How the world sees Greece
April 9, 2016. The Vatican officially announced Pope Francis new international travels. They will be to Armenia (June 24-26), and to Georgia and Azerbaijan (September 30- October 2). April 7, 2016. Pope Francis will travel to the Greek island of Lesbos on ...
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_As unilateral border closures create riskier conditions for people on the move – and bottlenecks within transit countries – Refugees Deeply provides an overview of the barriers between European states, across the Mediterranean and North Africa and in the Caucasus._ It is August 2014 and the border police at Evros state their reasons to be proud. They have successfully deterred “illegal crossings” at the border between Greece and Turkey, which has been a migration frontier for decades. The 8 mile (12.5km) fence and a government-led sweep of illegal migrants that started on August 2, 2013, effectively thwarted a majority of crossings. According to police records, between August 2013 and January 2014, 1,710 people were arrested at the Evros border, compared to 35,258 in the previous six-month period. From January to April 2014, the arrivals at Evros were only 441, a manageable number compared to the months prior to the fence, when an average of 400 people would cross over every day. “Just before August 2013, we had arrested 6,000 people here and after erecting the fence it fell to 45 by next January,” explained the chief of border patrol. Fast forward to early 2016 and arrivals in Greece by sea have skyrocketed despite the harsh winter weather. What the police at Evros failed to mention two years ago is that the land fortification had already brought about glaring collateral damage. During the same period in 2014, the number of arrivals by sea in Greece increased by a startling 214 percent compared to the previous year. The Evros fence was one of the first security barriers to attract media headlines. The construction piqued the curiosity of Balkan neighbors, but also the ire of humanitarian organizations. The 6.5 mile (10.4km) long strip of pastoral land between Greek and Turkish villages had been the most popular way for migrants and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia and more recently the Middle East, following the “Arab Spring” uprisings in 2011, to enter Europe. While the European Commission advised against the construction, the Greek government, alarmed by a surge in the number of arrivals, unilaterally erected the fence. The closure would have a significant impact on the region. The number of arrivals by sea from Turkey would increase exponentially and the Balkan route would open up, causing a ripple effect from Bulgaria to Slovenia and farther into Western Europe. Greece was not the first country to erect a security barrier as a means of keeping out irregular migration, nor the last. From the U.K. in the north to Macedonia in the southeast, the list of barriers has been growing. _(Credit: Sebastian Viskanic)_ Meanwhile, humanitarian organizations such as Doctors without Borders (Medécins sans Frontières – MSF) have issued several reports reiterating that barriers and closures have not stopped movement. They have simply rerouted people, often through riskier means and with reduced humanitarian protection. MSF has called upon European governments to “dismantle obstacle course[s] and provide assistance and safe, legal passage to refugees and migrants fleeing desperate conditions” ahead of another peak of arrivals expected over the summer months this year. This week, as Greece begins to deport people en masse to Turkey under the current E.U.–Turkey deal, accusations against Turkish border officials of turning away Syrians fleeing conflict are mounting. Meanwhile, reports of increased arrivals through the central and western Mediterranean routes are simultaneously resurfacing. The Italian coastguard said it rescued 1,482 migrants off the Libyan coast in just two days on March 27–28 this year. Migrant Report, a nonprofit organization that documents the movement of people between Africa and Europe, claims a 300 percent increase in arrivals in the central Mediterranean over March, compared to last year. According to the organization, the recent spike in arrivals in Italy is consistent with its “research with various sources within migrant communities and smuggling networks in the Tripolitania area [the historic name of the region that included Tripoli and a vast northwestern portion of Libya] over the past two months.” Meanwhile, UNHCR reported an increase in the number of Syrian refugees registering in Morocco, a majority of whom will likely aim to reach Europe through Spain. While Spain’s Melilla border fence with Morocco, which comprises three parallel razor-wire fences, has shielded the country from a large number of arrivals, Spanish government officials are predicting increased smuggling networks and arrivals over the coming months, especially with the sealing of the Eastern Mediterranean route through the E.U.–Turkey deal. Providing legal migration pathways for asylum seekers before they enter the E.U. is a much-needed means of significantly reducing irregular crossings and curbing the smuggling trade, according to advocacy groups such as Human Rights Watch and U.N. agencies. While providing an overview of Fortress Europe and Beyond, we will report on conditions and developments at the different borders, starting with photo essays from Calais, where French police recently evicted thousands of asylum seekers, and Idomeni, where 11,000 people remain stranded due to Macedonia closing its border with Greece. Alongside narratives that explore the humanitarian plight of people on the move, we will present alternatives to the current measures through experts, policymakers, researchers and practitioners. _This article originally appeared on Syria Deeply. For weekly updates about the war in Syria, you can sign up to the Syria Deeply email list._ -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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ATHENS, Greece -- Mazd and Rania got married about five months ago in their hometown of Aleppo, at around the same time Russian war planes started pounding the city in northern Syria. Today, the young couple live in a hotel room in Athens, waiting to start their lives anew. Mazd, an electrical engineer, and Rania, a computer science graduate, are participating in a program by Greek NGOs and the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, that helps resettle refugees in other countries and accommodates them in Greece while they wait to be relocated. “Before the war, everything was different.” Rania says. “We felt we had everything; we never thought of giving up our home. But then, social life stopped. People were isolated in their very close circle. Besides the danger and the fear, it was very difficult to cope in everyday life." “Salaries went down five times,” Mazd continues. “Before the war, there were no personal freedoms and you couldn't express an opinion, especially about political issues, but Syria was a safe country. We could go out until dawn without problems. Now, it's even hard and dangerous to find food or clothes. You live in poverty and in constant danger.” The couple’s hometown, Aleppo, was once a bustling center for culture and commerce. By the time Mazd and Rania left, the city was split in two. One part was controlled by the regime of Syrian leader Bashar Assad. The other section was completely destroyed and controlled either by rebels from the Free Syrian Army or by Islamic State militants. After the start of the war, the couple moved in with family members in a regime-controlled neighborhood. “The situation kept getting worse until a few months ago, when the Russian air bombings started,” Rania recalls. “There are no shelters, so we just waited in our house for them to be over.” While their neighborhood had occasionally been bombed before, the scale of the bombings dramatically intensified after the Russian intervention. The couple had to change houses frequently, and felt their lives were constantly in danger. They'd had enough. A DANGEROUS JOURNEY THROUGH SYRIA The trip from Aleppo to the border with Turkey proved to be the most dangerous leg of Mazd and Rania's journey from Syria to Europe. They traveled by bus, often crossing roadblocks and areas controlled by opposing parties; at times, Rania had to cover everything but her eyes to avoid undue attention. They crossed the Turkey-Syria border with help of traffickers, and then made their way to Istanbul. From there, they found a trafficker to help them with the next leg of their journey: crossing the Aegean Sea to Greece. Finding a trafficker wasn't hard. In fact, once in Istanbul, “it is very easy,” Mazd says. The couple found their trafficker through friends who had already made the crossing. Even if they hadn't been able to rely on their friends, the couple said there were other means of contact, since traffickers advertise on social media. After getting a ride to the Turkish coast, the couple reached the beach where they'd set off for Greece. They found more than 200 other refugees waiting to board the little boats that would take them across. The trafficker divided the group into boats of 40 people. Mazd and Rania say they were lucky. The sea was calm that day -- Feb. 23, 2016 -- and they didn't feel they were in danger. Officers from the Greek Coast Guard approached their small boat and accompanied them to the Greek island of Lesbos. FROM DESPAIR IN IDOMENI TO A HOTEL IN ATHENS From Lesbos, it took Mazd and Rania three days to reach the Greece-Macedonia border. When they arrived, they were confronted with some of the most difficult days of their journey. The refugee camp at the border was badly overcrowded, and the couple had trouble even finding a tent. “We got sick there,” Rania says. “They were telling us that the people who got there before others would cross the borders first, but basically everyone would go through as they could. At some point, we were just told the border was shut." Mazd and Rania had applied for the UNHCR relocation program before heading to Idomeni. They passed their interview with asylum services in late March and were brought to Athens with a group of other refugees. They’re staying in a hotel until they can be relocated to another country willing to receive them. The program is open to all refugees -- people whose home countries are too dangerous for them to return. Refugees in particularly vulnerable situations, like families with young children or people suffering from chronic illness, are prioritized. While the program has been running since last November, interest has spiked since Macedonia closed its border with Greece in March. Praksis, the Greek NGO that helped Mazd and Rania, has agreements with more than 15 hotels across Athens. More than 2,000 refugees are now living in hotel rooms in the capital, and another 500 refugees are sheltered in apartments. “We have been staying at the hotel for 10 days now. These are the quietest days since we left Aleppo,” Mazd says. Mazd and Rania want to continue their studies once they resettle. They'd like to live in Germany or France, where their family members and some of their professors live, but they know the program doesn’t allow refugees to choose the country they resettle in. Nor is it certain they’ll be able to stay indefinitely in the country they’re assigned to. Every country examines asylum claims individually, according to its own criteria. The two say they were shocked by the difficulties they encountered on their journey. Friends and acquaintances had said they’d make it to their destination in just five days. For now, Mazd and Rania will have to wait. It's officially supposed to take two months to complete the relocation process, but in practice, it takes longer. Still, they say they're grateful to UNHCR and Praksis for supporting them through the program. Rania says she'd like to return home when the war is over and the situation in Syria improves, but Mazd says he wouldn't. AHMAD AND SAMIA: FROM ISIS-HELD TERRITORY TO THE NETHERLANDS Ahmad, an electrical engineer, and Samia, a pharmacology student, lived in Aleppo until just a few weeks ago. Over the past year, they watched as Islamist militants took over their neighborhood and established new rules -- requiring, for example, that women completely cover themselves. The militants ruthlessly punished those who didn't comply. “If you disobey, the punishment is beheading,” Ahmad says. “The heads are exhibited on poles in the town.” The couple was eager to leave, but it wasn't easy. “We were trying to get out for months. But it was difficult, as you are deemed a traitor for wanting to go live where Islamic law doesn't apply,” Ahmad explains. But when Russian and Syrian army jets started to pummel the neighborhood earlier this year, the couple no longer had a choice. Bombs hit close to their house; nearby neighbors were killed. Ahmad says that out of 20,000 people living in their area, only a few hundred are left now -- either because they can't leave or because they support the Islamists. The couple escaped the city with their three children hidden under a big tarp in the back of a truck. They breathed a sigh of relief once the truck crossed into Free Syrian Army territory. From the FSA-held area, the family took a bus to the Syria-Turkey border and paid a trafficker $60 per person for help crossing into Turkey. “LIGHTS FROM AFAR GAVE US HOPE” Ahmad, Samia and their children stayed at the Turkey-Syria border for two months before taking the next step toward Europe. In the Turkish coastal city of Izmir, they paid another trafficker $700. With 40 other people, they were taken to the beach in a van late at night. Ahmad noticed that two cars went ahead of them, probably to check for police roadblocks. After waiting for hours on the beach, they boarded the rubber dinghy that would take them across the sea. “We crossed on Feb. 19," Ahmad says. "The sea was calm, but the boat was very slow. We got in at 2:30 and reached the shore at 6 a.m. While we were at sea, we were constantly hoping that a Greek Coast Guard ship would approach us. Finally, we reached the shores of Lesbos on our own. Its lights from afar gave us hope.” In Lesbos, Ahmad was filled in on UNHCR’s accommodation and relocation program. He was immediately drawn to it because it was legal -- he was tired and wanted to avoid traffickers and the hide-and-seek game at the border. “WE ARE BEING TAKEN CARE OF” The family now lives in an apartment in Athens provided by the program. “We are being taken care of. The people of Praksis give us food, clothes, toys. They truly support us,” Ahmad says. Ahmad's extended family is scattered because of the war: One brother lives in Lebanon, another in Turkey, and one of his sisters is still in Syria. Ahmed’s father is also part of the relocation program and lives in a hotel nearby. Ahmed goes to see him every afternoon. In just a few days, the family will depart for the Netherlands. “I want us to have a normal life, do postgraduate studies, find a job. Most of all, I want my children to have an education,” Ahmed says. “My son is seven years old and he hasn't been to school yet; the jihadists shut them down. They want uneducated people whom they can manipulate. There are 10-year-old children among them, armed and dangerous.” “There are three kinds of people among the jihadis,” Ahmad continues. "Robbers and looters, agents of secret services and uneducated, stupid people who follow like sheep and don't understand that Islam is thinking, loving and taking care of your fellow man, not wishing his death.” _This story originally appeared in __HuffPost Greece. It has been __translated into English and edited for clarity._ -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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The situation on the border between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is under control. But the atmosphere remains tense. Tear gas canisters lie all around – a tangible sign of the violent confrontation that took place here on Sunday.
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ATHENS, April 11 (Xinhua) -- GREECE'S political leadership on Monday strongly condemned the "unacceptable" injuries of hundreds of refugees by ...
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A refugee runs amidst a backdrop of teargas fired by riot police at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, GREECE, Sunday, April 10, 2016.
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GREECE and its international lenders have made “progress” in talks on a review of Greek reforms needed to unlock new money, as talks continued on ...
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