Human rights: Ombudsman seeks opinions on Frontex

http://www.europolitics.info/sectorial-policies/human-rights-ombudsman-seeks-opinions-on-frontex-art340548-16.html

The European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, has decided to broaden the scope of the investigation by his office relating to respect for human rights by Frontex, the European agency that coordinates member states’ surveillance of the Union’s external borders. Frontex, based in Warsaw, Poland, was given a new mandate at the end of 2011. The ombudsman asked it to respond to a number of questions on its progress putting in place a fundamental rights strategy and adopting codes of conduct for its operations, in particular for expulsions (see Europolitics 4384).

The agency submitted its response in May, detailing its strategy and the code of conduct it is putting into place as well as other measures it plans to adopt.

Before taking the matter further, the ombudsman wishes to seek the opinions of NGOs and other organisations active in fundamental rights, including the European agency based in Vienna.

 

FRONTEX RESPONSE

In its response, Frontex states that it still has to set up the main elements required by Regulation 1168/2011: a fundamental rights officer mechanism, a fundamental rights consultative forum mechanism to assist its Management Board, and the mechanism for suspension or termination of joint operations in cases of serious violation of fundamental rights.

The agency nevertheless points out that its role is limited to coordinating cooperation by Schengen area member states. As a result, activities that can affect an individual’s fundamental rights can only be carried out by the national authorities involved in joint operations. Frontex staff members have no direct competence in the control of EU external borders.

Participants in operations must nevertheless report any incident that may be a violation of fundamental rights to Frontex.

The fact remains that when he launched his investigation in March, Diamandouros pointed out that the European Charter of Fundamental Rights became legally binding on Frontex with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. Since then, several civil society organisations have expressed concerns about the agency’s compliance with the charter, “for example, in its deployment of EU border guards to Greece, where migrant detainees were kept in detention centres under conditions that have been criticised by the European Court of Human Rights,” reads a statement by the ombudsman. “This agency coordinates joint operations by member states and increasingly works with third countries to arrest individuals who try to enter the European Union illegally. These are often people fleeing persecution, but there is no evidence that Frontex operations identify such persons,” notes the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), which speaks for 70 specialised NGOs in 30 countries.

For Illegal Immigrants, Greek Border Offers a Back Door to Europe

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/world/for-illegal-immigrants-greek-border-offers-a-back-door-to-europe-644831/

At the train station here, an unshaven man with a weary look leaned against the brick wall of a building, taking in the morning sun.

He said that his name was Zulifoar Baht; that he was 38, from Pakistan; and that his train for Athens would not arrive until midafternoon. So there was nothing to do but wait, along with a dozen or so other illegal immigrants who had finally made it into Greece from Turkey, crossing one of the most porous borders in Europe.

The 126-mile border between Turkey, which is not in the European Union, and Greece, which is, has become the back door to the European Union, making member countries ever more resentful as a tide of immigrants from the Middle East, South Asia and Africa continues to grow. Frontex, the European Union's border policing agency, estimated that a vast majority of the crossings in 2011 occurred at the Greece-Turkey border. Last year, Frontex said, more than 55,000 people crossed the border, a 17 percent rise from the year before.

The flow has raised tensions throughout Europe, to the point where the top French official responsible for immigration seriously suggested that a wall be built along the entire border. In Greece, one person in 20 is estimated to be here illegally, at a time when the country is sinking in debt, the far right is making political gains and instances of knife-wielding vigilantes taking out their frustrations on immigrants are becoming increasingly common.

Zarif Bakhtyri, 28, a wiry, streetwise playwright and aspiring film director, said he fled Afghanistan in 2006 after rankling the authorities by writing and directing a play that criticized polygamy. Mr. Bakhtyri's story is a familiar one -- making it to Greece, where he was jailed and then released, then moving along a route that led him to Italy, Norway, Sweden, and back to Greece in 2010 because it was his point of entry.

He, like many others, has been trapped in Greece's backlogged refugee system, the result, in part, of a longtime European Union rule that stipulated an asylum petition must originate in the first country the immigrant entered. That changed in January 2011, when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that sending asylum seekers back to Greece could infringe on their fundamental rights because the Greek system had become so saturated and living conditions were so poor.

The increase in illegal immigrants in Greece has created support for the extreme-right Golden Dawn party, which has vowed to rid Greece of foreigners who enter the country illegally. Even the country's mainstream parties have taken a harder line, though the Greek government is widely derided as inept in its efforts to police the border.

Athens is building a $7.3 million fence on the Turkish border to close off the short land crossing between the two countries, but few expect it to stem the flow. In rejecting a request from Greece to help pay for the fence, the European Commission described it as "pointless."

The last hurdle to Greece is the Evros River Valley, beginning in the north at the Turkish city of Edirne, once the capital of the Ottoman Empire. To the south, on the Greek side, farms sometimes abut barbed-wire fencing, with signs warning of minefields along the dirt roads adjacent to cornfields. Villagers along the border talk of immigrants emerging from the river, wet and cold, as they begin their trek toward Athens.

But the last staging area for most immigrants is really Istanbul, the teeming Turkish city that is a magnet for those who have often walked for months through the wilds of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

Turkey has come under criticism because of its liberal visa requirements, which make it easy for immigrants to legally enter the country and then move on. Citizens of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Syria and Iran, among many other nations, do not need a visa to enter the country.

Once in Turkey, they share crowded apartments and try to find work and save enough to pay smugglers for false papers and passage across the border.

In the cluttered cellar of a dingy Istanbul garment factory, Mustafa Mirzaie, 18, worked with his friend Hussein Rezaie to repair a sink. Both are from Afghanistan, a major source of refugees trying to make their way to Europe. Last winter, they walked for 24 hours over the frigid mountains of Iran into eastern Turkey. Now they do odd jobs to sustain themselves until moving on.

"It's a difficult way, but it's the only choice we have," Mr. Mirzaie said. "I'll work here and find a smuggler. We have no choice."

Immigrants in Istanbul often find themselves stuck on a financial treadmill, barely able to meet their basic living expenses. One 17-year-old Afghan named Shamsollah lives and works in a basement sweatshop. He says he will need about $5,000 for the next stage of the journey, though he makes only about $250 a month -- just enough to cover expenses.

"Istanbul is very big and very expensive," Shamsollah said. "I have $1,500 now. But that is not enough for me. I don't want to stay in Greece without money. There is no work in Greece."

Sitting at an outdoor cafe recently in one of Istanbul's poor neighborhoods, a smuggler named Mustafa talked about how he operated his business.

He takes 16 people at a time by van from Istanbul to the border, where his customers walk for an hour to the Evros River and then float across on rubber rafts. He charges $1,000 a person for the three-hour journey. He said he tells his clients not to fear being caught on the Greek side of the border.
"I say to my passengers don't worry because they don't want to deport them," he said. "They just want to register you and take money from the United Nations."

Sometimes, though, the journey is just too hard. There is a small but growing number of people who have made it to Greece, but returned to Turkey.

Earlier this year, on a windy day in Istanbul, Mustafa and Ali, two 17-year-old Afghan refugees, stood shivering in a park on the Marmara Sea. They had made it to Alexandroupolis but had run out of money. So they returned to Istanbul.

Their only possessions were the shoes, pants and T-shirts they wore. They had waited for hours for an Istanbul contact, but he had not shown up. Without papers, they were afraid even to leave the park and look for help.

And so they sat there, looking out on the sea, wondering what they would do next.

Freedom not Frontex

http://diversamente.comunita.unita.it/2012/07/03/freedom-not-frontex/

La ribellione contro i morti di migranti nel Mediterraneo è iniziata. Con il lancio ieri al meeting antirazzista di Cecina e dal porto di Rosignano, della flottiglia Boats4People, una coalizione di attivisti, parlamentari e giornalisti promossa dall’Arci, per porre fine ai controlli violenti alle frontiere marittime. Una traversata simbolica, per denunciare i tantissimi morti che giacciono in fondo al mar Mediterraneo, che farà tappa in Sicilia, Tunisia e Lampedusa, ma anche la costruzione concreta di un sistema di allerta formato dai marinai e attivisti; di una rete di organizzazioni di entrambe le sponde del Mediterraneo che lottino contro le politiche criminose adottate dagli Stati in violazione dei diritti dei migranti in mare. Attraverso ricorsi, il progetto denuncerà le responsabilità delle istituzioni dello Stato, della Nato e del programma europeo Frontex.



Dal 1988 sono morte lungo le frontiere dell’Europa almeno 18.288 persone, di cui 2.352 soltanto nel corso del 2011 Nel solo Canale di Sicilia (tra la Libia, l’Egitto, la Tunisia, Malta e l’Italia) le vittime sono 6.255, tra cui 4.817 dispersi (dati di Fortress Europe). Una strage silenziosa che ha fatto designare alle Nazioni Unite un rapporteur speciale per valutare l’impatto delle politiche migratorie sui diritti umani nella regione euro-mediterranea. Mentre il governo Monti continua tranquillamente a siglare Accordi segreti con la Libia (il 3 aprile scorso a Tripoli), nonostante le numerose denunce sulle violazioni in Libia dei diritti umani di migranti, rifugiati e richiedenti asilo e l’assenza in quel paese di meccanismi per determinare lo status di rifugiato. Il copione della Trattato con Gheddafi, che aveva permesso i respingimenti (condannati dalla Corte europea dei diritti dell’uomo), deportazioni e torture, e riapre il campo a nuove possibili violazioni. Un testo, che malgrado le ripetute richieste da parte di Amnesty, era rimasto per mesi segreto, ma come sostiene Laura Boldrini portavoce di Unhcr Italia, dove “non sono mai nominate le parole diritto d’asilo”. Amnesty International, intanto, ha chiesto al governo italiano di mettere da parte ogni accordo esistente con la Libia in tema di controllo dell’immigrazione.

E’ ora che “i governi si attrezzino per salvare vite umane”, come dichiara Filippo Miraglia, responsabile immigrazione Arci: “non possiamo più stare a guardare l’atteggiamento dei governi e quel che succede nel Mediterraneo”. Intanto, di fronte alla criminale inazione degli Stati europei, peggio, della loro consapevole complicità con questa strage frutto di specifiche politiche migratorie, il monitoraggio delle violazioni è partito dalla società civile. Cittadini del Mediterraneo, d’Africa e d’Europa uniti, per fare in modo che il Mediterraneo torni a essere luogo di libertà di movimento, non un cimitero.

La crisis de Grecia coloca en el punto de mira a los inmigrantes

http://www.elperiodico.com/es/noticias/internacional/crisis-grecia-coloca-punto-mira-los-inmigrantes-1843302

El reloj de la vieja estación de tren de Corinto está parado en las 9.33. El año pasado, la compañía estatal de ferrocarriles, con grave déficit, canceló buena parte de sus líneas. Ahora, los bancos vacíos en el andén de la estación se oxidan lentamente al sol del Peloponeso y las malas hierbas sepultan las vías. En la vieja oficina, los libros de cuentas están aún abiertos sobre la mesa, los papeles amontonados y la luz encendida, como si un día, de repente, alguien hubiese dicho a los trabajadores: Mañana no vengáis, se ha terminado el tren. Como el Estado del bienestar. Terminado. Fin.

Pero entre los trenes abandonados y las vías llenas de basura algo se mueve. Unos 50 inmigrantes, a los que la crisis ha empujado a la miseria, han encontrado cobijo en los vagones. Tarik, un marroquí de 23 años, llegó hace cuatro a Grecia. Tenía papeles y trabajó en varios lugares: «Pero con la crisis, los extranjeros fuimos los primeros en perder el empleo». «Aquí ya no hay trabajo para nadie», se queja Adam, cocinero marroquí. Sus condiciones de vida son muy duras. Muchos de sus compañeros han enfermado pero no disponen de dinero para acudir al hospital, donde solo los aceptan de forma gratuita cuando su situación es extremadamente grave.

La mayoría llegó a Grecia a través de Turquía. Los algo más de 200 kilómetros de frontera común, se han convertido en el mayor punto de entrada a la Unión Europea y el año pasado, las patrullas de FRONTEX detuvieron ahí a 57.025 inmigrantes, aunque la cifra de los que consiguieron pasar es probablemente mayor. Actualmente, en Grecia vive un millón de inmigrantes regulares y se calcula que otro medio millón sin papeles. Los centros de internamiento no dan abasto y los detenidos que no pueden ser deportados, son liberados al cabo de unos días. Y casi ninguno quiere quedarse en Grecia.

«Por favor, explicadme cómo salir de esta mierda de país. Si llego a saber cómo era no vengo», se queja un viejo argelino. En ciudades costeras como Corinto, Patras o Igumenitsa, los inmigrantes buscan colarse en los buques con destino a Italia para seguir rumbo al norte. Pero no es fácil, pues hay mucha vigilancia privada que no duda en moler a palos a todo el que trata de viajar como polizón: «Llevo seis meses intentándolo -prosigue el argelino-. Cada vez hay que arriesgarse más».

En otro vagón se halla Mostafá, de 20 años y amante del arte. Un afgano le pide que dibuje algo y él comienza a trazar las líneas del barco de la Hellenic Seaways, que parte cada semana para Venecia. Como si dibujándolo pudiese hacer realidad su sueño de escapar. Veinte minutos después, Mostafá estará tendido en el suelo con dos costillas rotas, víctima de una brutal agresión de la que este periodista fue testigo.

AMANECER DORADO / Según algunos vecinos, los agresores podrían estar ligados al grupo nazi Amanecer Dorado (AD), que en las elecciones del 6 de mayo logró el 7 % de los votos. «AD se está organizando en esta zona. Es una sociedad conservadora que busca a quien culpar de la crisis», explica un activista local. En los últimos tres meses de 2011 las oenegés detectaron 63 ataques racistas en Grecia, aunque prácticamente ninguno ha sido investigado por la policía. «Ya nadie quiere ayudar a los inmigrantes porque los griegos tienen su propios problemas», lamenta Nikitas Kanakis, presidente de Médicos del Mundo en Grecia.

De ahí que esta bomba social estalle ahora con más frecuencia. En Patras ocurrió la pasada semana, cuando tres afganos mataron a un joven griego, presuntamente por una disputa sobre drogas. El martes, una manifestación de protesta apoyada por los nazis se dirigió hacia una fábrica abandonada donde viven cientos de inmigrantes y los atacaron con cócteles molotov. Intervino la policía y ocho agentes acabaron heridos. A lo largo de la semana AD envió a sus muchachos desde Atenas y los disturbios continuaron.

Muchos inmigrantes están buscando rutas alternativas a los barcos hacia Italia: por Albania o Macedonia y, atravesando los Balcanes, llegar hasta Austria. Es muy complicada puesto que implica salir de la UE y atravesar nuevas fronteras. El iraquí Walid pagó 3.000 euros a los traficantes para que le llevasen por esa ruta, pero fue descubierto en Hungría y, en virtud de la normativa europea Dublín II, devuelto a Grecia. «Hay una gran hipocresía en el resto de Europa. Los inmigrantes no quieren quedarse en Grecia pero el norte cierra sus fronteras y los devuelve», denuncia Kanakis. «Aquí la situación es muy jodida», explica el tunecino Rami: «Todos queremos irnos para el norte, para Europa». Para ellos, Grecia ya no es Europa.

Europe’s Dilemma: Immigration And The Arab Spring – Analysis

http://www.eurasiareview.com/26052012-europes-dilemma-immigration-and-the-arab-spring-analysis/

Much of the West voiced great support for the Arab Spring. However, the European Union in particular soon curbed its enthusiastic reaction when residents of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) began streaming into Europe after turmoil from the Arab Spring left many MENA civilians unable to remain in the region. Immigration from the Middle East and North Africa to the European Union surged over the past year, causing the leaders of many EU countries to speak out against the growing influx of Arab immigrants seeking refuge within their borders.

European institutions have proposed several solutions, such as using the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) or making a temporary change to the Schengen policy. Neither solution, however, has addressed the problems of discrimination and integration faced by many immigrants of Arab background who have chosen to make a new life for themselves in Europe.

Much of this discrimination falls under the category of Islamophobia, which is a hatred or fear of Muslims or of their beliefs or culture. In the European Union, where Muslims account for nearly 20 million of the union’s 500 million residents, Islamophobia has become more visible in recent years. According to John Feffer, author of Crusade 2.0, “[Islamophobia] in Europe has definitely gotten worse. You can measure it in the electoral success of far-right parties. You can see it in the legislation passed that restricts the dress or religious practices of Muslims.” 

European Discrimination

France, for instance, has the largest Muslim population in Europe and has developed perhaps the most restrictive policy toward its Muslim residents. The French far-right party—known as the National Front (FN)—is widely known for its openly anti-Islamic and xenophobic policies. During an interview in December 2010, FN leader Marine Le Pen compared Muslims praying on streets to the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. Although Le Pen’s party appeals to only one-fifth of the country’s voting public, the party’s rhetoric has infected the mainstream, leading former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to issue derogatory statements aimed at Muslim North African immigrants to drum up political support from right-wing voters. According to the BBC, Sarkozy stated that he would “reduce the number of immigrants to France from 180,000 to 100,000 per year, and introduce tighter controls on access to welfare benefits.”

French policy toward Muslims has also been expressed in the form of the “burqa ban” that places restrictions on Muslim women who choose to “hide their face in the public space,” according to the law’s language. French supporters of the bill, which overwhelmingly passed parliament in 2010, claimed that the veil is incompatible with the country’s strictly secular society and would also liberate Muslim women from being forced to submit to the religious practice. However, as Amnesty International stated in an article from the BBC, “[a] total ban on covering the face would violate the right to freedom of expression.”

Additional hostility toward Muslims was aroused in March, when Mohammad Merah, an extremist, shot three French paratroopers and four Jews before being shot by French forces. Although Merah’s actions might have boosted Islamophobic support for both Le Pen and Sarkozy, it wasn’t enough to beat Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande, who won the presidential run-off in early May. Many French residents of North African descent hope that Hollande will push for much-needed immigration reform, eventually making it easier for immigrants to receive their working papers. Hollande himself has remained relatively mum concerning the plight of Arab immigrants seeking shelter in the country from the tumult of the Arab Spring.

The problems of immigration are not limited to France. According to one chart compiled by Transatlantic Trends, a project of the German Marshall Fund, when citizens of several Western countries including France, Germany, Italy, the United States, Spain, and the United Kingdom were asked in 2011 whether they view immigration as more of a problem than an opportunity, 68 percent of the British citizens surveyed said that they consider immigration to be a growing problem, compared to 58 percent of Spaniards, 53 percent of Americans, 48 percent of Italians, 43 percent of Germans, and 46 percent of French survey participants. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has worked to collect statistics on hate crimes against Muslim residents of the EU. In 2009, FRA research suggested that 1 in 10 of all Muslims surveyed had been a victim of racially motivated assault, threat, or serious harassment at least once in the previous year. More distressing, many Muslims choose not to report crimes to the authorities, leaving these incidents underreported and severely underrepresented in the EU.

Islamophobia has also resulted in violence. In Germany, neo-Nazis murdered nine immigrants of Turkish and Greek heritage, and in Norway, Anders Breivik killed 77 adults and children in protest of the Norwegian Labor Party’s liberal immigration policies. 

Migrant Flows

Islamophobia has intensified with the growing influx of Muslims into Europe as a result of the Arab Spring, causing nearly 2 million Arabs to leave their homes for refuge in the West. According to Eurostat, in 2011 there was a 92.5-percent increase of immigrants from Tunisia, 76 percent from Libya, and 50 percent from Syria. This enormous growth has led countries like France to threaten to end participation in the Schengen Zone, which enables citizens of the European Union to travel freely from one member-state to another without the hassle of passports and excessive border restrictions. Under the Dublin II treaty, however, if immigrants are found within the Eurozone without the necessary papers, they will be sent back to the country whose border they first crossed to enter the EU. This policy has caused enormous frustration for the countries of Italy and Greece, as these nations’ borders typically contain the primary entry points for many immigrants seeking a new life in Europe.

In 2011, the European Commission proposed temporary adjustments to the Schengen Zone policy, which would allow Schengen participants to close their borders in exceptional circumstances. This proposal was designed in part to deal with European concerns over the growth in illegal immigration from the Middle East and North Africa. Additionally, to address the massive number of immigrants that end up residing within their borders, Italy and Greece have each resorted to their own desperate measures. Faced with a large number of Tunisians coming across the Mediterranean, for instance, Italian immigration officials provided these immigrants with temporary residency permits and then allowed them to travel farther north even without the proper papers. Greece has taken a very different approach by setting up immigrant detention centers, where the conditions are so awful that the European Court of Human Rights recently ruled that they violated the ban on “torture or inhuman or degrading treatment.” Given the squalid conditions of the Greek immigrant centers, several nations chose not to send asylum-seekers back to Greece even before the court handed down its ruling. 

Europe’s Response to Refugees

Not all migrants can be classified as refugees, according to the UNHCR definition. Migrants move in order to gain a better future for themselves and their families, while refugees are typically forced to move to stay alive. Often, refugees lack the protection of their native government or are otherwise targeted by that government. In these situations, refugees urgently need asylum in another nation.

In the case of the EU and its policy toward refugees, several human rights organizations have cited violations by Frontex, an independent organization that provides border security for the European Union. In 2011, Human Rights Watch called for a branch of Frontex, the Rapid Border Intervention Team—otherwise known as “Rabit”—to be held accountable for its decision to deport 65 asylum seekers to Greek detention centers. Altogether, Frontex has been responsible for rejecting over 6,000 refugees over 2011, forcing these asylum seekers to return to the source of their persecution.

According to an article by Khalid Koser at the Brookings Institution, Turkey has been one of the few nations within the MENA/EU area to practice a more open policy toward asylum seekers, making it the main source of refuge for many MENA residents. In contrast, the EU has become increasingly resistant to large-scale asylum flows as the conflict in the MENA continues, forcing many Syrian refugees to seek relocation in Turkey. Koser estimates that nearly 2 million people have left their homes since the beginning of the Arab Spring, and it is likely that this number will only increase due to the violent, ongoing conflict in Syria.

As the conflict in Syria continues to grow, EU member states should agree to a more cooperative, comprehensive, and mutually supportive program that will allow displaced Syrian civilians to seek refuge within Europe, rather than leaving the bulk of responsibility for the asylum seekers to Greece, Turkey, and Italy. 

Stemming Migration from MENA

In 2004, the EU formulated the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) to avoid “the emergence of new dividing lines between the enlarged EU and our neighbours and instead strengthening the prosperity, stability and security of all.” The more a country complies with the EU’s Action Plan — which mandates adherence to ENP conditions related to the rule of law, mutual accountability, and a shared commitment to the universal values of human rights and democracy  — the more willing the EU will be to engage in deeper economic integration with that country.

Thus far, the ENP has been extended to Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Syria, and Tunisia. However, Syria, Algeria, Belarus, and Libya have not fully accepted the most recent draft of the Action Plan. The policy of the ENP was intended from its creation—before the Arab Spring even occurred—to address the problems existing in many MENA countries. It has since been updated in the aftermath of the Arab Spring to encourage MENA nations to pursue democratic reform, thereby lending greater stability to their situation and ultimately enabling their citizens to remain in their homes.

The ENP has also come under criticism, for instance from the German foundation Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, which argued, “A fundamental problem for the EU [concerning the ENP] remains the partly weak and largely very inconsistent political support from governments, even if the political rhetoric often sounds much more positive.” Concerning additional solutions to address problems existing within the MENA pertaining to the management of irregular migration, Niurka Pineiro of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated in an interview, “There must be a holistic approach that includes labor migration, voluntary return and reintegration, development support from countries of destination to countries of origin so that more opportunities can be created and people are not forced to resort to dangerous journeys in search of employment, amongst others.” 

Reform and Resolutions for Refugees

For recently arrived Muslims coming from the Middle East and North Africa, the EU should do much more to tackle the roots of anti-Islamic sentiment. “Multicultural education, affirmative action in hiring, ecumenical dialogue: these are all necessary,” Feffer argues. “Europe has to recognize that Islam and the history of Islam is part of Europe—not something external, not something negative. Ultimately, I think that Europe will need to integrate areas on the periphery that have large Muslim populations.”

However, as Robby Allen of the United Nations Information Center in Washington, D.C warned, “It is very hard to get a political solution,” to solve the dilemmas posed by immigration, especially in relation to the plight of immigrants from the Arab Spring. According to Emilio Alessandri, a Transatlantic Fellow for the German Marshall Fund, the problems of the Arab Spring and the resulting influx of immigrants and refugees into the EU occurred at a particularly vulnerable time for the European Union. Financial problems and economic hardships have resulted in a lack of sufficient funds for integration programs in a variety of European countries, and many politicians who were once more receptive to talks of a more open immigration policy are now more concerned with economic difficulties and the unemployment hardships plaguing their own constituents, making the notion of foreigners coming to the EU for jobs an unfavorable and unsavory idea for many Europeans.

Although the EU’s use of the ENP within the Middle East is an important step toward solving the issues at the root of the problem, other dilemmas remain. The ENP fails to aid or address immigrants already residing within Europe, for whom integration programs are badly needed to allow a smooth acclimation to European life and culture. True, many EU member-states have fewer resources as a result of the economic crisis, but Europe is also facing a need for unskilled labor and an expanded tax base to support its large, aging population. For this reason, expanding the number of worker visas—especially in the areas of unskilled labor—for asylum seekers and other immigrants would be greatly in Europe’s interest. It is time Europe stopped viewing immigrants as a threat to society and instead opened its eyes to the benefits and possibilities available through immigration reform, which could potentially result in advantageous gains for both Europeans and asylum seekers from the Middle East and North Africa.

L’immigration, l’autre fardeau de la Grèce

http://www.slate.fr/story/56943/grece-immigration

12, 5 kilomètres de barbelés, 3 mètres de hauteur, 25 caméras thermiques. Comme entre les Etats-Unis et le Mexique, le gouvernement grec tient sa solution pour bloquer l’afflux d’immigrés clandestins à sa frontière avec la Turquie. Un mur, acté début 2011, inauguré en février 2012, et dont les travaux de terrassement ont commencé début mai. Un chantier de 3 millions d’euros, entièrement assumé par le gouvernement grec, que l’Union européenne a refusé de financer, malgré le soutien de la France de Nicolas Sarkozy. 

«Ce mur ne fera que repousser le problème. Les migrants passeront par le fleuve Evros», résume, amer, un policier grec aux frontières. Décrié par l’Europe, jugé inefficace par les observateurs et les habitants, car couvrant uniquement une petite partie terrestre de 200 kilomètres de frontière fluviale, le mur pourrait ne jamais être achevé. Comme le symbole d’une impasse, de l’impuissance d’une Grèce sans moyens, isolée, obligée de réguler la quasi-totalité de l’immigration européenne, en pleine crise économique.

La majorité des sans-papiers sont renvoyés à Athènes

Chaque jour, plus de 300 immigrés débarquent illégalement en Grèce par la Turquie. Ce qui représenterait entre 80% et 90% de l’immigration clandestine de l’Union européenne. Longtemps, la Grèce a pourtant été un pays d’émigration. «Dans les années 1980, il n’y avait pas d’hommes de couleur en Grèce», se souvient Diamando, enseignante et militante du collectif Stop Evros Wall («Arrêtons le mur de l’Evros»). En 1991, on recense 197.000 étrangers en Grèce, en majorité des Albanais. Dix ans plus tard, en 2001, le nombre d’immigrés franchit la barre du million. Aujourd’hui, pour un pays de 11 millions d’habitants, il y aurait 2 millions d’étrangers en Grèce, dont la moitié des clandestins.

En l’espace de cinq ans, les chemins de l’immigration en Europe se sont déportés de la Méditerranée, via l’Italie et l’Espagne, vers la Grèce et le fleuve Evros. Entre 2009 et 2010, selon Frontex, l’Agence européenne aux frontières, les routes de la Méditerranée centrale (Italie et est de l’Espagne) et de la Méditerranée occidentale (sud de l’Espagne), ont connu respectivement une baisse de trafic de 60% et 31%. Pendant ce temps, le chemin gréco-turc a enregistré une hausse de 345%. Ainsi, en 2010, près de 50.000 immigrés ont franchi cette frontière.

Face à cet énorme problème de flux humains, la Grèce paraît bien désunie. Aux portes de l’Union européenne, la Turquie, le rival de toujours, semble s’amuser en silence, et encaisse les bénéfices. En quelques années, Istanbul est devenu la plaque tournante d’un trafic d’êtres humains en Europe. Des cars de migrants, originaires d’Afghanistan, du Bengladesh ou du Pakistan, croisent dans la capitale turque des avions low-cost en provenance du Maghreb ou d’Afrique noire. Du pays d’origine jusqu’à Athènes, les passeurs, souvent turcs, demandent jusqu’à 10.000 euros, selon les cas, pour un voyage périlleux, parfois mortel.

En 2011, 48 corps ont été retrouvés dans le fleuve Evros. Parmi les migrants, des histoires d’impayés, de kidnapping et de morts de proches, circulent. La police et le gouvernement turcs laissent passer des étrangers, qui consomment, entretiennent une économie souterraine, et de toute façon, ne restent pas en Turquie. Car le problème reste avant tout diplomatique. Ankara a récemment ouvert un mini-espace de circulation, sans visa, avec des pays comme la Syrie, le Yemen, l’Iran, le Maroc ou la Tunisie.

En Europe, la Grèce n’en est pas moins isolée. Les conventions de Dublin, qui fixent les règles de l’immigration dans l’Union européenne, obligent le premier pays où le migrant débarque à traiter son cas. Autrement dit, un immigré illégal, qui passe par Athènes, mais se fait arrêter à Paris, sera renvoyé en Grèce. Dublin II, adopté en 2003, modifie légèrement cette clause en indiquant qu’il s’agit d'«identifier dans les plus brefs délais possibles l'Etat membre responsable».

Face aux difficultés économiques de la Grèce, certains pays comme la Norvège ou la Finlande ont limité les renvois. «Mais cela reste très rare, déplore Angélique Kotzamanis, chercheuse sur les questions d’immigration à l’université d’Athènes. La majorité des sans-papiers sont renvoyés en Grèce.»

«Frontex est utile comme l'aspirine au cancer»

En Grèce, aux frontières de l’Europe, l’absence de moyens, la crise économique, empêche toute tentative ordonnée de régulation de l’immigration. Dans la région de l’Evros, comme dans beaucoup de contrées rurales en Grèce, les routes sont inachevées depuis des années. Les salaires ont parfois été divisés par deux. Débordée, la police d'Orestiada, qui «contrôle» la frontière, délivre aux migrants un papier d'expulsion de territoire sous 30 jours. Un agent d'Orestiada:

«Ils se livrent à la police, nous les relâchons et ils partent tous à Athènes.»

Pour endiguer ce flux migratoire hors norme dans un pays en crise, l’Union européenne a dépêché dans la région du fleuve Evros, fin 2010, sa police aux frontières, Frontex. Un renfort qui stoppe l’hémorragie, mais qui ne la contrôle toujours pas. En 2011, avec une légère augmentation, 55.000 migrants ont mis le pied dans l’Union européenne par cette route. «Frontex est utile comme l’aspirine au cancer», lance avec cynisme une avocate de la région. «Avant, c’était la police grecque qui informait l’Union européenne de la situation. Aujourd’hui, c’est Frontex. Ils n’agissent pas», déplore Evanghelis Maraslis, maire-adjoint de Nea Vyssa. «Frontex n’a même plus d’argent pour le fuel de son hélicoptère thermique», sourit un soldat grec.

Sans moyens, la Grèce a été épinglée en 2011, par la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme pour la médiocrité de ses centres de rétention. «Les conditions ont été qualifiées d’inhumaines et dégradantes», rappelle Eva Cossé, franco-grecque et assistante de recherche à l’ONG Human Rights Watch. «Il y avait entre 400 et 500 migrants pour un centre qui doit accueillir 250 personnes», se souvient une ancienne pyschologue du centre de rétention de Fylakio, près de la frontière turque.

«Ils pouvaient rester jusqu’à 4 mois, presque toujours à l’intérieur des bâtiments. Plus ils restaient, plus ils étaient dépressifs. C’était une vraie prison.»

L'Union européenne a ainsi investi 250 millions d'euros dans la construction d'une trentaine de centres de rétention qui verront le jour en 2014. Mais cet apport financier apparaît plus comme une solution de court terme, répressive, que comme une réelle politique volontariste en matière d'immigration. 

«Ce n’est pas la Grèce qui doit gérer le problème. C’est l’Europe», explique, modestement, Evanghelis Maraslis. Alors que l’Europe ne sait ou ne veut réagir sur le fond du problème, la situation prend des proportions de «drame humanitaire», comme le résume une salariée de Médecins du monde à Athènes.

Avec une bureaucratie figée et débordée, les procédures de titres de séjour prennent parfois des années. Les demandes d’asile, qui donnent le droit à une allocation et une sécurité sociale, sont presque toutes rejetées. En 2011, la Grèce reste le pays le moins généreux d’Europe en termes de statut de réfugié, avec seulement 2% de demandes acceptées.

«Le gros problème est l’accès au droit d’asile de ressortissants de pays en guerre. Très peu de demandes sont acceptées», confirme Eva Cossé, assistante de recherche pour la Grèce à l’ONG Human Rights Watch. L’obtention de la carte rose, titre de séjour de 6 mois qui permet de travailler légalement, reste de plus en plus compliqué à obtenir. Et surtout, de plus en plus long. L’administration, comme la police, n’ont ni les moyens, ni le recul ni l’organisation suffisants pour gérer le cas de tous les immigrés. Pour l’universitaire Angélique Kotzamanis, le problème de l’immigration, immense, est avant tout administratif et économique.

«A Athènes, pour 750.000 demandeurs de titres de séjour, il y a seulement 20 employés permanents au bureau de l’immigration…»

La plupart des étrangers sont donc condamnés à errer, illégaux mais tolérés, pendant des années, dans une capitale en crise.

«Un drame humanitaire»

Omonia, le quartier proche du centre-ville, s’illustre comme le paradis du marché noir. Par communauté, les étrangers s’organisent, se partagent les bénéfices, et refourguent appareils électroniques, cigarettes et vêtements de marque à des prix imparables. «Je te vends un appareil photo Canon reflex pour 180 euros», confie Mehdi*, un Algérien de 33 ans, alors que sort du magasin, paire de baskets sous le bras, un couple grec. Pour les étrangers comme pour les Grecs, dans une capitale sans emplois ni avenir, la contrebande est devenue une solution de survie. Ali, Pakistanais de 38 ans, est à Athènes depuis quelques jours:

«Je vais essayer de chercher un travail légal. Mais si je ne trouve pas, il faudra bien que je mange.»

Devant des portes d’immeubles délabrés, des maquereaux attendent sur des chaises en bois. «La prostitution est en hausse», explique Nathalie Simmonot, salariée de Médecins du monde, dans Omonia. De plus en plus originaires du Nigéria ou d'Amérique du Sud, les filles sont enrôlées par les mêmes réseaux de passeurs turcs que les immigrés.

«On retrouve toutes les nationalités, et le sida est de plus en plus présent.»

En 2011, selon le ministère grec de la Santé, l’incidence du sida a explosé, pour une hausse de 1.500% dans le centre d’Athènes. Un virus transmis surtout par les toxicomanes, via les seringues. Aujourd’hui, en plein jour, dans le centre-ville et devant des universités, des junkies se piquent, et meurent doucement en silence. «Ce sont surtout des étrangers, mais de plus en de Grecs tombent aussi dans la drogue», déplore Kristina Sanaratzi, porte-parole de Médecins du monde. «Ce que l’on voit à Athènes pour la drogue, en pleine scène ouverte, c’est absolument terrifiant. C’est le pire endroit d’Europe», alerte Nathalie Simmonot. Qui rappelle que l’ex-Premier ministre, Georges Papandréou, conscient de l’ampleur du problème, avait lancé l’idée de la dépénalisation. 

La chasse aux migrants

Que fait la police? Au cœur d’Omonia, les agents sont assis en ligne sur des chaises en plastique, devant le commissariat, sirotant des cafés glacés. Ils observent en chien de faïence les étrangers, et parfois, prennent le risque de s’hasarder dans le quartier. Près du siège de Médecins du monde, un agent se confie.

«Tout est foutu ici. Le principal problème, c’est la drogue. Mais aussi, la prostitution, les trafics.»

Il lâche, blasé:

«Tu peux arrêter un, deux dealers. Mais d'autres reviennent le lendemain.»

Une police grecque impuissante, sans moyens et profondément corrompue. A Athènes, les bakchichs sont fréquents. «J’ai été pris à partie par un policier, qui m’a demandé mes papiers. Il m’a pris 200 euros et m’a insulté», s’indigne Mohamed. Mais les plaintes sont rares. «Si on parle de la violence de la police dans le quartier, ils vont nous menacer», glisse Mehdi, réaliste. Pour Kristina Sanaratzi de Médecins du monde, «la police ne nous aide pas car ils sont contre les migrants».

Le problème de l’immigration, couplé à une crise économique sévère, ont exalté les sentiments xénophobes. Les membres de l’Aube dorée, le parti néonazi qui a fait 7% aux dernières élections législatives, quadrille des quartiers de la capitale depuis des mois. La nuit, des groupes de vigilance se forment et attaquent, gratuitement, tout étranger qui se risquerait à une promenade nocturne. La police, souvent consentante, ferme les yeux. Un policier sur deux aurait même voté pour l’Aube dorée aux législatives.

«Nous sommes effrayés par les racistes. Nous n’osons plus sortir», explique Yasser, père de famille afghan, qui vit dans une chambre, avec 25 personnes. «Depuis mai 2011, les attaques contre les étrangers ont considérablement augmenté», analyse Eva Cossé de Human Rights Watch.

«On parle désormais de chasse à l’homme, de chasse aux migrants.»

Chaque jour a désormais son fait divers, son agression, sa violence raciste. Fin mai, à Patras, troisième ville du pays et important port au sud-est de la Grèce, les membres de l’Aube dorée ont attaqué, en pleine journée, après la mort d'un Grec assassiné par des Afghans, une usine où se réfugient des migrants. Bilan: 5 arrestations, 22 détentions, 8 policiers blessés.

Serious action is needed

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120531/opinion/Serious-action-is-needed.422089

With the summer season on our door­step, the daily news is once again dominated by the arrival of illegal immigrants. At the outset of the season, the numbers that are being recorded already give rise to serious concern and it looks like we are in for a very busy summer.

This phenomenon is not new to the Maltese islands and the armed forces have been put under a lot of strain because of the influx of immigrants we are witnessing.

We have arrived at a point where talk of solidarity is not producing any effective outcome and where serious action needs to be taken if we truly want to help these people who seek a better life on the shores of Europe.

Since the start of this influx, which dates back to the early 1990s, when the former Yugoslavia and Iraq were plagued with war, there has been much talk about the need for European countries to share the burden. It is, however, very worrying to note that these good intentions have not yielded any tangible results.

While various exponents have complained about the conditions in which the immigrants are living and about the lack of facilities in Malta, they have not proposed any solutions to the problems at hand, apart from opening the doors of the detention centres. Unfortunately, this approach does not alleviate the problem of illegal immigration.

Concrete action therefore needs to be taken by those who are in a position to take it.

Throughout the years, the Maltese government has improved the facilities and taken measures to protect the dignity of immigrants on the island. Yet, the problems persist and it is evident that Malta cannot solve them single-handedly. In these challenging times, support from the European community is crucial.

The European Union is built upon the concept of solidarity and just like Malta has acted in solidarity with other member states in the past it should also be in a position to rely on support from the community with regard to matters like these.

The importance of ensuring the dignity of illegal immigrants has been highlighted repeatedly. However, reality proves that this is turning into a more and more challenging task, as the burden is becoming unmanageable for the Maltese islands.

Europe has to take a serious stand. The first step should be to support Mediterranean countries by sharing the burden that they are confronted with. The second is to make significant investments in African countries in order to ameliorate the living conditions on the continent. This would, hopefully, make it possible for people to lead a better life in their homeland, which, in turn, would reduce the numbers of those people who opt to embark on a perilous journey to the European continent, driven by the hope for more opportunities.
I have had several opportunities to visit both the detention and the open centers and while it is clear that the administrators and the authorities are doing their best to make these premises as accommodating as possible, it is also clear that our resources do not permit us to do much more. If we had to estimate the number of immigrants to expect this summer, based on the numbers we have recorded over the past two weeks, then we are in for a very serious situation.

Malta has made its voice heard in the European Parliament but the feedback was not as satisfactory as one would have expected. Unfortunately, the solutions that have been proposed thus far have not been sufficient.
Given that Frontex has not been as successful as many had hoped it would be, it is increasingly evident that a new approach is needed. The EU must act in solidarity and it must do so as soon as possible in order to prevent the situation from deteriorating.

The other European member states have to commit themselves to some serious burden sharing and that means providing concrete logistical, financial and political support.

Membership of the EU was and still is the best solution for Malta and the island vigorously adheres to the rules and directives of the EU. In return, it is vital for the EU to act in solidarity with Malta in these challenging times.

The immigrants that arrive on our shores are human beings who deserve to be treated with dignity and who should be assured of our support so that they can have a more promising future ahead. And it is up to the entire community to ensure that our joint solidarity also reaches out to those beyond our borders.