Critics: Greece criminalizes migration, prosecutes helpers

CHIOS, Greece — Among the situation inmates of the Greek land of Chios, 3 young men from Afghanistan and Somalia are serving dramatically agelong sentences: 50 years for 2 of them, a staggering 142 for the third.

But these are not convulsive criminals, adjacent according to their proceedings verdicts. They were convicted for steering inflatable dinghies carrying them and different migrants aft they accidental smugglers abandoned them successful the Aegean Sea betwixt Turkey and Greece.

“I didn’t deliberation redeeming radical is simply a crime,” said Hanad Abdi Mohammad, 28, a soft-spoken Somali charged arsenic a smuggler aft arriving successful Greece past December and sentenced to 142 years.

Mohammad told journalists and European Parliament lawmakers visiting the 3 successful situation past week that helium had nary prime but to thrust the boat. The smuggler forced him to instrumentality over, hitting him successful the look and threatening him with a weapon earlier abandoning the dinghy successful unsmooth seas. And people’s lives were astatine stake. Even with hindsight, helium said, “I would bash it again, arsenic agelong arsenic I americium redeeming lives.”

Critics accidental the men’s cases, arsenic good arsenic prosecutions oregon threats of transgression proceedings against assistance workers, exemplify the expanding arsenal of techniques authorities successful Greece and different countries are utilizing to deter asylum-seekers.

“It’s not imaginable that idiosyncratic who comes to assertion asylum successful Greece is threatened with specified dense sentences simply due to the fact that they were forced, by circumstances oregon pressure, to instrumentality implicit handling a boat,” said Alexandros Georgoulis, 1 of the lawyers representing the 3 imprisoned successful Chios.

Greek authorities, helium said, “are fundamentally baptizing the smuggled arsenic the smuggler.”

Mohammad’s travel is besides a stark denotation of the chaos asylum-seekers whitethorn acquisition arsenic they migrate betwixt 2 countries agelong divided by deep-seated mistrust.

Fearing for their lives aft the smuggler fled, the astir 3 twelve panicked passengers abandoned their quest to scope Greece. Mohammad says helium called the Turkish seashore defender repeatedly, begging for a rescue. But erstwhile it arrived, the Turkish patrol vessel circled the migrants’ vas sharply, sending h2o into the dinghy and gradually pushing it toward Greece. In the chaos, 2 women fell overboard and drowned.

The Greek seashore defender rescued the survivors, and Mohammad helped different passengers onto the rescue boat. He admitted to having driven the vessel aft the smuggler left. It didn’t transverse his caput that would pb to him being prosecuted arsenic a smuggler.

Aid workers and volunteers person besides recovered themselves successful the crosshairs of Greek authorities. In 1 wide publicized case, Syrian quality rights idiosyncratic Sarah Mardini, a exile herself, and unpaid Sean Binder were arrested and detained for months successful 2018 connected suspicion of espionage, wealth laundering and a litany of different offenses. They contradict each charges, and accidental they were doing thing much than helping rescue people.

It’s not conscionable Greece. According to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Germany, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Spain and Greece person initiated 58 investigations and ineligible proceedings since 2016 against backstage entities progressive successful hunt and rescue.

“I deliberation it’s important to situation these successful the courts, to not astatine each beryllium backmost and judge that we should beryllium formed arsenic smugglers oregon spies due to the fact that I offered CPR, (or) much often than not conscionable a smile, to idiosyncratic successful distress,” Binder told the AP. “It is preposterous that we should beryllium formed arsenic criminals. I don’t judge it....It doesn’t substance who you are, you don’t merit to drown successful the sea.”

Binder and Mardini spell connected proceedings connected the land of Lesbos connected on misdemeanor counts of espionage, forgery and unlawful usage of vigor frequencies connected Nov. 18. They look a maximum eight-year sentence, convertible into a fine. They are inactive nether probe for felonies which could transportation 25 years.

Dimitris Choulis, a lawyer connected the land of Samos who often represents asylum-seekers and is not progressive successful Binder’s case, thinks transgression prosecutions oregon threats of prosecution are partially designed to deter nongovernmental organizations from documenting practices specified arsenic the amerciable summary deportation of migrants earlier they tin use for asylum.

“The lone mode to halt humanitarian organizations from watching what is happening successful the Aegean is to criminalize rescue,” said Choulis, who on with Georgoulis is representing the 3 men imprisoned successful Chios.

Greek officials strenuously contradict the state performs amerciable pushbacks contempt mounting indications to the contrary. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis dismissed specified claims again past Tuesday, saying his authorities follows a “tough but fair” migration policy.

Most cases involving NGOs are intended much to intimidate than to triumph convictions, Choulis argues, noting astir stay successful the investigative phase. Three years aft his arrest, Binder has yet to beryllium charged with immoderate of the felonies he’s nether probe for.

In July, Greek constabulary announced a felony probe into 10 people, including 4 overseas NGO workers, connected migrant smuggling allegations. No charges person resulted truthful far.

The abbreviated but often perilous oversea crossing from Turkey to adjacent Greek islands is simply a fashionable way into Europe for radical fleeing struggle and poorness successful Africa, Asia and the Middle East. To ace down connected smuggling, Greece introduced a instrumentality successful 2014 imposing terrible penalties connected radical smugglers: 10 years imprisonment for each smuggled person, oregon 15 years per idiosyncratic if determination was information to life, and beingness imprisonment if idiosyncratic died.

But smugglers rapidly adapted. Instead of ferrying radical themselves, they persuaded oregon forced their passengers to thrust the boats, thing borne retired by galore testimonies of arriving asylum seekers. The effect has been the convictions of migrants arsenic smugglers.

“Our prisons are afloat of asylum-seekers who drove a boat,” Choulis said. “This is absurd.”

Although the sentences are draconian - isolated from Mohammad’s 142 years, Afghans Amir Zaheri and Akif Rasouli, some successful their 20s, received 50 years each - existent servable clip nether Greek instrumentality is capped astatine 20 years, reducible to 12 with bully behavior. With situation enactment counting toward condemnation reduction, they could beryllium released aft astir 8 years.

Still, that’s a agelong clip to walk incarcerated alternatively of gathering a caller life.

Zaheri, accompanied by his large woman and young child, and Rasouli arrived successful the aforesaid vessel astir 2 years ago. From antithetic parts of Afghanistan, they had ne'er met before. Like successful Mohammad’s case, the smuggler abandoned their dinghy and the passengers took turns steering, they said.

Both were tried arsenic smugglers. They saw their court-appointed lawyer for the archetypal clip astatine their trial, which lasted conscionable a fewer minutes. The justice spent a infinitesimal each asking them questions, Rasouli said.

“For 1 minute, 50 years,” helium said. “I cried for 1 month.”

With caller lawyers present representing them, Zaheri and Rasouli person an entreaty proceeding acceptable for March. No entreaty proceeding day has yet been acceptable for Mohammad.

Lorne Cook successful Brussels contributed