CAR L A KÖN IG | F E AT U R E
EU BORDERS BO UNDA R I E S O F E U R OP EA N S OL I DA R I TY ? SI N CE L ATE FEBRUAR Y, TH E C ON DI TIONS F OR A SYLU M SEEK ER S AT TH E E X TER NAL BOR DER S OF TH E EU ROPE AN U N ION HAV E BEC OM E I NCR E ASI N G LY CR I TICAL . A S G R EECE HA S TR I ED TO SH I ELD I T S BOR DER S, NG OS AR E R EP OR TI NG ON V IOLEN T AU THOR I TI E S AN D I LLEG AL DEP OR TATIONS . TH E O U TBR E AK OF C OV I D -19 AN D SUG G E STIONS F OR A N E W EU -M IG R ATION PAC T AG G R AVATE TH E SI T UATION. TH E PER SPEC TIV E SP OK E TO AN A SYLU M SEEK ER , AN AC TIV IST AN D A R E SE ARCH ER ON H U MAN R IG H T S TO G LE AN TH EI R I NSIG H T S ON TH E MAT TER .
T
he new normal" has often been used as a phrase to describe the changes that the coronavirus has brought upon Europe and the rest of the world. The closing of international borders is only one part of these restrictions. In March, when the outbreak of the virus reached an international peak, many countries imposed travel bans. This included the Schengen area—a radical change in the daily lives of many who, all of a sudden, found themselves stuck in one country, unable to travel freely. Yet what has become "the new normal" for many people all over the world has long been a much more serious reality for others. Layla, who is called differently in real life, is one of them. Together with her husband, the young woman from Iraq tried to get to Western Europe on three different occasions since March this year—but as of today, they never made it farther than North Macedonia. In late February, Turkish President Erdoğan declared he would not stop asylum seekers stranded in Turkey from entering the European Union anymore, as it
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was originally specified in the EU-Turkey Statement of 2016. As a result, thousands of migrants in Turkey set off to Greece's border. Soon after the announcement, Greek authorities started to shield the country's borders and tried to prevent refugees from entering. Layla and her husband made it to Greece several times—but never for long. The Greek police stopped them and other asylum seekers on the street, she remembers. "They took everything: our money, our phones, food and clothes. And they were beating some boys.” Afterwards, they were taken back across the border to Turkey by bus. This happened to them twice, she tells THE PERSPECTIVE. Alexandra Bogos has heard stories like Layla's many times. As an advocacy officer for the NGO Mobile Info Team in Thessaloniki, the 32-year old Romanian informs asylum seekers about their rights and assists them with their applications. Together with other networks, such as the Border Violence Monitoring Network, the Mobile Info Team has started to collect testimonies from asylum seekers like Layla about their experiences with Greek
