Fortress Europe Border Updates
Pawns in the Power Struggle between Turkey and the European Union
A summary of the events in Turkey from February 27 to April 4
On February 27th, the Turkish government promised that the border to Europe would open, which prompted thousands of refugees to sell all their belongings and head to the border town of Edirne. Many others living in camps in Turkey were forced to board buses that took them to the border against their will. For more than three weeks, between 15,000 and 20,000 people endured the horrible conditions at the border crossing Pazarkule, realising they were only being used as pawns in the context of a political power struggle between Turkey and the EU. The "camp" was nothing but a field right next to the border, closed off by Turkish police. Makeshift tents, sometimes built from plastic bags found in the garbage of the village, were the only shelter people had as protection from the cold and rain. To receive food from the Turkish authorities, they had to queue for up to eight hours, starting at 4am. Whoever was not standing in a perfect line was beaten without warning. There were around 20 Dixi-toilets and no other sanitary facilities. Again and again, Turkish police and military forced the refugees to try and cross or tear down the border fence. Every single person who had successfully crossed the border at least once told the same story: the Greek police are systematically beating up the refugees making an attempt to cross. All of them had their phones, their money and, most importantly, their papers taken from them before they were illegally pushed back to Turkey – often stripped down to their underwear. At least two people have now been confirmed dead by Amnesty International, after being shot and killed by Greek forces. Many more were injured by tear gas and water cannons the Greek forces used. We have proof that expired and therefore toxic teargas was shot on multiple occasions.
Thousands of people have been stranded in Turkey without papers, whilst a Turkish law remains in place which bans NGOs from helping undocumented refugees.
A team of volunteers from Josoor has been on the ground to help in whichever way they could, providing water, blankets, plastic sheets and medicine. At the same time, they have been collecting all the information they could on the situation at the border – much more so after the last remaining journalists had been expelled from the area.
One and a half weeks ago, on the 26th of March, police stormed the camp, set everything on fire and forced people with violence and threats of violence to board buses that took them to nine different locations all over Turkey. They have since then been detained, and officially put under quarantine. Phones are not allowed in the camps and have been taken from them, and food remains insufficient. Nobody knows what will happen after the official two weeks of quarantine.
Officials keep telling the refugees that they will be taken back to the border. The Turkish government has lied to the people several times in the past, claiming that the border would be open, and then telling them they would bring them to Istanbul while actually taking them into the middle of nowhere. Although none of the refugees actually believe the government declarations anymore, the last desperate bit of hope led many to prepare to return to Edirne.
In light of all this, a rumour is spreading amongst them, faster than the virus: if they just stick it out long enough on the border, the UN will resettle them in European countries.
Josoor is coordinating ground teams that are still supplying around 200 people who managed to leave the "camp" at Pazarkule before the “evacuation”, who are now staying in abandoned buildings or fields around Edirne. A second team is supporting refugees in Istanbul during the COVID-19 lockdown. We are doing our best to support the thousands of people inside the camps, although contact has been extremely difficult as most of the refugees have had their phones taken from them.
Members of Josoor are also working on collecting and publishing all the human rights abuses that could be confirmed, and are cooperating with other NGOs such as RLC Berlin in researching ways to take legal action.
Josoor is still publishing information from the ground as much as we safely can - the police in Turkey are not thrilled by our work, so there are things we have to keep confidential for the safety of the refugees as well as our team members.
To support our work, share our blog and campaign page!
On February 27th, the Turkish government promised that the border to Europe would open, which prompted thousands of refugees to sell all their belongings and head to the border town of Edirne. Many others living in camps in Turkey were forced to board buses that took them to the border against their will. For more than three weeks, between 15,000 and 20,000 people endured the horrible conditions at the border crossing Pazarkule, realising they were only being used as pawns in the context of a political power struggle between Turkey and the EU. The "camp" was nothing but a field right next to the border, closed off by Turkish police. Makeshift tents, sometimes built from plastic bags found in the garbage of the village, were the only shelter people had as protection from the cold and rain. To receive food from the Turkish authorities, they had to queue for up to eight hours, starting at 4am. Whoever was not standing in a perfect line was beaten without warning. There were around 20 Dixi-toilets and no other sanitary facilities. Again and again, Turkish police and military forced the refugees to try and cross or tear down the border fence. Every single person who had successfully crossed the border at least once told the same story: the Greek police are systematically beating up the refugees making an attempt to cross. All of them had their phones, their money and, most importantly, their papers taken from them before they were illegally pushed back to Turkey – often stripped down to their underwear. At least two people have now been confirmed dead by Amnesty International, after being shot and killed by Greek forces. Many more were injured by tear gas and water cannons the Greek forces used. We have proof that expired and therefore toxic teargas was shot on multiple occasions.
Thousands of people have been stranded in Turkey without papers, whilst a Turkish law remains in place which bans NGOs from helping undocumented refugees.
A team of volunteers from Josoor has been on the ground to help in whichever way they could, providing water, blankets, plastic sheets and medicine. At the same time, they have been collecting all the information they could on the situation at the border – much more so after the last remaining journalists had been expelled from the area.
One and a half weeks ago, on the 26th of March, police stormed the camp, set everything on fire and forced people with violence and threats of violence to board buses that took them to nine different locations all over Turkey. They have since then been detained, and officially put under quarantine. Phones are not allowed in the camps and have been taken from them, and food remains insufficient. Nobody knows what will happen after the official two weeks of quarantine.
Officials keep telling the refugees that they will be taken back to the border. The Turkish government has lied to the people several times in the past, claiming that the border would be open, and then telling them they would bring them to Istanbul while actually taking them into the middle of nowhere. Although none of the refugees actually believe the government declarations anymore, the last desperate bit of hope led many to prepare to return to Edirne.
In light of all this, a rumour is spreading amongst them, faster than the virus: if they just stick it out long enough on the border, the UN will resettle them in European countries.
Josoor is coordinating ground teams that are still supplying around 200 people who managed to leave the "camp" at Pazarkule before the “evacuation”, who are now staying in abandoned buildings or fields around Edirne. A second team is supporting refugees in Istanbul during the COVID-19 lockdown. We are doing our best to support the thousands of people inside the camps, although contact has been extremely difficult as most of the refugees have had their phones taken from them.
Members of Josoor are also working on collecting and publishing all the human rights abuses that could be confirmed, and are cooperating with other NGOs such as RLC Berlin in researching ways to take legal action.
Josoor is still publishing information from the ground as much as we safely can - the police in Turkey are not thrilled by our work, so there are things we have to keep confidential for the safety of the refugees as well as our team members.
To support our work, share our blog and campaign page!
