Here is our November Newsletter with actions and updates. Please continue campaigning and organising. Refugees continue to drown in the Mediterranean sea, freezing to death in the forest at the border of Poland and are pushed back to countries where they suffer abuse. In the UK the Nationalities and borders bill will severely undermine the right to asylum. We have to continue campaigning, lobbying, writing, organising.
GREECE: DROP THE CHARGES AGAINST SARAH AND SEAN
Who are Sarah and Sean?
Sarah Mardini and Sean Binder are human rights defenders, who are currently facing an unfair prosecution in Greece after volunteering as trained rescuers to help refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos. They face a number of very serious charges such as the facilitation of irregular entry of third country nationals which has the potential to put both Sarah and Sean in prison for 25 years if found guilty. This would be an extreme injustice to them, as all they sought to do was save innocent lives at sea.
If you have read Amnesty’s recent report on Greece, you will know that Greece has been reported to use a number of unlawful tactics that violate human rights, such as the use of violence in order to pushback asylum seekers and refugees. They have increased border control and even adopted a harsh and hostile approach towards activists by opening investigations and launching criminal proceedings to criminalize defenders who stand in solidarity in aiding refugees and migrants.
Last month, Amnesty became aware that the local prosecutor in Lesvos decided to bring forward a part of the charges, which if found guilty, Sarah and Sean could risk facing a sentence of up to 5 years. This trial is now set for the 18th November 2021.
Saving lives is not a crime. Sean and Sarah should not have to face any of the charges brought before them. This tactic of prosecuting people like Sarah and Sean in order to dissuade other human rights defenders from showing solidarity with refugees and migrants and deterring them from continuing their work in providing assistance is chilling. Human rights defenders should not have to fear that their freedom will be restricted for doing the decent and moral act of saving lives. Greece should redirect their focus and pledge to stop allowing human rights violations towards refugees and asylum seekers to continue, instead of cracking down on people trying to reach safety and those helping them.
Sean and Sarah should not pay the price for Greece and Europe’s failure to manage migration. Greece should be attending the needs of those seeking safety and Sarah and Sean should not be prosecuted by Greece for simply doing the task that the authorities are obligated to do.
How can you support Sarah and Sean?
You can post solidarity messages on social media in support of Sean and Sarah, preferably on the 15th or 16th November. Make sure to include the hashtags: #Sarah&Seán #DropTheCharges #SolidarityOnTrial.
You can also send supportive messages to Sean and Sarah on social media by tagging them in any of your posts.
We believe that if we can get people talking about the case and get international support calling on Greece to drop the charges against the two human rights defenders, we can demonstrate to Greece that public opinion does not support the prosecution of these two defenders. [Read more…]
This month marks the 2nd anniversary of the Estallido. The Estallido are a series of protests that took place in Chile in 2019 and expanded to several cities across the country. On 25 October 2019, over 1.2 million people took to the streets of Santiago to protest against social inequality, demanding President Piñera’s resignation, in what was called as “
