2015-05-28 Kreikan pakolaisliikenne (yhdistetty)

[Mr.Reese]

Ekathimerini lisää edelliseen, että siellä on nyt neuvottelut käynnissä, minnekä arvon läpsähtäjät suvaitsee rantautua. Kaipa se vene hinataan hoelmoelaeaen asti.

According to ANA-MPA, all passengers are said to be in good health but do not want to disembark in Greece and talks are underway to transfer them to a safe place.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/228384/article/ekathimerini/news/frontex-locates-migrant-boat-talks-underway-for-safe-transfer

[Mr.Reese]

Matuilu on välillä kuin äksön-leffaa. Turkin ja Kreikan rajalla eritaustaisia laittomia läpsyjä täyteen ahdettu auto kolaroi takaa-ajon päätteeksi. Kuski oli Pakistanista. Koko löyhä kaveriporukka vietiin lasarettiin.

Authorities in northern Greece say a car crammed with migrants that was driven by a suspected member of a smuggling ring has crashed during a police chase, injuring all eight occupants.

Police said the accident occurred early Tuesday at the entry to the northern town of Xanthi. Police had tried to stop the car on a highway running from the Turkish border to the city of Thessaloniki, but the driver turned off onto a smaller road and tried to escape.

The migrants were identified as Pakistani, Afghan, Eritrean and Somalian nationals, while the driver was a Pakistani. All were taken to hospital for treatment.

The suspected smuggler is believed to have picked up his passengers close to Greece's northeastern land border with Turkey, a major gateway for illegal immigration.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/228413/article/ekathimerini/news/car-full-of-migrants-crashes-in-police-chase-8-hurt

[Alaric]

https://www.kansalainen.fi/kreikka-tilanne-lesboksen-saarella-kiristynyt-aarimmilleen/ (9.5.2018)

Kreikka: Tilanne Lesboksen saarella kiristynyt äärimmilleen

Tilanne kreikkalaisella Lesboksen saarella kiristyy vauhdilla. Viimeisten kolmen vuoden aikana on saaren rannoille tullut yhteensä noin miljoona siirtolaista Turkista. Paikallisella väestöllä voimat ja sietokyky alkavat loppua, ja yhteenotot siirtolaisten kanssa ovat jokapäiväisiä.

Kreikkalaisten lähteiden mukaan Lesboksen ja sen naapurisaarten rannoille ilmestyy edelleenkin päivittäin noin 500 siirtolaista. Tämä aiheuttaa siirtolaisleireille painetta, kun siirtolaisia ei saada siirrettyä samaan tahtiin mantereelle.

(...)

Pakolaiskeskuksen tilanne on kestämätön

Saaren siirtolaisia majoittavat keskukset ovat ääriään myöten täynnä, ja tungos aiheuttaa jatkuvia konflikteja siirtolaisten keskuudessa. Tämän lisäksi saarelaisten tunnelmat ovat pohjalukemissa siirtolaisongelman tuhottua saaren päätoimeentulon, turismin, melkein kokonaan.

– Kauppa ja investoinnit ovat loppuneet melkein kokonaan, kertoo Evangelos Myrsinias paikalliselta kauppakamarilta. – Ihmiset ovat kestokykynsä rajoilla, lisää saaren pormestari Galinos. – Hyvä auttamishalu on muuttumassa pahaksi vereksi. Ja missä on pahaa verta, siellä on kasvualustaa radikalisoitumiselle, kertoo Galinos.

(...)

Kreikan saarilla 15 500 siirtolaista

Uusien siirtolaisaaltojen tuleminen saarille tekee tilanteesta tukalan. Saarilla on noin 9 000 siirtolaista jumissa, koska Turkin ja EU:n pakolaissopimuksen tulkinnassa on erimielisyyksiä. Sopimuksen mukaan siirtolaisten on annettava matkustaa eteenpäin heidän päästyään rantaan, mutta toisaalta mereltä heidät voidaan käännyttää takaisin.

Suurin osa siirtolaisista on majoitettu Morian leirille, joka sijaitsee noin 5 kilometriä Mitilinin keskustasta. Noin 6 000 siirtolaista on Turkin rannikon läheisyydessä sijaitsevilla saarilla, kuten Hios, Kos, Samos ja Leros.

"Naiset ovat peloissaan illalla ja yöllä"

– Meidän elämänrytmimme määräävät siirtolaiset, jotka muodostavat jo kolmanneksen koko saaren ihmisistä, kertoo saaren pormestari. – Pelko valtaa alaa. Naiset pelkäävät  lähteä kotoaan pimeällä. Lapsia ei päästetä enää ulos leikkimään yksinään. Mikään yhteiskunta ei kestä tätä ikuisuuksiin, sanoi Galinos.

[Uuno Nuivanen]

Onhan kreikkalaisilla laivasto ja aseistusta. Muutaman tunkeutujapurkin kun ampuu upoksiin, alkaa liikenne kummasti vähentyä.

[Pekka Kemppainen]

Onhan kreikkalaisilla laivasto ja aseistusta. Muutaman tunkeutujapurkin kun ampuu upoksiin, alkaa liikenne kummasti vähentyä.

#Ihmiskilpiä l. siviilejä hyväkseenkäyttävä vihamielinen sotilaallinen tunkeutuja on päävastuussa näiden kohtalosta.

Ihmisjoukko, joka ei tottele esm. pysähtymiskäskyä, on perinteisesti altistunut voimankäytölle. Eihän sotilaille jaeta aseita siksi, että joku aseeton voi kävellä nokan eteen ja ottaa soltulta rynkyn pois. En toki hetkeäkään epäile, ettei meidän varusmiehille käy just noin.

Tilanne Euroopassa on jo rinnastettavissa vihamieliseen valloitukseen: Nykyiset maahantunkeutujat heiluttavat rajalla asyl-lappua, ja tappavat vasta Turun torilla.

Ammut tai et -triviaali varusmiehille: Olet vartioimassa varuskunnan asevarikkoa:

• Sinua lähestyy huutava ihmisjoukko, joka ei pysähdy käskystä tai varoituslaukauksista huolimatta. Kyllä/ei?
• Sinua lähestyy huutava ihmisjoukko, jonka kärjessä juoksevat ovat valelleet itsensä bensalla ja sytyttäneet palamaan. Kyllä/ei?
• Sinua lähestyy huutava ihmisjoukko, joka ajaa edellään laumaa parkuvia suomalaisia teinityttöjä, jotka ovat tulilinjalla estäen itse joukkoon tähtäämisen. Kyllä/ei?
• Uhkaava joukko on pääsemässä asevarikkoon, ja esimiehesi on kieltänyt voiman käytön. Ammut vai et?
• Partainen Syyrian sisällisodan veteraani on ottanut Sinulta aseesi. Suostutko vastustelematta kurkkusi leikkaamiseen? (vain kyllä vastaus tarjolla)

Kaikki esimerkit ovat mahdollisia reaalimaailmassa.

[Mr.Reese]

Kaksi pakistanilaista yritti kiristää toisilta pakeilta ja muita samoilta hoodeilta olevien perheiltä Kreikkaan salakuljetetuista läpsyistä lunnaita. Tämä varmaan sitä täydentävää osaamista?

Greek police say they have rescued 50 migrants who had been held hostage in northern Greece, allegedly by two Pakistani men who were extorting their families for money.

Police said Wednesday many of the rescued men were in bad physical condition, having been given minimal food and water. One man required hospitalization for pneumonia and dehydration.

The migrants – 38 Pakistanis, 10 Bangladeshis and two Sri Lankans – had been held in a complex of abandoned buildings east of the city of Thessaloniki, where most had been brought six days ago, although some were more recent arrivals. Authorities were alerted to their plight by relatives who received demands for money for them to be released.

Two Pakistani men were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and blackmail, among other charges. [AP]
http://www.ekathimerini.com/228457/article/ekathimerini/news/greek-police-say-50-migrants-rescued-after-being-held-hostage

[Alaric]

Tää Lesboksen ja muiden saarten tilanne lähtee kohta käsistä.

Läpsyjä on tullut viime viikkoina 200 per päivä.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/228560/article/ekathimerini/news/lesvos-europes-migrant-barrier-nears-breaking-point (11.5.2018)

Lesvos: Europe's migrant barrier nears breaking point

At the heart of Moria, an overcrowded refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos, is a dark rectangular building ringed with police guards and coils of razor wire. Taking photographs of it is prohibited.

It's here that thousands of migrants are interviewed by asylum officers — and ultimately informed whether they will ever be allowed to leave the island.

Holding up a tattered asylum card that reads "Forbidden to travel outside Lesvos," 40-year-old Syrian Ziad Rashid said he was supposed to be deported back to Turkey after he unsuccessfully appealed his failed application. But Turkey's effective refusal to re-admit migrants means there's nowhere he can go.

"I've been here for two years," says Rashid, struggling to find the words in broken Greek and English. "It's a big problem."

Lesvos is facing a fourth summer of crisis. It's one of five Greek islands near the coast of Turkey being used by the European Union to form a barrier to migration after more than a million people came through here in 2015-16, heading to western Europe.

But with 7,000 inhabitants, the refugee camp at Moria is now at more than 300 percent capacity, and outbreaks of violence, often triggered by trivial disputes, are increasingly common. A clinic run by the aid group Doctors Without Borders helps treat the sick among the camp's 2,000 children, but has to turn less serious cases away.

Even so, more keep arriving: The number of island arrivals has surged this year from about 50 a day in 2017 to around 200 a day in recent weeks. Asylum applications are backed up by nearly three years, according to Lesvos' regional governor.

Currently, asylum seekers on five Aegean Sea islands — Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros, and Kos — are banned from traveling on to the Greek mainland as part of the European Union's controversial "containment policy." That's causing severe overcrowding at the islands' camps, and the government has faced legal challenges and protests against the measure.

Meanwhile, to try to bypass the islands, an even higher number of migrants and refugees are now crossing Greece's heavily militarized land border with Turkey in the northeast of the country.

That has forced Greece to overhaul its policy, and parliament is now debating draft legislation aimed at easing pressure on the islands. Under the proposal, migrants would be allowed to move to camps on the Greek mainland, but they would remain under restriction and could be banned from leaving the regions of the country where they are placed.

The plan has already drawn fire from human rights groups, which argue that containment is to blame for poor living conditions on the islands.

(...)

In a town hall meeting, Vitsas was berated by island residents complaining about petty crimes that have risen since the camps opened, and others who said they felt their good will toward people fleeing war had been exploited by Greek and European policy-makers.

Many island residents are angry to be missing out on a tourism boom that's helping the country emerge from a decade of financial crisis. Business owners closed their stores for 24 hours in protest at the government visit, and street protests turned violent.

"We all welcomed the refugees. But there is a problem and it has to be taken seriously ... We have a good quality of life here and it's been taken away," said Akis Argiropoulos, a hotel manager in the island's capital, Mytilene.

"Without the proper facilities and policing, the island cannot handle all of this burden."

[Lady Deadpool]

[tweet]996003652174139394[/tweet]
[tweet]996001694424207360[/tweet]

Judicial authorities in northern Greece are investigating the involvement of local lawyers in rackets smuggling migrants and refugees across Greece's Evros River border from Turkey.

The file is currently in the hands of Thrace Appeals Court prosecutor Giorgos Siopis, who is summoning lawyers from the cities of Alexandroupoli and Oresteiada, but also from Thessaloniki and Athens, who have been accused of working with rackets or individual smugglers organizing illegal transfers from Turkey into Greece.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/228601/article/ekathimerini/news/lawyers-involvement-in-migrant-smuggling-racket-being-probed (14.5.2018)

The Migration Policy Ministry is reportedly considering increasing the capacity of existing refugee and migrant centers on the mainland as a first step in managing a recent spike in arrivals from neighboring Turkey, in a plan ministry sources say the European Union agrees with.

"Practically, this means tents will be set up between the containers, exacerbating the already difficult situation for the residents," a nongovernmental organization official said.

Increasing capacity also means that the current logistics involved in running the camps will have to be adjusted. For example, if daily food costs are 3.5 euros per person per day (according to the specifications cited in official announcements), an additional 16,478 additional refugees will mean an extra 57,673 euros per day.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/228595/article/ekathimerini/news/government-considers-boosting-capacity-of-refugee-centers (14.5.2018)

[Alaric]

Lesboksella on pidätetty poliisi ja kaksi kamerunilaista, joiden epäillään olevan osa väärentäjäjengiä, joka on tehnyt läpsyttäjille väärennettyjä papereita. Niiden avulla on päässyt läpsyttelemään Lesbokselta Ateenaan.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/228805/article/ekathimerini/news/policeman-arrested-for-involvement-in-forgery-ring (18.5.2018)

Policeman arrested for involvement in forgery ring

A Greek police sergeant was arrested on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos on Friday over his alleged involvement in a ring that forged documents and provided them to asylum seekers.

Police said that they also arrested two Cameroonian asylum seekers who were also members of the ring.

The scheme allowed asylum seekers to leave Lesvos and travel to Athens.

[Alaric]

Poliisi on pidättänyt Thessalonikissa ihmissalakuljettajia ja 48 pääasiassa irakilaista ja syyrialaista läpsyä.

https://www.tag24.de/nachrichten/athen-thessaloniki-griechenland-polizei-nimmt-schleuser-und-dutzende-48-migranten-fest-589498 (19.5.2018)

Konekäännös:

POLICE ARREST SMUGGLERS AND DOZENS OF MIGRANTS

The Greek police arrested a suspected smuggler in the region of the northern Greek port of Thessaloniki and arrested 48 migrants.

The migrants were reportedly taken from the Turkish to the Greek side of the border river Evros and then taken by minibus to western Greece. This was announced by the Greek police on Saturday.

The migrants are to be housed after checking their personal details in a refugee camp, said a police officer of the German Press Agency. In their majority, they are from Iraq and Syria, it said.

Despite the widespread closure of the so-called Balkan route, the smugglers promised to send the refugees over unguarded terrain on the not yet fenced road Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina to the north of the Balkans or via the Adriatic to Italy and then to Central Europe bring.

Almost every day, the Greek police arrest smugglers who bring migrants from Evros to West Greece by minibus and in truck lorries. The western Greek ports of Patras and Igoumenitsa are the hubs for this route.

[Mr.Reese]

Idomeni, tuo pohjois-Kreikan läpsyinvaasiosta kärsinyt rajakaupunki, tekee paluun! Eihän siinä kauaa mennyt, kun täällä hommallakin kritisoitu Kreikan päätös päästää läpsyt saarilta mantereelle vapaasti vaeltamaan tuottaa odotettua hedelmää. Nähdäänkö taas telttaleiri paikallisen maajussin pelloilla?

A recent spike in the arrival of undocumented migrants in Greece via the Turkish land border appears to have eased off but further west, Idomeni, which became a sprawling makeshift camp at the peak of the refugee crisis in early 2016, is beginning to see activity again, Kathimerini understands.

Compared to some 4,000 migrants who crossed the land border into Greece in April, arrivals for May are currently in the low hundreds, according to sources.

A border guard in Evros attributed the change to a shift in stance by Turkish authorities, albeit perhaps a temporary one.

"The likeliest scenario is that [the migrants] were stopped by the invisible hand of Turkey, which is negotiating with Europe and flexing its muscles, reminding everyone that only it can control the flow of refugees towards Greece and particularly Evros," the official said, adding that the number of Turkish guards on the Evros border has increased in recent days.

In Idomeni, meanwhile, locals are reporting increased arrivals from the islands. A local community leader, Xanthi Soupli, told Kathimerini that some 20 migrants, mostly Pakistanis, are arriving every day. They try to scale the wire fence separating Greece from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), she said, noting that hotels in the area that were full of migrants at the peak of the crisis have started receiving refugees from the islands again.

The recent influx from the Greek-Turkish border has put a strain on reception centers in northern Greece. For instance, the camp at Lagadikia near Thessaloniki is currently hosting more than 600 migrants, nearly twice its maximum capacity of 360. Tensions have surged in the facility, which had originally hosted only Syrian families but is now accommodating migrants of various ethnic origins.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/228838/article/ekathimerini/news/influx-via-evros-dips-as-migrants-return-to-idomeni

[Mr.Reese]

Skaramangasin kuumassa pisteessä hädänalaiset nujakoineen.

There were clashes between refugees at the Skaramangas hotspot near Athens early on Tuesday morning.

According to police reports, Syrian and Kurdish refugees started fighting at around 3 a.m. for unknown reasons.

One Kurdish man was injured, while a Syrian man was arrested.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/228926/article/ekathimerini/news/refugee-fracas-at-skaramangas-hotspot

Kurdit pitää miekkaria vilkkaalla motarilla majoitusoloja vastaan.

Some 250 asylum-seekers have blocked a busy northern Greek highway, in a second day of protests against overcrowding and poor conditions in the nearby camp they are housed in.

The peaceful protest by mostly Kurdish migrants at Diavata, on Thessaloniki's western outskirts, lasted an hour and caused major traffic jams.

The Diavata camp's prefabricated homes can house 750 people, but its population has grown to 1,850 amid increased immigration flows from Turkey. New arrivals sleep in tents or on the ground.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/229001/article/ekathimerini/news/migrants-block-northern-greek-highway-in-2nd-day-of-protests

[Mr.Reese]

Peruskahakka, 6 läpsyä otti osumaa jo perinteisissä kansallisuuksien välisessä kisailussa Morian pakolaisleirissä.

Serious clashes between residents at the migrant reception and processing center of Moria on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos on Friday afternoon left six people injured.

Some of the injured people, who have been not been identified, were loaded by other residents onto stretchers made of blankets and transported to the general hospital in the main town of Mytilini by car, according to local media.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/229062/article/ekathimerini/news/six-people-injured-in-clashes-in-moria-migrant-camp-on-lesvos

[Mr.Reese]

Rrrrrasssssisssm.... eiku ööö... syntax error. 900 kurdia ei halua enää asua Lesboksen pakolaisleireissä arabien kanssa. Kurdit lähtivät menemään Morian leiristä ja ovat nyt levittäytyneet ympäri saarta NGO:iden hellään huomaan.

About 900 asylum seeking Kurds have left the reception and identification center in Moria on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos and refuse to return, following the violent clashes between migrants last Friday that left six people injured.

According to the state-run Athens-Macedonian News Agency, the Kurds have scattered around the island saying they no longer want to be housed in the same center as the Arabs, either in Moria or in the Kara Tepe camp, where living conditions are considered good.

About 450 of them are staying at the Pikpa makeshift camp, run by the NGO Lesvos Solidarity, another 250 found shelter in the UN-run camp in Skala Sykamnias and went to Lersos, at Geras bay, where NGO Human for Humanity are helping refugees.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/229106/article/ekathimerini/news/hundreds-of-kurds-refuse-to-return-to-moria-migrant-camp-after-clashes

Myös innovatiivista kiristystoimintaa harrastettu. 22 läpsyä pidetty panttivankeina ja perheiltä pyydetty lunnaita. Kiristäjät olivat myös sandaalinsuosijoita.

Greek police say they have rescued 22 migrants who had been held hostage in northern Greece, allegedly by three men who were extorting their families for money.

The migrants had been held in a complex of abandoned buildings in the Thessaloniki suburb of Oreokastro.

Three foreign nationals, aged 19, 20 and 25, were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and blackmail, among other charges.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/229092/article/ekathimerini/news/police-say-22-migrants-rescued-after-being-held-hostage-in-northern-greece

[Mr.Reese]

Nämä tulee kuin manulle illallinen. Lesbokselle pystytetään uusia pakolaisleirejä, kun asukkaat tyytymättömiä entisiin. Laatutietoiset asiakkaat ovat jo kärhämöineet uusien naapuriensa kanssa. Rasistit tietty urputtaa, etteivät halua lisää leirejä ja ongelmia. Lomakausikin alkaisi ja taas menisi yksi kesä muumeix.

Despite vehement local opposition, the government is planning to create new reception facilities for migrants and refugees on Lesvos after rioting at the severely overcrowded Moria camp on Friday prompted hundreds of Kurdish migrants to abandon the premises.

It is not the first time that riots have shaken the Moria camp, where, until last week, some 7,300 people were residing in a facility designed to host a maximum of 3,000.

The upheaval broke out on Friday, according to local sources, after migrants from Arab countries allegedly criticized Kurdish residents, accusing them of not observing religious customs.

The argument escalated into a brawl and resulted in more than 800 migrants, mostly Kurds, leaving the Moria camp. Of those, around 400 had on Tuesday set up tents around the fringes of another state-run facility, the Pikpa camp, while scores more had taken refuge at another camp near the seaside village of Skala Sykamia.

Hundreds more are camping in local squares and parks, reluctant to return to state-run camps which they worry are unsafe.

Local authorities have complained that the new arrivals at Skala Sykamia have strained tensions with local residents and businesses which are preparing for the peak tourist season following several years of losses due to the refugee crisis.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/229120/article/ekathimerini/news/plans-for-more-camps-on-lesvos-after-riots

[kivimies]

^
Vokkien ylikuormittumiseen olisi helpompi (ja halvempi) ratkaisu: palautuksien nopeuttaminen.

The upheaval broke out on Friday, according to local sources, after migrants from Arab countries allegedly criticized Kurdish residents, accusing them of not observing religious customs.

Kertoo kaiken "hädänalaisista", että he ryhtyvät vainoamaan muita uskonnon vuoksi. 

[Mr.Reese]

Perusmenoa, läpsyjä kumiveneillyt Kreikan saarille x määrä. Uutisessa herätti huomiota 16-vuotias ihmissalakuljettaja(rikollisorganisaatioiden uusi taktiikka?) ja päivittelyt, kun Kreetalle rantautuneet läpsyt lähetetään Ateenaan. Kauankohan siellä viihtyvät, kunnes mieli vie taikaseinämaille?

The Frontex vessel rescued 31 people in an inflatable motorized dinghy in the sea off Cape Korakas.
[
The passengers were transferred to the port of Mytilene while the 16-year-old skipper of the dinghy was arrested.

Shortly after, a coast guard patrol boat intercepted another dinghy in the same area with 57 people who were also transported to Mytilene.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, 60 asylum seekers landed at a bay near the town of Siteia on the island of Crete.

Local reports said that the asylum seekers, including nine minors, were on a sailing boat off the eastern coast of the island, near the village of Zakros, and that many of them swam to shore where they were collected by local authorities.

Asylum seekers that are found to have no documents will be transferred to Athens.

Police confiscated the sailing boat and arrested two men on charges of people smuggling.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/229269/article/ekathimerini/news/dozens-of-refugees-rescued-off-coast-of-lesvos

[Mr.Reese]

Moriasta haneen lähteneitä kurdeja uhkaillaan, ettei heidän asyylihakemuksia käsitellä ja suoralla karkoituksella Turkkiin, elleivät palaa takaisin Moriaan. Viimeaikaiset näytöt Kreikan karkoitustoimista ovat vaan olemattomat, joten saa nähdä kuinka käy.

Dozens of asylum seekers who left the Moria migrant processing center for other facilities on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos will be barred from the process if they do not return to the official camp, the Migration Ministry announced on Monday.

The case concerns 1,000 Kurds who left the squalid Moria camp last week and moved to facilities run by the municipal authority where living conditions are better. Of them, 158 have been transferred to a camp on mainland Greece, but 354 remain at a facility in the former Larso sports arena and 269 at the old PIKPA campsite.

Authorities have given these 623 Kurds until Friday to return to Moria, the official camp or hot spot for refugees and migrants, or face being ejected from the asylum process and deported to Turkey.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/229288/article/ekathimerini/news/dozens-of-kurds-face-deportation-if-they-dont-return-to-moria-camp

[Alaric]

Kreikka aikoo avata mantereella olevia käyttämättömiä "siirtolaisleirejä" uudelleen matujen kasvaneen määrän vuoksi.

Tänä vuonna Kreikkaan on tullut virallisesti 12 065 matua (11.6. mennessä), mutta oikea määrä lienee reilusti suurempi.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/229741/article/ekathimerini/news/migrant-camps-reopening-on-greek-mainland (17.6.2018)

Migrant camps reopening on Greek mainland

While European Union countries shut their doors to migrants – Italy and Malta last week refused to allow a rescue ship carrying more than 600 migrants to dock at their ports – Greek authorities are reopening unused camps and facilities across the mainland to accommodate the swelling number of asylum seekers.

Following a series of meetings last week, sources told Kathimerini, the Ministry for Migration Policy decided to reopen four camps, first set up at the peak of the refugee crisis in 2015, raising the total number of operational centers to 25.

More specifically, tents have been set up again at the Malakasa camp, north of Athens, to house 300 people. The Vagiochori camp near Thessaloniki, in northern Greece, is also expected to open in the coming days, providing accommodation for 400 individuals. The facility at Elefsina, west of the capital, has been hosting 250 refugees since late April, while another 350 migrants and refugees were transferred to the reception center at Oinofyta, north of Attica.

A drop in the migrant population at the Skaramangas refugee center, meanwhile, was reversed after September last year, with the current number estimated at more than 2,000.

An average 75 migrants land daily on Greece's Aegean islands. A total of 12,065 people had entered the country until June 11 this year.

[kivimies]

Syyrialaisia kuljettanut auto kolaroi moottoritiellä Kreikan pohjoisosassa, kolme kuoli ja seitsemän loukkaantui. Auton kuljettaja, jota epäillään ihmissalakuljettajaksi, pakeni kolaripaikalta.

Three migrants killed, seven injured in northern Greece car crash

Three migrants were killed and seven injured on Wednesday when a van carrying them veered off course and overturned in northern Greece, police said.

The van's driver, thought to be a trafficker, fled the scene, two police officials added.

Two children were among those injured in the early morning crash on a motorway between the cities of Alexandroupoli and Komotini, the second such incident in the area this month.

The nationality of the migrants could not be immediately confirmed, but they were most likely Syrians, the officials said.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East and further afield have used Greece as a gateway to other European countries in recent years.

Thousands have arrived in recent months via the Evros river crossing in the north of the country, mostly Syrian and Iraqi families.

Reuters (27.6.2018)

[Alaric]

UNHCR:n Kelly Clementsin mukaan Kreikkaa ei ole kohdannut siirtolaiskriisi, vaan siirtolaisten vastaanottokriisi. Hän vaatii parempia oloja näille elintasopakolaisille ja turvapaikkahuijareille.

http://www.france24.com/en/20180628-greece-facing-migrant-reception-crisis-un (28.6.2018)

Greece facing migrant 'reception crisis': UN

Conditions in overcrowded migrant camps on Greek islands are reaching crisis proportions, a senior UN official said Thursday, urging Athens to take action.

"Greece is facing a crisis of reception, not a refugee crisis," UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Kelly Clements said after a four-day visit to Greece.

"The government needs to tackle this by accelerating action to find accommodation, end overcrowding, boost services and improve living conditions," she said from the flashpoint island of Lesbos.

The call came as EU leaders met in Brussels in a desperate effort to overcome divisions and reach a concerted policy on migration.

Lesbos has the highest concentration of migrants and refugees in Greece, and conditions are worst in the camp of Moria where 6,000 people live, according to UN figures, about triple the nominal capacity.

Most there wait months for their asylum applications to be processed. Living conditions are squalid and violent flare-ups common.

The overcrowding saps the residents' health and also means that the vulnerable -- including women and unaccompanied minors -- are often in close quarters with non-family members.

(...)

[Alaric]

Lesboksen saarella Moriassa paikallisilla asukkailla alkaa olla mitta todella täynnä matuvyöryn kanssa ja paikallinen johtaja varoittaakin, että nämä saattavat kohta ottaa lain omiin käsiinsä.

Alueen viemäriverkoston kapasiteetti ei riitä Morian leirillä olevista matuista syntyvien jätteiden käsittelyyn, joten paskaa ja roskaa leviää joka paikkaan tehden ympäristöstä hyvin epäterveellisen.

https://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/07/01/leader-of-greek-island-community-warns-residents-angry-over-migration-may-take-law-into-their-own-hands/ (1.7.2018)

Leader of Greek Island Community Warns Residents Angry Over Migration May Take Law 'Into Their Own Hands'

The leader of the community of Moria on the Greek island of Lesbos has called on the government to do more to deal with the escalating tensions due to the migrant crisis, warning that citizens may try and take the law "into their own hands."

The leader of the community in Moria, Nikos Trakellis, entered his third day on hunger strike on Wednesday when he revealed that the tensions caused by the influx of asylum seekers to Lesbos since 2015 were escalating dramatically, Greek newspaper Proto Thema reports.

"This does not go any further," Trakellis said, adding: "From 2015 we live through the constant destruction of our village," and that the sanitary facilities on the island were not able to handle the influx of migrants living at the camp in Moria.

"The sewage is poured into the nearby torrents and ends up in the sea passing through our property. Garbage everywhere, dirt and mosquitoes. Every concept of life in the village has been destroyed in regards to health and safety," he said.

Trakellis said that he has constantly argued with other government officials to get migrants out of Moria, and that there was a risk public feeling could boil over: "We are all being duped here and in Europe. They're making fun of us. The residents are ready to take the law into their own hands. We are trying to contain the local community, to preserve whatever social cohesion is left."

(...)

[kivimies]

Morian leirissä tapeltiin taas. Saldona kahdeksan loukkaantunutta ja kolme palanutta telttaa. 19 hädänalaista otettiin kiinni.

Violent brawl leaves eight hurt at Moria migrant camp on Lesvos

Greek police say eight people were slightly hurt and 19 were arrested following a violent brawl at a refugee camp on the island of Lesvos.

A police official said Tuesday three tents were also set ablaze during the fracas at the Moria refugee camp.

Police stepped in to quell the feud between rival groups that began late Monday and lasted for several hours.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to speak publicly, said it's unclear what exactly triggered the fighting.

Outbreaks of violence at the overcrowded refugee camp, often triggered by trivial disputes, are increasingly common.

Lesvos is one of five Greek islands near the coast of Turkey being used by the European Union to form a barrier to migration after more than a million people came through here in 2015-16, heading to western Europe.

Ekathemerini (10.7.2018)

[Ajattelija2008]

Saksa on varmaan kieltänyt Kreikkaa lähettämästä huijareita eteenpäin Balkanille ja kohti Saksaa. Muutenhan Kreikka hankkiutuisi sillä tavalla eroon tästä huijarisakista.

Miksi EU:n Turkin kanssa tekemä sopimus el toimi? Turkin pitäisi ottaa vastaan nämä huijarit.

[Mr.Reese]

Paikallinen maajussi on ampunut Lesboksella alaikäistä(?) hädänalaista päähän ja jalkoihin. Tapahtumaketju uutisen perusteella hämärän peitossa. Perseilyltä haiskahtaa, koska tapahtumapaikkana ollut maatila ja mukana menossa ollut veli ja vanhemmat. Mitä asiaa heillä ylipäätänsä siellä?

A Syrian asylum seeker was hospitalized on Tuesday after being shot in the head and legs by a farmer on the island of Lesvos.

Police said the perpetrator, a resident of the village of Moria, shot the 16-year-old in the presence of his brother and parents for unknown reasons at a farm north of the reception and identification center named after the village.

Police are looking for the attacker. The Syrian teenager had arrived in Lesvos just two days ago.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/230543/article/ekathimerini/news/syrian-teen-shot-by-farmer-in-lesvos

[newspeak]

^ Lisätietoa:

...

The Syrian family reportedly arrived on the island of Lesvos two days ago, in the morning of July 8th.

The farmer run away but was apprehended by police later in the evening.

The 78-year-old man is reportedly  a former convict who was sentenced and served his sentence for the murder of his wife. According to media information, he lives in a house inside the land plot and he has tried to use his weapon also in the past to scare migrants and refugees away from his property.

The family from Syria had temporarily left the Moria camp on Monday night seeking refuge in the land plot after a brawl broke out between Arab and Afghan groups of asylum seekers leaving 12 people injured. The family was waiting for things to clam down in order to return to the camp.

The perpetrator told police that he was afraid they were going to rob him.

Citing hospital sources, media report that the teenager has escaped a life threatening condition.

http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2018/07/10/moria-farmer-shoot-syrian-refugee-teenager/

"Yllättäen" Moriassa taas tapeltu.

[Pullervo]

Frontex ja Kreikan rannikkovartiosto rantauttaneet pari ihmissalakuljetuspaatillista paperittomia.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/230748/article/ekathimerini/news/dozens-of-migrants-intercepted-off-greek-islands

Dozens of migrants intercepted off Greek islands (16.7.2018)

A group of 57 undocumented migrants were intercepted off the coast of the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos and brought to shore early Monday morning by coast guard officials and Frontex.

According to reports, the boat carrying the migrants was first seen by a Frontex vessel. The 33-year-old skipper of the boat was arrested.

Meanwhile, another 56 migrants were being temporarily hosted in a municipal gymnasium in the port of Astakos in Aetoloacarnania Monday after being intercepted on a smuggling boat by Greek coast guard officers late on Sunday.

The vessel was spotted heading north toward the island of Lefkada, according to coast guard officers who detained 44 men, four women and eight children.

No information was available regarding the nationalities of the migrants. The authorities detained two suspected smugglers.

[kivimies]

Kaksi raiteilla kävellyttä "siirtolaista" kuoli jäätyään junan alle lähellä Turkin rajaa.

Train in Greece hits, kills 2 migrants near Turkish border

Greek police say two migrants have been killed in northeastern Greece, hit by the same local train in two separate incidents.

Police in the city of Alexandroupolis say the train on the Alexandroupolis-Ormenio line runs parallel to the Greek-Turkish border a few kilometers (miles) to the east. It hit two people walking on the tracks at 12:50 am Saturday, shortly after its departure from Alexandroupolis. Police say one was killed and the other seriously injured.

Migrants crossing into Greece from Turkey often use rail tracks to walk along at night.

The train driver reported the incident and was delayed. Only minutes after resuming its journey, at 2:20 am, the train fatally hit a third person.

The victims' identities or nationalities were not known.

Abcnews.com (21.7.2018)

[Alaric]

Kahdelle ukrainalaiselle ihmissalakuljettajalle on annettu Kreikassa 180 vuoden vankeusrangaistukset. Nämä olivat kuljettaneet 63:a laitonta "siirtolaista" veneellä ja jääneet kiinni.

https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/two-ukrainians-sentenced-to-180-years-for-illegally-transporting-migrants-in-greece.html (22.7.2018)

Two Ukrainians sentenced to 180 years for illegally transporting migrants in Greece

Two Ukrainian nationals have been de facto sentenced to life in prison in Greece for illegally transporting migrants. But their relatives say they are the victims of a scam.

On July 20, a court in the Greek city of Piraeus sentenced Serhiy Shvayuk and Petro Lytvynchuk to 180 years in prison each, the Slidstvo.Info media outlet reported.

According to the two men's lawyer, Zacharias Kesses, the Ukrainians were arrested by the Greek authorities as they sailed a yacht with 63 migrants onboard.

"During the reading of a verdict, between 10 and 15 years could be added (to the sentence) for each illegal migrant," Kesses told the Slidstvo.Info. "Initially they faced 630 years in prison."

According to court translator Lidiya Kostiv, Shvayuk and Lytvynchuk also violated several other laws, including illegal crossing a European Union country's border, putting the lives of passengers in danger with an overloaded boat, and the absence of emergency equipment. Moreover, neither of them had a license to operate the yacht when they were detained.

However, Shvayiuk and Lytvynchuk's families say that they did not knowingly commit the crime. Lytvynchuk's mother told Slidstvo.Info that the two had gone to Turkey to work legally as сaptain's mates on a tourist boat and were forced to transport illegal migrants under duress.

(...)

[Skeptikko]

Minulle on vähän epäselvää, että miksi nämä ihmiset palaavat salaa. Voisi kuvitella, että halukkaat palautettaisiin ihan laillisestikin EU-maista, kunhan vain pyytäisivät palata:

Refugee crisis: The Syrians abandoning Europe - BBC News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NqrKzodZ10

Aihetta sivutaan myös Turkkiin palaamisen osalta tähän prostituutiokeskusteluun juuri laittamassani jutussa:

2016-11-30: Pakolaispojat myyvät itseään miehille Ateenassa - tarvitsevat rahaa
https://hommaforum.org/index.php/topic,117996.msg2911929.html#msg2911929