Migreurop network meeting

The turkish programme on this webpage, please see on the left

INTERNATIONAL MEETING ISTANBUL PROGRAMME 27-28-29 May 2010

It will also bring together political representatives and academic researchers to facilitate collective thinking on campaigns and other initiatives which may challenge the very/deep roots of the European immigration policy. Beyond European borders, but also in the numerous camps it has set up on its soil, the immuring of Europe and the war waged against migrants are disguised behind the so-called “Neighbourhood Policy”, “reinforced cooperation initiatives” or “peace and development partnership”. These devices lay at the forefront of the detention policy of foreigners, of repressive border controls and of the outsourcing of migration police management to countries where violation of human rights are regularly denounced by NGO and international organisations. Such utilitarian and short-term based policies violently target the lives of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers. They also profoundly affect the “democratic” European settings, thereby turning a blind eye to the expectations as well as the rights of people from the Southern countries to escape, if not to reduce, the political, economic and social inequalities they are facing. Due to its geographical location, Turkey is one of the main gates for migrants who want to enter Europe from war-zone countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq or Pakistan, or more generally for people coming from the Middle East and Africa. This long standing candidate to the European Union is now in the process of negotiating the conditions of its role as a border guard of the EU-27, and may agree on “readmit” all migrants who have transited through its territory. For many years, the Greek-Turkish border is one of the various “murderous borders” Migreurop is fiercely denouncing. The current talks as regards the EU-Turkey readmission agreement shall not result in an additional worsening element of the plight of migrants in exile who follow this migratory road. The meeting between Turkish and EU MPs are a key step in the coming campaigns: political representatives as well people themselves from countries of transit and of origin can counter this imperialistic system which outsources border controls. The European Parliament has recently been given new competences in regards to the issues of protection of human rights and foreign affairs. It is now under the obligation to stop these drifting away police management which infringe on liberty, with Frontex (which just opened a management office in Greece) and the “directive of shame” as banner-bearers.

Moreover, it is essential that human rights advocates take advantage of the new institutional balances provided through the Lisbon Treaty, so that the “Stockholm Programme” (adopted in 2009) which lays the ground for further outsourcing in the European immigration policy may be countered. To that end, Migreurop has set up a legal action group which will pay a particular attention to the newly widened scope of the European Union Court of Justice’s mandate, and which will make sure this new device is well implemented and well resorted to. This initiative, as well as others, will be explored during the meeting in Istanbul. The successfulness of this event will depend on the capacity of the activists to promote “access right” and to transcribe this claim into common political and legal actions on both sides of the “murderous borders” of the European Union.

Location:

Thursday, 27 MAY (Afternoon): Open meeting about readmission agreements for all associations

3.00 pm: Presentation of initiatives by Migreurop readmission group (Brigitte Espuche, ANAFE - France)

3.30 pm: Presentation of two examples of mobilization (Italy and Mali)

04.15 pm - 04.30pm Break

04.30 pm: Greek - Turkish region and bilateral agreements (Ioanna Kurtovik, Diktio-Grèce and Clamene Durand, RASP-Turquie)

05.00 pm- 06.30 pm: Debate on actions and claims of associations, their realisations and possibilities of intervention.

FRIDAY, 28 MAY : Detention

9.30 am: Welcome to participants

10.00 am: Detention, keystone of European policies on immigration (Claire Rodier, Migreurop)

10.30 am: The transposition of the directive return in Italy (Filippo Miraglia, ARCI - Italy)

10.45 am: Externalised camps: the Turkish example (Irem Arf ,RASP - Turkey)

11.00 am - 11.30 am: Break

11.30 am: Presentation of the ’Right of access’ campaign: actions and mobilizations (Laure Blondel, ANAFE - France)

11.50 am: Presentation of the website “off screen voice, detention voice” (Julia Burtin, Migreurop)

12.00 am: Access in detention places, Lebanese (Frontiers - Lebanon) and Cypriot (Doros Polycarpou - KISA)

12.45 am- 2.00 pm: debate and discussion

2.00 pm: Lunch break

3.00 pm- 4.00 pm: Mobilizations: methodology and example of mobilizations

• AMDH action about externalized camp of Nouadhibou (Youssouf Niane, AMDH-Mauritania)

• Mobilizations in Spain against camps (Marta Martinez Sierra, SOS Racismo - Spain)

• The observatory of detention (Konstantinos Papantoniou-GISTI)

• Mobilization in Greece and Turkey (Ioanna Kurtovik , Diktio-Greece, Pırıl Erçoban for Multici Der-Turkey, and Ayse Parla for Migrants Solidarity Network-Turkey)

4.30 pm- 5.00 pm: Break

5.00 pm-6.30 pm: Exchanges on mode of actions, possibilities of intervention and claims of association

SATURDAY, 29 MAY Frontex

9.30 am: Welcome to participants

10.00 am: New Frontex strategy 2010 (Evelyne Vanscheen - LDH Belgium)

10.20 am: Frontex and the region Greece/Cyprus/Malta/Italy (Diktio - Greece, Kisa - Cyprus, JRS Malta, ARCI - Italy)

11.35 am : Break

12.00 am-1.30 pm Debate: Which positions and legal actions could be undertaken to rally against Frontex offensive strategy?

(03.00 pm: Migreurop Board)