March, 24 2016, 01:45pm EDT
Save the Children Suspends Support Services on Greek Island Detention Centres Following EU-Turkey Deal
Following initial implementation of the EU-Turkey deal that came into effect on 20 March 2016, Save the Children has suspended all activities related to supporting basic services at all detention centres on the Greek islands due to extreme concerns that newly-arrived vulnerable children and their families are in danger of unlawful and unjustified custody for sustained periods of time.
Currently, all asylum seekers and migrants arriving on the islands after Monday, regardless of their status, are now being placed in the newly designated detention centres until their individual 'admissibility' interview and assessment take place.
"Asylum applications, interviews, and assessments could take weeks, or even months, and the result is that asylum-seekers are, and will, be placed in unlawful detention, contrary to International and European Human Rights Law," said Janti Soeripto, Interim CEO of Save the Children International.
While the European Commission has clarified that 'Irregular migrants may be held in closed reception centres on the Greek islands, and asylum seekers will be accommodated in open reception centres,' at present, this does not appear to be the case in reality, according to Save the Children teams on the ground.
"There is no possible way that the sudden turnaround of reception centre hotspots into detention centres can happen in line with international and European legal requirements, and this will be in particular to the detriment of children," continued Soeripto.
"We already know that among those being detained are unaccompanied children who are particularly vulnerable as they require specialist support and protection which they cannot receive in their current environment, and we remind authorities that the detention of children is unlawful and never in their best interests.
"Furthermore, maintaining family unity should never be used to justify the detention of children. Children and their families should always be in appropriate accommodation in line with the best interests of children.
"As conditions are worsening in Greece, the first priority should be to address humanitarian concerns and deal with the existing protection needs."
Save the Children has suspended all basic service support activities in detention centres on Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros until further notice, including the provision of bus transport to the centres on Lesvos, the distribution of basic cooking, shelter, and winter provisions, and food distribution in Moria camp on Lesvos, which has been taken over by the Greek Armed Forces.
"We will however maintain food distribution in collaboration with Oxfam only in Kara Tepe camp on Lesvos, which is run by the local municipality and remains an open facility, and will also maintain some child protection activities in all closed centres due to ongoing concerns regarding the living conditions of the children inside," said Soeripto.
Save the Children is also alarmed about the proposed forced returns to Turkey, particularly the possibility of the rejection of asylum applications in Greece without examination if they are found to be 'inadmissible', and the lack of capacity in Greece to administer asylum seekers' rights to appeal.
Save the Children reiterated concerns around the imminent 'return one to resettle' one scheme for Syrians.
"It is shameful that Europe is finding ways to cut back on commitments already made to offer safe and legal routes for vulnerable refugees into Europe - the result is that the number of these routes is now actually diminishing, not to mention that their availability in this scheme still requires people to risk their lives at sea," Soeripto warned.
"It is clear that the main message of the EU-Turkey deal agreement is the prevalence of maintaining borders over saving lives."
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Israel's Destruction of Gaza 'Unprecedented in Scope and Scale': UN
"These new figures warn that the suffering in Gaza will not end when the war does."
May 03, 2024
A study released Thursday by a pair of United Nations agencies finds Israel's monthslong U.S.-backed war on the Gaza Strip has inflicted unparalleled damage on the occupied territory's population, housing stock, and overall economy—destruction that will reverberate for generations.
As of April 12, Israeli forces have killed or injured 5% of Gaza's population and left thousands more missing, including many who are believed to be buried under the rubble of the enclave's decimated infrastructure, according to the new study by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
The report says the level of damage Israel's military has caused to Gaza's housing infrastructure has not been seen since World War II and will likely take decades—and tens of billions of dollars—to recover from.
Achim Steiner, the UNDP's administrator, said in a statement that "every additional day that this war continues is exacting huge and compounding costs to Gazans and all Palestinians, now and in the medium- and long-term."
"These new figures warn that the suffering in Gaza will not end when the war does," said Steiner. "Unprecedented levels of human losses, capital destruction, and the steep rise in poverty in such a short period of time will precipitate a serious development crisis that jeopardizes the future of generations to come."
"Unlike previous wars, the destruction in Gaza today is unprecedented in scope and scale."
Abdallah Al Dardari, the UNDP's regional director for Arab states, said during a press conference unveiling the report on Thursday that there were 2.4 million tons of debris in Gaza after Israel's 2014 assault on the enclave.
Israel's current assault, which historians have described as one of the worst bombing campaigns in modern history, has left 37 million tons of debris in the occupied territory.
The U.N. report was published as Israel's assault on Gaza nears its seventh month and as the Netanyahu government appears poised to launch a ground invasion of Rafah, the southern Gaza city that's currently home to 1.4 million displaced Palestinians.
Citing unnamed Egyptian officials, The Wall Street Journalreported Friday that Israel intends to invade Rafah in a week if Hamas does not agree to a hostage-release deal.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Friday that an invasion of Rafah, which Israel has been bombing for months, "could lead to a bloodbath."
The new U.N. report states that if Israel's assault on Gaza continues for another two months, it will leave 1.86 million people in poverty and set back the territory's progress in life expectancy, education, and gross national income growth by more than 20 years.
After months of Israeli attacks on agriculture and other key sectors, the "productive basis" of Gaza's economy "has been destroyed," the report notes.
"Unlike previous wars, the destruction in Gaza today is unprecedented in scope and scale and coupled with the loss of homes, livelihoods, natural resources, infrastructure as well as institutional capacities, may have deep and systemic impacts for decades to come," said Rola Dashti, ESCWA's executive secretary.
"This assessment projects that Gaza will be rendered fully dependent on external assistance on a scale not seen since 1948, as it will be left without a functional economy, or any means of production, self-sustainment, employment, or capacity for trade," Dashti added.
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Missouri Coalition Delivers Signatures to Get Abortion Rights on November Ballot
"This milestone for the Missourians for Constitutional Freedom campaign means that voters are one step closer to being able to use the ballot measure process to secure their rights."
May 03, 2024
Missouri currently has one of the strictest abortion bans in the United States, but a coalition behind a potential ballot measure is hoping to change that—and on Friday, it made major progress toward expanding reproductive freedom in the state.
Ahead of a Sunday deadline, Missourians for Constitutional Freedom submitted 380,159 signatures to the Missouri Secretary of State's office, which must now certify them. The signatures were collected in just three months and are over double the number needed to get the proposed amendment on the November ballot.
"Today, we turned in boxes filled with hopes and dreams of bodily autonomy," declared Tori Schafer, an ACLU attorney and coalition spokesperson, in a statement. "Our message is simple and clear: We want to make decisions about our bodies free from political interference."
A so-called "trigger law" that took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court reversedRoe v. Wade two years ago prohibits abortion care in Missouri unless the health or life of the pregnant person is at risk. There are no exceptions for rape or incest, and doctors who violate the ban could face up to 15 years behind bars.
The proposed amendment would broadly safeguard reproductive freedom in the state, protecting not only abortion care before fetal viability but also birth control, respectful birthing conditions, and miscarriage, prenatal, and postpartum care.
"Hundreds of thousands of Missourians are now having conversations about abortion and reproductive freedom; some are sharing their own abortion stories for the very first time; and all are ready to do whatever it takes to win at the ballot box this year," said Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Abortion Action Missouri and another coalition spokesperson. "Together, we are going to end Missouri's abortion ban."
Dr. Iman Alsaden, chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood Great Plains and adviser to the coalition, called Friday "a monumental day for Missouri and for my patients."
"The success of this campaign sends a clear message: Missourians trust patients to make the healthcare decisions that are best for their health and well-being," Alsaden said. "Anti-abortion politicians take note: My patients' lives are not yours to control."
Missouri is one of several states—including Arizona, Florida, and Montana—where supporters of reproductive freedom are working to pass abortion rights ballot initiatives this cycle. As the divided Congress has failed to codify Roe since the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, ballot measures have been an increasingly popular strategy.
Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, which has backed various abortion rights ballot initiatives across the country over the past few years, welcomed the successful signature collection campaign in Missouri on Friday.
"Missourians today are living under an extremely cruel abortion ban, enacted by politicians who are profoundly out of touch with their voters," Hall said. "Missourians deserve better—they should be able to make their own healthcare decisions without government interference."
"This milestone for the Missourians for Constitutional Freedom campaign means that voters are one step closer to being able to use the ballot measure process to secure their rights this November," she added, "and we are excited to be standing with them in that fight."
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Gaza Journalists Killed by Israel Honored on World Press Freedom Day
"To claim these deaths are accidental is not only incredulous, it is insulting to the memory of professionals who lived their lives in service of truth and accuracy," said one expert.
May 03, 2024
As the international community marked World Press Freedom Day on Friday, journalists and advocates across the globe mourned and celebrated those killed in Israel's ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip.
The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has publicly identified at least 97 media workers killed since Israel launched its retaliatory war on October 7: 92 Palestinian, three Lebanese, and two Israeli reporters.
"Since the Israel-Gaza war began, journalists have been paying the highest price—their lives—to defend our right to the truth. Each time a journalist dies or is injured, we lose a fragment of that truth," said CPJ program director Carlos Martínez de la Serna in a Friday statement. "Journalists are civilians who are protected by international humanitarian law in times of conflict. Those responsible for their deaths face dual trials: one under international law and another before history's unforgiving gaze."
Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF)—or Reporters Without Borders—puts the journalist death toll in Gaza above 100. Middle East Monitorreports at least 144 members of the press are among the 34,622 Palestinians that Israeli forces have killed in less than seven months in what the International Court of Justice has called a plausibly genocidal campaign.
RSF on Friday released its annual Press Freedom Index. In its section on the Middle East, the group states:
Palestine (157th), the most dangerous country for reporters, is paying a high price. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have so far killed more than 100 journalists in Gaza, including at least 22 in the course of their work. Since the start of the war, Israel (101st) has been trying to suppress the reporting coming out of the besieged enclave while disinformation infiltrates its own media ecosystem.
At the war's six-month mark in April, Jonathan Dagher, head of RSF's Middle East desk, declared that "this massacre must stop. Gaza's reporters must be protected, those who wish must be evacuated, and Gaza's gates must be opened to international media."
"The few reporters who have been able to leave bear witness to the same terrifying reality of journalists being attacked, injured, and killed," he continued, ripping the IDF for "silencing those who are driven by a duty to report the facts."
"RSF calls on the international community, its leaders, and its governments, to do everything to step up pressure on the Israeli authorities to end this disaster," Dagher added. "Palestinian journalism must be protected as a matter of urgency."
The Paris-based group nominated Palestinian journalists covering Gaza for an annual award from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)—an honor they received during a ceremony on Thursday.
"Each year, the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Prize pays tribute to the courage of journalists facing difficult and dangerous circumstances," said Audrey Azoulay, the U.N. organization's director-general. "Once again this year, the prize reminds us of the importance of collective action to ensure that journalists around the world can continue to carry out their essential work to inform and investigate."
Palestinian journalists covering Israel’s war on Gaza have been awarded UNESCO’s World Press Freedom prize. More than 100 journalists, mostly Palestinians, have been killed in the war. pic.twitter.com/uSfIKsqTyQ
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 3, 2024
Nasser Abu Baker, president of the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate and vice-president of the International Federation of Journalists, accepted the prize on behalf of his colleagues in the besieged enclave.
"Journalists in Gaza have endured a sustained attack by the Israeli army of unprecedented ferocity—but have continued to do their jobs, as witnesses to the carnage around them," he said. "It is justified that they should be honored on World Press Freedom Day. What we have seen in Gaza is surely the most sustained and deadly attack on press freedom in history. This award shows that the world has not forgotten and salutes their sacrifice for information."
Mariam Abu Dagga, a 31-year-old photojournalist for the Independent Arabic displaced in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, toldCNN: "We are covering the war on Gaza because this is our journalistic duty. It is entrusted upon us... We challenged the Israeli occupation. We challenged the difficult circumstances and the reality of this war, a genocidal war."
"Whenever a journalist is targeted, we ask ourselves who among us will get their turn of being targeted tomorrow," said Abu Dagga, who also noted the emotional toll of tasks such as photographing children beneath the rubble.
“Palestinian journalists have seen what no journalist has.”
For #WorldPressFreedomDay, we spoke to Palestinian journalist Hani Aburezeq, who's been showing the world Israel’s war on Gaza. pic.twitter.com/YikPzX12a7
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 3, 2024
While Israel has repeatedly claimed—as it did to CNN on Friday—that "the IDF has never, and will never, deliberately target journalists," members of the press and others have cast doubt on such comments.
“For far too long Israel has been able to operate with impunity in the occupied Palestinian territory, and this has included occasionally killing reporters, like the Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, in 2022," Simon Adams, president of the Center for Victims of Torture, told the Inter Press Service.
Given the number of journalists killed in Gaza since October, he said, "to claim these deaths are accidental is not only incredulous, it is insulting to the memory of professionals who lived their lives in service of truth and accuracy."
Simon called for all journalist deaths in Gaza to be reported to the International Criminal Court and asserted that "World Press Freedom Day should be celebrated with a black armband this year."
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