous places for humanitarians to work. Impunity is a key driver of abuse; there has been too little accountability for the war crimes committed across the country. Camille’s case is emblematic of this, as there has been little movement on bringing her killers to justice. A book of Camille’s photography was issued after her death. Its title, Republique Centrafricaine: On est ensemble (Central African Republic: We Are Together), represents both Camille’s ties to the country and a common phrase she would say in Sango, the local language. After ten years, Camille is still connected to the country and her legacy lives on.

www.hrw.org

UK deal aims to fast-track deportations to Bangladesh

UK deal aims to fast-track deportations to Bangladesh

More migrants from Bangladesh could face deportation from the UK back to their home country under a fast-track returns deal signed this week.

www.infomigrants.net

Tunisie : les migrants terrifiés par la vague d’"arrestations générales" visant les Subsahariens dans le pays

Tunisie : les migrants terrifiés par la vague d’"arrestations générales" visant les Subsahariens dans le pays

Depuis une dizaine de jours, les migrants vivant en Tunisie se disent traqués par les autorités tunisiennes. Les arrestations dans le pays se multiplient. À Sousse (Est) et Sfax (centre-est) principalement, les Subsahariens sont interpellés dans les rues, les cafés, les commerces ou encore chez eux. Leurs proches redoutent qu’ils soient envoyés dans le désert, aux frontières avec l’Algérie et la Libye. Un climat qui provoque un vent de panique chez les migrants de la région.

www.infomigrants.net

Spain approves healthcare for undocumented migrants

Spain approves healthcare for undocumented migrants

Undocumented migrants will have access to medical care, according to a new law passed in Spain. Undocumented migrants welcome the move after having their access to medical aid hindered in 2021.

www.infomigrants.net

Greece: Respect Fair Trial Rights of Pylos Shipwreck Survivors

Greece: Respect Fair Trial Rights of Pylos Shipwreck Survivors

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Rescued migrants shelter at a depot, following a shipwreck off shore in Kalamata , Greece on June 14, 2023.
© 2023 Costas Baltas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images



(Athens, May 17, 2024) – The imminent trial of nine survivors of the June 2023 Pylos shipwreck off Greece raises fair trial concerns, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. The survivors are charged with smuggling, aggravated by the deaths of passengers, causing a shipwreck, irregular entry, and forming and membership of a criminal organization, and could face multiple life sentences if convicted. A parallel investigation into the potential liability of the Greek authorities for the shipwreck is at the preliminary stage, meaning the criminal court will have incomplete information in assessing the culpability of the defendants. The criminal trial is due to begin in Kalamata, Greece, on May 21, 2024. “There’s a real risk that these nine survivors could be found ‘guilty’ on the basis of incomplete and questionable evidence given that the official investigation into the role of the Coast Guard has not yet been completed,” said Judith Sunderland, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Credible and meaningful accountability for one of the worst shipwrecks in the Mediterranean needs to include a determination of any liabilities of Greek authorities.” The severely overcrowded fishing trawler capsized on June 14, 2023, leading to the death of more than 600 of its estimated 750 passengers, mainly from Syria, Pakistan and Egypt. Research by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and numerous investigative journalists and organizations points to several failures by the Greek authorities in the hours leading up to the shipwreck, as well as serious allegations that a Hellenic Coast Guard patrol boat caused the boat to capsize while attempting to tow it. The case against the nine Egyptian survivors, referred to as the “Pylos 9” appears to be based on the theory that the poor and overcrowded state of the boat caused the shipwreck and that the defendants were smugglers in charge of the boat and its passengers, and therefore responsible for the deaths of those on board. The accused deny the charges. It is unclear whether and how the criminal court will examine the behavior of the Hellenic Coast Guard or the allegation that the attempt to tow the boat was the direct, material cause of the shipwreck. A separate Naval Court investigation into the potential liability of the Hellenic Coast Guard, opened in June 2023, remains at the preliminary stages. Legal nongovernmental organizations joined the case filing a complaint on behalf of 53 survivors alleging that Greek authorities were responsible for the shipwreck, and many of them have been summoned to testify. The Naval Court prosecutor’s request for forensic analysis of coast guard officers’ phones – only seized by authorities in late September 2023, over two months after the events – is still pending. The Pylos 9 were arrested on June 15, 2023, apparently on the basis of testimonies from nine other survivors taken by Hellenic Coast Guard officers in the immediate aftermath of the traumatic shipwreck, between June 14 and 15. It is unclear whether or how many other survivors gave their accounts and whether these were evaluated before the accused were arrested and subsequently sent into pretrial custody, on June 20. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have previously said that the fact that Coast Guard officials conducted the interviews raised concerns for the independence and integrity of the investigation, especially considering that allegations about the Coast Guard’s actions emerged soon after the shipwreck. There are real concerns regarding the respect of fair trial standards based on questions about the integrity of the investigation and evidence, the organizations said. The speed at which the investigation against survivors was concluded, and the Pylos 9 defense lawyers’ lack of access to the Naval Court case file compound these concerns. In separate investigations, Lighthouse Reports, Solomon, and others found that various survivors’ statements to the Coast Guard, admitted as evidence, described the shipwreck in identical terms and did not include allegations about the towing attempt, suggesting that those taking the first statements may have written official pro forma accounts rather than the actual accounts provided by survivors. However, in later testimony to the Kalamata prosecutor, several of those same survivors made the allegation of the towing attempt. One survivor also told Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that his statement to the prosecutor that the Coast Guard had caused the fishing boat to capsize was changed to say that the boat sank due to other reasons. Members of the Pylos 9 defense team told the organizations that the investigating judge in the Kalamata court rejected defendants’ requests to secure further evidence, including evidence pertaining to the potential liability of the Hellenic Coast Guard, on the grounds that it falls within the jurisdiction of the Naval Court. The defendants’ lawyers have been unable to gain access to the investigation file before the Naval Court despite its clear relevance to preparing the defense. The judge rejected the request for analysis of any data from survivors’ mobile phones which were confiscated by Greek authorities under unclear circumstances, then reportedly discovered on the coast guard boat and seized as part of the Kalamata investigation only in July 2023. The judge also rejected motions by defense lawyers to take testimony from additional survivors, and to acquire the communications between the Hellenic Coast Guard, Frontex and the Greek Joint Rescue Coordination Center, and aerial photos of the boat prior to the shipwreck. The separate investigation into the Hellenic Coast Guard’s potential liability should not impede the defendants’ access to crucial, and potentially exculpatory, evidence on the causes of the shipwreck, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said. The Kalamata and Naval courts should cooperate in the interests of justice, with the goal of achieving as full and credible an account of how the shipwreck occurred and identifying those responsible and any alleged fatal shortcomings in the rescue efforts. International and European human rights law guarantees a defendant’s right to an effective defense when facing a criminal charge. Among other things, this means the defendants have the right to “adequate facilities” for preparing their defense, including “all materials that the prosecution plans to offer in court against the accused or that are exculpatory.” The Kalamata court should guarantee that the Pylos 9 receive a fair and impartial trial, and that their full due process rights are upheld and respected. The Naval Court should advance investigations promptly, effectively and impartially and ensure the safe and effective participation of the largest possible number of survivors and relatives of victims and full collection of evidence. “Time and again, in Greece and in other countries, racialised people who are seeking to travel to Europe end up being the only ones facing accountability in the context of migration movements,” said Adriana Tidona, Migration researcher at Amnesty International. “The Pylos investigations and trials must serve as a turning point for this dangerous trajectory.” After examining 81 trials in Greece, the nongovernmental group Borderline Europe found that “smuggled people themselves, including asylum seekers, are systematically convicted of smuggling because they (allegedly) drove or assisted in driving the boat or car” and denounced serious shortcomings and abuses in the context of arrests and preliminary investigations. According to the study, as of February 2023, 2,154 people were detained in Greece on suspicion of smuggling, and 90 percent of them were third country nationals. Meanwhile, serious and persistent human rights violations committed by the authorities against refugees and migrants at Greek borders – including pushbacks, arbitrary detention and torture – remain unpunished.

www.hrw.org

Comment la Hongrie a fermé sa porte aux demandeurs d'asile

Comment la Hongrie a fermé sa porte aux demandeurs d'asile

En Hongrie, il est devenu quasiment impossible de solliciter une protection internationale. En externalisant son système d’asile et en imposant des restrictions draconiennes, le gouvernement hongrois est depuis plusieurs années dans un bras de fer juridique avec l’Union européenne. InfoMigrants s’est penché sur les règles en vigueur en Hongrie.

www.infomigrants.net

As countries toughen anti-gay laws, 'rainbow refugees' seek asylum in Europe

As countries toughen anti-gay laws, 'rainbow refugees' seek asylum in Europe

Ella Anthony knew it was time to leave her native Nigeria when she escaped an abusive, forced marriage only to face angry relatives who threatened to turn her in to police because she was gay.

www.infomigrants.net

Thousands of sub-Saharan migrants in Sfax dream about Europe

Thousands of sub-Saharan migrants in Sfax dream about Europe

Thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have gathered in the Tunisian governorate of Sfax with the objective of reaching Europe.

www.infomigrants.net

Paris 2024 olympics: Refugee team member Saman Soltani is dreaming big

Paris 2024 olympics: Refugee team member Saman Soltani is dreaming big

On "Destination Paris", FRANCE 24's new weekly show ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics, we speak to canoe sprinter Saman Soltani, who will be competing at her first Olympics with the IOC Refugee Team.

www.infomigrants.net

Senegalese navy stops hundreds of migrants in month of May

Senegalese navy stops hundreds of migrants in month of May

West African countries including Senegal and Gambia are experiencing an exodus of migrants trying to reach Europe. Senegalese authorities say they have stopped boats carrying more than 500 people bound for the Canary Islands this month.

www.infomigrants.net

Grèce : plus de 40 migrants secourus au large de la Crète, trois personnes portées disparues

Grèce : plus de 40 migrants secourus au large de la Crète, trois personnes portées disparues

Les garde-côtes grecs ont annoncé jeudi avoir secouru une embarcation en détresse au large de la Crète. Une quarantaine de personnes ont été sauvées mais trois autres manquent à l'appel. La Crète et sa voisine, la petite île de Gavdos, ont connu cette année un pic d'arrivées de migrants, venus de Libye.

www.infomigrants.net

Rome: Freedom of Movement Solidarity Network for migrants launched

Rome: Freedom of Movement Solidarity Network for migrants launched

A new alliance between NGOs operating on the mainland and at sea to support migrants, called the Freedom of Movement Solidarity Network, was presented in Rome on May 15.

www.infomigrants.net

Plus de 500 migrants interceptés par la Marine sénégalaise pour le seul mois de mai

Plus de 500 migrants interceptés par la Marine sénégalaise pour le seul mois de mai

Selon les informations de Dakar, les garde-côtes ont stoppé plus de 500 personnes qui souhaitaient rejoindre les Canaries à bord de pirogues, pour le seul mois de mai. Des milliers d'Africains continuent chaque jour, ou presque, de gagner l'Europe via l'Atlantique à la recherche d'une vie meilleure.

www.infomigrants.net

Quinze pays de l'UE demandent à Bruxelles de faciliter l'envoi de migrants vers des pays tiers

Quinze pays de l'UE demandent à Bruxelles de faciliter l'envoi de migrants vers des pays tiers

Quinze pays européens ont plaidé jeudi auprès de la Commission européenne pour durcir le contrôle de l'immigration en Europe, notamment en permettant l'envoi de migrants dans des pays tiers, à l'image de l'accord passé entre l'Italie et l'Albanie. Mais la notion juridique de "pays tiers sûr" qui encadre la loi européenne fait débat.

www.infomigrants.net

Tunisia: Deepening Civil Society Crackdown

Tunisia: Deepening Civil Society Crackdown

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Municipal workers clean a makeshift camp outside the International Organization for Migration office after police forces attempt to evacuate the camp in Tunis, Tunisia, April 11, 2023.
© 2023 Hassene Dridi/AP Photo



(Beirut) – Tunisian authorities have arrested at least nine people amid escalating government actions in recent weeks to muzzle free speech, prosecute dissent, and crack down on migrants and asylum seekers, Human Rights Watch said today. Tunisian authorities should respect and protect space for independent civil society to operate fully and freely. Between May 3 and 13, 2024, security forces arrested two prominent lawyers and two well-known journalists, as well as at least five members of at least three legally registered nongovernmental organizations working on migration, asylum, and racial justice: Mnemty, the Tunisian Refugee Council, and Terre d’Asile Tunisie. In total, members of at least eight nongovernmental organizations have been investigated or summoned.  “The clampdown on migration-related work at the same time as the increasing arrest of government critics and journalists sends a chilling message that anyone who doesn't fall in line may end up in the authorities’ crosshairs,” said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “By targeting these civil society groups, Tunisian authorities jeopardize the vital support they provide migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers living in extremely vulnerable situations.”  On May 11, security officers stormed the Tunisian Bar Association’s headquarters during a live television broadcast, arresting a media commentator and lawyer, Sonia Dahmani, for sarcastic comments made on May 7 questioning the claim that Black African migrants were seeking to settle in Tunisia. Based on media reports, Dahmani’s arrest and subsequent detention was based on Decree-Law 54 on cybercrime, which imposes heavy prison sentences for spreading “fake news” and “rumors” online and in the media, after she refused to respond to a summons for questioning. The same evening, authorities also arrested two other journalists and colleagues of Dahmani—Mourad Zeghidi and Borhen Bsaies—in connection with unrelated statements made in the media and online, also under Decree-Law 54. They have been placed in pretrial detention pending trial on April 22. On May 13, security officers arrested Mehdi Zagrouba, a lawyer and government critic. Tunisia’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that Zagrouba was arrested because he had assaulted police officers that day near a Tunis court. On May 15, Tunisian President Kais Saied said in a statement that “those who dare to denigrate their country in the media and who violently assaulted police officers ... cannot remain unaccountable,” in indirect reference to Dahmani and Zagrouba.  Security forces arrested Saadia Mosbah, the head of the anti-racism organization Mnemty (My Dream), and Zied Rouin, the organization's program coordinator, on May 6. They also searched Mosbah’s home and the group’s offices, confiscating devices and documents. While Rouin was released after questioning, a public prosecutor placed Mosbah in custody for 10 days as part of an investigation into alleged financial crimes under Tunisia’s 2015 counterterrorism law. A person close to the case told Human Rights Watch that security forces questioned Mosbah about Mnemty’s funding and activities.   Mosbah is a prominent Black Tunisian activist and a pioneer in the fight against racism in Tunisia who contributed to the adoption in 2018 of a landmark law for the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. Pro-government social media accounts engaged in an aggressive online smear campaign against Mosbah that gained traction days before her arrest, Human Rights Watch said. The same day as Mosbah’s arrest, Saied said that foreign funding was being funneled to national organizations to settle migrants in Tunisia illegally and referred to the heads of the organizations as “traitors.” He also confirmed that Tunisian authorities were expelling migrants to border areas in “continued cooperation” with neighboring countries. On May 3 and 4, security forces raided at least two makeshift camps and a youth hostel in Tunis and evicted hundreds of Black African migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. At least 80 of them were arrested and 400 were expelled to the country’s borders, according to the authorities. These constitute unlawful collective expulsions, which are prohibited by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Human Rights Watch said.  Saied's comments strongly echoed his February 2023 speech, which led to a surge in attacks and abuses by both Tunisian citizens and security forces against Black Africans in Tunisia. At the time, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called Saied’s speech racist and considered that such remarks violate the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which Tunisia is a state party. On May 7, a court spokesperson told the national news agency that the president and vice president of a civil society group had been detained that day on suspicion of embezzlement and financial misconduct. Though they were not named, Human Rights Watch confirmed that these remarks were in reference to the president and vice president of the Tunisian Refugee Council (Conseil Tunisien pour les Réfugiés, CTR). Based on the spokesperson’s comments to the media, the public prosecutor’s office accused the heads of the CTR of “forming a criminal association with the aim of helping people to enter Tunisia” illegally in connection with a “call for tenders to Tunisian hotel establishments for the accommodation of African migrants” that their organization published “without coordination with the security and administrative authorities,” referring to its work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The CTR was formed in 2016 and has been a key partner of the UNHCR in Tunisia, being primarily responsible for the collection and initial screening of asylum applications, which are subsequently processed by UNHCR.  The CTR also provides other services to support the UNHCR’s mandate, such as arranging emergency accommodation and medical assistance for refugees and asylum seekers. On May 2, it published a public tender for Tunisian hotels to provide services for the CTR’s beneficiaries, sparking a backlash on social media and among parliament members. The court spokesperson also said that another group supporting asylum seekers and refugees in Tunisia was also being investigated. Sources told Human Rights Watch that the spokesperson was referring to Terre d’Asile Tunisie (Land of Asylum Tunisia), and that at least two people linked to the organization had been arrested on May 8. The Tunisian police, military, and National Guard, including the Coast Guard, have committed serious abuses against Black African migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in recent years, with abuses increasing since 2023. Human Rights Watch has documented beatings, use of excessive force, some cases of torture, arbitrary arrests and detention, collective expulsions, dangerous actions at sea during boat interceptions, forced evictions, and the theft of money and belongings.  As of April 30, over 17,000 refugees and asylum seekers were registered with the UNHCR in Tunisia. Over 7,000 are Sudanese, including many who have fled Sudan’s conflict since April 2023.   On May 15, the European Union and France issued statements expressing concern over the recent arrests of civil society representatives in Tunisia. The EU said its delegation in the country had made inquiries to the authorities about the reasons for the arrests. Saied indirectly referred to these statements later that day, saying they were an unacceptable foreign intervention. On July 16, 2023, the EU signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tunisia that included a funding package of up to €1 billion, including €105 million to curb irregular migration, without any specific human rights guarantees for migrants and asylum seekers. The EU Commission should ensure that no EU funding is disbursed to governmental entities that commit human rights abuses against migrants or asylum seekers, and they should tie future migration cooperation with Tunisia to genuine guarantees that civil society groups working on migrant and refugee rights can perform their activities without fear of harassment or reprisal. According to the Tunisian government, a draft law on associations is currently being finalized by the Tunisian Justice Ministry. Leaked drafts since 2022 suggest that the government may give the administration overly broad powers and discretion to interfere with the way civil society organizations are formed, their functions and operations, and their funding. Human Rights Watch has previously expressed concerns about another draft law on associations.  Since July 25, 2021, Saied has dismantled Tunisia’s democratic institutions, undermined judicial independence, and stifled the exercise of freedom of expression and the press, Human Rights Watch said. Tunisia’s international partners should press the government to drop the plan to adopt the draft law on civil society organizations, which if passed would undermine freedom of association in the country. “Targeting nongovernmental groups supporting migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees is part of a broader effort to dismantle Tunisia's civic space,” Fakih said. “The EU, which has pledged millions to Tunisia on migration cooperation, should ensure that the authorities protect space for independent civil society to work on these issues in the country.”

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Türkiye: Kurdish Politicians Convicted in Unjust Mass Trial

Türkiye: Kurdish Politicians Convicted in Unjust Mass Trial

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A young man holds up a photo of Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş, in prison since November 4, 2016, at a demonstration in Diyarbakir, Türkiye, April 4, 2024. 
© 2024 Sipa via AP Images



(Ankara, May 17, 2024) – A Turkish court’s conviction on May 16, 2024, of 24 Kurdish politicians on bogus charges of crimes against the state follows a manifestly political and unjust trial, Human Rights Watch and the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project said today. The court sentenced the 24 to prison terms ranging from 9 to 42 years, while acquitting 12 other politicians who had been on trial with them.  The politicians were from the parliamentary opposition party Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), including former party co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ. The ruling confirms that the Turkish authorities instrumentalized the criminal justice system to secure the politicians’ prolonged arbitrary detention on baseless charges and remove them from political life as elected representatives.  “The conviction of Selahattin Demirtaş, Figen Yüksekdağ, and other leading Kurdish opposition politicians in a mass trial is the latest move in a campaign of persecution that has robbed mainly Kurdish voters of their chosen representatives, undermined the democratic process, and criminalized lawful political speech,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Using bogus criminal proceedings to remove democratically elected Kurdish politicians from political life will do nothing to end the Turkish state’s decades-long conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).”      In the Ankara 22nd Assize Court hearing, the court sentenced Selahattin Demirtaş to 42 years in prison, Figen Yüksekdağ to 30 years, and Gültan Kışanak, the former mayor of Diyarbakır, to 12 years, while releasing Kışanak and four others pending appeal. Ahmet Türk, the serving mayor of Mardin, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The court ordered the continued detention of 13 defendants, including Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ. The former HDP members of parliament, elected mayors, and party officials have stood trial for the past three years on multiple charges, ranging from attempting to “destroy the unity and integrity of the state” and “membership of a terrorist organization” to “murder.” The evidence against them, as confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights, consists almost exclusively of their party’s social media posts and political speeches. The core accusation in the 3,530-page indictment naming 108 defendants—of whom 36 stood trial—centers on four social media postings on October 6, 2014, from the Twitter account of the HDP alongside the politicians’ political speeches.  The prosecution added to the case file, several years after the events in question, a few statements, including from anonymous witnesses, making unsubstantiated and generalized assertions against the politicians. The addition of these dubious statements to the case file followed an arbitrary procedure that failed to respect the defendants’ basic fair trial guarantees.  The party’s 2014 tweets called on supporters to protest the ongoing siege of the Kurdish-majority Syrian town of Kobane by the extremist group Islamic State (ISIS). The indictment takes these tweets as grounds to hold the accused politicians directly responsible for the ensuing protests in 32 cities across Türkiye from October 6 to 8, 2014, in which violent clashes resulted in at least 37 deaths, the circumstances of which have never been fully elucidated. The trial of the politicians has been dubbed the “Kobane trial” in the media because of the reference to the Kobane protests.   The indictment charged the politicians with up to 30 offenses, including the main crime of attempting to “destroy the unity and integrity of the state,” as well as “murder,” “damage to property,” and “theft” in relation to the deaths and violence during the protests for which it held them liable. Ongoing criminal case files against the politicians in different courts charging them with crimes such as “membership of a terrorist organization” and “spreading terrorist propaganda” were then merged with the “Kobane trial” casefile.   The Ankara court’s verdict, which the convicted politicians said they would appeal, is the latest development in a long campaign of persecution against the pro-Kurdish rights HDP. The persecution has been led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in coalition with the far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP), Human Rights Watch and the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project said.  The crackdown on the politicians followed the breakdown in 2015 of intensive efforts by the party and the government to bring an end to the decades-long conflict between the armed PKK and the Turkish state. In May 2016, in a rapid sequence of events, the government led a controversial move to lift the parliamentarians’ parliamentary immunity through a temporary constitutional amendment. On November 4, 2016, leading HDP members of parliament, and on separate dates elected mayors from a sister party, were arrested and jailed on terrorism charges .  Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ, the HDP’s former co-chairs, have remained in prison ever since. The party itself is fighting a case seeking its closure before Türkiye’s Constitutional Court.  The Ankara court’s verdict also flagrantly flouts two binding judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The ECtHR determined, in a judgment pertaining to Demirtaş in December 2020 and one pertaining to Yüksekdağ and 12 others in October 2022, that their detention on the basis of speeches and social media postings constituted a politically motivated move to silence them, “stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate, the very core of the concept of a democratic society.” The ECtHR found that their rights to liberty, to freedom of expression, and to run for election had been violated and that the politicians must be released immediately.  The alleged facts forming the basis on which Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ are detained, and which form the basis of their conviction, are substantially the same as those contained in the proceedings which the ECtHR found to be insufficient grounds for their detention.  “The sentencing of Demirtaş, Yüksekdağ, and several other prominent opposition politicians in Türkiye to lengthy prison terms for their just political advocacy for Kurdish rights is yet another blow to hopes for positive change in the state of human rights, rule of law, and democracy in the country,” said Ayşe Bingöl Demir, director of the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project. “This latest conviction, alongside ongoing arbitrary and politically charged detentions, blatantly violates international human rights standards and disregards ECtHR judgments. The international community now faces a critical choice: remain silent and risk complicity in these repressive practices, or call them out and take robust action, including initiating proceedings designated for such serious breaches of international obligations.”

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