EU: MED-CRISIS: (28-30-8-15)
30 August 2015
GREECE:
How many more deaths can we stomach? Over the past weeks Greece has been facing an unprecedented spike in refugee arrivals in its eastern islands, pushing the country’s limited resources into a breaking point (pressproject.net, link)
GREECE:
EU to help gov’t register and relocate refugees (ekathimerini.com): Comment from
"European Asykum Support Office": "EASO Executive Director Robert Visser stressed that Greece also had to do more to ensure that the refugees are properly registered. “Member states are required to know the identity of everyone who enters their territory,” he said. “Greece is no exception.”
ShelterBox Helps In Greek Crisis (piratefm.co.uk, link):
"A Cornish charity is warning that the crisis is worsening on a Greek island. A second team from UK charity ShelterBox has arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos... Disaster relief charity ShelterBox is providing 100 large UN-style tents to ease the pressure, with 40 planned for construction at Kara Tepe camp in the coming days. But more assistance is needed, on Lesbos and elsewhere."
Nato ready to help EU navies on sea migrants, if asked (euobserver, link)
Solidarity in German stadiums (link)
Hungary completes anti-refugee fence on Serbian border (DW, link):
"Hungary has erected a razor-wire barrier along its border to Serbia that is designed to keep out refugees and migrants, the defense ministry says. The move has drawn international criticism."
Let them board the trains! (MIGZOL Hungary, link):
"Thursday, 27th August, 20-50 people were found dead in a lorry that was parked in Austria, near the Hungarian border. It is highly likely that these people were not allowed to board the trains to Austria after diligent ethnic profiling by the Hungarian police. The profiling, of course, focuses on who looks like a “migrant”, or a “refugee”."
GREECE:
We're raising £1,000 to give food, water & shelter to refugees in Lesvos because everyone should be entitled to basic human rights (link)
"I’m Natasha. I’ve worked for refugee organisations in the UK and overseas for the past 9 years. I’m now living in Greece and am heartbroken to see that refugees who have escaped war arrive in Europe and do not even have their basic human rights met."
Europe's migration paralysis (New Europe, link):
"As European populations age and shrink, the continent urgently needs immigration. Yet many in Europe strongly oppose immigration, because it also means social change... For many centuries, Europe was a continent plagued by wars, famines, and poverty. Millions of Europeans were driven to emigrate by economic and social deprivation. They sailed across the Atlantic to North and South America, and to places as far away as Australia, to escape misery and seek a better life for themselves and their children. All of them were, in the parlance of the current immigration and refugee debate, “economic migrants.” During the twentieth century, racial persecution, political oppression, and the ravages of two world wars became the predominant causes of flight."
Islamic State smuggling terrorists among the migrants? Unlikely, say experts (euractive, link):
"The risk that groups like Islamic State could smuggle militants into Europe under cover of a huge wave of migrants is much smaller than some politicians suggest, according to security specialists with close ties to governments and intelligence agencies."
Shame on Europe (Save the Children, link):
"Children are dying on our doorstep. It’s sickening to see the deaths of so many refugees trying to find safety in Europe. Enough is enough. Pledge your support for those fleeing war and persecution now."
Pope Francis 'deeply concerned for migrant plight' - 'Open your hearts to poor families' pontiff tweets (ANSA, link)
Czech NGO sends aid to refugees in Serbia, Macedonia (Prague Post, link):
"People in Need, a Czech humanitarian organization, will send 1.7 million Kc for immediate aid to refugees in Macedonia and Serbia, the organization’s spokesman Petr Stefan told CTK today."
AUSTRIA:
Truck death toll 71 including 4 children (The Local.at, link):
"The death toll in Thursday's horrific migrant tragedy in Austria is now understood to be 71 people, including eight women and four children."
Migrant children rescued from Austria minivan 'recovering' (BBC News, link):
"Three children are recovering in hospital in Austria after being rescued from a minivan containing 26 migrants. Police said the severely dehydrated children would not have lasted much longer in the cramped vehicle. The minivan was stopped in Braunau district on Friday and the Romanian driver was arrested after a chase."
Greece edges closer to EU migration funds (ekathimerini.com, link):
"The Government Gazette on Friday published a decision – signed by former finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos and alternate minister for immigration policy Tasia Christodoulopoulou – establishing an agency to manage EU asylum, reception and integration programs.Launching the agency has been a condition for the release of 470 million euros over a five-year period until 2020. The bureau, which will be headquartered on Vouliagmenis Avenue, south of central Athens, is expected to be fully operational by September 15."
GERMANY:
Three arrested in Germany over arson attack on refugee home (DW, link):
"Three people have been arrested after an arson attack on a refugee shelter in the German state of Lower Saxony. A woman and her three children were lucky to escape with their lives." and:
Cake and politicians at 'Refugees Welcome': "party in Heidenau. The party took place in Heidenau after all, despite a police ban that was lifted following a political outcry"
GERMANY:
Mass pro-refugee rally held in Dresden (The Local.de, link):
"Thousands of people took to the streets of the German city of Dresden on Saturday to welcome refugees, an AFP journalist at the scene said, following a string of violent anti-migrant protests in the region."
EU free movement put into question at Vienna summit (euobserver, link):
"EU politicians are threatening to dismantle the bloc’s free-movement rights amid calls to revamp asylum rules, due to the surge in the number of people seeking refuge in Europe. On Thursday (27 August), the bodies of up to 50 people, who had suffocated, were found in the back of a refrigerated food truck on the outskirts of Vienna. News of the tragedy came the same day EU and Western Balkan leaders and ministers met in the Austrian capital for a summit on migration issues."
Libyans protest against smugglers after up to 200 drown off coast - Residents of one of Libya’s most notorious people-smuggling hubs take to the streets after bodies found by Libyan coastguard (Guardian, link)
UK deports 52 Syrian refugees (Sunday Times, link):
"The Home Office said 52 Syrian nationals were forcibly removed in the year ending in June, but claimed none was sent back to Syria. They were returned instead to other “safe” countries through which they had travelled before arriving in the UK."