AYS News Digest 11/05/23: Syrian refugees face mounting threats in Turkey and Lebanon
Deportations of Syrian refugees continue in Lebanon // Expansion of the Fylakio Closed Detention Centre in the Evros region // Italian PM Meloni meets with Libya // Pushbacks to Italy on the French border // Opposition to the UK’s “Irregular Migration Bill” & much more
FEATURE — TURKEY
What will the Turkish election (14th May) mean for Syrians in Turkey?
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of Erdogan’s biggest opposition bloc, is — on the surface — a hopeful prospect for the EU. He has promised a transition to a parliamentary system in Turkey, and to implement the rulings of the ECHR.
However, Kılıçdaroğlu’s antipathy to Syrian refugees is clear. He recently stated that “We have to give back our streets and neighbourhoods to their owners”. Anti — refugee rhetoric now underpins election campaigns, as hostility rises.
Clingendael, the Institute for International Relations in the Netherlands, have released an article examining what this politicisation of migration as an electoral issue might mean in practice: the forced return of refugees to Syria.
We have broken down some of the paper’s key considerations below.
What does the political spectrum currently look like?
- 82% of the Turkish population want Syrian refugees to leave, according to a UNHCR report from 2021. Public hostility is on the rise, including racially motivated attacks.
- All major Turkish political parties (Kılıçdaroğlu’s CHP, Erdogan’s AKP) — with the exception of the HDP — now advocate for a return of Syrian refugees.
- AKP has put no timeframe on returns, whilst Kılıçdaroğlu recently clarified his CHP party aims to carry out returns within two years.
- Clingendael write that “In short, the aim of the CHP is to give Turkey back to the people, and the Syrian refugees are not part of this vision.”
What are the potential consequences? Key background:
- As of 2020, 78% of Syrians indicated that they would not return to Syria under any circumstances. This had decreased to 61% of Syrians in Turkey by 2021.
- Syria is not a safe country, and, as the UNHCR outlines: “all Syrian refugees in Turkey are protected [against refoulement]. This means that no one can be returned to Syria against his or her will.”
- As the EU-Turkey deal remains in place — designating Turkey a safe third country for Syrian refugees — the EU bears significant responsibility.
- The decrease in a quality of life in Turkey for Syrian refugees correlates to more people considering an alternative life in Europe, which could lead to a significant increase in the irregular migration of Syrians to Europe:
LEBANON
Human Rights Watch (HRW): “Halt Summary Deportations of Syrian Refugees”
Since early April, the Lebanese Armed Forces have been raiding the homes of Syrian refugees, deporting them immediately. As many as 600 people were deported last month, whilst 1,100 people were arrested, according to Syria Direct.
In the past few days, in violation of Lebanese and international law, there have been further arrests. The pictures below are from Mansourieh:
HRW have released a joint statement with 19 other organisations, condemning the deportations:
People forcibly returned include those who are registered refugees with UNHCR. Deportees have told Amnesty International that they had no opportunity to contact a lawyer, UNHCR or challenge their deportation.
Those deported have been directly handed to the Syrian authorities at the border. HRW report that “Some of them were arrested or disappeared upon their return to Syria.”
Alongside deportations, there is a rise in coercive measures aimed to force ‘voluntary’ returns amongst the refugee population.
- Curfews have been imposed in certain municipalities to curtail movement
- Restrictions have been imposed on the ability of Syrian people to rent homes
- There has been a rise in political and media anti-refugee rhetoric
Syria is NOT a safe country — what do Syrian refugees face upon return?
Via HRW:
“Local and international organizations continue to document horrific violations committed by Syrian military and security forces against Syrian returnees, including children, such as unlawful or arbitrary detention and torture and other ill-treatment, rape and sexual violence, and enforced disappearance.”
Anyone who has entered Lebanese territory, regardless of their circumstances, “after the decisions of the Higher Defense Council on 14/4/2019” will be deported, according to Lebanese authorities. — via LBC International.
GREECE
Evros — The expansion of Fylakio closed detention centre
Satellite data shows the expansion of the closed detention centre in the past year: Fylakio’s capacity for the detention of people seems to have doubled.
What does this expansion represent?
“black holes for the fundamental human rights of asylum seekers”
Here’s a reminder of some of the key findings in RSA’s (Refugee Support Aegean) recent report, based on research conducted in February and March 2023:
“In the Closed Controlled Access Centers (CCAC) on Samos, Kos and Leros — the construction of which was 100% funded by the European Union — as well as those on Lesbos and Chios, asylum seekers and their children live in remote areas with disproportionate security and surveillance measures, facing reported violent behavior by security authorities and with significant shortcomings in legal assistance, medical care, and interpretation.”
RSA’s research highlights the deficiencies and shortcomings across a range of refugee reception services.
Their key conclusion is that the construction of these centres is an act of occlusion — ‘hid[ing] the problems from public view by creating prison-like ghettos’ — rather than improvement. Although it is true that the housing and security conditions have improved on the islands (with the exception of the Western Lesbos Controlled Temporary Accommodation Facility for Asylum Seekers) as there are no longer makeshift shelters and tents, the basic needs of people on the move remain largely unmet. This is in spite of the huge investment of EU funds: €121 million was spent on Samos, Kos and Leros in November 2020, and another €155 million for new centres in Lesbos and Chios in 2021.
What are the key deficiencies that remain, as identified by RSA, as well as human rights violations?
- “Extensive surveillance and repression measures”
CCACs are akin to prisons — they have turnstiles, magnetic gates, x-rays, and two-factor access control systems (identity and fingerprint) that are installed at the exits/entrances of the camps.
All residents are subject to bag checks, body checks, and metal detectors upon entrance and exit, even when children return from school.
The psychological impact of such intense security cannot be underestimated: the Greek authorities have entirely removed people’s rights to freedom of movement and privacy.
- Location: “all structures are located outside urban fabric and/or in remote areas”
Hiding CCACs far from urban centres (8km away on Chios and Samos, 15km away on Kos, 6km away on Leros, 9km away on Samos) has two main effects. It imposes financial and physical burdens on people on the move, discouraging their movement and integration. It also keeps them away from the public eye, making it very hard to know how CCACs are operating.
- “Serious shortages of medical staff and psychosocial support, and deficiencies in the provision of interpretation”
- “Significant delays in the provision of the monthly financial assistance allowances”
- “a lack of recreational activities” as well as shop spaces, creative activities and shaded outdoor spaces
Further analysis of detention conditions and provisions in the Aegean has been carried out by Mobile Info Team and Border Criminologies — see below:
Here is ABR’s report from last week too:
Red Cross presence at rescue operations in Evros
After five days stuck on an islet in the Evros river, 17 people have been rescued by the Greek authorities and Red Cross.
Although the Hellenic Red Cross reported that these rescues were carried out “immediately”, a significant amount of pressure was required from civilian actors to elicit a response.
Whilst it is primarily a relief that people are being rescued from the Evros river, following the previous practice of non-rescue, questions remain over the nature of the heavily publicised collaboration of border forces and the Red Cross. Fingers crossed this is a positive development.
ITALY
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni meets with Libyan strongman General Khalifa Haftar
It is certain that migration will have been a key issue at this meeting, and Info Migrants report that:
“Premier Meloni underscored the unprecedented increase in migration toward Italy: 42,405 persons arrived in Italy from the beginning of 2023, four times as many as those who arrived during the first four months of the previous year, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior.”
The fighting in Sudan has raised Italian fears of further displacement in Northern Africa— the UN warns that 860,000 people could be displaced by the conflict — and it is understood that Italy is seeking to stabilise Libya’s political stalemate; the country currently has two governments — in Tripoli and Benghazi.
Full article below for more information:
SPAIN
The Atlantic route: an update form the Canary Islands
63% fewer people have arrived on the Canary Islands in the first quarter of 2023, when compared to the same period in 2022, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry.
Why?
Since Moroccan and Spanish authorities made peace in March 2022 — with Spain supporting Morocco’s position on the Western Sahara — the border has been made significantly harder:
- The number of naval patrols has increased, and people on the move are routinely intercepted by the coastguard and returned to Ouarazazate, an inland city nicknamed “the door of the desert”.
- The Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta are much more closely monitored.
Juan Carlos Lorenzo, coordinator of the Spanish Commission for Refugees (CEAR) in the Canaries, suggested to InfoMigrants the quid pro quo nature of this new friendship:
“The Moroccan authorities are insatiable in their demands, on Western Sahara, on trade agreements, on financial compensation… And Spain accepts […]
The most important thing for Spain is that migrants stay in Morocco, whatever the cost”
As Morocco and Spain collaboratively tighten controls of the border, there remains a large community of young Sub-Saharans and Moroccans who are attempting to reach Europe. Sub-Saharans, moreover, as we previously reported, are facing increasingly difficult living conditions in Morocco and Northern Africa (particularly Tunisia) with a recent rise in reports of racist abuse.
FRANCE
Pushbacks on the French-Italian border
At Ventimiglia in Italy, MSF have reported daily pushbacks, including of unaccompanied minors:
Sergio Di Dato, head of an MSF mobile clinic on the border, reports that French authorities
“are no longer able to absorb unaccompanied minors into their reception system, so have started to send them back to Italy, something they should not do according to the regulations in place… They are obliged to take care of them”
An additional 150 border police have recently been posted to Menton, on the French side of the border.
Those pushed back from Menton live the following experience:
- The French police issue a ‘refusal of entry’ document
- People are then transferred to containers, where they are detained, awaiting the Italian police.
Held in poor conditions, there have been reports of people lacking water and access to basic necessities, as well as inappropriate situations that have arisen, such as young girls left alone in containers with older men.
“If the unaccompanied minors are sent back systematically and in an arbitrary manner, there is the issue of how to protect these individuals — who are the weakest — in an effective manner, especially since [migrant] facilities in Italy are full,” Di Dato said. — via Info Migrants.
Paris 2023: 65 families left on the streets
Whilst Utopia 56 and their network of solidarity activists were able to help accommodate many of these people, there were still 22 families forced to spend the night on the street.
UNITED KINGDOM
Strong opposition in Parliament against the ‘Illegal Migration Bill’, as well as protests on the streets
Discussed yesterday in the Houses of Parliament, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby called the government’s highly polemical illegal migration bill “morally unacceptable”, arguing that it threatens “the interests of those in need of protection or the nations who face together face this challenge”.
Welby argued that the bill fails to address two key aspects of international migration: climate change and war. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated that by 2050, the climate crisis alone could cause 800 million individuals to become refugees.
Welby forcefully argued that:
“There must be safe, legal routes put in place as soon as illegal or unsafe routes begin to be attacked. We cannot wait for the years that will take place before that happens”
The government’s migration bill — dubbed ‘anti-refugee laws’ — has been met by protests, as well as condemnation by NGOs and solidarity networks.
Under particular scrutiny is the arrival of a barge, built in the 1970s, which will supposedly house 500 people. It is supposed to be ‘moved into position off the Isle of Portland’ — a floating prison therefore — in the coming weeks.
How can these highly-visible, deeply impractical policies hope to respond to the scale of the global migration crisis? Over the weekend alone, 411 people crossed the channel from France.
A further 70 people were picked up by the French authorities, before being detained, attempting to cross the straits of Dover on Tuesday:
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