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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/24/asylum-seekers-greece-wildfires-refugees-migration-climate-crisis>
"Refugees and migrants in Greece are facing off against the “two great
injustices of our times”, Amnesty International has said, as it linked
wildfires and scant access to legal migration routes to the deaths of 19 people
believed to be asylum seekers.
As wildfires continue to rage across swathes of Greece, authorities in the
country said they were working to identify the charred remains of 18 people
found this week in the dense forests that straddle the country’s north-eastern
border with Turkey.
Given there were no reports of missing people in the area, officials said it
was possible the victims, who include two children, were asylum seekers who had
entered the country irregularly. One day earlier, the body of another person
believed to be an asylum seeker was found in the same area.
In recent days the fires have ripped through an area that had increasingly
become a crossing point for thousands of refugees and migrants, Amnesty
International said in a statement. Their arrival on EU soil had been
“systematically” met with “forced returns at the border, denial of the right to
seek asylum and violence”, it added.
“The 19 people killed by wildfires in northern Greece appear to be victims of
two great injustices of our times,” said Adriana Tidona, a migration researcher
with the organisation.
“On the one hand, catastrophic climate change … On the other hand, the lack of
access to safe and legal routes for some people on the move, and the
persistence of migration management policies predicated on racialised exclusion
and deadly deterrence, including racist border violence.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
