Advocacy - 2023
Open Letter to EU on Human Rights Risks in Migration Pact
18 December 2023 | Open Letter
Ahead of the final negotiations on the EU Pact on Migration, we have joined over 50 organisations in co-signing an Open Letter to negotiators in the European Commission, the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and the European Parliament.
The letter raises concerns about the current format of the EU Pact on Migration and its implementations and the risks if adopted. For example, it will normalize the arbitrary use of immigration detention, including for children and families, and return individuals to so called ‘safe thirds countries’ where they are at risk of violence, torture, and arbitrary imprisonment.
Read the open letter here.
Open Letter – Human Rights, But Not for All
12 December 2023 | Open Letter
In Lesvos Closed Controlled Access Center (CCAC Lesvos), people in need of international protection do not have effective access to medical care and authorities continue to limit food distribution to people outside of the asylum procedure. 16 organisations expressed their concerns in an Open Letter, 75 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Unfortunately, the violations observed on Lesvos are similar in many refugee camps in Greece, including on Samos. We therefore support the urgent call to ensure access to dignity and human rights.
Read the open letter here.
Joint Coalition Statement – Civil society calls for an end to the expansion of EU’s EURODAC database
4 December 2023 | Joint Statement
Together with 108 other civil society organisations, Samos Volunteers co-signed a Joint Coalition Statement, sending a strong message to EU policymakers to reject the ongoing reform of EURODAC, the EU database for the registration of asylum-seekers.
EURODAC is being transformed into an expansive, violent surveillance tool that will treat people seeking protection as crime suspects, including the most privacy-invasive methods such as facial recognition to track migrants’ every move.
Read the full statement here.
Joint Civil Society Statement - Despite widespread racial profiling in the EU, legislators are considering measures that would increase it
16 November 2023 | Joint Civil Statement
Civil society organizations have expressed concerns regarding the potential retention of Article 5 of the EU Screening Regulation of the New Pact on Asylum and Migration.
As framed by the European Commission, it would imply police operations that will target anyone suspected to be an undocumented migrant, and hold them in de facto detention. This would mean the legitimization of widespread racial profiling.
In a Joint Civil Statement, co-signed by Samos Volunteers, civil society organizations call on co-legislators to delete Article 5 from the EU Screening Regulation and condemn the proliferation of practices that authorize the policing and arbitrary detention of third country nationals.
Read the full statement here.
Joint Press Release - Reception of asylum seekers in Greece: the demand for humane conditions remains
9 November 2023 | Joint Press Release
Samos Volunteers has co-signed a Press Release and joins 25 organizations raising the alarm about the continued malfunctioning of the Greek reception system, on the mainland and on the islands, which denies asylum seekers and refugees access to rights and services, in violation of EU and national legislation.
The undersigned organizations note that the Greek State and the EU must ensure that the needs of all those seeking protection are met and that the long-term sustainability of the reception system is guaranteed, that there is an urgent need to review the policy option ending alternative forms of reception and underlines that active and strong initiatives are needed to ensure a fair sharing of responsibilities between EU Member States.
Read the full Press Release here.
Joint Statement - Child Rights Advocacy Network (CRAN) and Civil Society Organizations express dismay over children at war
25 October 2023 | Joint Statement
In a Joint Statement on the war in Gaza and Israel, CRAN and Civil Society organizations express their dismay at the killing, maiming and abduction of children.
Samos Volunteers, as part of CRAN, co-signed a Joint Statement that appeals to the international community for immediate intervention to bring about an immediate ceasefire, to ensure peace in the region and calls on parties involved in the conflict to act to fulfill their obligations to protect children and other civilians.
Read the full statement here.
Joint Statement - Unlawful Detention and Worsening Conditions: Over 4.000 asylum seekers unlawfully detained on Samos and Lesvos
19 September 2023| Joint Statement
Samos Volunteers co-signed a Joint Statement on the unlawful detention of new arrivals and on the worsening conditions in the Lesvos- and Samos CCACs. Legal NGOs from both Islands have combined their efforts into this Joint Statement, that was co-signed by 22 NGOs.
Since July 2023, the Aegean islands have experienced a sharp increase inarriving asylum seekers crossing by boat from Türkiye. Between 1 July – 31 August 2023, over 4.000 people were brought to the Closed Controlled Access Centers (CCACs) on Samos and Lesvos and placed into unlawful detention while awaiting registration of their asylum requests.
This statement covers an analysis of the policy of automatically and de facto detaining all new arrivals and of the worsening conditions inside the CCACs, highlighting the lack of medical care.
Read the full statement here.
Joint Statement - Three Years After Moria Burned Down
8 September 2023| Joint Statement
After Europe’s biggest and most notorious refugee camp burned down in September 2020, promises were made never to let Moria happen again. Authorities guaranteed that state-of-the-art facilities in line with fundamental rights and European standards would be created - improving safety and security, protection for vulnerable people, access to healthcare and fast and effective asylum procedures.
Exactly three years after the Moria fire, organisations warn that the EU-funded Closed Controlled Access Centre (C.A.C.C.) Lesvos, replacing Moria, has failed to live up to its promise. With a sharp increase in arrivals over the past few months, the situation at the C.C.A.C. has once again become unsustainable and endangers the health and well-being of people on the move.
In this Joint Statement 22 organisations warn that people in the C.C.A.C. still do not have access to: medical care; adequate reception conditions; safe zones for vulnerable groups; and fair asylum procedures.
Read the full report here.
Samos Volunteers also notes that similar issues are at stake on Samos. The Samos C.C.A.C. is near reaching its maximum capacity. Next to overcrowding, we have serious concerns about the provision of basic needs to new arrivals. People have limited access to medical care, legal assistance, water, food, and clothing.
Fires, Pushbacks, and the Far Right: Misplaced Blame and the Mobilisation of Violence Against People on the Move in Evros
24 August 2023| Joint Statement
Joint Statement on the wildfires in the Evros land border region between Greece and Turkey co-signed by 31 civil society organisations. The fires that unfolded mid August 2023 resulted in the proliferation of damaging narratives that place the blame on people on the move. This has, in turn, led to the mobilisation of local citizens to hunt down transit groups and to take protection of the border into their own hands. In this statement we denounce these practices and call for a realignment with the truth stated by the fire department, that the fires were caused by lightning.
Additionally, the statement comments on the tragic fates met by people on the move, who are currently navigating the region in a context of increased risk. So far, 18 bodies have been brought into the Alexandroupoli morgue, reportedly belonging to people on the move who were either trapped in or attempting to flee a sheep pen. Alarmphone reports of groups stranded on islets in the Evros river whose fate yet remains to be seen as search and rescue continues to be systematically denied.
The fires in Evros, the deaths, and the attacks on people on the move, were preventable. Warnings were given days before, the conditions analysed as particularly dangerous, and wildfires have spread across the country for consecutive summers in a row. Yet the country’s firefighting services were not well resourced.
Read the joint statement here.
“They are killing minds”- Life in the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre
20 June 2023 | Report (English)|Report (Arabic)
A report out on International Refugee Day provides testimony from people who are or have been accommodated in the EU-Funded Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre in 2023. The testimonies create a picture of the inhuman and degrading conditions people are subjected to in the EU-funded structure and call into question claims from the Greek and EU authorities of CCACs being a “humane” approach to migration.
The report by I Have Rights shares testimonies collected by I Have Rights and Samos Volunteers, two Samos based organisations. The report, entitled “They are killing minds” presents the testimonies, broken down into five key areas of concern: the structure, safety, health, food and water and hygiene conditions.
Together the testimonies from asylum seekers on Samos challenge the narrative that CCACs are a humane and dignified way to accommodate people seeking protection in the EU.
Read the full report here (English) or here (Arabic).
Joint Statement: Call for the Closure of the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre
3 May 2023 | Statement
As actors on the island who work to defend the rights of people on the move, Samos Volunteers and 4 other organisations are deeply concerned about the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre’s (CCAC) compliance with human rights standards.
Having witnessed a further deterioration of conditions in the CCAC in recent months, we feel compelled, more than ever, to demand its closure.
Living conditions in the CCAC have been described by residents as prison-like and degrading. Local actors have received multiple reports from residents of severe cockroach infestations over the past nine months, with living conditions in the containers being described as crowded and unsanitary. The non-provision of hygiene products, including essential baby items like diapers and suitable milk for infants, is continuously reported. People increasingly report the poor quality of the food to organisations on the island. There are also recurring and significant infrastructural deficiencies, including problems with access to running water, that impact the quality of life and dignity in the CCAC.
Read the full statement here.
Update Letter: Homelessness in Samos
27 January 2023 | Letter
In September 2022, Samos Volunteers was one of 14 organisations to send a letter to the Minister of Migration and Asylum about the risk of homelessness for recognised refugees due to administrative delays. The situation has since deteriorated, with people having to wait around 6 months to obtain an appointment necessary for receiving their ID card. In the meantime, they are still forced to leave Samos CCAC after 30 days.
People are left without access to work or housing, resulting in higher levels of homelessness and poverty. They also face a heightened risk of exploitation.
Last week, we and five other organisations sent an updated letter to the Ministry to highlight the urgent need to ensure people can obtain post-recognition documents in a timely manner.
Read the full report here.
Joint Letter: Restricted WiFi Access in Samos CCAC
23 January 2023 | Letter
Samos Volunteers, along with 10 other organisations, calls on the Ministry of Migration and Asylum to abandon its plans to restrict WiFi access in the Closed Controlled Access Centre in Samos. New plans are in place for WiFi access to be made conditional based on possession of an asylum applicant card. These cards can take up to 25 days - or more - to obtain for new arrivals, and during this time they also cannot leave the camp to buy a local SIM card.
During this period, WiFi is the only method people have of contacting their families and friends, and accessing legal advice that is vital for their asylum cases.
We are also concerned that there has been limited information published with regard to upholding CCAC residents’ rights to privacy and data protection.
Read the full letter here.
Joint Statement: The EU AI Act must protect people on the move
23 January 2023 | Statement
The European Union Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) will regulate the development and use of ‘high-risk’ AI, and aims to promote the uptake of ‘trustworthy AI’ whilst protecting the rights of people affected by AI systems.
However, in its original proposal, the EU AI Act does not adequately address and prevent the harms stemming from the use of AI in the migration context. Whilst states and institutions often promote AI in terms of benefits for wider society, for marginalised communities, and people on the move (namely migrants, asylum seekers and refugees), AI technologies fit into wider systems of over-surveillance, criminalisation, structural discrimination and violence.
It is critical that the EU AI Act protects all people from harmful uses of AI systems, regardless of their migration status. Samos Volunteers, along with 164 organisations and 30 individuals of note, call on the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and EU Member States to ensure the EU Artificial Intelligence Act protects the rights of all people, including people on the move.
Read the full statement and recommendations here.