23/2/2016 17 heures á Alexanderplatz devant bbc: Manifestons-nous contre la conférence de la police européenne, contre FRONTEX et contre la fermeture de frontieres et la criminalisation des migrations!

*Manifestation against FRONTEX, Fortress Europe and Borders! FERRIES
NOT FRONTEX â?? 23th February 5 pm in front of BCC Berlin*

In 2015, more than 1.000.000 people actively fought against Fortress
Europe by crossing the EU external borders. In reaction to that, the
EU and its border agency Frontex increased their efforts to
criminalize refugees and supporters and thus to impede the freedom of
movement. *The European Police Congress is one of the venues, where
the upgrading of Fortress Europe will be discussed and developed. On
February 23^rd , Fabrice Leggeri, executive director of Frontex, is
going to speak at this congress*. We want to use his visit as an
opportunity to protest against aggressive and inhumane policies, which
the EU imposes on migrants at the external borders. Come to our
manifestation and raise your voice against FRONTEX, Fortress Europe
and borders!

The European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at
the External Borders was created in 2005. After the suspension of the
physical Schengen borders, Frontex is now in charge of strengthening
the surveillance and control of the EU external borders. The agency is
operating as the headbody of the EU surveillance network EUROSUR,
coordinating the surveillance systems of the member states.
Satellites, drones and other military technologies are used to control
the â??pre-frontier areaâ??. This â??objectiveâ?? also requires
enhanced cooperation with countries like Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey and
even West African countries. To â??preventâ?? the departure of
migrants, Frontex is currently operating in Mali and Niger to create
â??multi-purpose-centersâ?? against unwanted migration towards
European borders.

All European measures of â??border protectionâ?? have the same
intention: More deterrence, higher fences and greater control. Still,
Frontex and the military operation EUNAVFOR MED against
â??smugglersâ?? near Libyan territorial waters, launched in June, were
unable to prevent about 150.000 migrants from succeeding to arrive in
Italy during 2015. Not only during the previous ’summer of migration‘,
millions of refugees demonstrated that borders can’t stop people on
the move, but the lack of legal access routes causes their journey to
be dangerous and often fatal. More than 3700 men, women and children
died in 2015 in the Mediterranean Sea; making it the deadliest border
zone of the entire world. In the year 2016 the Mediterranean continues
to be a fatal route to Europe: According to the UNHCR the number of
people dead or missing already amounts to 403.

In Europe, many harsh plans seeking to gain back control and to close
the borders are currently being discussed. There is for instance the
idea to establish a direct ferry-line for deportations from the Greek
islands back to Turkey. The EU and Frontex implemented the so-called
â??hotspot approachâ?? to establish closed camps at the EU- borders in
Italy and Greece, where Frontex helps to â??swiftly identify, register
and fingerprint incoming migrantsâ??. A lot of investment is made in
the strengthening of so-called â??screening-proceduresâ?? with Frontex
personnel conducting interviews in the so-called â??hotspotsâ?? on
Greek islands. The aim is to select and reject all those who are
considered not being entitled to protection. Those who are filtered
out will face even harsher detention measures according to the Dublin
regulation.

In January 2016 we have witnessed the first consequences of these
attempts to regain control: Civil society actors who are engaged in
the rescue of refugees in distress are criminalized and raided. In
mid-January, the Greek police on Lesvos arrested teammembers of
Proem-Aid and Team Humanity, Spanish and Danish NGOâ??s whose
representatives did the incredible job of saving lives at risk at sea.
They are accused of the alleged offence of trafficking people.

In December 2015, the European Commission presented its proposal for a
new European Border and Coast Guard Agency (EBCG) that would replace
and succeed Frontex, having a stronger role and mandate. The support
and participation of national authorities in border management through
Frontex operations are then mandatory. In early February, the EU and
NATO agreed on sending warships against â??smugglersâ?? into the
Aegean Sea. The mission is meant to deport rescued migrants directly
to Turkey.

Europe’s response to the failure of its border regime and to the
thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean Sea, are increasingly
inhumane measures of â??border protectionâ??. The massive dying at the
EU-borders might become history if there were legal ways for migrants
to enter Europe. It is a merely political decision to entitle all
humans to access commercial ferries and to suspend the cruel EU-visa
regime. The killing of refugees at European sea borders can be seen as
one of the biggest crimes against humanity. We demand Ferries not
Frontex!

‪#‎epk16‬
‪#‎FerriesNotFrontex‬
‪#‎FightFortressEurope‬
‪#‎FreedomOfMovement‬
‪#‎OpenEUBorders‬

/Watch the Med Alarm Phone Berlin /

Please read our newspaper on Ferries for all
here: http://alarmphone.org/…/2…/02/12/newspaper-ferries-for-all/…

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