Piraeus Metro Station – 6 pm

1 September 2023 – On Wednesday 14/6/2023, off the coast of Pylos, a fishing boat capsized, resulting in the death of more than 600 people. Testimonies of survivors revealed that hundreds of women and children were trapped in the hold of the fishing boat. The involvement of the Hellenic Coast Guard in the sinking of the vessel was immediate. Not only did they fail to rescue the passengers when their boat was already in distress, but based on the testimonies of the survivors, the capsizing of the boat occurred when the coastguards towed the boat with a rope. With no regard for human life, the coast guard watched hundreds of people drown from a distance and only began the rescue after two hours. After 104 survivors were brought ashore in Kalamata, the Greek police confiscated the mobile phones of 40 of the survivors in the Kalamata hospital and replaced them so that the evidence of the Hellenic Coast Guard’s responsibility for the sinking of the boat would disappear. According to the survivors, the phones were working and several of them contained a recording of the entire trip, including the Coast Guard’s fatal intervention. Continue reading “Saturday 2 September: Demonstration to the Hellenic Coast Guard and Frontex offices in Athens”

18 August 2023 – From Monday 21st to Sunday 27^th of August, the No Border Camp will take place in Groningen. Hundreds of international activists come together for a week for actions, meetings, workshops, discussion and culture as part of the struggle for a world without borders and freedom of movement for all. The No Border Camp draws attention to the repressive and militarized border and migration policy of the Netherlands and the EU. Continue reading “21-27 August: International No Border Camp in Groningen (The Netherlands)”

2 August 2023 – Letter addressed to
– Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission
– 27 Member States governments

Dear Mrs. Von der Leyen,

We are writing to you to express our indignation and deep opposition to the Memorandum of Understanding with Tunisia, further expanding Fortress Europe, and to denounce the lack of formal condemnation of the racist treatment of and human rights violations against people on the move by Tunisia’s government. A situation that has been described by the UN as illegal under international law.

In a statement from the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) of 18 July, UN experts condemned Tunisia’s racist treatment of Sub-Saharan migrants, emphasizing that “collective expulsions are prohibited under international law” and that “racial hate speech that constitutes incitement to discrimination has real consequences, including violence”.

While the abuses, including collective expulsions, have been going on for years, they intensified this year after racist hate speech by Tunisian president Kaïs Saïed. At the beginning of July, more than 1200 migrants were expelled from the city of Sfax. They were sent to the borders with Libya and Algeria and left there to die. While some hundreds have been rescued, groups of people still remain at the borders today in life-threatening situations. Continue reading “Open letter regarding migration cooperation with Tunisia”

29 June 2023 – On 20 June 2023, World Refugee Day, and the days around it, activists in more than 20 cities across three continents took action to Abolish Frontex and end the EU border regime.

	Rome: protest in front of the detention center of Ponte Galeria

Open letter by over 180 human rights organizations and initiatives together with Tima Kurdi, aunt of Alan Kurdi.

Today on World Refugee Day, we jointly demand full and independent investigations into the events, clear consequences for those responsible, an end to the systematic pushback practices at the European borders, and justice for the victims.

10 years after the two shipwrecks off Lampedusa, Italy, killing around 600 people and causing an immense public outcry, up to 600 people drowned off Pylos, Greece, in the Mediterranean Sea. On June 14, 2023, once again, the European border regime killed people exercising their right to seek protection. We are shaken! And we stand in solidarity with all survivors and with the families and friends of the deceased. We express our deep condolences and grief. Continue reading “Up to 600 people drown off Pylos, Greece – only days after EU leaders agreed to further erode the right to asylum”

Continue reading “20 June: Actions in more than eight countries on World Refugee Day: Stop the war on migrants!”

5 June 2023 – In Rome, on 24 June at 4.30pm we will be in front of the Repatriation Detention Center (CPR) of Ponte Galeria, to relaunch international solidarity and raise our voices against xenophobia, structural racism and the criminalization of migrants. We will make our closeness felt to those who are locked up in the CPR, to those who suffer daily violence, without knowing why or for how long. Continue reading “24 June, Rome: Action at CPR of Ponte Galeria – Let’s stop the war on migrants”

25 May 2023 – BOZA FII has written letters to the ambassador of Belgium (see below), the Senegalese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Directorate of Senegalese Abroad,  to protest the agreement Belgium has recently signed with Senegal to facilitate deportations. The Directorate of Senegalese Abroad refused to receive the letter. Continue reading “Letter to protest deportation agreement between Belgium and Senegal”