Quelle: Alarm Phone
Calls from the Greek-Macedonian border for international solidarity
This past week, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 37 emergency cases in the Aegean Sea, and 1 case in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Besides these situations concerning people in distress at sea or stranded on Greek islands, we also received several calls from those stuck in Idomeni, at the border separating Greece and Macedonia. In these cases we were asked to appeal to the international community and draw attention to the thousands who are prevented from crossing the border to move further north. The humanitarian crisis and mass suffering that European border policies produce were exacerbated further when Macedonian security forces used violence against those trying to overcome the fences, for example by firing tear gas into the crowds. These forms of violence mobilised against men, women and children, many of whom are survivors of violent conflict and war, are deeply disturbing. And while it would be easy to blame the Macedonian security forces for these mass violations of human rights, it is clear that they are reacting to the demands of central and northern EU member states to close their borders to those who seek to merely transit through Macedonian territory.
