Avsnitt
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In this episode we speak with Kiana, Anne, Mahtab and Hannah from the Free Homayoun campaign.
Homayoun Sabetara, a widower and father of two, fled Iran to reunite with his daughters in Germany in 2021. Mahtab is one of his daughters.
Along the way, Homayoun was forced to drive a car carrying several others across the Greece-Turkey border. He was arrested in Greece, charged with human smuggling, and sentenced to 18 years behind bars at a trial conducted without interpreters.
Kiana, Anne, Mahtab and Hannah tell us more about Homayoun's case, his upcoming appeal on April 22, and how Europe's systematic criminalisation of people on the move.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social
Instagram: thecivilfleet
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---For more details on the Free Homayoun campaign, visit: freehomayoun.org/en
Follow the Homayoun campaign on social media:
Instagram @freehomayoun
Twitter: @freehomayoun
Mastodon: @freehomayounAnne and Hannah mention the Seebrucke movement. For more on that, see: seebruecke.org/en
Borderline Europe is also mentioned in this episode. For more on that organisation, see here: borderline-europe.de/?l=en
Ben makes frequent reference to the Iuventa crew in this episode. If you don't know who they are and/or want to know more about them, see epiosde 54 and read here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Iuventa/
For more on the Samos 2, see episode 26. Incidentally, Dimitris Choulis who is interviewed in that episode, is also Homayoun Sabetara's lawyer.
For more on the criminalisation of people on the move, see episodes 53, 48, 35, 29, 28, 26 and more.
Ben mentions Sean Binder & Sara Mandini, Check out episode 16 for more on them.
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In this episode, we speak with Camilla from the refugee rescue organisation SOS Humanity.
She tells us about the time the so-called Libyan Coastguard shot at them, disrupting a rescue operation in the central Mediterranean, and causing the death of at least one person in early March 2024.
She also tells us how, after that ordeal, the Italian authorities then ordered the Humanity 1 rescue ship to sail for a port, thousands of miles away.
And how, when they finally reached land, the authorities tried to detain the ship because they apparently disobeyed the Libyan Coastguards.
--Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social
Instagram: thecivilfleet
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---For more on SOS Humanity, check out their website, here: sos-humanity.org/en/sos-humanity
You can donate to them here: sos-humanity.org/en/donate-now
Follow SOS Humanity on Twitter: @soshumanity_en
You can watch video footage of the Libyan Coastguard's interference of the Humanity 1 rescue, here: youtube.com/watch?v=ARLiTPf7kzc&t=7s&ab_channel=TheCivilFleet
Check out episode 31 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on the Humanity 1 rescue ship
Also, read more about SOS Humanity on The Civil Fleet news blog, here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/SOS-Humanity
Ben mentions Mediterranea: Saving Humans and their rescue ship, the Mare Jonio. For more on them, check out episodes 18 and 47 of The Civil Fleet Podcast
Ben mentions a trip to Trapani and the Iuventa rescuers. Check out the previous episode of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on that, and check out episodes 2, 24 and 36
Camilla mentions fellow refugee rescue organisation SOS Mediterranee. For more on them, see here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/SOS-Mediterranee/
Fore more on the Libyan Coastguards, see here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Libyan-coastguard
And read this exclusive story on the EU continuing its support of the Libyan Coastguard despite its fears of human rights abuses: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/02/21/eu-to-continue-supporting-the-libyan-coastguard-despite-its-fears-of-human-rights-abuses/
And this 2020 investigation on how the EU’s supposed training of the Libyan coastguard has only made things worse: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/06/20/sending-refugees-back-to-hell-with-eu-support/
Camilla mentions Alarm Phone. Want to know more about them? Check out episodes 48, 5 and 3.
Read about Italy's top court declaring Libya not to be a safe port: reuters.com/world/africa/returning-sea-migrants-libya-is-illegal-italys-top-court-says-2024-02-18/
Read about the Libyan Coastguards harassing MSF's rescue ship Geo Barents here: https://searchandrescue.msf.org/testimonies/eu-sponsored-shameful-abuses-in-the-central-mediterranean-must-end.html
And watch this video of another incident: https://twitter.com/MSF_Sea/status/1768986324139217156
Ben mentions the Pirate History Podcast. Check that out here: piratehistorypodcast.com
You can read SOS Humanity, Sea-Watch and Sea-Eye's joint statement on the detention of their ships in March 2024, here: sos-humanity.org/en/press/italy-escalates-the-obstruction-of-civil-search-and-rescue/
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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Activists aboard the Iuventa rescue ship saved the lives of over 14,000 people in the central Mediterranean between 2016 and 2017.
Based on dodgy allegations from a security guard with links to the far right, the Italian secret services began spying on the Iuventa crew in September 2016.
The Italian authorities seized the Iuventa in August 2017, and initially warned 10 members of the crew that they were under investigation for human smuggling.
But in March 2021, only four of them were charged with “aiding and abetting illegal immigration to Italy.”
The four are Kathrin Schmidt, Dariush Beigui, Sascha Girke and Uli Tröder.
The preliminary hearing began in May 2022, and has been marred by the prosecution’s many procedural errors and a lack of proper translation for the German defendants.
At the end of February 2024, Ben Cowles went to Trapani, on the Italian island of Sicily, to cover what was hoped to be the end of the pretrial.
In this episode we interview Dariush and Sascha, two of the Iuventa four, on the day the prosecution gave up.
We speak with Elisa De Pieri from Amnesty International, Allison West from ECCHR, former Iuventa crewmate and Die Linke Party candidate Lea Reisner, and Mediterranea: Saving Humans' head of operations Beppe Caccia.
We also hear from the Iuventa's lawyers Nicola Canestrini and Francesca Cancellaro about the absurdity of the charges brought against the activists.
--Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social
Instagram: thecivilfleet
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Support:
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---Show Notes---Check out The Civil Fleet's previous episodes with Iuventa crew members:
• Episode 2 with Sascha Girke
• Episode 24 with Kathrin Schmidt
• Episode 36 with one of their lawyers Francesca Cancellaro
Read all about the Iuventa on The Civil Fleet blog, here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/IuventaRead about Italy's top court declaring Libya not to be a safe port: reuters.com/world/africa/returning-sea-migrants-libya-is-illegal-italys-top-court-says-2024-02-18/
You can read the full European Ombudsman's findings on Frontex's operations, here: ombudsman.europa.eu/en/case/en/63451
Or you can read a news story about it, here: euractiv.com/section/politics/news/eu-ombudsman-slams-frontexs-dependence-on-eu-countries-for-sea-operations/
For more on the ECCHR, listen to episode 15 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Silvia Rojas-Castro, a legal advisor at the ECCHR, and Elise Flecher, a senior programmes officer at Lawyers for Justice in Libya
Allison mentions UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawler. You can read about her intervention in the Iuventa case, here: https://iuventa-crew.org/en/2023/05/03/un-special-rapporteurs-call-on-italian-prosecution-to-dismiss-iuventa-case/
And on The Civil Fleet, here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/10/08/un-expert-condemns-criminalisation-of-ngo-rescuers/
You can read the latest ECCHR report on the Iuventa pretrial, here: https://www.ecchr.eu/en/press-release/nach-7-jahren-staatsanwaltschaft-fordert-einstellung-des-verfahrens-im-iuventa-prozess/A few times in the episode, Ben mentions a man, Ibrahima Bah, who was prosecuted in the UK for driving a boat across the Chanel. You can read about him in the Guardian newspaper, here: theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/12/ibrahima-bah-teenage-asylum-seeker-manslaughter
Read Ben's written interview with Lea Reisner on The Civil Fleet, here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/09/18/this-would-not-have-happened-if-the-people-we-found-were-white/
Read about former Frontex boss Fabrice Leggeri joining the far right in France: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/former-eu-border-agency-chief-joins-french-far-right-rn-party-2024-02-18/
Read about UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joining a protest organised by a climate conspiracy group last month: theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/25/sunak-stands-with-net-zero-and-climate-conspiracy-group-at-farming-protest
For more on Mediterranea: Saving Humans and the Maersk Etienne, check out episodes 18 and 47 of The Civil Fleet Podcast
Read about the Maersk Etienne, here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/?s=Etienne
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IN THIS episode we speak with Nadia, a young refugee woman from Lebanon, and Alexandros, a Greek human rights lawyer.
Nadia tells us how she and her husband Dawood were forced to leave Lebanon by boat, how they spent over 10 days at sea, and how, once they were rescued, Dawood was arrested by the Greek authorities and accused of human smuggling.
Alexandros tells us how he and his colleague Dmitris won the legal case against Dawood, and tells us more about the unjust EU directive that is locking up refugees.
--Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social
Instagram: thecivilfleet
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---For more on Dawood's case, read this article by the Human Rights Legal Project humanrightslp.eu/post/hrlp-lawyers-to-defend-dawood-who-has-been-in-custody-for-a-year-and-a-half
Check the Human Rights Legal Project out here: humanrightslp.eu/who-we-are-hrlp
For more on the situation in Lebanon following the 2020 explosion, read this Guardian report: theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/03/port-of-beirut-explosion-aftermath-scars-on-already-broken-lebanon
Check out The Civil Fleet's previous interview with Alexandros about the Samos 2: civilfleet.libsyn.com/episode-26-the-samos-2-and-the-criminalisation-of-refugees-in-greece
And here's the interview Alexandros helped set up with Hanad Abdi Mohammad, a Somalian refugee who was sentenced to 142 years behind bars because he momentarily steered a boat: civilfleet.libsyn.com/episode-35-sentenced-to-142-years-for-doing-what-any-human-would-do
Want to see what Malta's search-and-rescue zone looks like? See the July-August 2022 issue of ECHOES from the Central Mediterranean: https://issuu.com/civilmrcc/docs/cmrcc_echoes_issue_1_jul_aug_2022
Here's the UK Home Office's tweet of Ibrahima Bah, who was criminalised for steering a dinghy which collapsed in the Channel: twitter.com/ukhomeoffice/status/1761090973520576879
For more on Ibrahima Bah, read this statement by Captain Support UK: captainsupport.net/jury-convicts-ibrahima-bah-statement-from-captain-support-uk/
And this news report by Sky News: news.sky.com/story/ibrahima-bah-asylum-seeker-boat-pilot-locked-up-after-death-of-four-migrants-13078980
For more on the Maersk Etienne, read about it here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Etienne/
And check out episode 18 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Iason Apostolopoulos, who talks about it in that interview: civilfleet.libsyn.com/episode-18-there-is-no-end-to-this-cruelty
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In this episode, we speak with journalist Bashar Deeb from Lighthouse Reports about two investigations he worked on.
The first, called 'Frontex and the Pirate Ship', is a disturbing story of how the European Border and Coastguard Agency helped a notorious Libyan rebel group intercept a refugee boat in the Mediterranean.
The second, ‘Drowning in Lies’, exposes how Greece tried to cover up its role in the Pylos shipwreck by tampering with witness testimony.
--Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Instagram: thecivilfleet
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---
Check out Lighthouse Reports here: lighthousereports.comAnd follow them on Twitter: @LHreports
Read Frontex and the Pirate Ship here: lighthousereports.com/investigation/frontex-and-the-pirate-ship/
Read Drowning in Lies here: lighthousereports.com/investigation/drowning-in-lies/
For more on Frontex, see episodes 50 and 23 of The Civil Fleet Podcast
Read The Civil Fleet's coverage of Frontex, here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Frontex/
Check out this 2021 report by Sea-Watch called ‘Crimes of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex in the Central Mediterranean Sea’ here: sea-watch.org/frontex_crimes/
For more on the Tariq Ben Zeyad unit, read this Amnesty International report: amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/12/libya-hold-commanders-of-tariq-ben-zeyad-armed-group-accountable-for-catalogue-of-horrors/
For more on the campaign group Refugees in Libya, check out episode 23 of The Civil Fleet Podcast
In early 2020, The Civil Fleet exposed how the EU planned to continue to support the Libyan Coastguard despite the bloc's concerns the government was violating the human rights of migrants and profiting from their detention: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/02/21/eu-to-continue-supporting-the-libyan-coastguard-despite-its-fears-of-human-rights-abuses/
Read this interview with a Somali refugee held in a bogus ‘refugee camp’ in Libya: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/03/09/they-lock-our-legs-together-with-a-chain-an-interview-with-a-slave/
For more on Libya, check out episode 15 of The Civil Fleet Podcast
Check out episode 33 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on the situation at the Lithuania-Belarus border
For more on Malta's floating prisons, read this: maltatoday.com.mt/comment/blogs/102694/illegal_floating_prisons__carla_camilleri
The UK is also holding people on the move on a floating prison, called the Bibby Stockholm. For more on that, see episodes 44 and 40 of The Civil Fleet Podcast.
It was the Maersk Etienne that rescued 27 people in 2020, which Malta refused to allow to come ashore. Listen to episode 18 and/or, read about it here: bit.ly/3HyJMHU
For more on Alarm Phone, listen to episodes 48, 5, and 3 of The Civil Fleet Podcast. Read about them here, too: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Alarm-Phone/
Read about the Crotone shipwreck here: msf.org/italy-over-60-people-killed-crotone-shipwreck
Read about the Pylos shipwreck, here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2023/06/16/shipwreck-survivors-say-greek-coasts-towed-their-boat-before-it-sank/
Ben was trying to paraphrase this quote by Robert Fisk at the end of the episode: Journalists rarely "move mountains or bring down regimes; instead, we just chip, chip, chip away at the rock face, hoping that someone notices — so that no one can say ‘we didn’t know’."
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In this episode, we speak with Sergio from No Name Kitchen.
He tells how the group supports people on the move along the Balkan route, and the types of violence they experience along the European Union's edges.
Sergio also talks to us about No Name Kitchen's Bloody Borders report, and of the horrific levels of abuse suffered at European borders.
--Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Instagram: thecivilfleet
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---For more No Name Kitchen, visit: nonamekitchen.org
Follow them on Twitter here: twitter.com/NoNameKitchen1
Read NNK's Bloody Borders Report here: tinyurl.com/27ss86b8
If you'd like to volunteer with NNK, see here: nonamekitchen.org/volunteer/
Check out Sergio's awesome NNK jumper here: nonamekitchen.org/shop/
Check out episodes 6 (Irina) and 41 (with Barbara) of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on NNK. Episode 6 is here tinyurl.com/mrx2twad and episode 41 is here: tinyurl.com/yn8z2duk
Want to know where Ceuta is? See this Google Map: tinyurl.com/yftbf79v
Never heard of Šid? Here it is in Serbia: http://tinyurl.com/3j53k8r3
According to the UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM), at least 974 people died in the central Mediterranean in 2023, and at least 1,372 are missing. 17,025 people were intercepted at sea and returned to Libya.
Watch the Emergency NGO video Ben mentions in the episode here: tinyurl.com/2d78v54z
Sergio mentions the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN). For more on them, check out episode 8 of The Civil Fleet Podcast here: tinyurl.com/2p8v39s4. And see their website here: borderviolence.euSergio mentions Lighthouse Reports. For more on them, see here: https://www.lighthousereports.com. And, check out episode 34 of The Civil Fleet Podcast: tinyurl.com/3bez9u9c
We very briefly mention the situation for people on the move at the Belarus border. For more on that, check out episode 33 of The Civil Fleet Podcast: tinyurl.com/2mkrwepe
Ben makes yet another reference to the works of Noam Chomsky in this episode when he talks about ‘worthy’ and ‘unworthy victims.’ For more on that, read about it here: chomsky.info/consent01, or listen to it here: tinyurl.com/muttcnmw. -
In this episode we speak with Josephine from Abolish Frontex, a decentralised network of activist groups focused on ending the EU's deadly border regime.
Josephine is going to tell us about Frontex, which is the European Border and Coastguard Agency, it's many scandals, it's operations within and outside Europe, and why it should be abolished.
We also talk about the International Day of Action the network is calling for on December 18th, demanding Frontex ends its operations in Africa.
--Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Instagram: thecivilfleet
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---For more on Abolish Frontex visit: abolishfrontex.org
For more of the network's demands, see here: abolishfrontex.org/how
For more on the International Day of Action, see here: abolishfrontex.org/blog/2023/10/30/frontex-out-of-africa-join-our-international-action-day-on-18-12-2023/
For more on Frontex's involvement in pushbacks in Greece, read this:
https://www.dw.com/en/eu-border-force-frontex-implicated-in-migrant-abuse/a-49892097See this article for more on Frontex's involvement in the abuse of people on the move in the Balkans: balkaninsight.com/2020/02/06/frontexs-history-of-handling-abuse-evidence-dogs-balkan-expansion/
Read The Civil Fleet's coverage of Frontex, here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Frontex/
Ben mentions an arms fair that took place in London this summer. For more on that, see: stopthearmsfair.org.uk
For more on the Transnational Institue, go here: tni.org/enBen, briefly mentions Frag Den Staat (Ask the State). See here for more on them: fragdenstaat.de
And, check out episode 23 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Frag Den Staat's Luisa Izuzquiza – in which we focus on Frontex
Want to know more about the Balkan route that Ben and Josephine briefly mention? Then check out episodes 41 (with No Nae Kitchen) and episode 8 (Border Violence Monitoring Network - BVMN)
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In this episode, we speak with Paul O'Connor the senior national officer at the Public and Commerical Services (PCS) union - one of the largest unions in the UK, representing workers across all government departments and in the private sector.
Paul tells us about the safe passage for refugees policy the union's members wrote with Care4Calais, and why it is a genuinely humanitarian way to stop the small boat crossings of the Channel.
We also touch on working class solidarity, anti-fascism and, the Bibby Stockholm, the hostile environment, and how a string of governments have created the asylum-seeker backlog.
--Get in touch---Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Instagram: thecivilfleet
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---
For more on the PCS union, see: pcs.org.uk
For more on PCS and Care4Calais' Safe Passage Policy, read about it here: https://care4calais.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Safe-Passage-Policy-Paper.pdf
If you'd like to email your MP about PCS's safe passage policy, see here: action.pcs.org.uk/page/134188/action/1
Ben and Paul speak about the Tories throughout this episode. The Tories is the nickname of the ruling Conservative Party.
For more on The World Transformed, the festival Ben mentions in the episode, see here: theworldtransformed.org
See here for more on the UK Border Force training to push refugees back across the Channel already, here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2022/01/14/uk-border-force-may-have-begun-attempts-to-push-refugees-back-across-the-channel-already-evidence-suggests/
For more on Channel Rescue and Care4Calais, see episodes 11 and 17 of The Civil Fleet Podcast
Ben and Paul speak about Priti Patel a few times in this episode. She was the UK's Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. She was replaced by Suella Braverman. The Home Secretary is a similar governmental role to interior minister in many European countries.
For more on the UK's treatment of refugees, the Rwanda Scheme, the Hostile Environment, the Illegal Immigration Act and the Bibby Stockholm see episodes 21, 25, 32, 38, 39, 40, 42 and 44.
Paul mention Detention Action. For more on them, see: detentionaction.org.uk
Ben and Paul speak about the FBU, which is the Fire Brigades Union. For more on the union's solidarity work with refugees, see here: https://www.fbu.org.uk/news/2023/03/05/trade-unions-unite-solidarity-refugees
Paul mentions the Scottish Rolls-Royce workers who refused to work on fighter jets bound for Chile in the 1970s, when the country was ruled by the western-back dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. For more on that, check out the documentary film Nae Pasaran, here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/naepasaran
For more on the vast amounts of money the UK government has spent in France trying to stop people from crossing the Channel, see this Al Jazeera report from March 2023: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/10/uk-to-fund-france-detention-centre-as-leaders-agree-migration-deal -
Jihed, a Tunisian activist with Alarm Phone and Louise Michelle, talks to us about the mistreatment of refugees / migrants / people on the move in Tunisia in this episode.
He tells us how a speech by Tunisia's President Kais Said earlier this year — in which he spouted off racist, far-right conspiracy theories — affected refugees in Tunisia.
We hear about border violence between Tunisia and Libya, and how Europe's border operates inside the country.
Jihed was also an active participant in the Tunisian revolution. He tells us about that and its effects on refugees today. We also hear how Kais Said's government oppresses Tunisian citizens.
--Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Instagram: thecivilfleet
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---
You can follow Jihed on Twitter here: @brirmijihed
For more on Alarm Phone visit: alarmphone.org, and find them on Twitter on @alarm_phone.
For more on Louise Michel, visit: mvlouisemichel.org. Follow Louise Michel on Twitter: @MVLouiseMichel
For more on human rights issues in Tunisia, read Amnesty International's 2022 report, here: amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/tunisia/report-tunisia/
For more on the EU's anti-migrant deals with Tunisia, read this Human Rights Watch article: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/28/eu-commission-should-stop-ignoring-tunisias-abuses-against-migrants
Ben mentions people across Europe being afraid to help refugees for fear of being accused of people smuggling. Check out The Civil Fleet Podcast's episodes 47, 41, 36, 35, 33, 28, 24, 17, 16, 9, 8 and 2 for more on this.Ben also mentions how refugees in Europe are also being kept in cars for hours in hot weather as a form of torture before they're pushed back across borders. See episode 34 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Lighthouse Reports for more on this.
Jihed mentioned Maldusa, an Italian cultural association that supports migrant solidarity efforts across the country. Check out episode 46 of The Civil Fleet Podcast to hear from Maldusa activist Jasmine.
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In this episode, we speak with Serena from Mediterranea: Saving Humans, an Italian refugee rescue organisation.
Serena tells us how the Italian authorities have prevented the organisation's ship, the Mare Jonio, from going back to sea to save lives for over a year.
She also tells how the authorities recently ordered the Mare Jonio to remove all of its rescue equipment or face arrest.
--Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Instagram: thecivilfleet
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---
Visit Mediterranea: Saving Human's website here: mediterranearescue.org/enFollow Mediterranea: Saving Humans on Twitter: @RescueMed
For more on Mediterranea: Saving Humans, and the ongoing pretrial case against it, check out Episode 18 with Iason Apostolopoulos
Read The Civil Fleet's stories about Mediterranea: Saving Humans, here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/mediterranea/
Ben and Serena mention Matteo Salvini. He is Italy's transport minister, former interior minister, and the leader of one of the country's far-right parties.
Mare Nostrum was an Italian-state-run refugee rescue mission in the central Mediterranean. Read this Guardian newspaper report from 2014 on its end: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/31/italy-sea-mission-thousands-risk
Article 98 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea requires all ships to "render assistance to any person found at sea in danger of being lost to proceed with all possible speed to the rescue of persons in distress..." Read that here: https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf
Ben mentions UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman a few times in this episode. Earlier this week, she outlined her ambition to overhaul international refugee conventions during a speech in the United States.
Read about that here in the Morning Star newspaper: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/shameful-cruel-and-dangerous
And read in the Guardian newspaper about how even members of her own right-wing party think she has gone too far: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/28/tory-mps-criticise-suella-braverman-alarmist-speech-on-migration
Ben and Serena breifly touch on the EU's deals with Tunisia. Read this article by Human Rights Watch calling on the EU Commission to stop ignoring Tunisia's abuses of migrants: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/28/eu-commission-should-stop-ignoring-tunisias-abuses-against-migrants
Maersk Etienne, check out episode 18. And/or, read about it here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/?s=Etienne
For more on the Iuventa, check out Episodes 2, 24 and 36.
For more on Lampedusa, see Episode 46 with Maldusa's Jasmine
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In this episode, we speak with Jasmine from the Italian cultural association Maldusa, an organisation that supports migrant solidarity efforts, and documents border violence.
Jasmine tells us about September 12, when more than 5,000 people arrived on Lampedusa, overwhelming the Mediterranean island's under resourced and completely inadequate migrant reception facilities and services.
She also tells us how the Italian state has not only completely failed the migrants but the locals too, and how many of them mobilised in solidarity with the new arrivals.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Instagram: thecivilfleet
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet---Show Notes---
For more on Maldusa, visit: maldusa.org/en
Follow them on Twitter: @Maldusa_Project
Here is a joint statement signed by Maldusa and many other organisations on Lampedusa and Europe's reception crisis: https://www.maldusa.org/l/arrivals-in-lampedusa-solidarity-and-resistance-in-the-face-of-europes-reception-crisis/
Jasmine mentions the Italian refugee rescue organisation Mediterranea: Saving Humans. For more on them, listen to episode 18, and stay tuned for episode 47!
Find out more about Mediterranea: Saving Humans, here: mediterranearescue.org/en
Don't know where Lampedusa is? Then check out this google map, here.
Jasmine talks about Italian ships saving people lives at sea in 2015. This was naval mission was called Mare Nostrum. Read this Guardian report from 2014 on the end of Mare Nostrum: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/31/italy-sea-mission-thousands-risk
Georgia Meloni is the far-right Prime Minister of Italy. Matteo Piantedosi is Interior Minister, and Ursula von der Leyen is president of the European Commission.
Want to know more about the Dublin Agreement? Then check out this explainer video by The Guardian newspaper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ooecJWPcAY&t=28s&ab_channel=TheGuardian
The book Ben forgets the name of is called No Wall They Can Build, published by the US-based anarchist collective CrimethInc. You can listen to the audiobook here: https://crimethinc.com/podcasts/no-wall-they-can-build
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In this episode we speak with Jutta, the head of deployment on the MareGo, a relatively new refugee rescue organisation operating in the central Mediterranean.
Jutta tells us how the MareGo's crew saved hundreds of lives in two operations in July – one of which was carried out at night with no help from the authorities.
She also tells us about the incompetence of the Italian coastguards.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivilMastodon: @[email protected]
Instagram: thecivilfleet
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet---Show Notes---
For more on the MareGo, visit: mare-go.deFollow MareGo on Twiiter: @marego_vessel
To donate to the MareGo, see here: mare-go.de/spenden
Read about the MareGo's nighttime rescue on The Civil Fleet here: bit.ly/47RrkHO
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In this episode we speak with Tigs Louis-Puttick, the founder of Reclaim the Sea, a UK-based organisation helping refugee women reclaim the seaside as a place of joy.
Tigs tells us about teaching refugees to swim and surf, about the UK government placing asylum seekers on a floating barge – the Bibby Stockholm – and the company which owns the barge's links to the trans-atlantic slave trade.
She also tells us how she was arrested in July 2023 during a protest outside the UK Home Office against the Illegal Migration Bill.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivilMastodon: @[email protected]
Instagram: thecivilfleet
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet---Show Notes---
Follow Reclaim the Sea on Twitter: @Reclaim_The_Sea
You can read Reclaim the Sea's report on the financial and moral cost of the Bibby Stockholm here: reclaimthesea.org.uk/atwhatcost
Read Reclaim the Sea's open letter to UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman here: bit.ly/3DTusoT
Two days before this podcast was released, the people who were being held on the Bibby Stockholm were taken off the prison barge because legionella was found in its water supply. Read about that here: bit.ly/45r3wss
For more on the Bibby Stockholm's links to the transatlantic slave trade, see this article by Corporate Watch: bit.ly/3KDwQnI
For more on Corporate Watch, check out episode 40 of The Civil Fleet Podcast
This short article on the Liverpool Museum's website also looks at Bibby Marine's links to the slave trade: liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/bibby-line-shipowners
For more on Sea-Watch and Sea-Eye, see episodes 1, 7, 10, 22, 23 and 40 of The Civil Fleet Podcast.
Check out this trailer for The Swimmers, a film Ben mentions in the podcast: bit.ly/4578xqd
For more on the UK's Police Crime and Sentencing Act, see this explanation by the human rights organisation Liberty: bit.ly/3KzJgwL
For more on the UK's Illegal Migration Bill, see episodes 38, 39 and 42 of The Civil Fleet Podcast.
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In this episode, we speak with firefighter and refugee rescuer Brendan Woodhouse about Doro, a book he co-wrote with Doro Goumaneh.
Brendan tells us how he rescued his co-author from a boat in the Mediterranean in 2019 from the Sea-Watch 3, and while waiting for Italy to allow the rescued to disembark, Doro asked Brendan to write his story.
Brendan tells us about co-writing the book, Doro's journey and new life in France, and how the book has been received.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivilMastodon: @[email protected]
Instagram: thecivilfleet
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---You can buy Brendan and Doro's book from publishers Unbound, here: unbound.com/books/doro/
Or from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), here: https://shop.fbu.org.uk/products/doro-book
You can follow Brendan on Twitter here: @_Brendan01_
Check out episode 22 of The Civil Fleet podcast to hear Brendan's previous interview.
For more on Sea-Watch, follow them on Twitter: @seawatch_intl
Or check out their website, here: sea-watch.org/
To read the article Ben mentions about Miguel Roldan and the FBU, see here: bit.ly/3QqcX6W
For more on the Iuventa, check out episodes 2, 24 and 36.
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In today's episode, we speak with freelance investigative journalist Nicola Kelly about two important articles she wrote this year for the Guardian newspaper.
The first concerns the UK government providing £3m to the Turkish border guards to stop people on the move at the country's border with Iran.
The second article we discuss is about asylum seekers being abused and intimidated by staff at Home Office hotels.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Instagram: thecivilfleet
[email protected]
civilfleet.comSupport:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---
Follow Nicola on Twitter here: @NicolaKellyYou can read the articles we discussed in this episode here:
UK provided £3m to Turkish border forces to stop migrants: bit.ly/46NVviG
Asylum seekers ‘abused and intimidated by staff in Home Office hotels’: bit.ly/3pImJ9T
Since we recorded this interview, Nicola has written the first in her mini-series of 'Lost at Sea', which follows those who have gone missing in the Channel. Read that here: bit.ly/46NVLOG
Nicola mentions a far-right protest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Knowsley, near Liverpool. You can read more about that here: bit.ly/46UcwaT
Check out this interview with anti-fascist activists who were at the protest: bit.ly/46TtmaaAnd more about the aftermath here: bit.ly/3XX7bf8
For more on the UK, check out episodes 11, 17, 21, 32, 38, 39, and 40 of The Civil Fleet podcast
Ben mentions an Al Jazeera infographic on refugees, host countries and routes. Check that out here: bit.ly/3XQ2F1T
Nicola mentions that child asylum-seekers have gone missing from a hotel in Brighton. You can read about that here: bit.ly/3Ddwm3k -
In today's episode we speak with Barbara from No Name Kitchen about the organisation's work supporting people on the move along the Balkan route into Europe.
She tells us how the EU has externalised its borders in Bosnia and Serbia, how the authorities have effectively made it illegal to help people on the move there, and how this has forced people on the move are to survive underground.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Instagram: thecivilfleet
[email protected]
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---For more on No Name Kitchen, see their website here: nonamekitchen.org
Follow them on Twitter: @NoNameKitchen1
And find them on Instagram here: no_name_kitchen
To volunteer with No Name Kitchen, see here: nonamekitchen.org/volunteer
Check out No Name Kitchen's merch here: nonamekitchen.org/shop
Check out episode 6 with No Name Kitchen's Irina on the Spanish military brutally forcing hundreds of people back across the border at Ceuta.Ben and Barbara mention the criminalisation of solidarity in Greece. For more on the situation there, check out episode 28, with Alice and Hamid from Borderline Lesvos, episode 26, with Samos 2 lawyers Alexandros Georgoulis and Dimitris Choulis, and episode 16, with criminalised activists Madi Williamson and Sean Binder.
Don't know what the Dublin Protocal is? Check out this video explanation from the Guardian here: tinyurl.com/2ps3a6em -
TODAY we speak with Sophie and Patrick, journalists and activists with the anti-capitalist research co-operative Corporate Watch.
Sophie and Patrick tell us about the private companies profiting from the UK and Europe's deportation regime - specifically Air Partner and Carlson Wagonlit, two corporations that organise chartered deportation flights across the continent.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Instagram: thecivilfleet[email protected]
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---If you're facing deportation from the UK, this article by Right to Remain may be useful: righttoremain.org.uk/toolkit/removal
Visit Corporate Watch's website, here: corporatewatch.org
Follow Corporate Watch on Twitter here: @CorpWatchUK
You can listen to the first episode of Corporate Watch's Eco-defence podcast here: corporatewatch.org/eco-defence-podcast-episode-one-an-interview-with-coal-action-network/
And you can subscribe to Corporate Watch newsletter here: mailtrain.cw.autonomic.zone/subscription/j0wqz7hDr
Oh, and here's the Corporate Watch book Ben mentions, which is actually called Investigating Companies: A Do-It-Yourself Handbook, and you can download it there for free: corporatewatch.org/product/investigating-companies-a-do-it-yourself-handbook
Here's the online course you can do for free with Corporate Watch: corporatewatch.org/courses/knowyourenemy
Patrick briefly mentions the situation in Calais. See episodes 11 and 17 for more on that.
He also mentions the Dublin Regulation — an EU law that sends people on the move back to the first member state they applied for asylum in. For more on that, see this video explanation by The Guardian newspaper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ooecJWPcAY&ab_channel=TheGuardian
If you're interested in anti-immigration raids in the UK, see here: antiraids.net/about/
Here's an article on Open Democracy about the activists who stopped a Rwanda-bound deportation plane: opendemocracy.net/en/rwanda-asylum-plan-deportation-protest
Be sure to read this Liberty Investigate's expose: Horrors of self-harm and desperation on failed Rwanda flight: libertyinvestigates.org.uk/articles/revealed-horrors-of-self-harm-and-desperation-on-failed-rwanda-flight
Sophie mentions G4S and the death of Jimmy Mubenga. For more about him, see here: inquest.org.uk/jimmy-mubenga-jury-conclusions, here: theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/dec/16/g4s-guards-found-not-guilty-manslaughter-jimmy-mubenga , and here: ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/he-breathe-remembering-jimmy-mubenga-years
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In today's episode we speak with filmmaker Sonita Gale, about her award-winning documentary film Hostile.
Sonita tells us how Britain's "hostile environment" stretches much further back than 2012, when then home secretary Theresa May coined the term, and is rooted in the British Empire.
We hear how successive governments — both Labour and Conservative — have created an inhumane system for migrants and refugees in the UK and how this has affected the people in her film.
She also tells us how these dehumanising policies lead to the Windrush Scandal, and how they link with the NHS crisis, workers' rights, poverty, and the government's anti-protest laws.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
[email protected]
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---
For more on Sonita Gale's documentary, see here: hostiledocumentary.com
If you're in the UK, you can watch the film online here: tinyurl.com/569sfdd7
If you're outside the UK, then check here for more information on how to watch it: https://www.hostiledocumentary.com/watch-the-film/
See the trailer for Hostile here: tinyurl.com/34me88cv
You can follow Hostile on Twitter here: @hostiledoc
And follow Hostile on Instagram here: instagram.com/hostiledoc
For anyone outside the UK that doesn't know what the Home Office is, it is similar to the Ministry of the Interior in much of Europe, or the Department for Homeland Security in the US.
The head of the UK Home Office (called the Home Secretary) is Suella Braverman. Before her, it was Priti Patel. Both are mentioned in the podcast.
Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron were all former Conservative Prime Ministers. Members of the Conservative party are often referred to as Tories, and the party as The Tory Party.
Theresa May was the Home Secretary in 2012. She coined the term Hostile Environment in 2012. You can read more about that, and the 10-year anniversary of it, here: tinyurl.com/4aynzkbz
Ben and Sonita mention Enoch Powell and his Rivers of Blood speech. You can read more about him and his infamous speech here: tinyurl.com/mtt3pcdf
Here's a good explanation of the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill and why it is so dangerous by the human rights organisation Liberty: tinyurl.com/ktwxcxtw
For more on the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) policy, see the NRPF Network, here: tinyurl.com/yc6rj3x9
Here is a good explanation of the Windrush Scandal by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants: tinyurl.com/t6stcvnx
The Noam Chomsky quote at the end of the film is this: "As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as they please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the outcome.”
The Chomsky quote that Ben (mis)quotes (again!) is this: “If you assume that there’s no hope, you guarantee there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities to change things.”
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In today's episode, we speak with migrant rights campaigner and policy expert Zoe Gardener about the UK's Illegal Migration Bill. Zoe tells us how the government plans to reject the asylum applications for anyone who enters the country irregularly, including victims of trafficking and slavery, to house them in old military bases, and to deport them to a third country. ---Get in touch--- Twitter: @FleetCivil Mastodon: @[email protected] [email protected] civilfleet.com Support: ko-fi.com/civilfleet ---Show Notes--- You can follow Zoe on Twitter here: @ZoeJardiniere Zoe's articles on Open Democracy can be found here: https://bit.ly/3Ljzsb1 Watch Zoe explain to British politicians how the government's Nationality and Borders Bill will not only cause suffering and injustice, but will not work in its aim to end irregular migrant journeys to the UK, here: https://bit.ly/40sF5HW You can find Zoe's YouTube channel here: https://bit.ly/3AdR2qB What to know more about the Overton Window? Here's a good (but very US-focused) explanation of it by Vox: https://bit.ly/3H1KrTK For more of The Civil Fleet Podcast's UK-focused interviews, check out episodes 32 with journalist Bethany Rielly, 25 with Syrian refugee Hasan, 21 with Doctors Without Borders UK advocacy officer Sophie McCann, 17 with Care4Calais founder Clare Moseley, and 11 with Channel Rescue activist Kim. This report in the Independent newspaper reveals how asylum seekers were forced onto the deportation flight to Rwanda and restrained: https://bit.ly/3H2cEKg Read this Guardian report on Privilege Style airline pulling out of the UK government's scheme to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda: https://bit.ly/3Ait6lS Check out this story in Huck Magazine on how a campaign led by ex-torture survivors and refugee organisations left the Tories with no planes to carry out their Rwanda deportations: https://bit.ly/3N20gxz For more on the UK government's deportation deals with private airlines, see this excellent expose https://bit.ly/41rAEyC On the topic of asylum seeker hotels, The Civil Fleet exposed how deaths in the Home Office's asylum-seeker accommodation more than doubled in 2022: https://bit.ly/3or2tZf The Illegal Migration Bill was launched in March 2023. You can follow its process through Parliament and the House of Lords (the UK's unelected upper chamber of government) here: https://bit.ly/3KXxifx For more on the UK's Hostile Environment policies, see this report by left-wing think tank IPPR: https://bit.ly/41stESa Zoe briefly mentions Britain's Windrush scandal in this episode. For more on that, see this excellent explaination by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, here: https://bit.ly/3Aib96X She also mentions the UK's rivers, lakes and beaches being covered in raw sewage. Read Surfers Against Sewage's summation of the scandal, here: https://bit.ly/3AeRvZs UK will give France nearly half a billion pounds in major push to solve small boats crisis: https://bit.ly/40HJ18d The full quote by the late David Graber that Ben paraphrases at the end of the episode is this: “The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.” Finally, here's a short video report I worked o the Illegal Migration Bill for the Morning Star newspaper: https://bit.ly/3LgzQH4
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In today's episode we speak with Jelka and Amara.
Amara was one of 108 people who were rescued by an oil tanker, called the El Hiblu 1, in March 2019 after escaping Libya.
The European authorities ordered the El Hiblu 1's crew to wait for the Libyan coastguards to come and take the rescued back to the war-torn country.
But, the rescued convinced the crew to sail north instead. Amara, along with fellow teenagers Abdalla and Kadar, acted as translators between the refugees and the crew.
The Maltese special forces eventually raided the ship, in full tactical gear, when it got close to the island nation.
Amara, Abdalla and Kadar were arrested and accused of terrorism, piracy and worse for what is essentially an extraordinary act of humanitarianism.
They have been stuck in a bureaucratic legal nightmare for four years while the Maltese prosecutors try to figure out what crime to charge them with.
We're going to hear from Amara briefly about halfway through today's episode. With the pretrial in Malta still ongoing, he is unable to tell us too much about what happened.
And so, we'll mainly be speaking with Jalka from the Free the El Hiblu 3 campaign.
She's going to tell us more about what happened to Amara, Abdalla and Kader and the campaign to free them.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
[email protected]
civilfleet.comSupport:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet---Show Notes---
For more on the El Hiblu 3 and the Free the El Hiblu 3 campaign, see here: elhiblu3.info
Follow Free the El Hiblu 3 on Twitter on: @ElHiblu3, and on Instagram here: instagram.com/elhiblu3
If you'd like to read the El Hiblu 3 e-book, then go here: elhiblu3.info/book
You can read more about Amara's story here: elhiblu3.info/amara.html
Read Kader's here: elhiblu3.info/kader.html
And Abdalla's here: elhiblu3.info/abdalla.html
Ben mentions an exclusive story he worked on about the rising numbers of deaths at UK Home Office asylum-seeker accommodation. You can read that here: bit.ly/42xtR7v
Ben and Jelka mention EUNAVFOR MED, which stands for European Union Naval Force Mediterranean. You can read more about that here: bit.ly/3K0LQvP, here: bit.ly/40pF6go, and here: bit.ly/3yY04qO
Ben and Jelka briefly mention the campaign group Refugees In Libya and one of its organisers David Yambio. He appears on episode 29 of The Civil Fleet podcast.
Here's a link to the Times of Malta documentary on the El Hiblu 3 with English subtitles: bit.ly/3LJJra0
Ben briefly mentions Derbyshire Refugee Solidarity. You can find more about them here: derbyshirerefugeesolidarity.org
- Visa fler
