Greek minister calls situation on Lesbos an ‘unprecedented humanitarian crisis’
Thousands of people urgently require emergency shelter and aid after a fire destroyed Europe’s largest refugee camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos.
As the Athens government declared a state of emergency and a delegation of officials rushed to the north-eastern Aegean island, the sheer scale of devastation wrought by the overnight blaze became increasingly evident.
Continue reading...NGOs accuse police of blocking access to hospital for families and vulnerable migrants injured in Moria blaze
NGOs in Lesbos have warned that a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding on the roads around the still burning Moria camp, where thousands of migrants are allegedly being held by police without shelter or adequate medical help.
Annie Petros, head coordinator of of the charity Becky’s Bathhouse, said she was blocked by police from taking injured people to hospital as she drove them away from the fire.
Continue reading...Study focuses on post-9/11 wars in which US initiated combat or took part in military operations
Conflicts with US military involvement have displaced at least 37 million people since the beginning of the “war on terror” nearly two decades ago, a report has estimated.
The invasion of Iraq and the decades of instability that have followed in the country have uprooted at least 9.2 million so far, the costliest of the eight US military operations that were included in the report by Brown University’s Costs of War Project.
Continue reading...Refugees were evacuated from a large camp on the Greek island of Lesbos on Wednesday after fires broke out at multiple points around the site. More than 12,000 people live at the Moria camp and the surrounding area. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Continue reading...Barbara Pomfret came to aid of group left homeless in Madrid after forced removal from UK
A British woman living in Spain who helped 11 Syrian asylum seekers who were left homeless and hungry on the streets of Madrid after being forcibly removed from the UK has said she is ashamed of the UK government’s behaviour.
The all-male group were left destitute after being put on a flight to Madrid by the Home Office last week. They had arrived in the UK in small boats from Calais and are part of a Home Office plan to remove almost 1,000 such arrivals.
Continue reading...Flag-waving extremists and white nationalists block roads in protest over migrant Channel crossings
Just after 1pm, below the white cliffs of Dover, Nigel Marcham offered his take on one of the summer’s most potent symbols. “Take a knee for the brethren of this fucking country,” Marcham screamed into his megaphone.
Around him a ragtag collection of far-right supporters, white nationalists and neo-nazis knelt on the A20 outside Dover’s Eastern Docks. “Thanks for taking a fucking knee in the proper way,” he said, clearly delighted with his perversion of the global peaceful protest symbol adopted by millions following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Continue reading...Greek government suggests need for ‘closed and controlled’ structures but NGOs fear virus is pretext for increased restrictions
The first recorded coronavirus case in Moria refugee camp on Lesbos, where just under 13,000 people are living in a space designed for 3,000, has led to fears that the government will use the pandemic as a pretext to create closed camps.
Notis Mitarachi, the minister for migration, told local news that the coronavirus situation demonstrated the need for “closed and controlled” structures. The migration ministry also released a statement on Thursday, which said that plans to create closed structures on the islands of Lesbos and Chios were progressing.
Continue reading...The voices of young asylum seekers have been absent from the debate over their futures – until a charity decided to teach them public speaking
Naqeeb, a 20-year old refugee from Afghanistan, has watched with increasing dismay the reaction of politicians and journalists to the people who are risking their lives attempting to reach the UK across the Channel.
Among those packed aboard flimsy dinghies are teenagers and children travelling alone: more than 400 unaccompanied minors have attempted to cross from France to England by sea this year.
Continue reading...NGOs reportedly failed to meet rules, but sweeping move could impact many of the country’s 1.4 million refugees activists warn
The Ugandan government has suspended operations of three-quarters of refugee aid organisations over non-compliance with operational rules.
The move affects 208 aid agencies, including 85 international groups. Hilary Onek, minister for relief, disaster preparedness and refugees, said some organisations had been operating in refugee settlements illegally, without government approval.
Continue reading...German charity Sea-Watch and the Italian coastguard sent vessels to a rescue boat funded by the British street artist after it issued urgent calls for assistance, saying it was stranded in the Mediterranean and overloaded with people.
Hundreds of people on board the MV Louise Michel were transferred to safety on to the Sea-Watch 4, while an Italian coastguard patrol boat took 49 of those considered most vulnerable on board, transferring them to the southern Italian island of Lampedusa
Vessel suddenly caught fire as Italian naval ship was in the process of taking people onboard
A boat carrying dozens of refugees has burst into flames off the coast of southern Italy as its passengers were being transferred to Italian naval vessels to take them to port.
Between five and seven people are believed to be missing. Six people are in hospital with serious burns injuries, including two Italian officials who were taking the people off the boat.
Continue reading...Asylum claims all based on risk to life in Yemen but three sons to be sent to Spain leaving father in UK
Three members of the same family who arrived in the UK in a small boat have been locked up in an immigration detention centre while a fourth member has escaped incarceration because he arrived in the UK by plane.
The family, who have asked to be referred to by their first names only, are from war-torn Yemen. They had been living in a Gulf state but when that country revoked their residency permits they were forced to flee.
Continue reading...UNHCR and IOM say 200 rescued people urgently need to get off Banksy-funded ship
The UN refugee agency urged European nations on Saturday to let in hundreds of migrants rescued from the Mediterranean by humanitarian boats, including one financed by the British street artist Banksy.
The UNHCR and the International Organization of Migration (IOM) said more than 200 rescued refugees and migrants needed immediately to get off the nonprofit search-and-rescue ship Louise Michel, saying it was far beyond its safe capacity.
Continue reading...Crew of Louise Michel, who rescued 89 migrants on Thursday, say European authorities ignoring them
A rescue boat financed by the British street artist Banksy is close to declaring a “state of emergency” after the crew helped 130 migrants and are now safeguarding over 200 people off Libya’s coast, while the European authorities ignore their request for help.
The vessel, named Louise Michel after a French feminist anarchist, set off in secrecy on 18 August from the Spanish seaport of Burriana, near Valencia, and is now in the central Mediterranean, where, on Thursday, it rescued 89 people including 14 women and four children.
Continue reading...Exclusive: UK artist finances bright pink motor yacht that set sail in secrecy to avoid being intercepted by authorities
The British street artist Banksy has financed a boat to rescue refugees attempting to reach Europe from north Africa, the Guardian can reveal.
The vessel, named Louise Michel after a French feminist anarchist, set off in secrecy on 18 August from the Spanish seaport of Burriana, near Valencia, and is now in the central Mediterranean where on Thursday it rescued 89 people in distress, including 14 women and four children.
Continue reading...Once I flew kites and dreamed of being a teacher. Now it’s hard to see a better future for me or my family
When I was born in Kutupalong camp, Bangladesh, it was a very different place. I remember as a child laughing and flying kites with my friends. Kites are not flying around our camps any more. There is little laughter.
Just months ago, we lived in a different world. We used to go outside a lot, seeking freedom from our little bamboo and plastic homes. But with Covid-19 we cannot. Often we are told to stay inside. It’s hot and cramped, with nine of us in one room.
Continue reading...From panic buying to lack of freedom, the pandemic is an opportunity to understand the lives of those forced to flee
Covid-19 has transformed the world beyond imagination, affecting almost everyone in some way.
Yet for me the changes have felt familiar – from movement restrictions to quarantines, every measure taken to prevent the spread of the virus reminds me of what it means to live as a refugee in a camp.
Continue reading...Fear of what lies behind drives people against desperate odds. Turning them away won’t stop them, and risks more deaths
The dangerous waters of the Channel have seen a rise in the number of people trying to cross to the UK in desperately unsuitable and overcrowded dinghies. The British government has called for the use of defence forces to stop them.
Fears of “outsiders” bringing danger are exacerbated in the strange times of the coronavirus pandemic, when most of us face unprecedented restrictions on movement, making it a fertile climate to propagate anti-migrant messaging.
Continue reading...UK pursues ‘militarised’ response despite calls for safe routes for asylum seekers
The number of migrants who have crossed the Channel in small boats this year has passed 5,000, analysis shows, as the UK government continues to pursue a “militarised” response to the growing numbers.
A further five people arrived in England on Friday, risking their lives in force 8 gales, rain showers and rough seas. It is understood the five men presented themselves as Sudanese and Chadian nationals, and were brought into Dover to be questioned by immigration officials.
Continue reading...Priti Patel’s recognition of a child’s humanity in death is hollow when he was stripped of it in life by cruel border policies
The human cost of the government’s border policies has been made appallingly and painfully real: a 16-year-old boy from Sudan was found dead on a beach near Calais on Wednesday after trying to make it across the Channel. When people die trying to cross borders, the response from politicians is almost always the same: they say they are shocked and saddened and then carry on as usual. Yesterday was no different.
Related: Calais-based volunteers condemn UK for death of Sudanese teenager
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