Based on its own documentation and reporting, the Legal Centre Lesvos demonstrates in a recent submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture that the illegal practice of systematic pushbacks in the Aegean region amount to torture, both under international and Greek law.
Author: borderviolencelesvos
XX/09/2022 – The State of Border Procedure on the Greek Islands
Τhis report by Equal Rights Beyond Borders, HIAS, Refugee Support Aegean, Danish Refugee Council and Pro Asyl, examines the workings of border procedures implemented on the Greek islands from June 2021 to June 2022, revealing new concerns tied to poor quality of asylum procedures and to breaches of fundamental rights. These add to an abundant body of international criticism of the Greek asylum system and merit close scrutiny, not least in the context of ongoing EU-level negotiations on the reform of the Common European Asylum System.
XX/06/2022 – Relocation from Greece to Germany: Relief for the Hotspot System or Alibi Policy?
In this report, borderline-europe, Borderline Sicilia, Flüchtlingsrat Berlin, Sea-Watch and Equal Rights Beyond Borders. critically examine the ‘solidarity’ solution propagated by the EU for the arrival and redistribution of people detained in so-called hot-spot camps in Greece. They focus on the extent to which this procedure allows people seeking protection to preserve their autonomy as well as to escape situations of extreme insecurity. What does relocation offer people seeking protection within the EU to arrive and build a future? Does European asylum policy also relieve the burden on asylum seekers or is relocation exclusively about relieving the burden on EU member states that
are located at an external border of the Schengen area due to the Dublin Regulation?
About the July 2d Demonstration
On Saturday, July 2, a demonstration against border violence and more specifically, against the systematic and strategic deployment of pushbacks by the Greek State in coordination with the Greek Coast Guard, took place in the centre of Mytilene. The hostile attitude of the local authorities towards an organised demonstration against pushbacks was made clear from the beginning. By the time we started gathering at Sappho Square (the central square of Mitilini), the undercover police officers approached us and cautioned us against marching through the central market road, as we were planning to do.
Call For Action Against Pushbacks July 2d
The so-called “refugee crisis” seems to be coming to an end. But this change is neither due to improved conditions in the countries from which displaced people are coming, nor a better handling by European countries. On the contrary, there is a cruel cost of this relaxation: Pushbacks. And pushbacks mean extreme violence and murder. Join us on Sappho Square, the second of July!
Get the English Pamphlet PDF
Get the Greek Pamphlet PDF
Open Discussion About Pushbacks May 12th
On the 12th of May, there will be an open discussion on Pushbacks, to inform those who are interested on the topic, and discuss possible ideas to bring awareness to the public
20/11/2020 – Incarcerating the Marginalized. A report on the criminalization of migration
XX/01/2019 – #NotMyCamps: Against the deprivation of rights of people seeking protection
Report of Pro Asyl on how the number of refugees is ever increasing, and how the EU continues to tighten their defence measures against people seeking protection. Deterrence, detention and isolation in camps – that is the response to people fleeing violence, injustice and oppression. Undoubtedly it makes a huge difference to individuals affected whether they find themselves in a Libyan torture camp, a miserable EU hotspot, or a German »AnkER« centre, where they can demand their human rights to be respected. But no matter which camps we are talking about: an end must be put to the internment and isolation of people seeking protection. Camps are places of control, stigmatisation, humiliation and violence – strategies used in an attempt to deny asylum to those seeking protection. The common foundation of Europe’s democratic societies is under threat. EU member states must guarantee individual human rights. Camps are unworthy of a society committed to human rights.