Lesvos. Greece. Statementy by No Border Kitchen Lesvos on the current situation on the island.
Originally published by No Border Kitchen Lesvos Facebook page (facebook.com/NBKLesvos/)
Cold weather. Rain. And now, an unprecedented wave of rejections. The Greek goverment has made a request to Frontex and the EU to deport 1415 people to Turkey. (1) This while Turkey has not been accepting deportations for almost a year, citing the pandemic. And whilst the country they are being brought to against their will, Syria, is far from any norm of safety we would adhere to in Europe. An act of xenophobic propagandha, to further stigmatize people that are already treated like they are barely human. This is nothing if not a declaration of intent. âEmptying the Islandsâ in itâs most obviously hateful and destructive way.
With the new Frontex standing corps firmly in place to guard the riches of Europe against the âinvasion of the barbariansâ it is not hard to see what the direction is where this going. Both of these things are sympthoms of both Fortress Europeâs increasing empire fetish and subsequent militarisation of the borders, and Greece increasing extreme-right populism with itâs own range of cultural obsessions.
As we cannot possibly explain it better then the man himself, this is how it was quoted by Frontex boss Lagerri, according to this source (2):
âIn addition, the author states that the executive director ârepeatedly made it clear to staffâ that âFrontex is not an expensive lifeguard service,â and staff in operations had been made to understand that âreporting pushbacks involving Frontex personnel is not a route to popularity or promotionâ within the agency.â
They are building a new closed camp not only on Lesvos, but also on Chios (3), and probably planning to do so on the other Islands and evantually also on the mainland. As extreme-right rhetoric, thought and ideaâs becomes the ânew-normalâ, people will be faced with even rougher and deadlier obstacles. Again, Nation-States are using people as pawns to gain more power and votes to support rotten conservative goverments structures. And again preventable loss and suffering will be unleashed on the people that risked everything for safety and security.
This rise in dehumanizing and contemptuous policyâs and actions around the world does not only affect the struggle of people on the move, but will in the end spread itâs effect to all who struggle for a brighter, dignified and free future for all.
A future without borders, bosses or cops.
Get Angry. Organise.
No Border Kitchen Lesvos, January 15, 2021.
Notes
(1) https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/29650/greece-pushing-to-return-1-450-asylum-seekers-to-turkey
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