M. de Koning: De Griekse eilanden zijn als een gevangenis

30 augustus 2016 – Vluchtelingencrisis. Het aantal migranten dat aankomt in Griekenland stijgt weer. Op Samos wachten honderden tot ze verder kunnen. „Dan kunnen we het eten dat we krijgen weggooien.” „Syriërs mogen door naar Athene. Pakistanen niet. Waarom?” „Die mensen willen hier niet zijn en wij kunnen niets voor ze…

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P. Kingsley: Greece sidelines officials who blocked expulsion of refugees to Turkey

17 juni 2016 – The Greek government has sidelined members of an independent authority that had blocked the deportation of Syrian refugees, following sustained pressure from other European countries. Greek MPs voted on Thursday to change the composition of the country’s asylum appeals board, in an attempt to sideline officials who…

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I. Athanasiadis: Martyr on the Mediterranean: Athens’ double crisis

21 juni 2016 – By the time the refugee tide hit Athens last summer, five years of financial crisis had already hollowed out its ancient centre. The marble pavements had been chipped and broken to provide ammunition against the riot-police, scorch marks from flaming Molotov cocktails marked the tarmac, and boarded-up stores…

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B. Tersago: Extreme armoede bijna verdubbeld tijdens Griekse crisis

16 juni 2016 – Een paar dagen geleden publiceerde DiaNEOsis, een organisatie die onderzoek verricht en analyses uitvoert, een studie over de toename van de extreme armoede in Griekenland. Alweer een studie waar je niet vrolijk van wordt. Extreme armoede heb je overal, maar Griekenland heeft te maken met het fenomeen…

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N. Koulousios: Europe in crisis – Looking back in the “golden 90’s”

24 mei 2016 – Nikos Koulousios, journalist, radioproducer en media-netwerk deskundige, onderzoekt de beginfases van de Europese crisis en focust op de ingewikkelde relatie tussen Frankrijk en Duitsland. “Now that we are closer to ground zero for the EU as we know it, it’s time to think back at the Franco-German alliances and…

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P. Kingsley: Idomeni: Greek riot police move in to clear refugee camp

24 mei 2016 – No violence reported as Greek authorities order 8,500 residents of Europe’s largest informal refugee camp to leave Greek police have begun to clear Europe’s largest informal refugee camp, where thousands of people have been stranded for months. About 400 riot police entered the camp at dawn on Tuesday…

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M. de Koning: Deal EU-Turkije op spel na beroepszaak

21 mei 2016 – Een Syrische vluchteling in Griekenland heeft met succes beroep aangetekend tegen de afwijzing van zijn asielaanvraag. De zaak kan grote gevolgen hebben voor het vluchtelingenakkoord tussen Turkije en de Europese Unie. De Syriër zou terug naar Turkije worden gestuurd, maar dat is voorlopig van de baan. Een…

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P. De Grauwe: The ECB Grants Debt Relief To All Eurozone Nations Except Greece

19 maart 2016 – It looks like Greece may get some debt relief. There is as yet no certainty about this because some German politicians continue to conduct rear-guard battles to prevent it. What is certain, however, is that all Eurozone countries, with the exception of Greece, have been enjoying debt relief since…

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I Caratelli: The EU: to Be Or Not to Be? Greece and the Death Penalty

9 mei 2016 – The EU integration process used to have material, institutional and ideational foundations. Today only the material and institutional elements are left, that’s why the project is shaky. TheEU is facing all its crises in the same way: on the one hand, closing in itself to the rest…

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H. Smith: Angry Greeks foresee Grexit and drachma’s revival

– In his tiny shop in downtown Athens, Kostis Nakos sits behind a wooden counter hunched over his German calculator. The 71-year-old might have retired had he been able to make ends meets but that is now simply impossible. “All day I’ve been sitting here doing the maths,” he sighs,…

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L. Dearden: The Lesbos refugee detention center

15 april 2016 – The Independent journalist Lizzie Dearden reports on the appaling conditions in which 2,900 refugees have to live in Moria, Lesbos. The refugee camp at Moria was turned into a detention centre as part of the EU-Turkey deal and from that moment the situation deteriorated substantially. Pope’s visit led to last-minute improvements, but as…

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H. Smith: Greece on brink of chaos as refugees riot

 3 april 2016 – The Greek government is bracing itself for violence ahead of the European Union implementing a landmark deal that, from Monday, will see Syrian refugees and migrants being deported back to Turkey en masse.  Rioting and rebellion by thousands of entrapped refugees across Greece has triggered mounting fears in…

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AP: Greece pauses deportations as asylum claims mount

5 april 2016 – The Associated Press (AP) reports that Greek authorities have temporarily suspended deportations to Turkey. They acknowledged that most migrants and refugees detained on Greek islands have applied for asylum. The European Union began sending back migrants Monday under an agreement with Turkey, but no transfers were planned…

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D. Gayle: EU-Turkey refugee plan could be illegal

2 april 2016 – Guardian journalist Damien Gayle reports on the EU-Turkey deal. Peter Sutherland, the UN secretary general’s special representative for international migration and development, said that deporting migrants and refugees without considering their asylum applications first would break international law. Read the complete article at: theguardian.com Source: Damien Gayle,…

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I. van der Linde: De EU-Turkije deal wankelt nu al

30 maart 2016 – Asieladvocaat Wil Eikelboom, van het Amsterdamse mensenrechtenkantoor Prakken d’Oliveira, stapte een paar dagen na het gesloten EU-vluchtelingenakkoord met Turkije op het vliegtuig naar Lesbos. Hij wilde met eigen ogen zien hoe het er in de kampen aan toe ging, want, zo verklaarde hij deze week bij…

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G. Baczynska & K. Tagaris: Greece, Turkey take short-cuts to return migrants

31 maart 2016 – Greece and Turkey are rushing through changes to their asylum rules in a race to implement a EU-Turkey agreement on the return of refugees and migrants from Greek islands to Turkey from next Monday, EU officials and diplomats said. Both Athens and Ankara must amend their legislation to…

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K. Tagaris: Aid agencies pull out of Greek camps, spurning EU-Turkey deal

23 maart 2016 – As the humanitarian crisis taking place in Greece because of the border closure and the new EU-Turkey deal is escalating, Karolina Tagaris reports on the consequences of the EU-Turkey deal for Greece and the refugees. Hotspots are turned into detention centers where thousands of people (mostly women and children) have to stay…

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M. Frassoni & R. Bütikofer: Declaration on the EU-Turkey Statement

19 maart 2016 – The two co-chairs of the European Green Party, Monica Frassoni and Reinhard Bütikofer, condemn the EU-Turkey deal of March 18, as “it opens the way for a substantial disapplication in the EU of the individual right to asylum of people who are legally entitled to it.” They…

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