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The Deadly
Consequences of "Fortress Europe"
- More than 9000 Deaths
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The UNITED 'List
of Deaths'
Since 1993 UNITED has
monitored the deadly results of the building of a 'Fortress Europe'. More
than 9000 deaths of refugees and migrants have been documented up to now.
These deaths can be put down to border militarisation, asylum laws,
detention policies, deportations and carrier sanctions. They are linked to
the carrying out of decisions taken on highest political level: the
Schengen Treaty, the Dublin Convention and EU border control
programs.
These deaths are not isolated
incidents. They are symptomatic of policies that no longer see the
humanity of those fleeing their homeland, but prefer to see them as
numbers, or worse, as a natural disaster, 'a flood'. By making legal
immigration and asylum nearly impossible these policies lead to the death
of refugees, who fled because of war, persecution, despaired poverty or
natural disasters.
Action: Wake up the policy-makers!
In this
publication you will find statistics on refugee deaths that can be put
down to 'Fortress Europe' and also ideas and suggestions for
action.
UNITED for Intercultural Action protests against the building
of a 'Fortress Europe', which leads to the death of desperate people
looking for safe refuge. Europe is not capable of effectively shutting its
borders, no matter how hard it tries. It is shutting its eyes to the
realities of the global political and socio-economical
situation.
More than 9000 deaths since
1993
If the death of over 9000
people does not wake up politicians and policy makers, what will? We have
to publicise these gruesome facts.
The statistics inside this
publication were created using the UNITED 'List of Deaths'. They reveal
the cruel and inhuman consequences of the European policy of
exclusion.
CONTENTS
1. THE SITUATION OF REFUGEES IN EUROPE
1.1 WHAT ARE THE NUMBERS BASED ON?
1.2 DEATHS IN EUROPE
1.3 CAUSES OF DEATHS
1.4 DEATHS DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTED TO
STATE-SERVICES
2. CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE DEADLY CONSEQUENCES OF 'FORTRESS
EUROPE'!
2.1 WHY?
2.2 WHAT YOU CAN DO
2.3 HOW UNITED CAN HELP YOU
3. 20 JUNE - INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE DAY
4. ‘THE LIST’ - A project by Banu
Cennetoglu
5. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON REFUGEE DEATHS AND THE TREATMENT OF
REFUGEES IN EUROPE:
1.
THE SITUATION OF REFUGEES IN
EUROPE
Every year
thousands of refugees are trying to flee to Europe in their search for
safety from persecution, for economic security or just 'a better
life'.
Each year hundreds of them
drown on the way from Africa to Italy or Spain, suffocate in sealed
containers, starve in locked trucks, are blown to pieces by landmines
between Turkey and Greece or freeze on their way over the mountains. And
if they finally manage to arrive in "Fortress Europe" they are not at all
safe. They are fenced in, in so called refugee centres, some of which do
not differ from a normal prison. Some of these refugees cannot deal with
the misery and the inhuman conditions in which they are held and so they
start a hunger strike or sew their eyes and mouth shut to protest against
their situation. Some of them even commit suicide.
If a state decides that a
refugee has no right to apply for asylum, he is deported to his
home-country, even if he has been living in his new home-country for ten
years. Often the children are deported too, even if they do not speak
their mother-tongue.
Sometimes people die during
deportation, as was the case for Marcus Omofuma, who suffocated during his
deportation. His guards had taped his mouth and restrained his body.
People sometimes are murdered or 'disappear', because the country they
were deported to was not safe after all, and they were killed or
imprisoned by state forces.
Although many European states
celebrate the lowest numbers of refugees in years, people still cry for
stricter rules and limitations for refugees. The Austrian government even
demands a complete rethinking of the right on asylum. They suggest to
transform it from an individual right towards an policy that mainly serves
the needs of the country of destination. But it is sure, that as long as
Europe does not change its attitude towards African and other "Third
World" countries, refugees will keep on coming.
click on the map to see a readable version (jpeg
700KB)
1.1 WHAT ARE THE NUMBERS BASED ON?
The charts in this
publication are based on the data collected in our archives since 1992.
UNITED received this information from newspapers, journalists,
organisations working in the field of refugee and migrant issues, private
researchers and governmental organisations. The figures given can only be
taken as an indication of the true number of deaths.
Each case
published by UNITED is documented in the UNITED archives. Further
information can be supplied on request. The "Documentation on Refugee
Deaths" can be downloaded on the UNITED homepage (http://www.unitedagainstracism.org/).
Researchers and journalists can also order the scientific part of the
documentation, to use it for their studies.
1.2 DEATHS IN EUROPE
As shown on the map (published
in 'Le Monde Diplomatique' based on UNITED research), most of the
documented refugee deaths occur between Africa and Spain in the Strait of
Gibraltar, around Malta and on the way to Italy. Many people drown in the
sea before arriving on European shores. The amount of people that really
drown is unknown – for sure many times higher than the documented number.
For example, Spanish government officials reported that -only in 2006-
about 6000 African migrants have died or gone missing on their sea journey
to the Canary Islands. They estimate that of every three drowned people
only one body is discovered.
1.3
CAUSES OF DEATHs
As Alain Morice puts it in 'Le Monde Diplomatique' (3/2004), one
of the reasons for refugees to enter a country 'illegally' is that «the
governments want to shut down all legal options of migration for people
who try to escape their unbearable living conditions».
Used data for
this statistic based on research results in 2007
click on the chart to see a bigger version (jpeg
50KB)
1.4 DEATHS DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTED TO STATE-SERVICES
This
chart shows the number of persons whose death can be attributed to police
or border guard action. It is nearly 10% of the total number of deaths.
These cases include deportation deaths or suicides in refugee centres, and
cases of border guards shooting people that cross borders 'illegally', as
well as police chasing 'sans-papiers' to their deaths. The number of these
cases is alarming and it is to be feared, that it indicates an even higher
occurrence of maltreatment of refugees in Europe.
Used data for
this statistic based on research results in 2007
click on the chart to see a bigger version (jpeg
50KB)
2. CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE DEADLY CONSEQUENCES OF 'FORTRESS
EUROPE'!
2.1 WHY?
The unbelievably high - and still growing -
number of refugee deaths that is documented by UNITED research is reason
enough to campaign against the fatal realities of 'Fortress Europe'. It is
time to act to prevent these unnecessary deaths in the
future.
2.2 WHAT YOU CAN DO
All organisations, large and
small, can contribute to the fight against more deaths. The UNITED
European-wide campaign aims to raise awareness in all relevant areas of
society. The main targets are the media and the general public. With your
help it is possible to force European politicians to rethink European
immigration policies. You can organise activities such as lectures,
multicultural evenings, debates or preparation of a petition. You should
also consider lobbying, for example, your local Member of the European
Parliament. If you want to give your event a special significance you can
organise it on International Refugee Day, on 20 June.
For UNITED's
documentation of refugee deaths it is necessary that we continue to
receive good information on deaths cases of refugees in Europe. So please
send us newspaper articles, statistics and all other information you can
gather on this issue. Please add UNITED to your mailing list.
2.3 HOW UNITED CAN HELP YOU
Since several years,
UNITED has coordinated the international refugee campaign on 20 June. It
consists of two complimentary parts:
· Protesting against the
restrictive asylum and migration policies, that are referred to as
'Fortress Europe': especially focusing attention on the deaths of
already more than 9000
people who tried to find a safe haven in
Europe.
· Promoting a safe environment for refugees and asylum seekers
without racism and
intolerance.
You can order campaign posters (up
to 100 are for free) and/or more copies of this leaflet. If you need more
for special purposes contact the UNITED secretariat. If you want to find
partner organisations for your campaign or project you can use the
searchable database of UNITED or call us for help.
3. 20 JUNE - INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE DAY
In 2001 a
special UN General Assembly Resolution was adopted to pronounce the former
African Refugee Day as the International Refugee Day as an expression of
solidarity with Africa, which hosts the most refugees. The General
Assembly noted that 2001 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the 1951
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and that the Organization
of African Unity (OAU) had agreed to have the International Refugee Day
coincide with African Refugee Day on 20 June. The Assembly therefore
decided that, as from 2001, 20 June would be celebrated as International
Refugee Day.
4. ‘THE LIST’ - A project by Banu
Cennetoglu
During 2 full
weeks in March 2007 the complete UNITED ‘List of Deaths’ was displayed in
110 large bill boards throughout the city of Amsterdam. The purpose of
this project was to confront the general public with the ‘Fatal Realities
of Fortress Europe’.
For pictures see:
5. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON REFUGEE DEATHS AND THE TREATMENT OF
REFUGEES IN EUROPE:
Austria:
Asylkoordination
Österreich
asylkoordination@to.or.at, http://www.asyl.at/
Belgium:
European Council on Refugees & Exiles -
ECRE
euecre@ecre.org, http://www.ecre.org/
Platform International Cooperation on
Undocumented Migrants
info@picum.org, http://www.picum.org/
Migration News Sheet - http://info@migpolgroup.com/
Mouvement contre Racisme Antisémitisme et
Xénophobie
mrax@mrax.be, http://www.mrax.be/
Human Rights Watch - hrwbe@hrw.org, http://www.hrw.org/
No Fortress Europe
no-fortress@europarl.eu.int
- http://www.no-fortress-europe.eu/
Bulgaria:
Bulgarian Helsinki Committee - Refugee Protection
peregrine@aster.net, http://www.bghelsinki.org/
Cyprus:
Action for Equality Support & Antiracism -
KISA
kisa@cytanet.com.cy, www.kisa.ort.cy
Czechia:
Consortium of Refugee Assisting Organisations in
CZ
konzorcium@seznam.cz, www.refugees.ecn.cz
Counseling Centre for
Refugees
poradna@refug.cz, www.refugees.cz
Denmark:
Danish Refugee Council
drc@drc.dk,
www.drc.dk
Worthy Life for Asylum
Seekers
folkesagen@folkesagen.dk, www.folkesagen.dk
Refugees United
Organisation
info@refunite.org, www.refunite.org
France:
Migreurop Network - migreurop.org
Association Nationale d'Assistance aux
Frontières pour les Étrangers - ANAFE
contact@anafe.org,
www.anafe.org
Féderation des Associations de Solidarité
avec Travailleurs Immigrés - FASTI
solidarite@fasti.org,
www.fasti.org
CIMADE - infos@cimade.org,
www.cimade.org
Germany:
Antirassistische Initiative -
ARI
mail@ari-berlin.org, www.ari-berlin.org
Pro Asyl - Bundesweite AG für
Flüchtlinge
proasyl@proasyl.de, www.proasyl.de
The Voice Refugee Forum / Africa
Forum
voice_mail@emdash.org, www.thevoiceforum.org
Hilfe für Menschen in
Abschiebehaft
info@gegenabschiebehaft.de,
www.gegenabschiebehaft.de
Borderline
Europe
mail@borderline-europe.de, www.borderline-europe.de
Great-Britain:
Asylum Policy Information
Service
frank@exile.org.uk, www.asylumpolicy.info
Institute of Race Relations -
IRR
info@irr.org.uk, www.irr.org.uk
National Coalition of Anti-Deportation
Campaigns
ncadc@ncadc.org.uk, www.ncadc.org.uk
Statewatch
office@statewatch.org,
www.statewatch.org
British Refugee
Council
info@refugeecouncil.org.uk,
www.refugeecouncil.org.uk
Greece:
Greek Helsinki Monitor / Minority Rights
Group
office@greekhelsinki.gr, www.greekhelsinki.gr
SOS Racisme -
Greece
grsosracism@yahoo.com, www.cosmosofculture.org
Greek Refugee Council
gcr1@gcr.gr,
www.gcr.gr
Italy:
ARCI Nuova Associazione Anti Racism &
Immigration
immigrazione@arci.it, www.arci.it
Associazione Rieti
Immigrant-Provincia
cfi-ari@libero.it, www.ariweb.it
Associazione Studi Giuridici
sull’Immigrazione ASGI
info@asgi.it, www.asgi.it
Fortress Europe - http://fortresseurope.blogspot.com/
Luxembourg:
Ass. de Soutien aux Travailleurs Immigrés -
ASTI
ensemble@asti.lu, www.asti.lu
Netherlands:
Amsterdams Solidariteits Komitee Vluchtelingen -
ASKV
askvsv@dds.nl, www.askv.nl
Fabel van de Illegaal
info@defabel.nl,
www.defabel.nl, www.gebladerte.nl
Vluchtelingen Organisaties Nederland -
VON
info@vluchtelingenorganisaties.nl,
www.vluchtelingenorganisaties.nl
Norway:
Norsk Organisasjon for Asylsøkere –
NOAS
noas@noas.org, www.noas.org
Romania:
Romanian National Council for
Refugees
office@cnrr.ro, www.cnrr.ro
Poland:
Polish Humanitarian
Organisation
pah@pah.org.pl, www.pah.org.pl
Portugal:
Portuguese Refugee Council - CPR
geral@cpr.pt,
www.cpr.pt
Spain:
Centro Estudios y Documentacion sobre Racismo y
Xenofobia / Mugak
mugak@mugak.org, www.mugak.org
Comité de Defensa de Refugiados Asilados e
Inmigrantes - COMRADE
comrade@comrade.e.telefonica.net,
www.comrade.es
Movimiento Contra la Intolerancia -
MCI
secretaria@movimientocontralaintolerancia.com
www.movimientocontralaintolerancia.com
Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiado
CEAR
europa@cear.es, www.cear.es
Sweden:
Flyktinggruppernas och Asylkomm. Riksråd
info@farr.se, www.farr.se
Swedish Refugee Aid -
SWERA
info@swera.se, www.swera.se
Switzerland:
Solidarité sans Frontières
info@asyl.ch,
www.sosf.ch
Vivre Ensemble - Service d'Information et de
Documen-tation sur le Droit d'Asile
vivre.ensemble@asile.ch,
www.asile.ch/vivre-ensemble
Graphical impressions of 'Fortress
Europe':
www.social-impact.at/e_index.htm
http://www.denblanken.com/
http://www.go-no-go.nl/
http://www.the-list.info/
www.unitedagainstracism.org/pages/list-exhibition.htm
For addresses of more than 4000 organisations including Refugee Councils,
Offices of UNHCR, grass root NGOs etc. visit our searchable
database at: http://www.unitedagainstracism.org/
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