From No Border Kitchen Lesvos
14 protesters detained and in danger of deportation for putting imaginary tents on saphous square
14 protesters are still detained at the pre-removal center in Moria camp. Only two people were released. Among the 14 detainees there is one cancer patient and one suffering from epilepsy. We are very worried that their health will deteriorate if they are not immediately released and can access sufficient medical care outside of the prison.
All of the 14 arrested protesters are North-Africans and therefore subjected to an accelerated asylum procedure. We expect that they will be detained for the entire course of their procedure and then deported. This accelerated procedure is very biased and does not guarantee that each persons case is considered properly. All of them will most likely be rejected on the prejudice that all North-Africans are “economic migrants” and do not deserve international protection.
In the last days IOM staff has been visiting the people in prison and pressured them to sign for so called “voluntary return”. The choice they are given by IOM is barely a choice though. Either they sign, spend months in prison and will be deported….or they do not sign, spend months in prison and will be deported.
What is most outrageous about all of this is that their arrest itself was based on a lie. They are charged with illegally occupying saphous square by putting tents. Just… there were NO TENTS! We are at the moment collecting evidence that can prove that the accuse is simply wrong.
Will it change anything? Probably not. Even though the protesters arrest is based on a lie, we do not expect them to be released from detention. In the end, on Lesvos, the law is not respected. Human rights are not respected. The only thing that seems to count is to get as many people as possible deported as fast as possible.
We demand the release of the remaining 14 protesters.
We demand that the two sick people can access sufficiant health care outside of the prison immediately.
We demand that the charge of illegally occupying the square is dropped.
We demand freedom of movement and a life in dignity for all!