Rumor sobre apertura de frontera en Idomeni causa tensión entre refugiados

El campamento de Idomeni vivió hoy nuevamente horas de tensión a causa de un rumor sobre la inminente apertura de la frontera griega con la Antigua República Yugoslava de Macedonia [*], lo que hizo que centenares de inmigrantes y refugiados se agolparan ante el puesto limítrofe en espera de poder cruzar.

Ex República Yugoslava de Macedonia (ERYM/FYROM) reabre su frontera a inmigrantes sirios e iraquíes

ERYM[***] reabrió su frontera a migrantes sirios e iraquíes el sábado, horas después de una protesta pacífica del lado griego de la frontera.

European Parliament Approves Relocation of 120,000 Refugees

The European Parliament has voted in favor of relocating some 120,000 refugees who are currently in Italy, Greece, and Hungary, according to a European Commission statement published Thursday.

Arab League chief calls 'electioneering' Netanyahu's vow to rule out Palestinian state

The Arab League chief Nabi Arabi dismissed on Wednesday as "electioneering" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vow to rule out a Palestinian state if reelected...

More than 600 illegal migrants to be returned to Bulgaria from other EU countries

Bulgaria has confirmed that 684 illegal migrants will be returned to it from other European Union countries, adding that claims that 7000 are to be returned are misleading.

Italian coastguard says 900 migrants saved from catastrophe

GALLIPOLI, Italy: Italy's coastguard said on Wednesday (Dec 31) it had narrowly averted a catastrophe after people smugglers set a cargo ship with 900 people on board on a collision course with the country's rocky southern shoreline.

Blue Sky M heading towards Italy / Notruf vor griechischer Westküste: Frachter offenbar doch nicht in Seenot

A bulker believed to be carrying hundreds of illegal immigrants is heading towards Italy and is not in danger, Greek officials said...

Πλοίο πιθανότατα με εκατοντάδες παράτυπους μετανάστες εξέπεμψε SOS ενώ πλέει ανοιχτά της Κέρκυρας (Σηκώθηκαν super puma) / Vessel carrying passengers off the Greek island of Corfu has sent a distress signal

Πλοίο με αρκετούς επιβάτες εξέπεμψε σήμα κινδύνου δυτικά της Κέρκυρας, μέσω του ευρωπαϊκού αριθμού 112...

Η ιταλική ακτοφυλακή ειδοποίησε άμεσα για το συμβάν τις ελληνικές Αρχές και στο σημείο αναμένεται να καταφθάσουν δύο ελικόπτερα που απογειώθηκαν από την Κέρκυρα.

Turkish PM Davutoğlu says ‘even an atheist should have religious knowledge’

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said that “even an atheist should have religious knowledge,” responding to questions over a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision regarding compulsory religious classes in Turkey.

“It is necessary for an atheist to have knowledge of religious culture, just like I know about Marxism despite not being a Marxist,” Davutoğlu said on Sept. 17 during a visit to the Education Ministry.

Gauck has questions on Turkish democracy

Visiting German President Joachim Gauck’s strong criticisms against the Turkish government’s recent moves to block Twitter and YouTube and its increasing control over the judiciary has not gone unanswered by his host, Abdullah Gül, who recalled the killings of immigrants in Germany at the hands of extreme rightist groups.

“Friends may be able to tell each other about unpleasant things that the other does not want to hear. We are not asking questions that have never been asked,” Gauck said at a joint press conference with Gül on April 28 as part of a four-day official trip to Turkey.

Amnesty accuses Cyprus of holding Syrian refugees in prison conditions

Cyprus routinely detains asylum seekers and refugees in prison-like conditions, sometimes breaking European Union law by holding them for more than an 18-month maximum, Amnesty International said on Monday.

While Cyprus is not one of the main routes for migrants to reach Europe, thousands do enter the island each year and Amnesty accused the government of using detention as a way of discouraging the flow.

Migrants: MEPs endorse search and rescue rules to prevent further deaths at sea

Binding rules on search and rescue to clarify how border guards serving in Frontex sea operations should deal with migrants and where they should disembark them were approved by the Civil Liberties Committee on Thursday. The rules were informally agreed by Parliament and Council negotiators on 11 February.

"Our key aims have been met: we have mandatory rules on search and rescue operations and on the identification of migrants intercepted at sea; we have deleted the possibility of ‘pushback’ on the high seas and we have strengthened the ‘non-refoulement’ principle. These new rules will enable Frontex to respond more effectively and to prevent deaths at sea", said rapporteur Carlos Coelho (EPP, PT).

Greek coastguard rescues 85 migrants in Aegean Sea

Greece's coastguard on Jan. 2 rescued a group of 85 undocumented migrants including women and children from a sailing ship in the southeastern Aegean Sea, officials said.

"The migrants are currently being transferred to other vessels and will be taken to the island of Astypalaia," a coastguard spokeswoman told AFP.

The island of Astypalaia lies at almost 100 kilometers from the Turkish coast. Refugee traffic has soared over the past year because of the ongoing war in Syria. Arrivals to Greece by sea have increased with the refugee flow who board on boats from Turkey's southern coast to reach one of Greece's islands. 

UN labour agency urges revision of migration policies after Lampedusa incident.

5 October 2013 – The head of the United Nations labour agency today called for a revision of labour migration and border policies in the aftermath of a boat carrying an estimated 500 migrants capsizing off the Italian island of Lampedusa.
“The Lampedusa tragedy is a sharp reminder that the international community must act together urgently to make migration safe and fully respectful of human rights,” said UN International Labour Organization (ILO) Director General, Guy Ryder.
The quest for better and safer livelihoods and decent jobs is taking on “more desperate proportions,” Mr. Ryder noted, calling for new ways to create more regular migration channels in collaboration with the real actors of the world of work – labour ministries, employers' and workers' organizations.

Hellenic excess: Golden Dawn arrests shows Greece go from one extreme to another.

After a long period of inertia in Greece, when gangs organized by the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn “terrorized” immigrants, gays and leftists, the country has gone to another extreme by arresting the party leaders, law Professor George Katrougalos told RT. Greek authorities are conducting a sweeping crackdown on the far-right Golden Dawn party, arresting its leader, and a dozen senior officials and members on charges of creating a criminal organization. This comes amid anger over the murder of a prominent anti-fascist musician Pavlos Fyssas two weeks ago. 
 Allegedly, the crime was committed by a devoted supporter of Golden Dawn, though Greece’s third-largest party strongly denies any link. Professor George Katrougalos believes it is unlikely that the party will be banned. 

Turkey, EU close to inking readmission of migrants, visa deal.

Serkan Demirtaş
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Turkey and EU appear to be on verge of a breakthrough on visas that could see Turks traveling freely to the EU in return for the readmission of migrants


The hint was given by Stefan Füle, the EU’s commissioner for enlargement, through his Twitter account on July 9. While he was in Istanbul on his way to Tbilisi, he tweeted the following: “In Istanbul on my way to Georgia. Hope to be back here soon for launch of visa dialogue and sign of readmission agreement.”

Days before Füle’s statement, EU Minister Egemen Bağış also signaled that EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malström was expected to pay a visit to Turkey very soon to conclude nearly year-long talks that would begin a process for visa liberalization. In an interview aired on private broadcaster NTV July 6, he said: “Finalizing the visa dialogue is even more important than opening a negotiation chapter.”

Turkey wants Turk-born kids brought up in native culture

Under a massive new campaign to preserve Turkey's cultural identity, children of Turkish immigrants in Europe placed with non-Turk families by social services may be retrieved to be “raised in an environment similar to their native culture.”
Ankara has launched a comprehensive drive and is mobilizing diplomatic efforts to retrieve Turkish children placed in foster care in a number of European countries, Bekir Bozdag, the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister, recently announced.
The move comes after a court in the Netherlands refused to return Yunus, a nine year-old Turkish boy, to his biological Turkish family because his mother did not speak Dutch.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation doesn`t see any real problems with compatriots in Germany

Гарри Мурей высказал свою точку зрения на представленный в начале декабря доклад МИД РФ о ситуации с обеспечением прав человека в ЕС, которую ИА REX публиковало ранее. Ниже приводится перевод этой статьи на английский язык.

The position of the head of the Cologne Human Rights Union in Germany, Master of International Law Garry Murey:
 
Last week, the Commissioner for Human Rights of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation presented a 73-pages report on the situation of human rights in the EU. The report of the Russian authorities has expressed criticism of the Brussels and separately for 27 countries in the Euro Union. Among the most urgent problems in the EU, the report shows the increase of the neo-Nazism, xenophobia, aggressive nationalism and racism. Each country is represented as a separate chapter.

Bulgaria Is Losing Patience with Dutch Schengen Block - Foreign Minister

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov has reiterated that Bulgaria is losing patience with the Dutch opposition to Schengen enlargement.

Speaking Wednesday at a joint press conference with his Latvian counterpart, Edgars Rinkevich, Mladenov repeated the comments of Finance Minister Simeon Djankov from last week that Bulgaria's patience towards the Netherlands had been exhausted and that Bulgaria and Romania had fallen prey to political games.

Greek tourist visa holders refused entry to Australia

Australia/17 Sep 2012

Michael Sweet(neoskosmos)

29 Greek citizens holding tourist visas were turned back at Melbourne Airport in 2011-12 according to the Australian Immigration Department.
Neos Kosmos understands that the refusals were made because Immigration officials believed that the individuals concerned were not engaged in tourist travel, but were looking for employment.
The right to work in Australia is forbidden under the conditions of a tourist visa.