Samstag, 30. Mai 2009

the sea will never dry


Freitag, 29. Mai 2009

amnesty greece report

http://thereport.amnesty.org/en/regions/europe-central-asia/greece

Mittwoch, 27. Mai 2009

report from PATRA

http://www.meltingpot.org/articolo14170.html

Patras – We Need Help

The direct testimony of the refugees in the Patras camp

Yasser ‘s voice seems to come from another planet: “Help us, we need someone fight for our rights”. Haji, the representative of the Afghan community in the Patras slum-camp, reports what happened during the rebellion.
Thousands of Afghan citizens, whose stories we have already reported, barricaded themselves inside the camp. Police doesn’t intervene, but keeps under surveillance the entire place. The refugees are afraid to walk outside the camp. They are terrorized by the policemen, but also by the Greek citizens. The 2nd March 2009 Greeks joined security forces to disperse with tear-gas the spontaneous demonstration of the Afghan refugees.
They were at the port, as they did each afternoon, trying to get on the ships directed to Italy, hoping to obtain the international protection which is completely denied in Greece against any national and European law. Even though the ports on the Adriatic sea reject them almost indiscriminately, they have no other choice except keep trying. This is the only way to get out this situation, risking their own lives in order to find any kind of dignity for being humans.
That afternoon, one of them had almost managed to hide himself inside one of the departing trucks, but something went wrong and he fell. The witnesses affirm that the truck behind him accelerated instead of stopping. His friends thought him dead, when they saw him laying unconscious in his own blood. They were mad with rage and began throwing stones against the truck. Then in just a second the strife began. The charitable associations supporting Patras refugees arrived, but also the organized groups which have always been against them. The strife stopped late into the night.
Greece, member of the European Union, is violating every day the rights of these people. The requests for asylum have been suspended since September 2008. Yet each of these young boys, many of them are under 18 years old and even children, have terrible stories behind them. Bombs and conscription for the Afghanistan war, violence of the Iranian police, Turkish prison, detention centers in Greece, mass rejection from Italy. The boy who has been knocked down by the truck is in coma in the hospital. Yet none of his friends could personally make sure if he is still alive. Twenty-five afghan citizens at the port on the 2nd of March have been arrested and nobody knows anything about them.

Uncut version of Yasser’s interview
- [ Listen in English ]
- [ Listen in Italian ]

Uncut version of Haji’s interview
- [ Listen in farsi ]
- [ Listen in Italian ]

- Watch the video on the strife at Patras Port
- Read the testimony of Marianne, who is working for Kinisi Association

Transcript of Yasser’s interview

My name is Yasser.
Hi Yasser, do you remember me? I was in Patras some weeks ago…
Yes of course I remember…

We would like that you tells us what happened those days. Could you tell me something about what happened at the Patras Port, but also about what is happening right now? Where are you now?
Now I am at the camp.

What can you tell me about the camp at this moment? Are you surrounded?
There is the police, not quite close but still here. The camp is surrounded by the police.

And they do not allow you to go outside?
It is difficult for us to go out.

Why are they behaving like this?
I don’t know but I think because of the incident happened few days ago. Since the incident the police have surrounded the camp and we are afraid of going out because the police is here.

Can you tell us something more about what happened at the port few days ago?
Yes, there was this boy who was trying to get on the truck, hide himself, then another truck arrived and knocked him down. His mouth was bleeding and he also badly hit his head. After few minutes we thought him dead, then he was taken to the hospital. The doctor says he isn’t dead, but he is in a coma. Yet none of us saw him, and we know nothing about what is happening to him.

Why did you get angry that day at the port anyway?
Because we are human beings as well, we have human rights too. Nobody must kill us in such manner, it wasn’t the first time however. Last year another driver killed a boy at the port. Police beats us every day at the port, but also on the streets. We are human beings and we have human rights.

Therefore this is quite normal, is police normally behaving like that? Is it always violent with you?
Yes it is. Anyway at the moment the Greek community represent another problem. Some Greek citizens joining the police attack us that night at the port too.

Why is this happening?
I don’t know why this is happening, I don’t know why they are angry with us. We don’t do anything bad, we didn’t harm they, we simply try to enter the port during evening. Yet lots of Greeks joined the police that night and attacked us, while the police was throwing tear-gases at us. There weren’t one or two persons. There were lots of them.

Could you explain the reason why you try to reach Italy each night passing through the Patras port? What is for you the problem in Greece? Our condition in Greece is terrible difficult because we cannot obtain asylum and we cannot find a job. We can’t do anything, therefore we try to reach Italy in order to seek asylum and find a place where to live.

Did you ask for asylum in Greece?
Not me, but other persons in the camp did. Here if you ask for asylum they say you are a liar. What changes if you do ask for asylum? The lawyer explained us that they admit asylum for less than 1% of the requests. Actually it is impossible to obtain political asylum here.

Did they confined you or not in a detention center the first day you arrived to Greece?
No, I came directly to Patras, I have already known that I had to try to continue my journey.

Therefore you go to the port each night and try to hide inside the trucks departing for Italy?
Yes, each night.

Now after the incident what do you think will happen in Patras?
We don’t know yet. The police is here surrounding us, but none of us knows exactly what is about to happen.
We are afraid for our lives. Since days we have been barricaded inside the camp without doing out.

You do not only fear the police, but also the Greek citizens?
Each of us retard going out the camp because we don’t know what might happen. Now we are afraid of simply walking on the streets.

How old are you?
I am 19.

What is the average age in the camp?
Almost everybody is less than 20 years old.

How many persons are there in the camp at the moment?
More than one thousand.

What can you tell us about the life in the camp?
Life here is dreadful. We are living in hell.

Is there anything that you would like to ask the Greek and the Italian government?
I don’t ask for anything to the Greek government, as I already know that it would never help us. I would ask the Italian government instead to open its gates because here life is like living in war. I would say to the Italian government that we are refugees, that we didn’t come here to harm anybody, we came here only to live and have a better life, we came here to survive. I would say to the Italian government please open the gates. You know how we are living. During these days lots of journalists came down here and reported to us what is happening in Patras. We cannot live this way any longer.

Would you like to tell us something of your life? Explain us why are you a refugee?
I am a refugee because my country is in war, but as far as I am regarded the problem goes beyond this. My story is quite different from the other ones. One day as I came back home, I found my father that had just killed my mother. At that point I killed my father. My entire family is against me. I had no other choice but running away.

Do all of you inside the camp have such difficult story?
Yes, all of us have such stories.

Have you tried to tell your story to anybody from Greece?
No, I don’t even try. Only two friends of mine know the story, and nobody else.

Are you going to try to go inside the port again this night?
I don’t, and like me neither many others in the camp. We are afraid. If now after the incident the police arrests us, who knows what might happen to us.

What happens usually when the police arrests you at the port?
They take us to the police station and they leave us there for 24 hours with no water nor food.

Do they beat you?
Is normal that they beat us. They beat us, shout at us, insult us, abuse us.

Thank you very much Yasser. We promise you that we are going to make your voice heard. We join you in your battle for your rights.
Thank you, we need somebody to fight for our rights, we need help.

Last question: do you organize any demonstration for the next days?
Yes, I know that they are organizing some demonstrations, but I don’t know precisely what are you going to do.

Are there any Greek association supporting you?
Yes, they came down here and ask us to join them in a demonstration. I am not quite sure if we are going to join them, but maybe next week. There are some groups, not many actually. Hope that works.

What do you think, is it important to make a demonstration right now?
Yes, I think so. I don’t know what the other one thousand refugees might think, but I think it does.

Were you there that day during the strife?
I arrived five minutes later. I was there when there were throwing tear-gases at us. They arrested 25 persons and we know nothing about where they are, nobody knows anything.

Are there children among them?
Yes of course, there would be children too.

Transcript of Haji’s interview
It was 4 pm when a seventeen years boy named San tried to get out the port by hanging on behind a truck. Then another truck arrived and he got smashed between the both of them. At that point the boys who were there got angry with the truck drivers and the strife began.
The boys threw stones against the windows of the trucks. Then some Greek persons began arguing with the boys that were protesting and the strife extended. At that point the police intervened with tear-gases.
When I saw what was happening, I approached the boys together with a Greek friend of mine and we promised them that we would go and see how San in the hospital was doing. There were 4 of us going to the hospital and we found out that San was in a coma and that the doctors decided to operate him: therefore it was impossible for us to see him. We know nothing about him, not even his brother could see him. Doctors are still saying that he is in a coma and that they have to operate him because of the injures he has at his head and arms.
For almost 12 hours there was some sort of war between migrants and police. At this point a group of fascists tried to burn down the camp. All the people inside the camp had to go out because the situation was very dangerous.

This interview was made by Basir ad Haji in the Patras camp.

Alessandra Sciurba, progetto Melting Pot Europa

Translated by Oprea Mihaela

[ Tuesday 17 March 2009 ]

| presentazione | con

http://euro-police.noblogs.org/post/2009/05/25/the-military-exercise-thracia-2009-has-ended


The military exercise “Thracia 2009” has ended

25 Mai, 2009

[bnr.bg] The military exercise “Thracia 2009”, which the Agency “Frontex” organized on the Bulgarian-Turkish border and the Greek-Turkish border, has ended, announced the Ministry of the Interior. The exercise was designed as a training session for the coordination, which “Frontex” has for its groups for Rapid Border Interventional Team (RABIT). “Frontex”, the EU agency based in Warsaw, was created as a specialised and independent body tasked to coordinate the operational cooperation between Member States in the field of border security. “Frontex” complements and provides particular added value to the national border management systems of the member states. In the course of a week 40 members of RABIT from 20 member-countries of the EU “helped” the Bulgarian and Greek border police in “make believe” situations, connected with migration pressure. The boundary between Bulgaria and Turkey is one of the “hottest” points of the outer boundary of the EU. The same is true of the Greek-Turkish border, where the migration pressure is even stronger. This was said by the Deputy executive director of the agency Hill Arias at a briefing in front of Bulgarian and Greek journalists at the “Capitan Andreevo” border check-point.

Source: http://www.bnr.bg/RadioBulgaria/Emission_English/News/090520b6.htm


Montag, 25. Mai 2009

4 new postcards and posters 25.5.




Freitag, 22. Mai 2009

Mittwoch, 20. Mai 2009

"Rescue is a human right!"-umbruch bildarchiv



"Rescue is a human right!"
Das deutsche Schiff Cap Anamur rettete im Juni 2004 37 Menschen aus
Seenot. Dafür stehen Kapitän Stefan Schmidt und Elias Bierdel in Italien
vor Gericht. Ihnen droht 4 Jahre Haft und 400.000 Euro Geldstrafe. Im
Juni 2009 könnte das Urteil fallen.* *Auf einer Kundgebung am 18. Mai
vor der italienischen Botschaft in Berlin riefen antirassistische und
Menschenrechtsgruppen zur Solidarität mit den Lebensrettern der Cap
Anamur auf und forderten den sofortigen Freispruch für die Angeklagten
im Cap-Anamur-Prozess.
Eine Fotoseite unter
http://www.umbruch-bildarchiv.de/bildarchiv/ereignis/180509cap_anamur.html
___________

Dienstag, 19. Mai 2009

Greece: Proposed changes to asylum procedures flagrantly violate international law

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENT

15 May 2009
AI Index: EUR 25/005/2009


Greece: Proposed changes to asylum procedures flagrantly violate
international law

Amnesty International is deeply concerned about a proposed Greek
Presidential Decree that would introduce extensive amendments to
Presidential Decree 90/2008, which incorporates into Greek law the
provisions of the EU Procedures Directive. This Directive regulates the
minimum standards for asylum procedures across the EU.
The proposed decree would abolish the second stage of asylum
procedures in Greece, leaving asylum-seekers with no recourse to a
substantial appeal. If the changes are adopted, asylum-seekers whose
applications have been rejected at the first stage would only have
access to a review by the Council of State, which does not cover the
substance of the request, but only examines procedural aspects.
Amnesty International believes that the proposed changes, if
implemented, would deprive asylum-seekers of their right to an
effective remedy, which is guaranteed under Article 13 of the European
Convention on Human Rights and Article 39 of the EU Procedures
Directive. The lack of an effective remedy to negative asylum
decisions would lead to violations of Greece’s obligations not to return
anyone to a country where they would be at risk of serious human rights
violations under the UN Refugee Convention and other international human
rights treaties.
Amnesty International have said that incorrect decisions on asylum
applications would effectively be left unchallenged and people at risk
of persecution in other countries may have their asylum claims
rejected and returned to countries where they face serious human rights
abuses. If these changes are introduced, it would cast severe doubts
over Greece’s commitment to human rights.
Further, Amnesty International believes that there will continue to be
serious concerns regarding the fairness of the first stage of asylum
procedures. Under the proposed changes asylum decisions will be taken by
local police directors instead of national level. Amnesty
International has repeatedly pointed out that the examination of asylum
applications by police officers, who also undertake immigration control
tasks, undermines the fairness of the asylum procedure
Public Document

http://www.freie-radios.net/mp3/20090504-griechische-27746.mp3

Griechischer Flüchtlingspolitik teil 2

Noborder camp in Callais-http://calaisnoborder.eu.org

TRANSNATIONAL DEMO FOR FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND THE ABOLITION OF
> MIGRATION CONTROLS. Calais, Saturday 27th June 2009.
>
> In Calais there are around 800-1000 migrants at any one time that are
> trying to cross the Channel, under constant harassment from the police.
>
> These migrants are harassed because they do not have the right papers,
> or in many cases no papers at all - they are 'sans-papier'.
>
> These 'sans-papier' in Calais are only the tip of the iceberg: it is
> estimated that there are over 200,000 sans-papier in France, 1 million
> in the UK, and up to 7 million in Europe as a whole.
>
> All sans-papier face the same battle - to live and work without
> exploitation, harassment and fear of arrest and deportation.
>
> NoBorders calls for a world without papers, where everyone lives where
> they choose.
>
> The route of the demo is the reverse of the walk that many migrants in
> Calais make on a daily basis - from Coquelles, where they are detained,
> to the lighthouse, where there is a daily food distribution.
>
> We call on all individuals and groups that struggle for the rights of
> migrants to sign this call and mobilise for the demo.
>
> The demo is part of a NoBorder camp that is taking place in Calais from
> 23rd to 29th June (http://calaisnoborder.eu.org).
>
> The demo will start at 10am from the lighthouse on Boulevard des Alliés.
>
> NoBorder Calais
> Gdale-CGA
> UK No Borders Network
>
> Contact: calais@riseup.net
>

Donnerstag, 14. Mai 2009

Angeklagt gehört die Abschottungspolitik der europäischen Regierungen !

Cap Anamur Prozess geht zu Ende !
Kundgebung am Montag 18. Mai um 10.45 Uhr vor der italienischen
Botschaft in Berlin

Wo:
Vor der italienischen Botschaft
Hiroshima Straße 1 (Berlin - Tiergarten)
Bus M29 Hiroshimasteg oder M200 Tiergartenstraße

Das Selbstverständliche wird kriminalisiert:
Menschen aus Seenot zu retten
Angeklagt gehört die Abschottungspolitik der europäischen Regierungen !
Freispruch für Elias Bierdel und Stefan Schmidt!

Im Jahr 2004 hatten Elias Bierdel, seinerzeit Chef
der Hilfsorganisation Cap Anamur, und sein Kapitän Stefan Schmidt
37 Flüchtlinge aus Seenot gerettet. Dieser politische Schauprozess
im sizilianischen Agrigento
geht am 20. Mai 2009 mit den Plädoyers der Verteidiger seinem Ende
entgegen.
Die Staatsanwaltschaft hatte bereits im April diesen Jahres in
einem dreistündigen Plädoyer 4 Jahre Haft und eine Strafe
von jeweils
400.000 Euro für die beiden Angeklagten gefordert.

Die Regierungen der Europäischen Union versuchen seit Jahren,
mit
Unterstützung der europäischen Grenzschutzagentur FRONTEX sowie mit
immensem technischen und finanziellen Aufwand, Flüchtlinge von Europa
fernzuhalten. Dabei nehmen sie ihren Tod auf dem Meer nicht nur in Kauf,
sondern sind durch ihre mörderischen Abschottungsmaßnahmen für das
Massensterben an den europäischen Außengrenzen verantwortlich.
Die Kriminalisierung und Bestrafung derjenigen, die in Seenot geratenen
Flüchtlingen helfen, stellen einen durchsichtigen Versuch der
italienischen Justiz dar, andere Menschen von dieser humanitären
Selbstverständlichkeit abzuschrecken.

ARI Berlin, Komitee für Grundrechte und KMii Hamburg


Hintergrundinfos zum laufenden Prozess:
http://www.isihserver.de/www.fluechtlingsrat-brandenburg.de/cms/front_content.php?idcat=47

Informationsplattform zum Massensterben an den EU-Außengrenzen:
http://www.borderline-europe.de/
_______________________________________________

Mittwoch, 13. Mai 2009

FRONTEX IN GRiechenland

http://frontex.antira.info/2008/11/12/frontex-griechenland/

Mittwoch, der 12. November 2008

Frontex & Griechenland

Also. Mensch stelle sich eine Europakarte vor. Ganz links außen, vor der afrikanischen Küste, liegen die Kanaren. In den letzten Jahren Ziel vieler MigrantInnen, die sich vor allem in kleinen Booten erst von Marokko, dann von Mauretanien und mittlerweile Senegal oder sogar noch weiter südlich aufmachen, um nach EU-Europa zu kommen. Und da sind die Kanaren das nächste Ziel. Dass die Leute immer weiter südlich starten hat natürlich was mit den Frontex-Missionen zu tun, aber auch mit der Externalisierungspolitik der EU. Die Operation vor den Kanaren heisst Hera und ist mittlerweile fast permanent.

Bewegen wir uns auf der imaginierten Europakarte ins Mittelmeer. Die Meerenge bei Gibraltar ist relativ stark überwacht von der Guardia Civil (Spanien), was zwar nicht heisst, da ist kein Durchkommen mehr, aber so richtig viele Leute scheinen die Route nicht mehr zu nutzen. (Es gibt natürlich immer noch die spanischen Exklave Ceuta und Melilla, aber seit dem Sturm auf die Festung 2005 sind die Zäune da bis zu 6m hoch).

Also ist die nächste Möglichkeit in die EU zu kommen über Malta, Lampedusa und Sizilien. Das scheint auch noch ganz gut zu klappen, dieses Jahr ist ja schon die zweite Frontex-Mission in Folge gescheitert. Dennoch zieht Frontex den Grenzraum um Europa weiter, und das logische nächste Ziel ist Griechenland, welches nach Aussagen der griechischen Regierung jedes Jahr Ziel von rund 150.000 irregulären MigrantInnen ist. Wie MigrantInnen in Griechenland behandelt werden, ist ein anderer Skandal. Hier ein paar Links dazu bei Pro Asyl:

Bisher hat Frontex aber relativ wenig in Griechenland gemacht (eine Chronologie folgt unten). Ich war letzten Sommer in Athen auf dem jährlichen antirassistischen Festival, aber auch die Leute von den Flüchtlingsinis von dort konnten noch nicht sehr viel über Frontex sagen. Heute allerdings erreichten mich Bilder aus Mitilini, Lesvos, die meiner Meinung nach relativ klar dokumentieren, dass Frontex dort vor Ort ist. Zu sehen ist ein Schiff der italienischen Küstenwache (erkennbar an der Flagge und der Aufschrift). Frontex verfügt ja über keine eigenen Schiffe, daher ist die Annahme wohl gerechtfertigt, dass es sich hier um ein Projekt unter Frontex-Ägide handelt. Der geographische Ort spricht auf jeden Fall dafür, Lesvos liegt relativ nahe an der Türkei und ist ein ebenso Ziel vieler MigrantInnen, die mit Schlauchbooten, Bojen oder einfach schwimmend versuchen, Griechenland zu erreichen.

Die spannende Frage ist nun: Handelt es sich hier um eine Gemeinsame Operation, wie das mit Hera und Nautilus der Fall ist? Ich gehe nicht unbedingt davon aus, Frontex ist meiner Einschätzung nach noch nicht so gut aufgestellt, eine weitere große Operation auszuführen (auch wenn es jedes Jahr die Poseidon Operation gibt). Denn sollte Frontex antreten mit der Ansage, die irreguläre Migration nach Griechenland permanent zu unterbinden, so wäre dies erheblich aufwendiger als vor Malta und vor den Kanaren. Griechenland hat ungefähr 3000 Inseln, die teilweise in Sichtweite der Türkei liegen. Der Aufwand wäre also ungleich höher. Dazu gibt es noch die Landroute über den Evros-Fluß im Norden, und es ist bisher nicht bekannt geworden, dass sich die Türkei signifikant in die Externalisierungsbestrebungen der EU hat einbinden lassen, auch wenn das sicherlich eine der ersten Forderungen in den Beitrittsverhandlungen mit der EU gewesen ist. Die besondere geographische Situation schafft weitere Probleme rechtlicher Natur: Der Status der ägäischen Inseln waren lange Zeit ein Zankapfel zwischen Griechenland und der Türkei, und es heisst, dass der Grenzverlauf im Meer immer noch nicht 100% geklärt ist. Ein heikles Terrain für Frontex.

Frontex hat letztes Jahr die Schaffung des so genannten European Patrols Network (EPN) angeregt, und zwar auf Grundlage der beiden Forschungsprogramme MEDSEA und BORTEC. Fragestellung von MEDSEA (Mediterranean Sea) war, wie sich eine europäisierte Verantwortung für die südlichen Seegrenzen realisieren ließe. Operationsgebiet ist der Atlantik, das Mittelmeer und das Schwarze Meer. Erkenntnis der Studie war, dass es notwendig wäre, rund 40 Institutionen in den beteiligten Ländern miteinander zu vernetzen (Polizien, Grenzschutz, Geheimdienst, Ministerien). Eine zu große Herausforderung. Stattdessen wurde als Zwischenschritt zu einem europäisierten Grenzschutz das EPN geschaffen. Die Search-and-Rescue-Zonen der einzelnen Staaten wurden zu größeren Gebieten zusammengelegt, und die Veranwortung für diese Gebiete bilateral, also zwischen jeweils zwei Staaten geregelt (siehe Karte). Und just eine dieser Zonen liegt in italienisch-griechischer Verantwortung. Das eine Bild, auf dem ein Schiff mit griechischer Flagge vor dem italienischen Küstenwachschiff liegt, passt da gut dazu. Es ist allerdings immer noch möglich, dass es sich um eine Fortführung der Poseidon Operation handelt, die seit 2006 jedes Jahr in Griechenland stattgefunden hat. Um das genauer zu wissen, wäre es natürlich interessant zu wissen, was das Schiff da macht. Aber irgendwie ist die Spekulation ja auch müssig, Fakt ist: Frontex ist vor Ort.

Zusätzlich haben wir hier noch zwei Links auf Fernsehberichte aus dem griechischen Fernsehen über die Flüchtlingssituation auf Lesvos. Die sind leider auf griechisch, aber die Bilder, und die Aussagen der Flüchtlinge (auf Englisch) sprechen schon mal für sich.

  1. Allgemein zur Situation der Flüchtlinge. Da wird auch was über Frontex gesagt, wenn das jemand transkribieren könnte, wäre ich total dankbar.
  2. Über das Verhältnis der griechischen Fischer zu den Flüchtlingen

Was will Griechenland von Frontex
Griechenlands Position gegenüber Frontex ist angesichts dieser aus staatlicher Sicht dürftigen Bilanz (siehe auch Chronolgie unten) klar: Griechenland fordert den Ausbau von Frontex. Das wurde ja auch im “Europäischen Pakt zu Einwanderung und Asyl” so beschlossen. Jetzt will Griechenland in einem “Club Med” (Zypern, Griechenland, Italien und Malta) dafür sorgen, dass der Pakt keine Absichtserklärung bleibt, sondern auch in die Tat umgesetzt wird (Quelle: Malta Today). Ultimativ fordert beispielsweise der griechische Premierminister Kostas Karamanlis die Schaffung einer “Europäischen Küstenwache”, da die Frontex-patrouillen nicht angemessen wären.

We need to strengthen, reinforce and support Frontex, which I think is good but not adequate. The final and ambitious step is the creation of a European coast guard

In besonderer Mission unterwegs war auch der stellvertretende Außenminister Griechenlands, Yannis Valinakis, der Ende Oktober in Warschau war, und natürlich auch mal im Frontex HQ vorbeigeschaut hat.

Acknowledging the geographical particularities of our country and the dimensions of the problem, Mr. Laitinen announced FRONTEXs’ intention to release additional funding for Greece from its budget, enabling the continuation of land and sea operations being carried out in the Eastern Aegean by police and port authorities with the participation of other member states, under the coordination of FRONTEX, to combat illegal migration and trafficking organisations. Mr. Valinakis congratulated Mr. Laitinen on the important work being carried out by the Agency, referring in particular to the Poseidon joint exercise carried out in Greece, under the auspices of FRONTEX. This year’s Poseidon exercise saw the largest participation yet on the part of operational means and member states, with positive results so far.

Mr. Valinakis also raised the particular problem of remote islands that, while having small populations, are confronting large numbers of illegal migrants. “Our country – and our islands in particular – have been hard hit by the problem of illegal migration, especially of late. We are looking to strengthen cooperation with FRONTEX, as well as our European and Mediterranean partners who are facing similar migration-related pressures,” Mr. Valinakis stated, underscoring “the need for collaboration between European coast guards, particularly in the Mediterranean – e.g., through joint patrols that would lead to the creation of a European coast guard, along the lines proposed by Greece’s Prime Minister.” Referring to the recent letter of Prime Minister Karamanlis to French President Sarkozy, Mr. Valinakis reiterated Greece’s desire for the creation of a FRONTEX Regional Center for the Eastern Mediterranean in Piraeus, which would facilitate more effective control of the EU’s external borders.

In Piräus existiert, aber bisher noch in nationaler Verantwortung, das “Zentrum Seegrenzen für das östliche Mittelmeer”, und ein “Upgrade” dieses Zentrums zu einem regionalen Frontexzentrum würde eine wesentliche Besserstellung Griechenlands im Kontext des EU-Migrationsregimes bedeuten. Hier noch ein Link zur neuen “französisch-griechischen Allianz“.

Und jetzt noch die versprochene Chronologie zu Frontex und Griechenland, die oben schon erwähnten Poseidon Operationen. Für 2008 liegen leider noch keine Berichte vor. VIel lässt sich aber allgemein nicht sagen, oder müsste nochmal recherchiert werden, daher einfach mal Material von Frontex dazu: Also bitte kritisch lesen.

2006 war Poseidon anscheinend noch ein relativ kurzes so genanntes “Pilotprojekt”, aber die Karten sind sehr aufschlußreich über das weite Operationsgebiet. Es zieht sich bis nach Italien. Wegen der komplizierten geographischen Lage dreht es sich bei Poseidon um eine Operation, die Luft-, See- und Landgrenzen involviert, deswegen 2007 auch diese Aufsplittung.

Poseidon 2006






Ethnoprop by Frontex


Ethnoprop by Frontex

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE29M-42_FE