Alarm
Phone demands immediate transfer of all refugees stranded on the Greek
military island Farmakonisi - Travellers stuck on the island face
inhumane conditions. We
strongly condemn the human rights violations that occur on the island
of Farmakonisi and nearby at sea. We demand the immediate transfer of
refugees from Farmakonisi to other islands where support is available
and where people are not subjected to military control. We also demand
an adequate reception infrastructure and that the UNHCR, NGOs and civil
solidarity groups are granted access to this military island.
In
the past weeks, the Alarm Phone reported repeatedly about the
life-threatening situation that travellers face who, after crossing the
Aegean Sea, stranded on different Greek islands for hours or days until
getting rescued by Greek authorities. One island where many people
frequently strand and where they, at times, get stuck for several days
and nights, is the island of Farmakonisi. The situation for travellers
landing there is different from the ones on all the other islands in
this area, due to the island's special status.
Farmakonisi is an
uninhabited island, a military observatory and restricted area.
A military special monitoring unit is stationed there and the Ministry
of Defence is its responsible authority. The current situation on this
island is particularly dramatic for refugees due to the absence of any
reception infrastructure. Newly arriving people are dealt with only by
the military until the port authority from Leros arrive to pick them
up and transfer them. Access to Farmakonisi in order to address the
basic needs of newcomers has never been granted to NGOs and the UNHCR.
For a long time now, the UNHCR is seeking to receive the permission to
set up a first reception facility on the island.
Usually, refugees
are not offered required amounts of food, water or adequate
shelter. Sometimes they even receive neither food nor water for several
hours. In many distress cases when people reported to us from the
island, they stated that they had to wait without blankets, none were
given even to the smallest infants. And of course, considering that many
refugees are survivors of war, facing military forces after
the traumatic experience of crossing the sea by boat is a difficult
situation in itself.
The personnel of the coastguard on Leros, who
are responsible to transfer travellers off Farmakonisi, often do not
respond in a timely manner to distress calls of stranded groups. We have
testimonies suggesting that many were even forced to stay
on Farmakonisi for several days and nights before being transferred.
Moreover,
travellers have reported ill-treatment by the military personnel on the
island, stating that they had been threatened and beaten. We
acknowledge that compared to the situation in the past, such cases of
violence seem to occur less frequently. Yet, impunity seemingly
characterizes any human rights violations connected to this island until
today.
However, many human rights violations on Farmakonisi
concerning illegal push-back practices have been exposed by different
human rights groups throughout the last three years. Newcomers were
detained on the island, sometimes mistreated and even tortured (1).
Farmakonisi became specifically well known when, on the 20th of
January 2014, eight children and three women died when their vessel
capsized near the island while being towed by the Greek coastguard, in
what seems to have been a pushback operation in breach of international
law. In July 2014, survivors and families of the victims made an appeal
for justice after Greek courts stopped all further investigations in
Greece (2). In January 2015, the case was brought before the European
Court of Human Rights.
We as the Alarm Phone nowadays receive many
emergency calls from Farmakonisi. We continue to offer support in
co-operation with the responsible authorities, but we also document
testimonies of alleged human rights violations and pass them on not only
to the authorities for further internal investigation but also to the
public.
Each individual failure to assist a person in danger and
each separate ill-treatment should be brought to justice. Human
suffering needs to take an end. Refugees are no territorial invaders or
military targets but people in need of international protection.
We
repeat once more: We strongly condemn any human rights violations that
occur on the island of Farmakonisi and nearby at sea. We demand the
immediate transfer of refugees from Farmakonisi to other islands where
support is feasible and where people are free. We also demand that the
UNHCR, NGOs and civil solidarity groups are granted access to this
military island to set up an adequate reception infrastructure.
Freedom of movement is everybody's right!
Alarm Phone, 15 December 2015
Additional information:
Farmakonisi
(Greek: Φαρμακονήσι) lies south of Agathonisi, east of the islands
of Leipsoi, Patmos and Leros, and north of the islands of Kalymnos and
Pserimos.
(1) Pro Asyl published a very detailed report on
push-backs in November 2013 and exposed several such instances near
Farmakonisi, including cases where the travellers had already landed on
the island of Farmakonisi and were pushed back afterwards. See:http://www.proasyl.de/ fileadmin/fmdam/l_EU_ Fluechtlingspolitik/proasyl_ pushed_back_24.01.14_a4.pdf
(2) The appeal of the survivors and families can be found here: http://www.proasyl.de/ en/home/farmakonisi-we-demand- justice/
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