Donnerstag, 29. Oktober 2009

mitilini today report

"illegal refugee no4
NEDA
27-28/10/09"

was a notice on the body of the little Neda HANSADAR.

even when you are dead the language used bei forentik doktors is rassist!

for the first time the graves of refugees in mitlini graveyard are with names.
usually ther is only the word : afghan and a number.
good that survivors are here and cared.

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hello to all,

today a press-conference, organised from a new local alliance, was

held directly in front of the gates from Pagani, and for tomorrow,

friday, a call was launched for a demonstration in Mytilini. The main

respective demand is the immediate closure of Pagani (and finally of

all other internment/detention-camps). On the backgound of various

developments within last days it seems to be really possible, that

Pagani will be closed next days! Following you find a short summary

what happened last week ( see the more detailled daily reports at

http://lesvos09.antira.info/) and the appeal to international

solidarity-activities (fax/email-campaign) for tomorrow and in the

next days.

greetings from some noborders and friends in mytilini


Short summary of last week

End of last week the vice-interior-minister from the new government

was in Lesvos. "worse than the inferno from dante" was his public

comment in the medias after his visit in Pagani, where he was

directly confronted with the unbearable conditions and the protests

of the arrested refugees. and he explicitly said, that Pagani must be

closed.

Shortly before this "representative visit" from athens another little

revolt happened in the prison, and in two following evenings fire was

set up in two cells. mainly the young refugees used the fire as a

succesful mean (what is not exactly safe and some people suffered

from light smoke poisoning) in their struggle against the arbitraly

and inhuman internment. the young men of the burned cell could stay

over night in the yard (it was/is still warm enough), and after the

day before yesterday most locks of the cells have been broken by the

inmates. the police left it undone to repair and to lock them up

again: not accidently as they wanted to avoid more conflicts and

perhaps hoped, that the situation would calm down. in the same

evening nearly all cells have been open, the inmates could meet and

gather in the yard, they enforced a sort of permanent yards exercise

(given before even not an hour in a week!), they sang out and

clapping the hands...

anger and the motivation to resist increased in pagani in the weeks

after first achievements during the nobordercamp, and although 100 to

200 refugees have been released every day and could travel with the

ferry to athens, the newcomers follow in the same mood.

in some greek newsletters it was clearly documented, that policemen

had beaten refugees in Pagani (short time after the leave of the vice-

interior minister), and afterwards the police in lesvos seemed to be

in an additional defensive position. reportedly the police want to

get closed pagani too in the meanwhile, they obviously want to escape

from a situation, where they get under increasing pressure from

inside and outside the prison.

finally in the morning of the day before yesterday the bad news came

out, that 8 women and children from afghanistan drowned, when their

boat capsized after crashing on rocks. 8 new victims of the

borderregime, 10 more people could be safed in last minute by a

fisher (who jumped into the water to save a baby).

in the same day a local meeting was held in mytilini, the press-

conference for today was decided and the demonstration for tomorrow/

friday. everybody agreed, that we will not demand for any improvement

of living conditions in pagani, its only about immediate closure!

and if it is possible to continue to make pressure on various levels,

the closure of pagani seems to be realistic for the next days.

on this backgound another proposal came up to get involved the

transnational networks: to start a fax- and/or email-campaign, on one

hand to the vice- interior minister to remember to his promises, and

secondly to the prefect of mytilini with the demand to (re) open the

pikpa-building as a reception center (as interims-solution). so the

remaining arrested refugees and migrants (in moment less than 150)

could be released immediately.

so our immediate demands are:

Shut down Pagani now!

(Re)Installation of an open reception center Pikpa!

Immediate registration-procedures and transferoptions to Athens!


in greek:

na kleisi tora i pagani!

na xananixi to anichto kentro ipodoxis Pikpa!

amesi ekdossi ipiresiakou simiomatos ke xorigissi isitirion gia athina!


and these demands should be send tomorrow/friday or also monday and

tuesday in greek (and english) to the followoing responsible

authorities in athens and mytilini:


NOMARXIA LESVOS

prefekt

mr.Pavlo Bogiatzis

81100 MITILINI


tel 22513-52101 /2/3

fax 22510-46652

nomarchia@lesvos.gr

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IPOURGIO PROSTASIAS TOU POLITI

vice minister Spiros VOUGIAS

P.KANELOPOULOU 4

10177 ATHENS


tel 210-6977505

fax 210-6929764

elasgrty@mopo.gr