Η Aegean διαθετει 3500 φτηνα αεροπορικα εισητηρια για πτησεις μεσα στις γιορτες (Δεκεμβριος 2009) απο 24 Ευρω – 39 Ευρω. Η προσφορα ισχυει για κρατησεις που θα γινουν εως την Δευτερα 30 Νοεμβριου 2009 και ισχυει για περιορισμενο αριθμο πτησεων.
Συγκεκριμενα πεταξτε απο Θεσσαλονικη, Μυτιληνη, Ροδο, Αλεξανδρουπολη, Κερκυρα, Χανια, Κεφαλονια, Μυκονο, Ηρακλειο, Κω προς Αθηνα απο 24 Ευρω ( απλη μεταβαση με ολους τους φορους)
και απο Αθηνα προς Θεσσαλονικη, Μυτιληνη, Ροδο, Αλεξανδρουπολη, Κερκυρα, Χανια, Κεφαλονια, Μυκονο, Ηρακλειο, Κω απο 39 Ευρω.

Κρατησεις στο www.aeroporika.gr

source: http://www.todayszaman.com

Hopes wash up on Aegean coast as dead bodies

by

RECEP KORKUT*

Nothing has changed in the Aegean Sea. The journey of hope(lessness) for those searching for a future at the brink of despair ends in sorrow.

The lifeless bodies of six Palestinian children aged between 2 and 12 wash up on the shore. Over a week ago 19 Palestinians, of which more than half were children, were crammed into a small boat in the town of Turgutreis in Bodrum to head to the Greek Island of Kos. They brought nothing along with them except their dreams. But death interfered in the hopes of six children after the boat overturned 500 meters from the coast. The tragedy was mentioned as a disaster that had occurred between the two Aegean coasts, while the deaths of immigrants, which has come to be perceived as commonplace, were simply just another number for statistics. The invisibility of those who escape the difficult conditions in their homeland with the hope of establishing a normal life, even when they die, leads to the question of whether contemporary human rights are applied to everyone.

Death bells tolling for immigrants in Aegean

The Aegean Sea is the first border between the conflict-prone destitute East and South and wealthy Europe. The two coastlines of the Aegean, which is the scene of frequent journey-to-hope disasters, resemble two completely different worlds. But more often than not dreams end up drowning in the dark Aegean waters before passengers are able to reach the other world. The biggest disaster in this sea was the accident that killed 70 people near Seferihisar on Dec. 10, 2007. The tragedy coincided with World Human Rights Day, and dozens of hopeful passengers were not able to see the sun on that day. Over the past decades, hundreds and thousands of immigrants have been killed in the Aegean, and more death bells will toll for immigrants in the future.

As a result of Greece’s inhuman practices and nationalist chauvinism, the problem stopped being a human rights problem and became seen as a massive influx of immigrants. Turkey’s indifferent attitude and tendency to blame others resulted in turning the incidents in the Aegean into a dirty epic war. The fact that the victims and the people being killed are humans is not even mentioned. As for civil society organizations, the tragedies in the Aegean are trapped in an absolute human rights reference frame. Turkey and Greece are not the only sides to this problem — it is a “mutual” issue that concerns the entire world.

Emigration is a human right

Immigrants comprise the largest groups of people in the world and more people are becoming immigrants. Emigration today is more an escape from conflict and wars than a search for a new life. But it’s worth mentioning that the cause of most wars today is poverty, which creates a ground for conflict and displacement, especially in places where there is a vast difference in standards of living.

Certainly there is no magic spell that can resolve this issue, but if half of the global alliance formed around the disapproval of emigration formed around other matters, this issue would not be such a thorny problem. The global disturbance with immigration propels more countries to come together and reach an agreement than any other issue. Precautionary measures based on global cooperation must be taken until the real factors that cause people to become emigrants and refugees are resolved. Instead of trying to prevent emigration and convincing immigrants to stay home, more investments need to be made in countries that cause emigration.

Lastly, it’s also important to point out that emigration is a very rational choice and a natural human right. It would be a grave injustice to deprive people of this right. In order for people who are forced to emigrate to continue their life in an honorable fashion, we must not withhold this right from them.

Let me conclude with a statement that suits Immanuel Kant’s description of hospitality: Just as emigration is a natural right of every citizen, this right must be respected and these people must be welcomed inside.

*Recep Korkut is a social worker with the Association for Solidarity with Asylum-Seekers and Migrants (SGDD) and a journalist who has written articles about minorities, migration and refugees. recepk85@gmail.com

22.11.2009

Op-Ed

 

Πεταξτε με την Aegean απο Αθηνα και Θεσσαλονικη για Βαρκλεωνη, Λαρνακα, Μαδριτη, Μιλανο και Ρωμη με 55 Ευρω ( απλη μεταβαση με ολους τους φορους ) και για Κωνσταντινουπολη και Καϊρο με 66 Ευρω.

Η Aegean διαθετει 20.000 αεροπορικα εισιτηρια και η προσφορα ισχυει για κρατησεις εως 1 Δεκεμβριου 2009 και για ταξιδια που θα πραγματοποιηθουν στο διαστημα 10 Ιανουαριου 2010 εως 27 Μαρτιου 2010.

Κρατησεις στο www.aeroporika.gr

Τιμες υπο το μηδεν για αεροπορικα εισιτηρια με την Aegean στην Ευρωπη. Ταξιδεψτε απο / προς Αθηνα και Θεσσαλονικη απο 55 Ευρω (απλη μεταβαση με ολους τους φορους). Η προσφορα ισχυει για κρατησεις αεροπορικων εισητηριων εως 29 Νοεμβριου 2009 και για ταξιδια που θα πραγματοποιηθουν στο διαστημα απο 11 Ιανουαριου 2010 – 27 Μαρτιου 2010.

Προορισμοι απο 55 Ευρω:
Βρυξελλες, Βερολινο, Φρανκφουρτη, Ντισελντορφ, Μοναχο, Στουγγαρδη, Βιεννη, Βουκουρεστι, Σοφια

Προορισμοι απο 66 Ευρω:
Λονδινο, Παρισι, Τιρανα

Κρατησεις στο aeroporika.gr

Hunger strike in Pagani

Published on 8. November 2009 at lesvos antira 09

We will not eat in a place like here!!

The 30 people in Pagani are angry. Most of them are families with a lot of kids. The people refused the food because of the horrible ambiance. One woman is disgusted about the circumstances inside the “open centre” of Pagani.

Our close are all wet, we have nothing dry to wear. The sheets and beds are used, dirty and hideous. They will not give us fresh sheet our dry clothes. It is ridiculous, they bring us to the hospital to check f we are ll or something but they let us sleep in sheet full of virus and with wet clothes!?

Close down Pagani and every detention centre, now and all about!!!

source: After the Greek Riots blog

#119 | One Less Prison: Pagani detention centre in Lesvos to close down (for now?)

The “migrant welcoming centre” (that is a prison in the government’s doublespeak) of Pagani in Lesvos was one of the main targets of the No Borders camp that took place in the island last August, with activists calling for the immediate closing down of a detention centre in which, “living” conditions were a disgrace, even by greek prison standards… On 22.10, a government official (Sp. Vougias) visited the prison to inspect living conditions there. Astonishingly, only hours after his visit, a 17-year old migrant detainee was severely beaten before being offered 350 euros by police, to keep silent about the attack…

Since the NoBorders camp in the summer, however, the detainees of the centre seem to have been building up strength and courage to take things in their own hands. A series of revolts shook the centre and it quickly became apparent that it could not go operating in the same way for much longer. It has now been announced that Pagani will be closing town for the time being; the last few remaining detainees will be transferred to the detention centre of the nearby island of Chios.

Some excellent support work has been put in by the people behind the “Close Down Pagani” Campaign and this blog continues to provide up-to-date information on the situation in Lesvos.

As an after-word: There should not be any illusions really about any “humanitarian” instincts dictating the closing down of Pagani. The government of PASOK must have decided on what was an administrative question (if they really are to move most migrant detainees to Chios) and a question of its image that Pagani seemed to be damaging so badly. Plans for fingerprinting all incoming migrants, giving them a short time and “incentives” to go “back where they came from” reveals the true face of authority, its desire for order, for control and repression of people’s ability and freedom to move and to live where they wish. And still, if Pagani does close down, we can mark it down as a small victory of people over power, of what happens when we take situations in our own hands, when we take on authority. No borders, no nations…

Posted on Saturday, October 31, 2009, at 4:06 pm.

Η προσφορα τις Aegean για τον Νοεμβριο 2009 αφορα ταξιδια εξωτερικου και κρατησεις αεροπορικων εισητηριων που θα γινουν εως 12 Νοεμβριου 2009. Συγκεκριμενα η Aegean προσφαιρει εως και 100.000 θεσεις για τους παρακατω προορισμους με τιμες που ξεκινουν απο 49 Ευρω για πτησεις απο Αθηνα και 59 Ευρω απο Θεσσαλονικη ( απλη μεταβαση με ολους τους φορους):

Απο Αθηνα για:
Βαρκελωνη, Βερολινο, Βιεννη, Βουκουρεστι, Βρυξελες, Λαρνακα, Μαδριτη, Μιλανο, Μοναχο, Ντισελντορφ, Ρωμη, Σοφια, Στουτγαρδη και Φρανκφουρτη.

Απο Θεσσλονικη για:
Παρισι, Λονδινο, Τιρανα, Καϊρο και Κωνσταντινουπολη.

Η προσφορα ισχυει για κρατησεις εως και 12 Νοεμβριου 2009 και πτησεις που θα πραγματοποιηθουν στο διαστημα 11 Ιανουαριου 2010 – 27 Μαρτιου 2010 (εξαιρείται το διάστημα 12/02/10 – 16/02/10).

Κρατησεις θεσεων στο www.aeroporika.gr

source: associated press

8 Afghan immigrants drown as boat sinks in Greece

By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS
Associated Press Writer

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A small boat loaded with Afghan families smashed onto the rocks and sank off an island in the Aegean Sea on Tuesday, causing three immigrant women and five children to drown.

The deadly accident highlighted the plight of thousands of migrants who risk their lives every year to reach the European Union.

Athens accused neighboring Turkey, from where the vessel set off, of doing little to stop thousands of illegal immigrants from arriving in Greece. Human rights groups, however, urged Greece to improve its treatment of migrants and its handling of asylum applications.

The coast guard said high waves swept the flimsy boat with 18 on board onto a rocky shore on Lesvos. Seven men, a woman and a child – all Afghans – swam ashore and were hospitalized for observation.

One of the 10 survivors, only identified as a Turkish man, was arrested on smuggling charges.

Under Greece’s tough immigration laws, traffickers involved in fatal accidents face life terms and a minimum euro500,000 ($750,000) fine.

Later Tuesday, the coast guard rescued another 45 illegal immigrants found abandoned on an uninhabited islet off the island of Anafi in the southeastern Aegean.

Lying only five miles (eight kilometers) from Turkey’s western shore, Lesvos is one of the main points of arrival for illegal immigrants, who use rickety boats to slip through a porous sea border dotted with hundreds of islands.

Deputy Citizen’s Protection Minister Spyros Vougias said the incident merited an official complaint to Turkey.

“We need a solution to the problems Turkey causes by tolerating the actions of human traffickers,” he said. “There must be an end to this slave trade.”

Greece also wants more support from other EU members and has begun receiving assistance from the bloc’s new border protection agency, Frontex.

“Every day, Greek authorities have to handle the security of 300-400 people seeking a safe destination in Greece,” Citizen’s Protection Minister Michalis Chryssochoides said. “We lack sufficient infrastructure, funds and cross-border cooperation.”

Some 5,500 people were detained on Lesvos in the first eight months of this year, compared to more than 13,000 in 2008.

Often fleeing war zones in Asia and Africa, the migrants pay thousands of dollars to smuggling gangs for a long and perilous journey to the west. Accidents at sea are frequent, while migrants trying to enter by land from Turkey face border minefields that have claimed at least 82 lives since 1994.

A spokeswoman for the United Nations refugee agency said Tuesday’s drownings showed that migrants from war-torn countries are not deterred by strict anti-migration policies.

“As long as there are wars and violations of human rights, people will continue to be desperate and risk their lives,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokeswoman Ketty Kehagioglou said.

Kehagioglou urged the government to improve the screening process for asylum seekers and create better migrant holding facilities.

She said UNCHR officials who visited the Pagani center on Lesvos last weekend saw some 700 people held in “appalling, outrageous” conditions.

“In one ward, there were more than 200 women and children with only 2 toilets,” Kehagioglou said. “Their mattresses were soiled with water from the toilets and the smell was unbearable.”

The Socialist government, elected three weeks ago, has pledged to improve migrants’ rights.

—

Associated Press Writer Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki contributed to this report.

Chemical disparities at the interface between subducting oceanic crustal rocks and the harzburgitic mantle lead to the formation of reaction zones in the mantle above the subducting slabs composed of hybrid rocks that may carry exotic trace-element patterns and isotopic signatures. Subsequent burial of these metasomatised rocks as part of the progressively subducted slab could deliver trace elements and volatiles to the source region of arc magma.

A natural laboratory to study reactions at the slab–mantle interface maybe found in exhumed high-pressure mélanges, where sedimentary, mafic and ultramafic lithologies are juxtaposed and metamorphosed at high-P/T conditions. A mélange zone of that type is found in northern Syros, where metasomatic reaction zones (“blackwalls”) formed on a metre scale at the contact of metasedimentary blueschists and serpentinite. Five different zones within such a contact display the assemblages (I) glaucophane + garnet + phengite + epidote, (II) glaucophane + epidote + chlorite, (III) chlorite + epidote + omphacite ± albite (IV) chlorite ± titanite ± rutile ± apatite and (V) serpentine + chromite. Accessory phases, such as apatite, allanite, rutile, titanite, tourmaline, zircon and monazite are abundant in zones II to IV. The observed succession of assemblages together with whole-rock major and trace-element compositions reflect the two dominant processes that are thought to have operated along the lithological contact: (A) diffusion of chemical components driven by the compositional contrast of the juxtaposed rocks, and (B) flux of hydrous fluids along the contact, which depleted (e.g., LILE, SiO2) or enriched (e.g., B, LREE) certain elements in various zones.

Thermodynamic modelling is able to closely predict the succession of mineral assemblages as they are expected from diffusion of Mg and Ca across the contact zone. Employed to various P–T conditions and different juxtaposed rock types, this type of modelling could be used to access and evaluate larger portions of the subduction system.

Our results support existing models that suggest that mixing and redistribution of major and trace elements in subduction zones may be related to the formation of hybrid rocks in mélange zones.

uploaded by JohnZ

Η Aegean προσφαιρει φτηνα αεροπορικα εισητηρια για Γερμανια, με 12 καθημερινα δρομολογια σε 5 πολεις- προορισμους. Πεταξτε τωρα με 69 Ευρω (απλη μεταβαση με ολους τους φορους) απο Αθηνα και Θεσσαλονικη για Βερολινο, Φρανκφουρτη, Μοναχο, Ντισελντορφ και Στουγγαρδη.
Η προσφορα ισχυει για κρατησεις αεροπορικων εισητηριων εως και 20 Νοεμβριου 2009 και ταξιδια που θα πραγματοποιηθουν στο διαστημα 20/11/2009 έως 27/03/2010 (εξαιρείται το διάστημα 18/12/09 – 07/01/10 & 12/02/10 – 16/02/10). Κρατησεις στο www.aeroporika.gr

Η Aegean επισης απο τις 25 Οκτωβριου 2009 και λογω της αυξημενης ζητησης δρομολογει 2η καθημερινη πτηση απο Αθηνα για Φρανκφουρτη.

Αναζητηστε φθηνα αεροπορικα εισητηρια με την Aegean στο www.aeroporika.gr

Ξενοδοχεια στην Γερμανια
Βερολινο Ταξιδιωτικος Οδηγος

The beauty of a remote place is that, well, it’s remote. Which – funny enough in this day and age – means there is no shopping mall anywhere in sight.

While this is perfect most days, it’s rather annoying when you run out of DV tape or need a new hard drive.  Not to speak of the tiny little things that count (in my case that would be Green Thai Curry Paste… yum!).

So what does the long-suffering islander do when the shopping list gets too long, the diet too boring and the equipment too bogged down? Hop on a ferry, brave the winds and haunt the next bigger island’s stores to shop til you – literally – drop.

It’s got a bit of a post-war feel to it, pushing a cart stacked to the rafters through the Lidl aisles on Rhodos. Did I mentioned that I NEVER used to shop at Lidl when still living in Germany? (If things continue like this, I might take up yodling and wearing a dirndl as well.)

So, I’ll be off again tomorrow to get my fix of tools (island living turns you into a crazy DIYer), exotic food stuff and the odd German magazine sneaked in. I’ll be seeing a friend off at the airport, too. Did I mention Tilos hasn’t got an airport? (Fortunately.)

Whenever you get that next midnight craving for Chinese take-away or your laptop crashes four hours before an important deadline, think of me. I’ll be anticipating my next shopping needs by about a week in order to sort them out.

If nothing else, island life teaches you budgeting and scheduling. Cheers to that!

Η Aegean προσφαιρει 5000 φθηνα αεροπορικα εισητηρια για το δρομολογιο ΑΘηνα – Παρισι με 79 Ευρω (απλη μεταβαση με ολους τους φορους). Προσοφρα ισχυει για αγορα εισητηριων εως 25 οκτωβριου 2009 και για ταξιδια που θα πραγματοποιηθουν στο διαστημα 10/11/2009 έως 27/03/2010. Εξαιρείται το διάστημα 18/12/09 – 07/01/10 και 12/02/10 – 16/02/10.
Η Aegean εχει απ’ευθειας συνδεσεις απο την Αθηνα για το Παρισι (αεροδρομιο Charles de Gaulle) 2 φορες την ημερα. Κρατησεις εισητηριων στο www.aeroporika.gr

Ξενοδοχεια στο Παρισι
Ταξιδιωτικος Οδηγος για το Παρισι

Εκνευριστικά αγαπησιάρικες είναι οι τρέχουσες διαφημίσεις των αεροπορικών εταιριών.

Η μία θεωρεί εξυπνάδα να γεμίζει ο τόπος με χιλιάδες ραβασάκια ερωτευμένων (μαζί της!) πελατών. Τόσος είναι ο έρωτάς τους που έχουν ξεχάσει τι κόστισε στον καθένα τους η κρατικοδίαιτη λειτουργία της και η μετέπειτα ιδιωτικοποίησή της.

Η άλλη, πάλι, χτυπά τη φλέβα του αιωνίως συγκινητικού νόστου. Γνωρίζει καλά το φυσικό μηχανισμό της ανθρώπινης μνήμης: κρατά τα καλά, δηλαδή τη νοσταλγική ανάμνηση του ταξιδιού, και αποβάλλει τα κακά, δηλαδή τη δυσάρεστη χρέωση των πανάκριβων ναύλων.

Για να δούμε τι θα φέρει ο υγιής ανταγωνισμός τους (πέρα από τον αρχικό σκοτωμό Ντόρας – Ευριπίδη)..

source: Kathimerini

Photos taken this summer at Pharmakonisi, Aegean, published at Athens Indymedia by Syspeirosi Anarchikon.

http://www.hrw.org,

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/10/09/greece-unsafe-and-unwelcoming-shores,

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Greece: Unsafe and Unwelcoming Shores

October 12, 2009

Between August and September 2009, Human Rights Watch interviewed 16 migrants who had been arrested on Samos, Symi, and Chios Islands, and the port towns of Patras and Igoumenitsa. The Greek authorities transferred them to detention centers close to the land border with Turkey and held them in the border police stations of Soufli, Tichero, and Feres, as well as in the Venna and Fylakio-Kyprinou (Fylakio) detention facilities. Two detained migrants described to us how Greek police forcibly pushed them across the river into Turkey from where Turkish authorities sent them back to Afghanistan.

One of them is a 17-year-old unaccompanied Afghan boy who told us over the phone that he was arrested on Symi Island, transferred to Fylakio detention center, and expelled with 11 other persons to Turkey:

We were one group of 12 persons they took out [from the detention center]. They drove us in a car…. for maybe one and a half hours. We arrived in the forest around 9 p.m.; they kept us there until midnight…. They told us not to move, otherwise the Turkish police would find us. It was [next to] a small river…. This side was Greece, the other side was Turkey.

The boat was a metal boat, a long metal boat. Inside the boat there was one policeman; he started the engine and after we arrived to the other side he told us to get out quickly and the boat went straight back. When the [Turkish] police arrived two of us explained what happened. The Turkish police came back to that place with us and said we should sit and that more persons might be coming. But the Greek police didn’t send more people.

We were for 12 days in [Turkish] detention. They beat me too much….  When the Turkish police beat me they said I should call my family to send me money to return to Afghanistan. I asked them not to send me back to Afghanistan, because I had problems. I asked them to keep me. But they didn’t care.

Near our house are Taliban; they are close…. I’m scared all the time. I’m a tenth grade student but I can’t go to school.[1]

The other person pushed back told us he was arrested on Samos Island, transferred to Fylakio detention center, expelled in a group of 45 or 50 persons, arrested by Turkish police, and taken to a detention center in Edirne: “I stayed for one week in Edirne. There were a lot of persons who had been deported from Greece. There were Afghans, Pakistanis, and Sri Lankans.”[2] Human Rights Watch visited that detention center in 2008 and found conditions there to be inhuman and degrading.[3]

Another eight people said they witnessed Greek police taking migrants out of detention centers at nightfall in trucks or vans. Four of them told us that those taken from the detention centers later got in touch with detainees who stayed behind and told them that the Greek police had expelled them. One Afghan boy who was arrested on Symi Island described the scene he witnessed from his cell at Fylakio detention center:

Forty three persons were taken away from my group [of 91 persons]. One Iraqi had a friend among those [taken away]. He called Iraq from the detention center, and that friend said he had been deported. That Iraqi was part of our group. We were all in the same cell.

First [Greek police] asked them to sign something. … it was around the evening time, around 6 p.m. maybe. Then they searched them… the police took away everything they had: toothpaste, papers written in Greek, they took it from their pockets… After that they were taken into a truck without windows. It was completely closed, an army-colored truck. People entered from the back. I saw the truck with my own eyes and I saw how people entered.

Each time a new group [of detainees] arrived the truck came…. 67 persons arrived in one group and they took away 57 persons from that group….  Six or seven times new groups arrived…. For a small group the white van came, for a big group the truck came.[4]

Another person told us he had been arrested in Patras ahead of the authorities’ destruction of a large makeshift camp and then transferred with a group of 120 persons to Fylakio detention center. He told us that four of his friends had been deported from there: “They asked us, ‘Do you have relatives or friends?’ I said I had an uncle. Four friends of mine said they didn’t have family and they were deported. One of them called my friend and told him he was in Afghanistan…. They deported them after about two weeks. They were taken away in a small white car.”[5]

Greece’s Dysfunctional Asylum System

Greece effectively has no asylum system. It recognizes as few as 0.05 percent of asylum seekers as refugees at their first interview. A law adopted in July abolished ameaningful appeals procedure. The effect of the new law is that a person who is in need of international protection as a refugee in Greece is almost certain to be refused asylum at the first instance, and having been refused has little chance of obtaining it on appeal. The new law leaves asylum seekers with no remedy against risk of removal to inhuman or degrading treatment, as required by article 39 of the EU’s procedures directive and articles 13 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. As a result of this legislative change, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) withdrew from any formal role in Greece’s asylum procedure.

Many of those we interviewed said they did not want to apply for asylum in Greece because they had heard that Greece rejects everyone. Some believed mistakenly that they could apply for asylum in other European countries. Access to legal counsel or interpreters is virtually impossible in detention centers in the north and those in need of protection may be unable to access asylum procedures. An Afghan detainee held in Soufli border police station, for example, was informed about her rights in English, a language she does not understand.

Apart from sporadic visits by a lawyer from the Greek Council for Refugees operating under a government agreement, no lawyers or organizations offer pro-bono legal aid in Greece’s northern region. Athens-based lawyers who offer pro-bono legal aid told us they are not able to access and speak to detainees in the north unless they present to authorities the names of persons detained. Even when they have the names of detainees, police in the Evros border region might ask them to obtain an additional permit from central police authorities to see persons detained; or police may not respond to their query whether a certain detainee is still held there. Conversations between lawyers and detainees furthermore are rarely confidential and lawyers said that police interrupted their talks and asked them to finish their conversations with detainees.[6]

Even those with access to legal aid and wanting to apply for asylum are not necessarily able to access the minimal procedures that do exist. According to the Greek Council for Refugees, on July 30, Greek police handed over 40 Turkish citizens, among them 18 asylum seekers, including four unaccompanied children, to their Turkish counterparts under a bilateral readmission agreement. Police on Crete, where the group initially arrived, refused to receive their asylum applications despite interventions by local lawyers. The asylum seekers were deported even though the Greek Council for Refugees intervened with the responsible Ministry.[7] In addition, on July 17, Human Rights Watch saw more than 1,000 asylum seekers lined up all night at Athens’ main police station trying to file asylum claims, largely in vain.

Greece is bound by the international legal principle of non-refoulement not to expel or return a person to a place where he or she would face persecution, torture, or inhuman or degrading treatment. This obligation applies not only to direct returns into the hands of persecutors or torturers, but also to indirect returns to countries from which persons are subsequently sent to a state where they face such threats. The circumstances of what constitutes inhuman or degrading treatment for an unaccompanied child may differ significantly from that of adults and Greece is obliged to take “measures and precautions” against such treatment when returning a child.[8]

Inhuman and Degrading Detention Conditions

Greece is also bound under European and international law to protect migrants from inhuman and degrading treatment while in Greece.  Persons held in detention centers in the north described to us conditions that would violate these obligations. Furthermore, unaccompanied children were detained jointly with adults across detention centers in the north, itself a violation of binding international standards.

People detained at the Soufli border police station, for example, told us that two detainees have to share one dirty mattress and that they are never allowed to go outside. One detainee, a 16-year-old girl in the company of her husband, told us that she felt constantly intimidated in a cell with more than 20 adult men.[9] People detained at Tichero border police station told us they slept on dirty mattresses or on the floor without blankets, and that the bathroom was filthy, with an unbearable smell.[10] Those held in the Venna detention facility said the place was infested with cockroaches and mice, and they complained about a lack of enough warm clothing. Those detained included a disabled man who had lost one arm and could not fully use his other arm but was subjected to the same regime. With the exception of Fylakio detention center, the conditions were compounded by a lack of access to medical care. Except for those held at Venna, those interviewed said they received only two meals per day, which they said was insufficient.

Detainees held at Fylakio detention facility spoke of comparatively better, albeit overcrowded, detention conditions. All persons who had been held there, however, said they experienced or witnessed violence and ill-treatment by guards. Two described an incident in which guards allegedly beat up an Arabic-speaking detainee after he tried to escape.

I saw an Arab who tried to escape. Police caught him and beat him up badly. They took him to the telephone room and covered the window with black plastic. Afterward I went to make a phone call and saw that guy with blood on his head and in handcuffs.[11]

Police also allegedly used violence when intervening in fights among detainees or to punish those who did not stay quiet at night:

I saw once with my own eyes that three policemen beat one person. They beat him in the corridor because he quarreled [with others]. They beat him for a short time with batons, with their hands, and they also kicked him.[12]

We received additional allegations of police violence from persons detained at Tichero and Feres border police stations, and from a person held at an unknown location near Komotini.[13]

Several persons interviewed said it was forbidden to make phone calls from Soufli and Tichero border police stations. One detainee at Soufli told us: “One detainee said if you have a lawyer you might get released but we don’t have a telephone so how can we contact our family to get us a lawyer?”[14] Another person said that although detainees held at Fylakio detention centers were permitted to make phone calls on Mondays and Thursdays, no calls were allowed during the first ten days.[15]

Asked whether they tried to file a complaint, one detainee told us: “I never complained to anybody. We didn’t complain. It wouldn’t have helped if we’d said anything. The captain would have told us to stay quiet.”[16] Although the police chief in charge of the Fylakio detention facility assured us he would investigate any allegation of ill-treatment brought forward by detainees, he added that he has never received any complaints.[17]

The EU’s Failure to Hold Greece Accountable

Human Rights Watch has repeatedly called on the European Union to hold Greece accountable for its violation of European asylum standards, including while recent arrests and transfers were still ongoing. Yet, despite having a mandate and a duty to enforce member states’ implementation of EU legislation, the European Commission  has not spoken out against Greece’s effective abolition of the right to seek asylum or to appeal rejected asylum claims, or its abusive detention and expulsions of migrants, including children. In fact, Jacques Barrot, vice-president of the European Commission responsible for justice, freedom, and security, was on an official visit to Greece when the new presidential decree was published that effectively eliminated the appeals procedure in violation of binding EU standards.

The European Commission’s failure to call publicly for Greece to remedy these serious violations of EU standards and European and international human rights and refugee law sends a worrying signal that abuses may go unchecked. It is vitally important for the Commission to take the opportunity of a new administration in Athens to press in the strongest terms for immediate and fundamental reform of Greece’s asylum system, meaningful access to protection, and an end to abuse.

The Commission should without delay issue a reasoned opinion on Greece’s current breaches of EU standards on asylum and migration, identifying the steps needed to bring Greece back into conformity with EU and human rights law. It should also make clear to Athens that unless the new government takes those steps, the Commission will refer its failure to uphold EU standards to the European Court of Justice.

In two reports published in 2008, Human Rights Watch further called on European governments to stop sending migrants and asylum seekers, including unaccompanied children, back to Greece under the Dublin II regulations. We concluded that Greece violated both EU standards and international human rights law by holding migrants in unacceptable detention conditions, by preventing persons in need of protection from seeking asylum, and by failing to protect unaccompanied migrant children.

Under the European Union’s Dublin II regulations, the country where a person first entered the EU is generally held responsible for examining that person’s asylum claim, whether or not the person applied there. While the Dublin II regulations are premised on the notion that all EU member states have comparable asylum and migration practices, there are wide disparities, with some countries like Greece effectively offering no protection at all. This disparity underscores the importance of reforming the Dublin system while at the same time ensuring that EU member states are held to account for their failure to respect their obligations under EU law.  Only then can the EU take meaningful steps toward creating a common European asylum system.

New Greek Government Should Take Urgent Action to Stop Abuses

Human Rights Watch calls on the new government in Greece to take urgent steps to end abuses against refugees and migrants, including children. We reiterate the recommendations we made to the-then Minister of Interior in August:

Issue a public statement committing the government to treating migrants apprehended in Greek territory in a humane and dignified manner. Guarantee all migrants unhindered access to the asylum procedure and protection from refoulement.

Immediately ensure that the practice of illegal expulsion across the Evros River be stopped; carry out an investigation leading to identification and levying of appropriate sanctions of officials involved in such illegal acts.

Rescind Presidential Decree 81/2009, create a functioning asylum system in which trained staff assess asylum claims on the basis of confidential and private interviews, and allow for a fair and independent review of appeals.

Refrain from detaining unaccompanied migrant children and from summarily deporting them without prior assessment of the risks they face upon return. Create sufficient number of care places for all unaccompanied migrant children in Greece. Consider the granting of temporary residence for unaccompanied children on humanitarian grounds, as provided for in article 44(c) of Law 3386/2005, to protect them from repeated arrest and detention until a durable solution in their best interests is found.

Close substandard detention centers and open new facilities ensuring adequate space, cleanliness, recreation, access to health care, and legal and family visitation necessary for humane conditions of detention. Migrants should only be detained as a last resort, when actual proceedings for their deportation are ongoing, and when it is the only method necessary to secure persons’ lawful deportation, and when the necessity of detaining them is subject to regular review, including by the judiciary. Asylum seekers should not be detained.

Ensure full access for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Human Rights Watch, and other reputable organizations to all migration detention facilities, Coast Guard vessels and facilities, and to entry and border points and the border region.

[1] Human Rights Watch telephone interview (S-15-09), September 28, 2009. (name withheld)

[2] Human Rights Watch telephone interview (S-16-09), September 29, 2009. (name withheld)

[3] Human Rights Watch, Greece/Turkey: Stuck in a Revolving Door: Iraqis and Other Asylum Seekers and Migrants at the Greece/Turkey Entrance to the European Union, November 2008, ISBN 1-56432-411-7, http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/11/26/stuck-revolving-door-0, p.6.

[4] Human Rights Watch interview (S-3-09), September 8, 2009. (name and place withheld)

[5] Human Rights Watch interview (S-5-09), September 8, 2009. (name and place withheld)

[6] Human Rights Watch interview with Marianna Tzeferakou and Danai Angeli, Athens, September 6, 2009.

[7] Email correspondence from Greek Council of Refugees to Human Rights Watch, August 21, 2008.

[8] Mubilanzila Mayeka and Kaniki Mitunga v. Belgium, (Application no. 13178/03), October 12, 2006, available at http://www.echr.coe.int/, para. 69.

[9] Human Rights Watch interview (S-11-09 and S-12-09), September 10, 2009 (names and place withheld). Human Rights Watch interview with (S-13-09), September 11, 2009 (name and place withheld). The European Court of Human Rights held in a recent judgment that detention conditions at Soufli border police station amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment. S.D. v. Greece, (Application no. 53541/07), June 11, 2009, available at http://www.echr.coe.int/, paras. 53-54.

[10] Human Rights Watch interview (S-2-09), September 7, 2009 (name and place withheld). Human Rights Watch interview (S-6-09), September 9, 2009. Human Rights Watch telephone interview (S-14-09), September 28, 2009 (name and place withheld).

[11] Human Rights Watch telephone interview (S-1-2009), August 20, 2009. Another detainee referred to the same incident (S-4-09).

[12] Human Rights Watch interview (S-3-09), September 8, 2009 (name and place withheld).

[13] Human Rights Watch interviews (S-2-09) September 7, 2009 (name and place withheld). Human Rights Watch interviews (S-6-09, S-7-09, S-8-09), September 9, 2009 (names and place withheld). Human Rights Watch interviews (S-11-09, S-12-09), September 10, 2009 (names and place withheld).

[14] Human Rights Watch interview (S-13-09), September 11, 2009 (name and place withheld).

[15] Human Rights Watch interview (S-3-09), September 8, 2009 (name and place withheld).

[16] Human Rights Watch interview (S-5-09), September 8, 2009 (name and place withheld).

[17] Human Rights Watch interview with Giorgos Salamagas, chief of police Orestiada, Fylakio detention center, September 10, 2009.

© Copyright 2008, Human Rights Watch

Aegean cat
The Aegean cat can be house-friendly and obedient, taking after the habits of … Short profile of the Aegean Cat – GREEK language …

Cats: Aegean
Aegean Cat is a medium sized feline with a predominantly white coat. … As a breed, the Aegean Cat is placed in the Semi-longhaired, light European/Continental type. …

Aegean Cat Breed Info
Everything you wanted to know about Aegean cat breed … The Aegean Cat’s coat provides good protection during the harsh winter weather …

Aegean Cat – Guess Where From
Aegean Cat – Guess Where From – By Peter Leathers – An Article from Articlebliss … The Aegean Cat’s coat provides good protection during the harsh winter weather …

source & more info at http://lesvos09.antira.info/2009/08/help-us-close-down-pagani/

_ _ _ _

Help us close down Pagani

Published on 26. August 2009

If you have been following our actions of the last days, you are aware about the immediate necessity to close down the detention centre of Pagani here in Lesvos. Now we call all on everybody out there, wherever you are, to take action. It is quick and easy, and you can really help to make a change: you just need to send a fax or an email.

Participate in the struggle for the immediate closure of Pagani by sending a fax or an email to the Greek Ministry of Health and Social Care as well as to the Ministry of Interior Affairs, demanding the immediate closure of Pagani and the release of the people detained inside. You can also call them. These ministries are the authorities responsible for Pagani, and they have not been willing to move. Let us force them to do so.

If you have sent the fax, leave a short comment on this site that you did so. It will show the force of people behind the demands. Also, spread this campaign and get more people to be involved.

We formulated a sample text you can send, but of course feel free to write your own text. Here are the addresses:

Ministry of Interior Affairs

• email: info@ypes.gr
• telephone: ++30 2131364931 / 2131364932 / 2131364933

Ministry of Health and Social

• email: minister@yyka.gov.gr, minister@mohaw.gr
• fax: +30 2105235749
• telephone: +30 2105233798 / 2105233573 / 2105232821 / 2105232829 / 2105249011 or 2105235703

To the
Ministry of Health and Social Care
Ministry of the Interior

concerning the disastrous situation in the Detention Center of Pagani, Lesvos, I want to express my deepest concern to you as the authorities responsible. The circumstances for refugees detained in Pagani, as they were presented in many greek newspapers recently, are not bearable at all. At present, more than a thousand refugees are detained in Pagani. Amongst these are many women detained with their children and babies and numerous unaccompanied minors, whose imprisonment is illegal under greek law.

During his last visit to Pagani on the 24th of August, 2009, the director of the greek UNHCR branch, Giorgos Tsarbopoulos, stated that the Pagani prison doesn’t match neither greek nor internation standards. He also stated that there are numerous breaches of greek law.

People are imprisoned for many weeks, even month. They are forced to share a room with aproximately hundred people! Sanitary and medical conditions are beyond any possible imagination. It is not even necessary to describe the further consequences of forcing people to live under these circumstances, since the absolute lack of human rights is all too obvious.

My protest also concerns the praxis of discharge. By releasing people from Pagani in huge numbers without further sustain, they are forced to live on the streets without any support by the Greek state. Without the possibility to catch a boat to Athens or any place to stay, they are forced to sleep outside not even having access to food or water.

Therefore, my demands are:

• Immediate closure of the detention center of Pagani!
• Freedom for ALL prisoners of Pagani!
• Accommodation with food and water, as well as medical treatment and support!
• Infrastructure for refugees arriving to or released from Pagani, while waiting for the ferry!
• Immediate access to travelling papers, so they can continue their journey!
• Freedom of movement and papers for everyone!

Yours,

We’re back home now, so here’s a summary of our experience cruising in the Dodecanese back in June and since mid-August, compared with last year in the Ionian.

As is well known it’s much more windy! We found a force 4 was pretty normal by mid morning and force 5 by mid afternoon. The wind direction was nearly always north to north-west. We only got a few calm days and slightly different wind directions (west or north-east) from about mid-September. The only southerly was in October when we were already lifted out. All that and the fact the the Dodecanese is a north-south chain of islands (and the fact that we didn’t have documentation to enter Turkey) meant that we were often beating north or running south – which was a bit tedious. But by making use of the slight variations in wind direction during the day – the wind often backed in the afternoon and this was often correctly forecast on Poseidon’s 3-hourly forecasts – we could do more reaching. The wind was more variable after mid-September: after that we could often get up in the morning and to some extent decide where to go based on the wind direction that day.

We had weather forecasts every day from the internet. Compared with the Ionian we found that the forecasts were less reliable 2 or more days ahead. A calm or a blow which was forecast beyond 2 days usually didn’t materialise quite as forecast. (Initially I got wind maps for 5 days ahead but I soon cut that down to 3.)

The strong winds meant that there are almost no flotillas. There are however charter boats out of Kos, Samos, and Turkey. To some extent you can predict where these will be: because many Kos charters turn round at the weekend, Nisiros is very busy on Thursdays with boats returning to Kos, and also on Sundays with new charterers (on their first day out!). Patmos too is often the first or last port of call for Samos charterers. But overall it’s much much less busy than the Ionian where last year we could sometimes see scores of yachts. The recession no doubt played a part too.

We didn’t find it difficult to find space in anchorages and on quays. There are a few big anchorages (Pythagorian on Samos, Porto Stretto on Arki, Ormos Lipso, Xerocambos on Leros, Livhadia on Tilos) and plenty of small ones. But not many are really sheltered in a Meltemi – the wind often gusts down into and howls across them.

We often found electricity on quays, which we appreciated because Vigdis’s power arrangements are pretty poor and with the longer nights we needed the lighting more. As well as the marinas, Lipso, Nisiros, and Tilos have electricity. Unlike in the Ionian if electricity points were installed they worked. Even Pserimos was installing electricity points. Payment for electricity (and water) was often hit and miss – if you weren’t there when the guy came round it was free.

Water was problematic. All the places I mentioned as having electricity have water too, but water on Leros (including the marinas) and Lipso is non-potable – it probably won’t harm you (the locals drink it) but it tastes unpleasant and, importantly, you can’t make a good cup of tea with it. We eventually filled up one tank with non-potable water and one with good, drinking water obtainable at Kos, Samos or Nisiros.

Local ‘Greek gas’ refills for our camping gas cylinders were hard to find: we only found one in Pothia, Kalimnos. Unlike in the Ionian we never saw refills in supermarkets, and the usual brand over there (Petrogas) doesn’t seem to exist here; we mostly saw ‘Nisogas’ – also dark blue. Kos Marina had some white ones that I thought might be difficult to exchange later.

The port police seem a bit more, er, attentive over here – perhaps because of the proximity of Turkey. Confusion and contradiction ruled, as usual. We were ticked off at Kos for not registering wherever we went. In another port we were sent away and told to come back the next day, when we were told of completely different requirements. We are polite, and try to conform with the regulations as we’re told them, but I often wanted to swear (and sometimes did afterwards).

Shopping for everyday food is always a challenge. We usually had to visit two or three minimarkets to obtain such staples as milk and fruit but there are one or two very good supermarkets, notably the AB supermarket in Patmos Town (from the Port Police take the road to the monastery and it is on the left) the big supermarket in Kalimnos Town on the quay, and the Spanos supermarket in Lakki which is just on the edge of the town on the road out to Pandeli. These three are within walking distance of the waterfront but in Samos and Kos the big supermarkets have migrated to the main roads outside the towns. Getting good bread is not difficult and almost all bakeries do wholemeal (‘olikis’). Fruit and vegetables are sometimes hard to find, but the shop in Lakki is outstanding – worth stocking up as much as you can.

The food is better than in the Ionian. The tavernas can be just as limited in their menus, but we found more with interesting dishes such as mushrooms pies or hot beetroot salad for starters and the cooking in general was better – many excellent oven dishes – lamb, goat, chicken – usually in huge quantities. Fewer ‘who cares, it’s for the tourists’ thrown-together dishes. Honourable mentions go to the restaurant at Samos Marina and ‘Aphrodite’ in Palon, Nisiros.

That’s it. Overall, we like the Dodecanese.