Refugees Unknown

[File: Nariman el-Mofty/AP Photo]

Not much is known in the western world about the small East African country of Eritrea. One thing the world has been introduced to through the media is the social, political, and economic crisis in Eritrea and the instability and violence that has followed.

The country has a population of 6,081,196 and is made up of 50% ethnic Tigrinya, 40% Tigre and Kunama, 4% Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers), and 3% other.  The working languages are Tigrinya, Arabic, and English.

What caused this conflict in the Horn of Africa that has left tens of thousands dead and forced millions from their homes as famine hovers over the small country?

In September of 2020, the Tigrayan regional government had their parliamentary elections against an order by Abiy Ahmed, the head of the Ethiopian federal government. Ahmed’s generals surrounded the northern Tigray region’s borders and military supplies were flown to Ethiopia’s neighboring ally Eritrea. The TPLF (Tigray People’s Liberation Front) was the first to strike a military base which caused the Ethiopian and Eritrean troops to encounter from the north and south. There are similarities with Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as this conflict continues along with the deaths.

Many are fleeing the violence by escaping on foot through Sudan and Libya fleeing war, famine, and forced military service.

Amnesty International has been tracking the human rights abuses and Sarah Jackson, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, has accused Tigrayan forces of showing “an utter disregard for fundamental rules of international humanitarian law”.

“Evidence is mounting of a pattern of Tigrayan forces committing war crimes and possible crimes against humanity in areas under their control in the Amhara region from July 2021 onwards,” Jackson said.

Sexual violence has been documented with nearly half the victims saying they were gang raped. Amnesty was told by some doctors that some survivors had lacerations likely caused by rifle bayonets being inserted into their genitals.

Some of these young survivors were as young as 14.

“The TPLF leadership must put an immediate end to the atrocities we have documented and remove from its forces anyone suspected of involvement in such crimes,” Jackson added.

Amnesty had a 14-year-old schoolgirl tell them that both her and her mother were raped by TPLF fighters who said the attacks were in revenge for atrocities committed against their own families.

“One of them raped me in the courtyard and the other raped my mother inside the house,” she said. “My mother is very sick now; she is very depressed and desperate. We don’t speak about what happened; it is impossible.”

Amnesty had completed a report in November where they documented sexual assaults by Tigrayan rebels in the Amahara town of Nifas Mewcha.

The United States and the African Union continue to lead mediation efforts and request humanitarian access.

Webster’s dictionary defines the word Apathetic (adjective) as to show no feeling or emotion:
spiritless. Have we become apathetic to human life? How, can anyone show little or no concern
when it comes to people fleeing persecution, war, and tyrannical regimes? Is it easier not to think
about it? Do we not know about it? Would we prefer it to be another’s problem and not our own?
Are we just not capable of compassion?

The word opposite of apathetic is compassion which comes from the Latin root of “passio”
which means to suffer, and “com” as a prefix means together, suffer together. In fact, the word
has religious and philosophical roots going back to Thomas Aquinas who wrote “No one
becomes compassionate unless he suffers” Even the ancient Chinese traditions talk about
suffering and human concern, and how Kwan Yin is considered the goddess of compassion.
Hindu and Buddhist traditions talk of compassion as well. We know it has deep roots going back
centuries, so why do we still struggle with it today?

If we look at compassion and the refugee crisis, we can read and watch about how apathetic the
world has become. Refugees flee their homelands and risk the lives of their children to build a
better and free life. Many of those who flee will sell everything they own to pay smugglers to
take them from Turkey crossing the Aegean Sea to either Greece or Italy. Both are places that so
many around the world consider beautiful vacation spots, with views of yachts and beautiful
coastlines, not a sea where children’s bodies are floating next to their mothers or as a turquoise
cemetery.

According to the UNHCR, over 2,500 people are estimated to have died or gone missing trying
to reach Europe in the last 11 months. An uptick in smuggling activity has led Greece’s Maritime
Affairs Minister to call out Turkey saying, “these days, the criminal activity of smugglers, who
are indifferent to human life, has intensified, stacking dozens of distressed people, without life
jackets, on boats that do not even meet the basic safety standards,” and says Turkey “lets
smugglers act unchecked.” In the past two weeks, rescuers have been busy in the Aegean Sea.
Some refugees were rescued, and others lay as corpses waiting to be recovered. On December
25, the day that Christians around the world celebrated the birth of Jesus, a refugee, the Greek
coast guard was frantically searching for survivors of a boat that overturned near the island of
Paros. There were sixty-three people aboard to include mothers and young children.
Unfortunately, at least sixteen of those on board did not make it to include three women and a
baby. As borders close and the underlying issues of why people flee stay unresolved, refugees
will find other ways to seek a better life for themselves. Smugglers have figured if they cannot
get to Greece, they will make their way to Italy. A more dangerous route, but one that so many
are willing to take. Within the last two weeks, a boat that carried about eighty people left coast
guard boats, private yachts, planes, and even divers searching for survivors. The latest news
articles mention the high number of rescues has not been seen in Greek waters for months. The
weather is colder, the risks are higher but still, people are desperate to escape and will do
anything to include chancing the sea. According to Greek authorities, in the past week, ninety
people were stranded on an islet and rescued, and eleven bodies were recovered off Antikythera
a Greek island. The same week another three people were found drowned as a dinghy carrying refugees capsized close to another Greek island, Folegandros. There are estimations there were
thirty to fifty men, women, and children onboard which UNHCR said would make it the worst
loss of life for 2021 if accurate. A boat with ninety-two men and boys on board ran into the coast
of the Peloponnese Peninsula the same week. Does this uptick in activity give us an insight into
what is to come for the beginning of 2022? As policymakers and leaders of governments work to
either keep refugees out of their lands or insist on legal entry, the problem at sea for coast guards
and NGOs in refugee-prone waters will only intensify. Squabbles between nations will continue,
in fact, over the past several months more attention has been brought to pushbacks and tug of
war-type antics with Greek and Turkish vessels. Both countries accuse each other of pushbacks
and Greece accuses Turkey of letting people attempt to cross purposefully. Turkey and its
current leaders are known for their record of human rights abuses to include imprisonment of
women and children, torture, kidnappings around the world, and purging their own citizens. Just
this last week, the EU greenlighted a plan to give them another 3 billion euros (3.6 billion
dollars) over the next few years to assist Syrian refugees and boost controls at their borders.

More of the world needs to gain knowledge and compassion and not be apathetic towards those
experiencing the refugee crisis. More importantly, the underlying issues affecting refugees
urgently need to be addressed. If the EU and UN do not hold regimes like Turkey accountable
for human rights violations, then those very countries receiving billions in EU funds to take on
refugees will continue to churn out their own citizens adding to the refugee crisis. While those
compassionate in the world seek to solve and at the very least minimize the refugee drownings at
sea, those who choose to be apathetic will continue to add to the underlying issues and we will
continue to watch as more lives are lost, and the beautiful Aegean Sea becomes the postcard for a
turquoise cemetery.

Imagine you are a dorm supervisor, like a residence assistant, you know the ones that take care of all the unruly students. I happen to know they do so much more. Resident assistants not only make new students feel welcome, but they are role models and supposed to guide those around them to make good choices and watch out for their safety. That is what she did. I will call her “Aisha” because to use her real name could put her family back in Turkey at risk. She was beautiful with an infectious smile. Not many people know that Turkish people can also be blond with blue/green eyes. Aisha was young, like 21 years old kind of young. What is so amazing about her? She walked through the Balkans by herself to escape the Erdogan regime. For those of you new to this blog or website, you can find more robust information on the Turkish Purge in the resources section. In a nutshell, the Gulen or Hizmet (which means service) Movement supporters were unjustly blamed for the 2016 coup attempt. Many of Turkey’s highly educated members like teachers, lawyers, judges, journalists, and businesspeople were purged and forced to flee for being associated with the movement. They were used as pawns to cover up corruption taking place by the regime. They fired teachers and closed schools across Turkey and all over the world. They arrested, tortured, and purged anyone with any kind of association. Yes, that meant a dorm supervisor too. In fact, on July 15, 2016, the night of the coup Aisha, went through the dorm rooms and took books or anything that would associate the students with being a part of Hizmet. She made many trips from the different dorms to her car, and she was overwhelmed with the anxiety that someone would see her. She loaded her car with student notebooks and books about service, interfaith dialogue and peace and drove to a remote location to dump them. After returning to her parents’ home, she realized her life was going to change. She was supported by her mother, but her father wanted her to marry and if she didn’t agree, he would disown her. She did the hard thing, she left. Her passport was most likely revoked and if she tried to use it, she was putting herself at risk of going to prison. She would have to walk to Greece, and it would be risky. Especially for a young girl. During our conversation I stared at her beautiful big blue/green eyes, and I saw the pain and suffering. But they sparkled with hope, and grit. The translator told me how this journey was still fresh for her, and some things she just couldn’t talk about. I heard how she walked through the forests of the Balkans, entrusting herself to smugglers who would help her cross borders. She would sleep in the woods and often shiver from the cold and hurt from hunger. There were many things she endured on that long journey to Greece, things that one can only imagine. She made it to Athens and would now attempt to go to the Netherlands. She had to turn back from the airport several times wasting airline tickets. If she was rejected from boarding, she would just wait until she had the money and try again. The time she removed her hajib, a part of her identity, her life and her religion and bought bright tourist clothes and made it on the plane. I am sure by now she has started a new life in a new land, learned a new language and has integrated into a new culture. She should know how brave she was to seek freedom and walk through the Balkans. Like her, there are hundreds of thousands of women who have been purged and who have had to escape the Erdogan regime. All in search of something we often take for granted. Freedom.

Human Rights in Turkey: Assaults on Human Dignity (Volume 15): Aydin, Hasan, Langley, Winston: 9783030574758: Political Ideologies: Amazon Canada Vonya Womack author of Chapter 19 Trauma of Turkish Women and Children in an Era of Political Unrest

In a recent Aegean Boat Report (see article attached) there were 44 people including children that were part of a militia like pushback the end of November 2021 off the Greek coast. The documentation by these refugees and what they endured is all too familiar. It should boggle one’s mind that we live in a time where coast guards and rescue boats have turned into full blown militia units where men, women and children are beaten, raped, humiliated, and pushed back out to sea to drown or return to a country they are trying so desperately to escape from. People don’t leave home because they want to. They leave home because they have to. We need to continue to draw attention to these illegal stunts at the cost of human life like those working for the Aegean Boat Report.

Only some of the stories make it into the news or on social media about the harrowing journeys refugee’s encounter at sea or in rivers.  There are pushbacks and drownings happening every day and the world has become desensitized to it. Fighting for the common good continues to become more difficult when there are less people fighting for justice. It shouldn’t be that we only fight for justice when it affects us personally. It should matter all the time. I found it important to share this story and make it known that this isn’t something new that is happening. I believe the more stories that are documented and the more stories that are told will create more knowledge for people to act and call out for justice and the right to human dignity.

It was April 26, 2019, at 4:00 pm when 11 people landed close to the village of Lagina, Greece. There were 8 adults and 3 children (all under 9 years old) that crossed the Evros River to escape persecution by the Turkish regime. One of the women was 8 months pregnant, another was disabled and alone with her two small children and two were over the age of 65. The hope for all of them was to arrive in a land of refuge, one they could feel safe in and one that they could bring their children to. I sat at a café in Athens across from Mikail, a broken but determined man who desperately wanted to tell his story. He started by telling me about the terrible afternoon of April 26.

“When we arrived on the Greek shores, we walked into the village where we were met by a police car, and escorted to a secluded area. “The male police were behaving ugly. They took our ID cards, and phones and put it all in a plastic bag. After some time, a closed minibus (a Peugeot) arrived. We were pushed into the bus that was full of trash. We soon found ourselves back at the river. They told us to get out and when the doors opened, we faced off with soldiers and police. It was so frighting. We said we only wanted to make applications as refugees, we told them we were victims of the regime in Turkey. They told us they would reject us and push us back and anyone else who came over from now on. They shoved us to the boat and pushed us back in the river. We even told them that if we went back, we would endure heavy torture and unlawful prison sentences. That is when they started to hit us with wooden bats. One of the bats hit a body so hard that it broke. It was at that moment that we realized we had seen the same bats in the Sofuli police stations while we were being held in detention and where we should have had our paperwork for asylum processed.”

Mikail went on to tell me that this was a violent experience, the older woman in the boat was dragged, they were kicking and pushing all of them except the children. Bats were hitting their backs and legs. One of the men had his knee reversed which turned into a permanent injury for him. The pregnant woman was dragged even though they were yelling about her situation.  

“The children were crying and screaming will they kill us mommy?” After this torture they pushed us into a boat and one of the masked men pushed one of us carrying the phones into the water. They retreated when they shoved us into the river. We immediately tried to retrieve the phone bag once they left and luckily, we found it and one of them still worked. It was dark and we had to make our way to the forest on the Turkish side. We were all wet, hungry, and thirsty with no food or water. We had 200 ml of milk that we shared between all of us, but it wasn’t enough, and we had to drink the river water.”

That night it wouldn’t just be the fear of the Greek police/soldiers that pushed them back but fear of being detained by the Turkish soldiers. In the morning they crossed the river again and had to wait for many hours on the Greek side of the water. One of the men on the boat was able to call his journalist friend and he announced everywhere about their situation. Mikail said

“After those two police cars came, they took us to the Soufli police station, the same one we were detained in. These new police officials were very polite. On our second day in the detention center, an advocate came but some officials advised us not to speak with them. Since we were frightened to get pushed back again, we did what they said. On the last day in the center, a UN member came and talked with us. We didn’t talk with him in the cage, he told us to wait until we were out. In the meantime, we saw the commander who was speaking Turkish to some of the military group that had tortured us near the river. We were able to show him to the UN member. After we were released, we talked with the UN member about the details. We told them that we saw bats and military uniform dress hanging in a room at the detention center.”

He looked unsettled and still anxious about their safety. The children were having nightmares and were waking up shouting wanting to know if those bad police would come back or not. Mikail and those with him were in a tough position. Since they didn’t have any asylum cards they couldn’t go to the hospital, and they couldn’t submit a report about the torture. Unfortunately, too often human rights abuses are never officially reported.

This is only one of many stories that of those arriving on Greek shores who were met with what seemed to be Turkish speaking soldiers or police wearing Greek police uniforms. Some also had long beards and batons or bats to beat those arriving. In most of the stories their phones and belongings were thrown in the water, and they were pushed back into the open sea water in the night. Could it be that the Erdogan regime was paying off Greek police, or there were Turkish police working undercover? Many have told me for the most part the Greek police were helpful and would take the Turkish refugees escaping persecution and lead them to safety where they were given blankets, food, and water while their paperwork got processed. Mikail, like thousands of others had a different experience. Mikail represents for us the millions of refugees around the world seeking freedom that have been pushed back into open seas and many times by soldiers and people hired from the same countries they were trying to escape from. The writer of the The Aegean Boat Report asked a great question we should all try to answer, “Should the human race survive long enough, people will look back at this and ask: ‘How?’ How could the wealthiest political unit ever to have existed have sunk to such depths that it would allow one of its member states to savage vulnerable men, women and children in this way?”