Giornate contro Frontex dal 15 al 18 aprile 2016 a Catania - NoFrontex Days from April 15-18 in Sicily BASTA MORTI NEL MEDITERRANEO - STOP DEATHS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN!

Monday 25 April 2016

Report from the Workshop “Frontex, the Hotspot System and Actions against”

The workshop took place on the 16th of April, and in the beginning, an introduction was given – also for the second workshop about missing people - about the reason why we are in Catania now: the shipwreck on the 18th of April 2015, when more than 800 migrants died during the rescue of a boat between Libya and Sicily by a merchant vessel. Middle of April 2015 was the deadliest week with about 1200 deaths in the Central Mediterranean Sea. This was not a natural disaster, but the result of the EU policy and Frontex. Sabine summarized a report, just published by Charles Heller and Lorenzo Pezzani, which you can find here: https://deathbyrescue.org/

Some sentences from a press release about it:

A new investigation accuses EU policymakers of “killing by neglect” after cutting rescue missions in the Mediterranean in full knowledge of the lethal consequences of their actions.

Meeting transcripts and documents unearthed in a report from Goldsmiths, University of London and the University of York show that the EU border agency Frontex’s own internal assessment of replacing Mare Nostrum with Triton predicted increased deaths at sea, but the policy was introduced anyway. 

Researchers found that a previously unreported 2014 Frontex internal assessment on “tackling migrant flows” stated:

It has to be stressed that the withdrawal of naval assets from the area, if not properly planned and announced well in advance, would likely result in a higher number of fatalities.”

The researchers from the ESRC-funded ‘Precarious Trajectories’ project argue that because the decision to retreat from state-led search and rescue operations was taken in full knowledge of the risk, EU policy makers and agencies carry a strong degree of responsibility for mass deaths at sea.

On 12 April, 400 people died when an overcrowded boat capsized due to its passengers’ excitement at the sight of approaching rescue tugboats. Six days later a similar incident killed 800, leading to the deadliest single shipwreck recorded in the Mediterranean. In 2015 there was a total of 3,700 documented deaths at sea.

The report ‘Death by Rescue: The lethal effects of the EU's policies of non-assistance at sea’ demonstrates that, with the ending of the Italy-led Mare Nostrum Operation and the launch of a limited Frontex-led Triton operation, agencies and policy makers enacted a policy of retreat from state-led search and rescue operations.

After this introduction, the two workshops took place in different rooms. The structure of the Frontex workshop was:
  1. What is Frontex?
  2. Hotspots and Deportations
  3. Actions and Campaigns against Frontex
  4. The “Ferries not Frontex” campaign
  5. Presentation of a guide “Welcome to Italy”
  6. The Watch the Med Alarmphone
  7. Discussion: What can we do?
1. A presentation about the history, the aims, tasks and operations of Frontex, “Mare Nostrum” and “Triton” and its deadly consequences was given: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4QSBxKDaNmTUm5pdXVVZzJ1d0E/view?pref=2&pli=1

In the discussion it was added that the zone of 30 nautic miles, in which Frontex wanted “Triton” to operate, does not exist anymore because of many deaths near the Libyan coast and political pressure by organizations of the civil society. The coastguard does no longer call merchant ships very often. The vessels of the military operation EUNAFVOR Med (later called “Sophia”), which started in the end of June 2015, are not visible on maps and do not rescue very often, but have the aim to “fight against smugglers”. Also Frontex has this aim and on every boat, at least two people are arrested as “traffickers”. The question was asked how the decision making of Frontex works and if there is a democratic control of its work? This can be denied – even EU parliamentarians do not know how decisions are taken like those to send Frontex to the Greek borders, even if the government does not want this.

2. A short presentation about the aims of the “hotspot approach” and the existing hotspots in Italy (at the moment: Lampedusa, Trapani, Pozzalo and Taranto) was given:

Lucia from borderline Sicily added that the selection of “economic migrants” now already takes place on the boats after rescue. During the first identification, questions are asked like: “Do you want to work in Italy?” and those who answer “yes” are declared as “economic migrants” who have no right to apply for asylum. They get a paper to leave Italy in 7 days and are thrown out on the street. Mostly deportation is not possible, because the people do not have passports. But only if they find a support group and a lawyer they can manage to file an asylum application and get access to accommodation. Lawyers who were present reported about such cases (one has about 30).

Most of the “hotspots” are overcrowded. In Pozzallo, about 400 people live on 120 places. Detention in a hotspot should officially last only three days, but sometimes it lasts one week or more. Men, women and children are put together, unaccompanied minors cannot go out, not even leave the building. After detention, the people are distributed to different places.

On Lampedusa, the first place to make experiments about hotspots, people are waiting 2-3 months to be moved to others parts of Italy and there are no criteria who is taken first. The 7-days-paper is issued on the boat to Sicily.

In Trapani people are detained 2-3 days and then moved to other centers. Many of them get the 7-days-paper. The deadline to apply for asylum with the help of a lawyer is 30 days.

A lawyer reported that she has some cases of minors, who were not recognized as under age. Frontex is also involved in age assessment, which is part of the screening, and about 50% of the minors are declared adults. On Lampedusa, several minors were arrested because they were considered to be smugglers.

The relationship between Frontex and local authorities is not clear. Officially, Frontex gives only “technical support” and is lead by Italian police, but the relationship is not regulated by any law.
There is no law for economic migrants, so they have to apply for asylum or become irregular.

The percentage of rejections of asylum applications is increasing: before it was about 1/3, now it is going to 2/3 (62% of rejections); many rejections are made by nationality (espacially African Subsaharian countries) and are affecting also several asylum seekers coming from countries where there are wars and/or ethnic/religious/political conflicts (see the table below)



3. A presentation with photos of actions against Frontex in Europe and on the other side of the Mediterranean (WSF Dakar and Tunis, Choucha camp) was shown:

4. The campaign “Ferries not Frontex” was presented – it is explained in a newspaper which was distributed in English, French and Italian and can be found here:

about the campaigns against Frontex it was mentioned also the “Frontexit “ campaign coordinated by Migreurop (http://www.frontexit.org/en/)

5. A new guide “Welcome to Italy” was presented in a printed form as a small booklet to be distributed to migrants.

You can find the short/print versions (in low resolution) here:

and the long/web versions here:

Versions in arabic and farsi to come soon, still looking for translators and layouters for a tigrinya version. The guide will be updated every 4-5 months and everybody can help to give new information and further contacts to add to the “useful contacts” chapter!

6. The Watch the Med Alarmphone was shortly presented by Judith. It was started in October 2014 by activist networks and civil society actors in Europe and Northern Africa. The project set up a self-organized hotline for refugees in distress in the Mediterranean Sea. It offers the affected boat-people a second option to make their SOS noticeable. The alarm phone documents and mobilizes in real-time. In this way, pressure to rescue is built-up, wherever possible and push-backs and other forms of human rights violations of refugees and migrants at sea can be opposed. The project aims to create a Mediterranean space of mutual solidarity, with open borders for all people. Thus, the Alarm Phone is not a rescue number, but an alarm number to support rescue operations. Find more here:
http://alarmphone.org/en/about/

7.Discussion about what we can do against Frontex, hotspots and deportations

One thing is our daily work, e.g. to spread information (like the guide to Italy) on a local level to migrants, the other thing is to plan actions, if possible, together, at least coordinated. After the break through on the Balkan route, the border regimes strikes back now and we have to think about ways to come into an offensive situation again.

Actions against the hotspot system are important, because they separate the migrants in “good” and “bad” ones (with the rethoric of “real” and “fake” refugees very widespread in the public opinion), which takes place all over Europe now. The “hotspot approach” - with a direct involvement of Frontex - is being implemented both in Italy and Greece (particularly in Sicily and in the Greek islands) with many similarities so we need to exchange information and to carry out common proposals to face these common situation and these policies that are, in fact, killing the right of asylum as universal and individual right.

We have to inform migrants about it and mobilize together against Frontex, detention, selection and deportation. Hotspots and also the new Frontex headquarter in Catania, which will open soon, could be places to act. We have to destroy the image which Frontex tries to spread that it is a rescue organization. We have to show how human rights are violated in the hotspots and also why we are against them in general.

The churches have started a project for humanitarian corridors for 1000 people, who can come by plane from transit countries – we should support this (but also demand open borders for all).
We have to learn from Greece, because the EU wants to have it as a training camp for selection and deportation. We have to connect the struggles against external and internal (Dublin) borders.

In Italy, coordinated actions started because of missing people in Milano and then went on every week in different cities. Later topics like the EU/Turkey deal and racism were added and a new network was created. Actions at the same time strengthen each other and it is important to do them together with migrants. It is also important to work together with people on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea against the collaboration between EU and African countries (see the summit of Valetta and consequences).

The Balkan route shows that a network of people from different countries is possible. There will be a No Border camp in Thessaloniki from 15th to 24th July to strengthen this network and also people from the Central Med should take part. And there will be “Defencing Days” at the Croatian-Slovenian border (Kumrovec/Bistrita towns) from 24th to 26th of June. Actions at the border between Italy and Austria took already place and others are planned.

Maybe we can also think about a common action in Italy in the next months?



Another proposals that came out were 1) the creation of a “European Day Against Frontex” that could take place every year (on the 18th April?) in different European cities and 2) the writing and distribution of clear and simple materials (as flyers, brochures, etc...) about Frontex to inform people about EU policies and Frontex role inside them (using also materials already written and distributed by associations and campaigns against Frontex

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