Jeff—Saturday
This week two articles reported by Reuters on the refugee
crisis in the Mediterranean caught my eye, concomitantly raising my blood
pressure. Admittedly, they’re directly related to the subject of my ninth
Andreas Kaldis mystery-thriller, AN AEGEAN APRIL, coming January 2nd
from Poisoned Pen Press. But this is not about promoting my book.
This post is directed at western governments that, while righteously
condemning atrocities in what they deign less civilized regions of the world, are
at the same time brazenly complicit in condoning equivalent behaviors designed
at keeping refuges from reaching their national borders.
Here’s what Reuters had to say this week about the migrant situation
on the Greek island of Lesvos (population 86,000)—the setting for An Aegean April—a situation that is the direct
result of an agreement reached between the EU and Turkey to shut down the route
taken by refugees into Greece, via Turkey, on their way to Northern Europe.
“Greek Island on Strike In
Protest Against Becoming a Migrant ‘Prison.’”
ATHENS (Reuters—Karolina Tagaris) -
Residents on the Greek island of Lesbos went on strike on Monday to protest
against European policies they say have turned it into a “prison” for migrants
and refugees….
Just a few miles
from Turkey’s coast, Lesbos has borne the brunt of Europe’s migrant crisis. In
2015, nearly a million people - most fleeing Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan -
landed on its shores before heading north, mainly to Germany.
It is now hosting
some 8,500 asylum-seekers in facilities designed to hold fewer than 3,000.
“Lesbos is not an
open prison, nor will we allow anyone to view it as such,” Mayor Spyros Galinos
was quoted as saying by the Athens News Agency.
Thousands of
asylum-seekers have become stranded on Lesbos and four other islands close to
Turkey since the EU agreed a deal with Ankara in March 2016 to shut down the
route through Greece.
Some have been
moved to camps on the mainland, but authorities say the terms of the agreement
prevent asylum-seekers from travelling beyond the islands.
Rights groups have
described conditions in camps across Greece as deplorable and unfit for humans.
On Lesbos, violence often breaks out over delays in asylum procedures and poor
living standards.
“The message
(today) was that we can’t take it any more,” Galinos said. “Lesbos is in a
state of emergency.”
And here’s the second article, this one addresses
the deal with Turkey, but also the shame implicit in an EU deal that enlists Libya
to keep refugees from making it to Italy, and from there on into Northern
Europe. Don’t miss the last two sentences…assuming
you have the stomach for what civilized governments are willing to sweep under
the rug in the name of protecting their national interests.
Mediterranean ‘by far world’s deadliest border’ for
migrants, IOM says.
More than 33,000
migrants have died at sea trying to reach European shores this century, making
the Mediterranean "by far the world’s deadliest border", the United
Nations migration agency said on Friday.
After record
arrivals from 2014 to 2016, the European Union’s deal with Turkey to stop
arrivals from Greece, and robust patrols off Libya’s coast have greatly reduced
the flow, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.
Professor Philippe
Fargues of the European University Institute in Florence, author of the report,
said the figures probably underestimated the actual scale of the human tragedy.
"The report
states that at least 33,761 migrants were reported to have died or gone missing
in the Mediterranean between the year 2000 to 2017. This number is as of June
30," IOM’s Jorge Galindo told a Geneva news briefing.
"It concludes
that Europe’s Mediterranean border is by far the world’s deadliest," he
said.
So far this year
some 161,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Europe by sea, about 75
percent of them landing in Italy with the rest in Greece, Cyprus and Spain,
according to IOM figures. Nearly 3,000 others are dead or missing, it said.
"Shutting the
shorter and less dangerous routes can open longer and more dangerous routes,
thus increasing the likelihood of dying at sea," Fargues said.
The report said:
"Cooperation with Turkey to stem irregular flows is now being replicated
with Libya, the main country of departure of migrants smuggled along the
central route; however, such an approach is not only morally reprehensible but
likely to be unsuccessful, given the context of extremely poor governance,
instability and political fragmentation in Libya."
Libya’s UN-backed
government said on Thursday it was investigating reports of African migrants
being sold as slaves and promised to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Footage broadcast
by CNN appearing to show African migrants being traded in Libya sparked an
international outcry and protests in Europe and Africa. [Stephanie Nebehay for
Reuters]
Shame on all for going along.
—Jeff
Jeff’s Upcoming Events
My ninth Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis novel, AN AEGEAN APRIL, publishes on January 2,
2018 and here is the first stage of my book tour:
Thursday, January 4 @ 7PM
Poisoned Pen Bookstore,
Scottsdale, AZ (joint appearance with Thomas Perry)
Saturday, January 6 @ 2 PM
Clues Unlimited
Tucson, AZ
Monday, January 8 @
7PM
Vromans (on Colorado)
Pasadena, CA
Wednesday, January 10 @ 7PM
Tattered Cover (on Colfax)
Denver, CO
Saturday, January 13 @ 2 PM
Book Carnival
Orange, CA
Sunday, January 14 @ 2 PM
Mysterious Galaxy
San Diego, CA
Wednesday, January 17 @ 7 PM
Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park)
Seattle, WA
Sunday, January 21 @ 7 PM
Book Passage
Corte Madera, CA
