Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Greek Hero Pulls Migrants From the Sea - Aleteia

It was an ordinary morning for Antonis Deligiorgis, a Greek Army Sergeant living on the island of Rhodes, a popular tourist destination island in southern Greece. After making the morning school run with his wife, the two stopped by a seaside cafe for a coffee.

According to The Guardian, shortly thereafter, a wooden boat from Turkey, carrying 93 refugees and migrants from Syria and Eritrea, crashed into some jagged rocks off the shore and disintegrated in a matter of minutes.

“It was as if it was made of paper, " said Deligiorgis. "By the time I left the café at 10 past 10, a lot of people had rushed to the scene. The coastguard was there, a Super Puma [helicopter] was in the air, the ambulance brigade had come, fishermen had gathered in their caiques. Without really giving it a second’s thought, I did what I had to do. By 10:15 I had taken off my shirt and was in the water."

Deligiorgis is responsible for bringing 20 of the 93 refugees to shore singlehandedly.

“The water was full of oil from the boat and was very bitter and the rocks were slippery and very sharp. I cut myself quite badly on my hands and feet, but all I could think of was saving those poor people.”

The 34-year-old cannot remember how many people he saved, but one woman was 24 year-old Eritrean woman Wegasi Nebiat, whose parents paid $10,000 to help smuggle her into Europe. She left Eritrea, a country notorious for its human rights abuses, many months ago and made her way to Turkey through smugglers. She then joined a group of refugees in Marmaris and they were brought to a secluded beach to begin the perilous journey across the Mediterranean.

The UK’s Daily Mail, reports that Wegasi was treated for three days for suspected pneumonia, and in her hospital bed, when shown a photo of her being rescued by Deligiorgis, says she didn’t remember much.

"I was in the water and scared and then I was here. I feel lucky. I have family back at home and I am lucky that I made it."

When Deligiorgis spotted Wegasi in the water, the waves were strong and Wegasi was having problems breathing as she hung on to debris.

“There were some guys from the coastguard around me who had jumped in with all their clothes on. I was having trouble lifting her out of the sea. They helped and then, instinctively, I put her over my shoulder, ” Deligiorgis recalls.

Deligiorgis, who also rescued a woman who then gave birth to healthy baby boy in a Rhodes hospital, says the survival skills and techniques he learned in the army helped him. He doesn’t consider himself a hero — he says he simply did his duty "as a human being and as a man."

The new Eritrean mother plans to name her baby boy after Deligiogis, the man who saved both of them.

The army sergeant is not the only person who risked his life to save the migrants. Manolis Stavris, a local sailor, was another — the first to arrive at the scene, according to a story in the Daily Mail.

‘We were the first to spot the boat, we thought it was a tourist boat. When we saw it hit the rocks, we contacted the company and they told us to rush and save the people."

Stavris saw a young woman holding on to a tube with a baby in her arms.

"She was shouting ‘the baby, the baby.’ I saw the baby fall from her hands and slowly descend towards the bottom of the sea, like lead, like a stone. The baby was wearing a lot of clothes. I dove into the water and caught the child. Another six people fell in the water after me," he said, adding, "I couldn’t feel the cold, or anything. I only cared about saving the people. The child didn’t make a sound. She looked at me like she wanted to say something, I held her close and she didn’t make a sound, she didn’t even cry.” ‘I’ve never seen anything like what happened yesterday, only on television. I’ve been travelling for 38 years and I’ve never seen anything like that."

Even those who remianed on shore were doing their best to help. Stavris recalled a Greek woman standing nearby who took the clothes off her own child in order to dress the baby he had saved.

"We are all proud to be Greek. We may not have enough, we may be starving, but in situations such like these we are the best people in the world."

Monday, June 29, 2015

You’re Better Than This, Europe - The New York Times

STRASBOURG, France — DURING the last seven decades, European countries have painstakingly tried to rebuild a continent once shattered by war and atrocities according to the values of solidarity and human rights. We built institutions to prevent the crimes of the past and we made a commitment to help those in need of protection.

This process has now gone awry. Europe’s current response to refugees shows unmistakable backsliding on that commitment. Immigration has become such a contentious issue that it is tearing apart what remains of the European project and its facade of solidarity.

I have observed this regression in many countries. Spain recently adopted legislative amendments to enable border guards to repel without due process migrants arriving from Morocco at Ceuta and Melilla, Spanish territories in North Africa. Spain has pushed ahead with this policy in spite of international criticism that these amendments threaten the right to asylum and erode hard-won international protections for refugees.

In Hungary, the government is conducting a racist poster campaign about migrants and asylum seekers, feeding popular prejudice about refugees “stealing” locals’ jobs. The Hungarian government has also announced aplan to build a 13-foot fence on its border with Serbia to prevent migrants from entering. This is similar to what Bulgaria has already done on its border with Turkey.

In France, a chronically underfunded refugee reception system obliges many asylum seekers to live on the streets. In Austria, the government just halted the processing of asylum applications, ostensibly to make the country less attractive to asylum seekers and to force other European countries to do their share. In Denmark, a populist party now holds the balance of power after running an electoral campaign on anti-immigrant rhetoric, including calls for stricter border controls.

The Syrian refugee crisis is a good illustration of this unwillingness to share responsibilities in receiving and protecting refugees. Turkey is dealing with almost two million displaced Syrians, yet its fellow Council of Europe countries hesitate to accept a few hundred Syrian refugees. With the exception of Armenia, Germany and Sweden, the response of the other 43 European countries has been simply shameful.

Not even the thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean have made European governments shift their position. While Italy alone was saving migrants from drowning, some fellow European Union member states, like Germany and Britain, fiercely criticized it, claiming that operations like Italy’s Mare Nostrum search-and-rescue mission would act like a magnet for other migrants. Many member countries greeted the European Commission’s recent proposal of mandatory quotas for redistributing asylum seekers with open hostility. After acrimonious discussions, they agreed to a much weaker scheme.

Divided as they are, European leaders do share a view of migration as a security problem, often using inappropriately militaristic language. The European Commission exhibited the same approach in last week’s proposal to strengthen the powers of the European Union border agency, Frontex, to fingerprint, detain and expel migrants.

More worrying, the European Union has continued along the path of “externalizing,” or outsourcing, border controls. This involves paying countries that have either weak democracy or none at all to keep migrants away from European coasts.

It can also mean putting pressure on European countries that are not member states — in the Balkans in particular — to reduce the number of their citizens applying for asylum in the European Union with the threat of restoring mandatory visa requirements. These tactics have led to the adoption, usually by Europe’s proxies, of unlawful measures like ethnic profiling at border crossings, the confiscation of travel documents and physical measures to repel migrants.

What is especially offensive in all this is that, with the exception of Turkey, European countries are far from experiencing the kind of refugee pressures that much poorer and less stable countries like Pakistan, Lebanon and Ethiopia are experiencing. No European Union member state ranks amongthe 10 major refugee-hosting countries.

Yet Europeans act as if they were on the verge of being “invaded.” A series of spats between France and Italy is a sad reminder that as few as 200 asylum seekers’ attempting to cross what the European Union considers an internal border under the Schengen Agreement, which has been in force for 20 years, today raises diplomatic tensions.

European countries have lost all sense of proportion. With a total population estimated at more than 740 million, they are among the richest and most stable countries in the world, but they pretend to be threatened by the idea of admitting 600,000 asylum seekers a year.

Europe needs to take a long, hard look at itself — and at the reality of the refugee issue. The European Union could start by overhauling its laws governing asylum and migration. By increasing legal avenues for migrants to reach Europe, with measures like eased humanitarian visas and family reunification rules, it would reduce the number of migrants taking perilous routes. That would help cut the ground from beneath the feet of smugglers, who grow richer when migration restrictions are harsh.

Laws that ensure a humane approach to the needs of migrants should replace provisions that criminalize migrants who enter and remain by irregular means. Such legislative changes must go hand in hand with improved migration policies.

First, we need a European-run Mare Nostrum mission to ensure extensive search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean. Second, European countries must more readily embrace the proposals made by the United Nations refugee agency, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, especially on the need to resettle people fleeing oppression and in need of protection.

The European Union should also implement development policies in refugees’ countries of origin to help eradicate the causes of migration. And when it signs cooperation agreements with those countries, it must ensure that its partners respect human rights.

Arguably the most pressing challenge, though, is to address public anxiety about migration and asylum. Instead of pandering to fear, political leaders and opinion makers should confront the issue from a principled standpoint. The values of tolerance, acceptance and solidarity have defined the European project. We cannot abandon them now, over this.

Managing migration is not an easy task, but from its position of privilege, Europe must not use this difficulty as an excuse to trample on our obligations to protect those who flee wars and persecution. It is a matter of principle that defines our identity, which we must not betray.

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Three illegal immigrants who walked into county hotel seeking political asylum were arrested | Northampton Herald & Post

Three men from Eritrea who walked into the Holiday Inn in Flore asking for political asylum have been arrested by police.

This was one of the ten cases of illegal immigrants found in the county which Northamptonshire Police had to deal with on Wednesday.

Police dealt with the first case at 3.42am when they were called to Swan Valley where they found two illegal immigrants from Eritrea who had been hiding in the back of a lorry.

While police were there they found another man from the Sudan hiding in a lorry.

They also got a call at 6.33am of a man (who had illegally entered the county from the Sudan) walking down the hard shoulder of the M1 motorway near junction 15.

Both of the men were arrested by police

At 10.22am they had a call from the Holiday Inn at Flore as three men from Eritrea had walked into the hotel asking for political asylum.

They were also arrested.

Then at 11.20am, police were called to South View in Kislingbury where three men were wandering the streets.

All three it turned out were illegal immigrants.

Northamptonshire Police are advising lorry drivers if they hear stowaways in their vehicles to keep the doors closed until police arrive rather than deal with the situation themselves.

Ethiopia working to extradite 80 suspected human smugglers - WTOP

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The Ethiopian government says it is working with the International Criminal Police Organization, or Interpol, to repatriate 80 suspected human smugglers as the country struggles to stem the wave of migrants leaving the country.

The chief of the Illegal Human Trafficking Crime Investigation Division of Ethiopia’s federal police, Wondimu Chama, said Thursday to the Ethiopian news agency that they succeeded extraditing five suspects from Kenya, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Tanzania. Wondimu said the police division has been working with Interpol to identify human smugglers abroad who will face charges in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian government said 200 suspected human smugglers have been arrested in the country to try to stop citizens from moving to Europe illegally. The government’s action comes after 30 Ethiopian migrants were killed in Libya by Islamic extremists

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Migrants continue to live on the rocks as France plans help

Saturday, June 13, 2015

IOM evacuates 200 Ethiopian migrants by boat from Yemen

Posted by: APA Posted date : June 13, 2015 at 10:24 am UTC 33 views In : Africa

Copyright : APA
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has evacuated 200 Ethiopian migrants by boat from Yemen, to Djibouti, reports said on Saturday. The evacuation involved two boats carrying evacuees to the Djibouti port of Obock.
After a 24-hour journey across the Red Sea between Al Hudaydah, in Yemen, and the port of Obock all migrants arriving at the port were provided with immediate humanitarian assistance by IOM teams.
According to the IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti Henry Glorieux, this successfully on-going operation is the result of great team-work between IOM teams in Yemen, Ethiopia and Djibouti in coordination with Ethiopian authorities in Yemen and Djibouti.
â€œWe are incredibly grateful for the excellent support received from national authorities in undertaking this first evacuation by boat,â€� Glorieux said.
For the journey, IOM Djibouti chartered two boats, in coordination with IOM Yemen to start the evacuation of Ethiopian migrants currently under IOM’s care in the Yemeni city of Hodeida.
Both vessels were inspected before departure to ensure that they met minimum standards in terms of security equipment and availability of basic services on board.
The returnees were composed of 24 females and 177 males and included 48 unaccompanied minors. IOM coordinated the sea evacuation with interlocutors in the Embassy of Ethiopia in Sana’a and Yemen’s Immigration Department.
Upon issuance of travel documentation by the Ethiopian consular services, the group of 201 migrants was due to be transported onward from Djibouti to Ethiopia by bus, in two separate convoys.
IOM said that while the caseload of stranded migrants in Hodeida is constantly changing, the organization currently estimates a remaining caseload of approximately 500 Ethiopians in Hodeida.
Signature : APA

Thursday, June 4, 2015

From Seattle to Saudi Arabia, dangerous myths lure Ethiopian migrants - The Seattle Globalist

by Goorish Wibneh - Jun 1, 2015

An overcrowded detention centre in Sana'a, Yemen holds Ethiopian migrants making their way to Saudi Arabia seeking work opportunities (Photo by Anna Surinyach/MSF) — An overcrowded detention centre in Sana’a, Yemen holds Ethiopian migrants making their way to Saudi Arabia seeking work opportunities (Photo by Anna Surinyach/MSF)

Seattle has become one of the preferred destinations for Ethiopian immigrants. Some estimates say there are as many as ten thousand Ethiopians living in the Seattle area.

Talking to Ethiopian Americans here in Seattle you might never realize how big the worldwide Ethiopian diaspora is or what people go through to find a new home.

“I see and hear stories of people coming here as refugees, through the [Diversity Visa Lottery],” Said Haile Kiros, an Ethiopian immigrant who’s lived in Seattle for about a year. “They find what they expected is different from the reality here… they decide to take their own lives.”

He says he’s heard many such sad stories.

“Some have sold their houses [to come to the U.S.], some are living with a lot of stress here, others have big problems with the language.”

The stress induced by culture shock is not to be underestimated. Even something as simple as maintaining eye contact while speaking — which is normal here but comes off as confrontational for many culturally inhibited Ethiopians — can complicate simple communication.

So with all these troubles, you might wonder why those with the resources to leave Ethiopia don’t invest in their home country instead.

According to one account told to an Al Jazeera reporter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopians look outside of their country for opportunities because “our families can’t give us money while we’re here. They only help when there’s a plan to leave, because they’re more certain that eventually [we’ll be able to] send the money back.”

Haile Kiros, an Ethiopian migrant who arrived in Seattle about a year ago, says that the language barrier is the biggest challenge he's faces. He's frustrated that the test required to practice his craft as a barber in Washington isn't offered in his native language of Tigrinya. (Photo by Goorish Wibneh) — Haile Kiros, an Ethiopian migrant who arrived in Seattle about a year ago, says that the language barrier is the biggest challenge he’s faces. He’s frustrated that the test required to practice his craft as a barber in Washington isn’t offered in his native language of Tigrinya. (Photo by Goorish Wibneh)

Hirut Dube, a caseworker for the Ethiopian Community in Seattle recalls a family of seven who arrived in Seattle in May expecting a better life, only to suddenly find themselves homeless — a concept that is almost nonexistent back in Ethiopia.

Dube herself came to Seattle from Ethiopia five years ago and has since been working with immigrants from the Horn of Africa as a volunteer and professional caseworker. While in Ethiopia, she’d worked as executive secretary in the sole Ethiopian telecom company for ten years.

Dube says the family “expected a big house was on the road… they sold their house [in Ethiopia] and other belongings.”

She said the difference between what those who come to the U.S. expect, and the reality they find when they get here is “hundred percent.”

She advises immigrants, especially newcomers, seek the help of professional case workers, instead of random people, so they can get connected to appropriate communities and resources. She couldn’t stress enough that prospective immigrants should study “everything” especially rules and regulations of the destination country before leaving their own.

Fortunately, the family she described is okay now because they came to a city we Seattleites know is the “best city in the world.” Dube was able to connect them with family housing resources and get their children enrolled in school the next day.

But every Ethiopian immigrant story doesn’t have such happy ending — especially in other parts of the world.

Two weeks ago Ethiopian migrants were killed in the crossfire of Yemen’s civil war. This was after the Ethiopian Embassy there had been bombed in April.

Ethiopians, known for their hospitality, were baffled by deadly xenophobic attacks in South Africa in April against immigrants from elsewhere in Africa — including Ethiopians. The feeling of betrayal amongst Ethiopians was obvious: not only did the freedom fighter Nelson Mandela receive military training from Ethiopia during the Apartheid era, he was also given an Ethiopian passport so he could freely travel abroad when the apartheid government wouldn’t grant him a passport.

Before Ethiopians could recover from the news of these attacks, another story broke about dozens of Ethiopians and Eritreans killed by ISIS in Libya. The unusual and unprovoked attack shocked the East African nation that’s home to a mix of Muslims and Christians that typically live together peacefully. Ethiopians were heartbroken and deeply grieved due to the graphic nature of the attacks and went through process of one of their most complex social affair in Ethiopia, mourning.

Piles of personal belongings of from among the thousands of Ethiopian migrants repatriated from Saudi Arabia in 2013. (Photo via U.S. Embassy)

Although it is impossible to get used to such stories, this is not the first season Ethiopians had to deal with horrific abuse of their beloved in foreign lands. The commonmistreatment of domestic workers in the Middle East escalated during Saudi Arabia’s violent crackdown on Ethiopian immigrants, leading the biggest human airlift in history when Ethiopia repatriated about 150, 000 of its citizens over the course of a few weeks in 2013.

Even in the so-called civilized nations, Ethiopians are not catching a break either. The callous immigration practices of E.U. and Israel has lead to the death of thousands of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. EU members had defunded sea patrol to discourage migrants from traveling, leaving them to die instead. We are left to believe this is a non-violent response to the African migration problem.

Anti-African asylum-seeker rhetoric and policies in Israel is disturbingly high. It’s not a mere coincidence that three of those killed by ISIS along Ethiopians were Eritreans who sought asylum but were turned away by the Jewish state.

A documentary film about ‘new’ racism in Israel, shows the frightened faces of Ethiopian and Eritrean men and women at anti-African asylum-seekers protests and rallies.

If Ethiopian immigrants are not having much luck around the world why do they keep leaving their home country, considered by some to be a poster child of development?

It is probably the myth of exaggerated prospects for success, which has the effect of downplaying the risks of migration. That myth is mostly propagated by the Ethiopian diaspora themselves, sometimes inadvertently or as a result of social pressure.

“Ethiopians at home only see what people who return from here or… especially from Arab countries display: their success,” Dube explains “[Members of the diaspora] don’t tell how they earned it, how many obstacles they had to overcome to get the success and how long it took them to succeed. People back home only see the target… the end.”

Kiros is a little more cynical when he called the display of success by the diaspora in the U.S. as “simply a decor” and misleading for the people back home.

”It’s wrong to post pictures [that purportedly show success]…. on Facebook or Youtube when one doesn’t have a good job or is living on food stamps.”

However, Ethiopians at home still appear to be at least partly in the know about the reality of their prospects abroad, complicating the cognitive aspect of problem.

“I know it’s dangerous, but I might be one of the few to make it safely so yes, I’d take the risk,” migrants told Al Jazeera when asked why they would want to take a deadly journey across the land and sea.

That journey is obviously too risky, but it’s hard to fault someone for dreaming of a better life for themselves and their families. Here’s hoping the world can take it easy on these “brave” Ethiopian migrants.

None of us can predict when we might end up migrating ourselves and be on the receiving end of hostility toward immigrants. If you have a hard time imagining yourself being on that end, remember the times you or your beloved traveled and wished people were a little nicer or more understanding.