Greece shipwreck

Two of the nine Egyptian people-smuggling suspects sit inside a police car, in Kalamata, Greece.

 Photo by Stelios Misinas. 

 Greek authorities have arrested nine suspected people-smugglers who are believed to have piloted the overcrowded fishing boat that sank off the coast on Wednesday, in one of the worst disasters in the Mediterranean in recent years. The search operation in the tragedy in which hundreds are feared to have died, is due to continue until at least Friday morning, according to government sources.

 So far, 78 deaths have been confirmed but Greek police believe as many as 500 are missing, with witness accounts that up to 100 children were travelling in the ship’s hold. 

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Hope dies last.

Kassem Abo Zeed holds up a phone displaying a photo of himself with his wife, who is missing. Photo by Thanassis Stavrakis.

 For Kassem Abo Zeed it was running out fast. Hope was the force that had led him to board a plane from Hamburg and fly to Greece after he heard that a boat carrying his wife had capsized off the country’s southern coast. But by 2pm on Thursday, 36 hours after the blue fishing trawler packed with migrants and refugees had sunk in one of the worst maritime disasters in recent Greek history, hope was fading in a way he had prayed would never happen.

 Of the estimated 700 men, women and children believed to have been on the vessel when it left the shores of Libya last week, only 104 have been found alive since it sank in waters described as some of the deepest in the Mediterranean at about midnight on Tuesday.

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Croatian police were responsible for the death of Madina Hussiny.

After four years of legal struggle, the European court of human rights (ECHR) has ruled that Croatian police were responsible for the death of a six-year-old Afghan girl when they forced her family to return to Serbia via train tracks without giving them the opportunity to seek asylum.

 The little girl, named Madina Hussiny, was struck and killed by a train after being pushed back with her family by the Croatian authorities in 2017. Judges of the Strasbourg-based ECHR said on Thursday that the Republic of Croatia violated the girl’s right to life, treated children inhumanely by keeping them in detention, illegally deprived the whole family of their liberty, collectively expelled part of the family from Croatia, and ultimately prevented them from accessing their lawyer.

 “This is a big win for justice, after four years of gut-wrenching legal struggle,” said the volunteer-run media and advocacy group Are You Syrious (AYS), which, alongside the Centre for Peace Studies, a NGO promoting non-violence, has supported the Afghan family. 

 “We expect Prime Minister [Andrej] Plenković to urgently dismiss those responsible for the death of a child at our borders due to the actions of institutions that we, the citizens of Croatia, finance,” the Centre for Peace Studies and AYS said at a press conference in front of the Croatian government. 

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Empty Prisons Become Homes for Refugees

In an interesting take on reusing and recycling, a government agency in the Netherlands has opened empty prisons to accommodate the influx of migrants seeking asylum. As the country’s crime rate and prison population have steadily declined for years, dozens of correctional facilities have closed altogether.
 So when the number of migrants started to rise—more than 50,000 entered the Netherlands last year alone—the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) saw a solution.

 

Do You Know This Girl?

She was found alone about a month ago in Velika Gorica, Croatia. Unfortunately, the authorities have not been able to determine her origin, the language she speaks or any other information. She is healthy and well nurtured, and she is approximated 3 years old. Native speakers of several languages could not recognize the language she uses. So far, we have tried to talk to her in Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Pashto, Hindi and Azeri. A system for finding her family has been initiated through UNHCR and the Red Cross, but we are also trying to find them in this manner. We would appreciate if you could share this photo. Especially within refugee camps all over Europe, social media and the press. more here 

 

Refugees Rush Across As Croatia Opens Border

Thousands of refugees stranded in "hellish" conditions have crossed into Croatia after it opened its border with Serbia.

 

Croatian police physically preventing illegal entry into country

Several thousand refugees and migrants are on the Serbian-Croatian border between Bekasovo and Bapska and Croatian police are preventing illegal border crossing and entry around Bapska through a defunct local border crossing, allowing around 50 migrants to enter the country every half hour. According to some estimates around five thousand refugees and migrants are waiting in the border region near Berkasovo in Serbia. Croatian police are preventing illegal entry into the country however there are no law enforcement officers on the Serbian side of the border and the refugees and migrants have been left to their own devices. Croatian police are standing shoulder to shoulder and physically preventing people from illegally entering the country and are directing them to the former local border check point. There are but a few NGO volunteers, such as the Serbian Red Cross and the UNHCR, offering blankets, warm beverages, food and hygienic products. There are a few improvised tents erected but are insufficient protection in the current poor weather conditions.via

 

Local authorities in east Croatia fear humanitarian disaster

As many as 14,052 migrants were recorded entering Croatia from Serbia until 9 am Friday, and the Health Ministry has decided to raise the preparedness level of health services in east Croatia, which is overwhelmed by migrants fleeing the Middle East and northern Africa while heading towards western Europe. “The situation in Tovarnik regarding migrants is better today than yesterday, but we are still concerned as migrants are arriving all the time,” Vukovar County head Bozo Galic, who is at the helm of the county task force for civilian protection, said on Friday after the task force held a meeting in Tovarnik, one of the border towns bearing the brunt of the migrant wave. Galic called for a temporary closure of the border, explaining that the current “humanitarian crisis” might grow into a disaster.
 “The situation regarding migrants should be solved in agreement with the European Union, I believe that the border should be closed at least temporarily,” Galic said.

 

PM says Croatia to start using new methods in refugee crisis

Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said on Friday that Croatia could no longer bear the burden of refugees from the Middle East, adding that new methods would be used as of today. “Croatia cannot and will not take this burden any more, while others are looking away trying to pass the buck,” Milanovic told a press conference. “Refugees are welcome in Croatia, they can pass through because their destination is Northern Europe. They can no longer be registered and accommodated, and we are switching to Plan B.” “People who are coming here will no longer be able to stay in Croatia, but we will give them water and food and will take care of them if they are ill,” Milanovic said, adding that he could not be more specific about Plan B. The prime minister started his press conference by thanking everyone for unselfishly helping the authorities in dealing with the refugee crisis, citing volunteers and civil servants. He stressed that this crisis was not a security threat to Croatia, but was creating problems. “Croatia has shown that it has a heart, both its authorities and its people, but we must remind our neighbours and the EU that we also have a brain and that we know where our interests and our security lie.”
 Milanovic said that no one can physically close the borders unless they build wire fences, which Croatia will not do.

 

Migrants, refugees occupy Tovarnik train station

Since Thursday morning several thousand migrants are located at the train station in Croatian border town of Tovarnik who had been directed there by police after entering Croatia from Serbia,and are waiting for trains to take them to Zagreb. A large number of police is visible, while Croatian Red Cross staff are distributing water and food, taking into account the fact that the migrants are Muslim. Vukovar-Srijem County emergency medical teams are seeing to those seeking medical assistance, mainly about minor injuries and cuts sustained en route.

Some migrants have spoken to the press, inquiring about the cabs to take them to Zagreb.
 Some are complaining about insufficient food and water. A train is supposed to arrive in Tovarnik around 1pm to take the migrants to Zagreb. Fifty refugees arrived in Sisak this morning and were placed at Viktorovac, a former army barracks.
They are mainly men from Syria, Afghanistan, Palestine and other Arab countries. continue

 

Number of refugees in east Croatian border town reaches nearly 200

The number of refugees arriving in the eastern Croatian town of Tovarnik on the Croatia-Serbia border has been rising since early Wednesday morning, and just before the noon, some 180 migrants were being on the premises of the local police station for registration. The total closure of the Hungarian border (with Serbia) on Tuesday led to re-routing of refugees from Serbia towards the border with Croatia, the local police spokesman, Domagoj Dzigumovic, said in Tovarnik on Wednesday.
 All people entering Croatia have been registered in accordance with the Croatian laws and European Union directives, he said adding that assistance has been provided for vulnerable groups, primarily for women, pregnant women and children. Staff and volunteers of the Croatian Red Cross are providing the arriving refugees with water supplies, food and hygienic necessities. Some migrants are trying to cross from Serbia into Croatia through cornfields and orchards in an attempt to avoid official border crossings and their registration. The Croatia police are taking all such refugees they notice for registration at adequate premises.
 Upon the registration in Tovarnik, refugees are being bussed to Sisak and Kutina, central Croatia, where they will be accommodated in the police-run facilities. In those places, refugees will be able to decide whether they want to apply for asylum in Croatia or whether they want some other solutions.
Hina