by Nadine Livaditi, Ilias Aggelos | University of the Aegean

The panel brought together RESPOND team members from five countries (Turkey, Lebanon, Greece, Italy, Poland) who discussed respective findings and developments regarding legislation, policy measures and practices on border management and refugee protection, and, most importantly, their implementation on each country’s legislation. Although some countries…

by Lena Karamanidou, Glasgow Caledonian University | Bernd Kasparek, University of Gottingen

On the 12th May 2020, 102 MEPs asked[1] the European Commission to examine the findings of a joint investigation on the killing of Muhammad Gulzhar on the 4th March in Evros, the area adjoining the Greek-Turkish border. The investigation found that his death was a likely a result of live fire by the Greek forces (Forensic Architecture, 2020; Bellingcat, 2020; Christides, Lüdke and Popp, 2020a). Gulzhar, and many others, were trying to cross into Greece following the announcement of the Turkish government that it ‘opened the border’ on the 27th February 2020.

by Hammurabi Human Rights Organization | RESPOND

Our organization condemns the use of refugees as an instrument for political purposes. Hammurabi Human Rights Organization calls on all actors to stop using this humanitarian issue for political goals and calls on civil society organizations and the international community to protect these refugees from cold, hunger, illness and other sufferings…

by University of the Aegean | RESPOND

The Greek team of the EC-funded international research project “RESPOND: Multilevel Governance of Mass Migration in Europe and Beyond”, expresses its deepest concern regarding the upsurge of racist violence, institutional abuse and human rights violations unfolding on the Greek and European sea and land borders with Turkey, where thousands of displaced people are stranded under inhumane conditions.

by Lena Karamanidou, Bernd Kasparek | Glasgow Caledonian University, University of Gottingen

The region of Evros at the Greek-Turkish border was the scene of many changes in the European and Greek border regimes since 2010. The most well-known was the deployment of the Frontex RABIT force in October of that year; while it concluded in 2011, Frontex has had a permanent presence in Evros ever since. In 2011, the then government introduced the ‘Integrated Program for Border Management and Combating Illegal Immigration’ (European Migration Network, 2012), which reflected EU and domestic processes of the Europeanisation of border controls (European Migration Network, 2012; Ilias et al., 2019). The program stipulated a number of measures which impacted the border regime in Evros:

by RESPOND Project

The EC-funded international research project “RESPOND: Multilevel Governance of Mass Migration in Europe and Beyond” calls for human-rights responses to the explosive situation at the refugee camp “Moria” and in the Aegean region.

After another fire in which a woman was burnt to death, on Sunday 29 September 2019, the inhuman and volatile situation of the “hot-spot” Moria on the Greek island, Lesbos attracted further worldwide publicity. The woman’s death on Sunday was the third in the last two months.

by Dr. J. Eduardo Chemin | Institut für Soziologie, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

Germany has been hailed for its “Refugee Welcome” culture and the efficient and organized manner in which it managed the 2015 migration crisis. One important aspect of reception policy in Germany has been undoubtedly the centralized refugee housing system and the way asylum seekers are systematically “distributed” around the German territory. But although the system is undoubtedly efficient from an institutional perspective, does it offer “adequate living conditions” for the person who is seeking asylum?

On our way from Orestiada to Alexandroupoli – the two largest urban centres in the border region of Evros, Greece – a young migrant, holding some Euro notes in his hand, tried to board the public bus we were travelling on. The conductor refused him: ‘Police. Papers. Then travel!’, he said in English…