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Come to Lesvos No Borders camp

noborders repost | 07.08.2009 14:30 | Anti-racism | Migration | Repression | World

in case, you have not yet decided or you are able to do it short term:
come to the nobordercamp in lesvos, starting at 25th of august near
mytilini!

it seems, that we will come in the right time, the situation in
lesvos and other aegean islands escalated last weeks: the internment-
camp in pagani is totally overcrowded with 700 refugees, and new
boatpeople come every day; greek borderguards try to deport
("illegally") the newcomers back to turkey, mistreatment and even
attempts to kill are constantly daily practice; permanent operation
from frontex, now (and probably during the nobordercamp) with a big
borderguard-boat from romania ... but first of all: partly
successful protests and actions from local supporting groups,
blocking deportation-busses! local mainstream-medias report about,
and it might fit best, if the locals will be supported by an
international nobordercamp next time!!
we estimate at least 4-500 participants, mainly from greece and
germany, but also from all over europe and from african countries
activists will come and join. a workshop-program (in transnational
composition) is under preparation, and beside a lot of public
interventions we plan common protests in front of the detention-camp
pagani and a big action in the mytilini port against the greek
borderguards and frontex.
following some links and fragments of mails from the lesvos-
nobordercamp-mailinglists for all, who want to know more details.
and if you need more practical informations about travelling to
lesvos and for the campground, contact us or the adresses on the
websites below.


the two main websites with a lot of informations, photos, reports...
 http://lesvos09.antira.info/
 http://www.noborderlesvos09.gr/

a solidarity action that prevented the deportation of 62 refugees in
Lesvos
look here (english)
 http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2009/07/25/63-mytilini-lesvos-
solidarity-gathering-blocks-and-prevents-the-deportation-of-62-migrants/
and here
 http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1062539 (in
greek but has some photos from the action)

Reports from a friend from Mytilini:
5th of August:
135 refugees where caught by the police and the coast guards in
Mitilini last weekend. in the "welcome center" prison of Pagani are
now 703 people. for 498 there is a place to sleep (in rooms filled
with hundreds of people). since the new regulation that says that
refugees should stay for 6 months in prison, which means that no
people get free anymore , the problem of space in the refugee prisons
is anavoidable. that is why the deportations are happening and that
is why it is so important to shaw that we are not willing to be
eyewitnesses of such politics.
mitlini -chios -chania-samos - solidarity groups are on this moment
suceeding to say NO to this politics.

5th of August:
the boat left without the refugees in SAMOS. good news finnaly!
in the city VATHY in Samos island lokal solidarity groups where
succesfull in blocking for 3 hours the entrance of the ship THEOFILOS
that had destination the town KAVALA.the ship left after 3 hours
blockedd entrance wihout the 60 afgahn and somali people that where
going to be deported. during the action the refugees where shouting
in the bus in the rythm of the solidarity groups:
freedom!

2nd of August:
a romanian borderguard-boat in operation for frontex now -
see  http://noborder09lesvos.blogspot.com/


sorry for the english,if somebody can make it better and
forward...dont hesitate. for the smash orthography and borders
team.marily
-------------------------

16.07.2009 chios island - deportation from the prison.
30 refugees transported on the ferry THEOFILOS to KAVALA. the
information from the prison was that they will be brought to a
"better" refugee welcome center in Kavala.but even the police officials
assured in kavala that such a center does not exist. the refugees
have been braught from kavala to the river EVROS and been forced to
enter with 10 poeple a small boat and return to turkei. the greek
military that forced them has shootes in the air probabalyy to inform
the turkish side.
this happend many times till all people had left on small boats at
night. some where immediatly caught on the turkish side some managed
to run away. in istanbul they got in contact with ngos that gave this
informations.

-----------------------------
23.07.2009 mitilini
62 refugees are brought with a bus at 1 o clock at nicht in the
harbour of mitlini to be transported with the THEOFILOS to kavala.
suposetly to be brought also in a better prison and to make space in
the prison of pagani/mitlini which is full with around 500 refugees.
the refugees are escorted from 3 police cars 3 security cars
handscuffed each two together and among them is one minor and many
who have a pink card (have asked for asylum). as the THEOFILOS is
aproaching the police officers desimbark the refugees from the bus
put them in rows and scream NOW so that they
immediatly start walking to to ship.
a group of 50 people concerned about the deportsation are faster than
the police allows and stand blocking the refugees from entering the
ship.
since a third group is also about to run into the ship:the traveling
people,the police immediatly returns the refugees in the bus.
untill 3 o clock the bus is standing int the harbour the refugees
stand in it screaming answering back the loud calls NO BORDER. then
they are brought back to the prison PAGANI. the ship doesn´t
leave,instead turns of the motor so that there is the fear that they
just wait the the solidar people go away to bring the bus back. but
nobody moves from there. at 4 o clock the ship leaves without the
refugees.
--------two days later,and after the minor and the people having made
requests for asylum where kept in mitlini,the refugees are brought
htis time with police prison cars and straight in the ship that is
better garded. they are since then in athens in the central refugee
prison ALODAPON and say they did not even get something to drink or
to eat.

----------------------------------------
26.07.2009 chios- deportation
2 buses transport 60 refugees from the prison to the harbour again to
embark them on the THEFILOS to kavala.this time a group of 100 people
are there and sit down infront of the buses blocking their way to the
ship- for 1 and a half hours. then the police brutaly attacks the
solidarity people. one man jumps into the sea infront of the ship to
try to block the departure - the false information that the refugees
are brought to a better prison in north greece is said again from the
officials. the ship arived then in the harbour of mitilini where
solidarity groups where giving flyers to travelling people to inform
about the deportation. the two buses with their drivers that could
not get out of the ship before departure in chios because of the
blockade desimbarked in mitlini. the ship continued to thessaloniki
where also groups of solidarity to the refugees waited for the arival-
among the refugees are 2 minors one of which has been separed from
his mother which stayed in the prison in chios. the greek UNHCR has
informed that the 2 minors have to stay in greece
yeastarday at noon the bus with the 60 refugees was on its way to
ALEXANDROUPOLIS a town near the border to turkey.

---------------------------------------
lokally in mitilini the acktion against the deportation was mentioned
on the 2 newspapers, yeasterday having it on the first page with
title: "the police had to go back! a group of antiautoritärian has
blocked with their bodies the deportation of refugees with the boat
THEOFILOS"
-------------------------------------
on the main stream tvs there was yeasterday much about the police
brutality in chios .
-------------------------------------
here follows a translation of the flyer given in mitlini to inform :


A DIFFERENT JOURNEY

THIS EVENING, BETWEEN THE PEOPLE TRAVELLING VOLUNTARILY WITH THE NEL
FERRY BOAT, THERE ARE MORE THAN 50 PEOPLE WHO DO NOT AT ALL WANT TO MAKE
THE „RETURN“ JOURNEY.
THEY HAVE COME FROM AREAS IN THE WORLD THAT ARE AT WAR SUCH AS
AFGHANISTAN, PALESTINE, SOMALIA.
IN EUROPE THEY ARE SEARCHING FOR THE RIGHTS TO WHICH THEY ARE ENTITLED
UNDER INTERNATIONAL TREATIES. THE GREEK AUTHORITIES ANSWER TO THEIR
DESPERATION BY PUTTING THEM IN THE PRISON OF PAGANI IN MYTILINI UNDER
INHUMANE CIRCUMSTANCES AND BY LEGALLY AND PRACTICALLY IGNORING THEIR
RIGHT TO ASYLUM.

THEIR TRANSPORTATION TODAY TO AN UNKNOWN DESTINATION IS TAKING PLACE IN
THE CONTEXT OF AN OVERALL „CLEANING“ OF THE COUNTRY AND OF EUROPE OF
PEOPLE WHICH THE STATE HAS MARKED AS BEING „DANGEROUS“, „DIFFERENT“ AND
„UNWANTED“. THE THREAT OF IMMEDIATE DEPORTATION PUTS THEIR LIFE IN
DANGER IN A WAY WE ARE UNABLE TO IMAGINE.

THE GREEK STATE PARTICIPATES IN THE MAKING OF NEW EUROPEAN LEGISLATION
which virtually abolishes people’s right to asylum AND THAT IS THE
REASON WHY THESE PEOPLE ARE SENT AWAY BEFORE EVEN HAVING BEEN HEARD.

THIS EVENT IS PART OF THE CONTINUOUS PROGROM DIRECTED AGAINST REFUGEES
WITH OR WITHOUT PAPERS IN GREECE TODAY. WE HAVE BEEN WARNED THAT THIS
WILL BE A „HOT“ SUMMER AND INDEED WE SEE EVERY DAY: AGIOS PANDELEIMONA
IN ATHENS WHERE THE STATE AND GROUPS OF FASCHISTS COLLABORATE AGAINST
THE PRESENCE OF REFUGEES, OR THE EFETIO BUILDING IN ATHENS WHERE MANY
REFUGEES HAD FOUND A HOME WHCH WAS BRUTALLY DISMANTLED, THE CITY OF
PATRAS WHERE A REFUGEE CAMP WAS EMPTIED AND THAN BURNT DOWN BY SPECIAL
POLICE UNITS.

FINALLY WE SEE IT AT THE HARBOURS OF THE GREEK FRONTIER ISLANDS WHERE
THE CONTINUOUS PRESENCE OF FRONTEX IN CLOSE COOPERATION WITH THE GREEK
COASTAL AUTHORITIES TAKE CARE OF THE REFOULEMENT OF REFUGEES WHO HAVE
TRIED TO ENTER THE „PARADISE“ WHICH THE MEDIA SAID THEY WOULD FIND IN
EUROPE.

NO ONE IS ILLEGAL

DEPORTATION IS NOT A PLEASURE TRIP

DEPORTATION CAN MEAN DEATH

reprot from pro asyl (24.7.) about the escalated situation (in german)
 http://www.proasyl.de/de/news/detail/news/
dramatische_zuspitzung_der_situation_von_fluechtlingen_in_der_aegaeis/
back/9/

noborders repost