Tag: english

The crime against the lives of migrants continues.

“It is very difficult to be a refugee. You can’t sleep. You have no money for your children. You are imprisoned in inaction and waiting. You don’t know if you will have papers, you don’t know what to do the next day, where you will be the next night “.

 

Migrant from the camp of Ritsona.

We recently visited the migrants’ camp in Ritsona, in early August and early September, following our regular visits and communication with migrants from all communities, which in recent months have paid off with the creation of social and political relations and the joint organization of mobilizations of locals-migrants.

In the camp of Ritsona, under the pretext of Covid-19, the right of both exit and entry of migrants and solidarity in the camp has been banned. In addition, every bus route has been cut, i.e. every channel of communication with the outside world. And all this in a supposedly “open camp”. This is with the argument that “a positive case was found” (which is now in Athens). However, as we were informed by the people of the camp, no massive sampling test has been done. And if it happened, of course, the political will of the Greek state is clear. As the government announced a few months ago, the plan is to transform all the “accommodation structures” of migrants into “closed camps”. A few days ago, the conversion of camps in the Aegean islands into “closed camps” began, especially in Chios and Lesvos, with the typical case once again of the Moria camp, where many migrants resist the imposition of the lockdown.

Of course, Moria has never been an “open structure”, but this development transforms the entire existing concentration camp system into an even more murderous and suffocating confinement environment for thousands of people, individuals and families, depriving them of the slightest right of movement.

We realize that the situation for migrants is deteriorating, the war against them waged by the Greek state and the EU continues. In recent months, the Greek state has been systematically carrying out the murderous military and police shielding of the Greek and European borders, the dozens of (illegal) deportations, the mass asylum rejections, the repression of homeless migrants in the city center, the policy of evicting thousands of recognized refugees and cuts in financial benefits that push migrants in search of any extreme undervalued work in favor of local and European employers. Only the collective struggles and reactions of migrants, often with the solidarity of some locals against local fascism-racism and the Greek-EU movements, have saved some migrants’ rights and blocked many of their evictions from homes and other structures.

So it happens in the camp of Ritsona. Of course, the administration “allows” for reasons of “emergency” movement outside the camp. When, for example, a woman has to give birth. However, as migrants informed us, migrants’ appointments with doctors in hospitals have already been canceled, apparently on the pretext that these appointments are not the most necessary.

At the same time, as we learned when we delivered drugs to the structure pharmacy, there are shortages of basic medicines constantly — after all, if there were no shortages and emergencies, our medicines wouldn’t be accepted.

Baby milk is not available for free. EODY contends that it is not their responsibility or that they have no money in order to provide for such necessities. Hence, expensive baby milk which is necessary for children’s’ development has become the responsibility of the parents who are called to pay for them on their own. Some milk, as we were informed, are paid for by ‘’solidarity now’’ but as it was expected even they don’t care about how the rest is going to be bought. Both the state and the NGOs do not even ask publicly for help they simply stand behind their criminal stance. And after all this, they accuse the migrants of spreading Covid-19.

At the same time, the Greek state has stopped giving benefits to asylum holders and hence all the expenses become the responsibility of the excluded from society who, being in a liminal state between legality and illegality, will take on any job available in order to survive.

Besides all this, we also have to take under consideration the unregistered homeless people that live in the camps and who have no access to food or other structures. Additionally, we have been informed of the racist attitude of certain workers and doctors in the hospitals of Chalkida, Athens and elsewhere.

At a time when the tourists walk around freely in Greece since they bring capital and Greek workers work under difficult conditions wearing masks for the benefit of the economy, the Greek state together with other capitalist states hold migrants prisoners, incarcerated within the camps without being able to adhere to the so called ‘’social distancing’’ unless this means their isolation from everyone. Within the modern concentration camps and with Covid-19 as the pretext that is preparing the ground for the worst kind of incarceration that is bound to follow for certain social groups, they want to resist against social injustice. In reality, governments fear and try to prevent the contact between oppressed locals and migrants. They spread nationalist and racist propaganda by selling lies about migrants, by enforcing the antagonism between Greece and Turkey in order to create a ‘’civil war of the poor’’ so that the despair and anger doesn’t turn against the repressive measures of the capitalist nation-state, against the governments. They want the oppressed divided rather than united against our common enemies.

Against all this the only solution is the self-organization of refugees/migrants, the actions of the communities, the desire of young people to fight and have their voices heard.

In this struggle we stand in solidarity with the migrants.

We want to create relationships of trust and common struggles between the poorest groups in society.

We want to build our multinational communities of solidarity against the nation-states, the war against migrants and the extreme exploitation of their work and their bodies.

We demand

-An end to the Greek State’s and the EU’s war on migrants, and a stop to all the military expeditions abroad.

– Shut down all the concentration camps, ‘’hot-spots’’ and replace them with truly open social structures within the cities for the homeless and marginalized locals and migrants.

Legal documents, health services, benefits, housing, equal working rights and education for everyone.

** These are clothes,milk, medicine that we took the last time we went to Ritsona

The crime against the lives of migrants continues.

“It is very difficult to be a refugee. You can’t sleep. You have no money for your children. You are imprisoned in inaction and waiting. You don’t know if you will have papers, you don’t know what to do the next day, where you will be the next night “.

Migrant from the camp of Ritsona.

We recently visited the migrants’ camp in Ritsona, in early August and early September, following our regular visits and communication with migrants from all communities, which in recent months have paid off with the creation of social and political relations and the joint organization of mobilizations of locals-migrants.

In the camp of Ritsona, under the pretext of Covid-19, the right of both exit and entry of migrants and solidarity in the camp has been banned. In addition, every bus route has been cut, i.e. every channel of communication with the outside world. And all this in a supposedly “open camp”. This is with the argument that “a positive case was found” (which is now in Athens). However, as we were informed by the people of the camp, no massive sampling test has been done. And if it happened, of course, the political will of the Greek state is clear. As the government announced a few months ago, the plan is to transform all the “accommodation structures” of migrants into “closed camps”. A few days ago, the conversion of camps in the Aegean islands into “closed camps” began, especially in Chios and Lesvos, with the typical case once again of the Moria camp, where many migrants resist the imposition of the lockdown.

Of course, Moria has never been an “open structure”, but this development transforms the entire existing concentration camp system into an even more murderous and suffocating confinement environment for thousands of people, individuals and families, depriving them of the slightest right of movement.

We realize that the situation for migrants is deteriorating, the war against them waged by the Greek state and the EU continues. In recent months, the Greek state has been systematically carrying out the murderous military and police shielding of the Greek and European borders, the dozens of (illegal) deportations, the mass asylum rejections, the repression of homeless migrants in the city center, the policy of evicting thousands of recognized refugees and cuts in financial benefits that push migrants in search of any extreme undervalued work in favor of local and European employers. Only the collective struggles and reactions of migrants, often with the solidarity of some locals against local fascism-racism and the Greek-EU movements, have saved some migrants’ rights and blocked many of their evictions from homes and other structures.

So it happens in the camp of Ritsona. Of course, the administration “allows” for reasons of “emergency” movement outside the camp. When, for example, a woman has to give birth. However, as migrants informed us, migrants’ appointments with doctors in hospitals have already been canceled, apparently on the pretext that these appointments are not the most necessary.

At the same time, as we learned when we delivered drugs to the structure pharmacy, there are shortages of basic medicines constantly — after all, if there were no shortages and emergencies, our medicines wouldn’t be accepted.

Baby milk is not available for free. EODY contends that it is not their responsibility or that they have no money in order to provide for such necessities. Hence, expensive baby milk which is necessary for children’s’ development has become the responsibility of the parents who are called to pay for them on their own. Some milk, as we were informed, are paid for by ‘’solidarity now’’ but as it was expected even they don’t care about how the rest is going to be bought. Both the state and the NGOs do not even ask publicly for help they simply stand behind their criminal stance. And after all this, they accuse the migrants of spreading Covid-19.

At the same time, the Greek state has stopped giving benefits to asylum holders and hence all the expenses become the responsibility of the excluded from society who, being in a liminal state between legality and illegality, will take on any job available in order to survive.

Besides all this, we also have to take under consideration the unregistered homeless people that live in the camps and who have no access to food or other structures. Additionally, we have been informed of the racist attitude of certain workers and doctors in the hospitals of Chalkida, Athens and elsewhere.

At a time when the tourists walk around freely in Greece since they bring capital and Greek workers work under difficult conditions wearing masks for the benefit of the economy, the Greek state together with other capitalist states hold migrants prisoners, incarcerated within the camps without being able to adhere to the so called ‘’social distancing’’ unless this means their isolation from everyone. Within the modern concentration camps and with Covid-19 as the pretext that is preparing the ground for the worst kind of incarceration that is bound to follow for certain social groups, they want to resist against social injustice. In reality, governments fear and try to prevent the contact between oppressed locals and migrants. They spread nationalist and racist propaganda by selling lies about migrants, by enforcing the antagonism between Greece and Turkey in order to create a ‘’civil war of the poor’’ so that the despair and anger doesn’t turn against the repressive measures of the capitalist nation-state, against the governments. They want the oppressed divided rather than united against our common enemies.

Against all this the only solution is the self-organization of refugees/migrants, the actions of the communities, the desire of young people to fight and have their voices heard.

In this struggle we stand in solidarity with the migrants.

We want to create relationships of trust and common struggles between the poorest groups in society.

We want to build our multinational communities of solidarity against the nation-states, the war against migrants and the extreme exploitation of their work and their bodies.

We demand

-An end to the Greek State’s and the EU’s war on migrants, and a stop to all the military expeditions abroad.

– Shut down all the concentration camps, ‘’hot-spots’’ and replace them with truly open social structures within the cities for the homeless and marginalized locals and migrants.

Legal documents, health services, benefits, housing, equal working rights and education for everyone.

** These are clothes,milk, medicine that we took the last time we went to Ritsona

Hundreds of immigrants stay at the Korinthos camp. Since the suspension of cash card to whomever has asylum and residence permit everyone is in a serious condition of poverty. Baby milk and pampers have become luxury goods that almost none can safely secure. At the same time, during the covid-19 there is no institution that can provide lessons for Greek or English either inside or outside the camp. Even though the whole population of the camp posses legal documents it experiences an almost total exclusion. All migrants have no access to medicine, extremely difficult access to hospitals and they hardly every find accommodation in Athens. From our standpoint, as part of a larger attempt to establish relationships between natives and immigrants and common struggles for accommodation, health care, access to education, financial support and equal labor rights for all, against the anti-immigration war that is waged by the Greek state and the European Union. In that context, we have realized a series of visits and talks with the immigrants in Korinthos and other camps. Simultaneously, as a token of actual solidarity we handed in first aid goods

We received the following letter from a resident of the Ritsona camp and we publish it. We stand against the Greek state, the system of camps’ management and the official organizations that reproduce the conditions of oppression in the camp. Our position is that the responsibility for the miserable living conditions lies with the state authorities and not with the migrants. We invite other people to send their letters to our page too.

—————————————————————

In Ritsona, while over 3000 people lives in unknown condition, waiting for their passports and ID, they are told to leave the camp and tensions are getting more everyday.

There are families who live for one and half of two years in the camp, but they haven’t received any response.

The families who are obliged to leave the camp should have registration under (Helios) system, but one of the system’s condition is to rent the house and find a job and then they will be accepted in the system.

For many family they gave extension time that means, their money cards are working in case of having vulnerability in family members, but is not yet clear how long they can be in extension.

The only way to take our rights(ID, Passport, money cards…) back, is to protest. But even in and after the protest we cannot have any answer.

When the problem is from any of communities or the people who are suffering the condition, and they make the protest by closing the entrance gate not to let the organizations come inside will affect all residents.

The police is standing, it doesn’t seem they are for the protection of residents, as in every case they only stood far away and were witness of everything that was happening.

When we don’t have organizations inside, it means there is no medical department, no lawyer, no social stuff and the educational programs that are given by communities.

There are people who needed to have appointment in the medical care, there are people who had appointment with their lawyers, there are many who came for their classes but faced closed doors.

Some protest, all get affected.

Some steal the stuff that are left by ministry of education for teachers from communities, and the classes get closed.

Some make noises in the medical care and all the appointments get canceled.

These some people are also residents of the camp, that couldn’t have answer for their questions and it is their last tolerance.

How can the law (Greek state is responsible of refugees until they are recognize refugees) be logical when the hot spots are far from the town and the opportunity of finding work is low?

We are waiting for tomorrow, but will we have a brighter future?

Written by : migratorygirl