Refugee Support Aegean and PRO ASYL stand side by side with the residents fighting against the creation of the detention centres

Since yesterday the islands’ residents face crackdown and disproportionate violence in order to be forced to accept the creation of big centers that will detain or host refugees and asylum-seekers. The police crackdown and force is not an appropriate response towards the islands’ societies that have shown solidarity towards refugees during the last years.

Today’s crackdown is another aspect of the implementation of the toxic EU-Turkey deal that came into effect in 2016. The deal had catastrophic consequences turning the islands into prisons, destroying the residents’ solidarity towards refugees and targeting volunteers and organizations supporting refugees. The EU and other member states shift the responsibility once more to Greece without considering the destabilization and polarization of an already unmanageable situation in the Aegean islands region. This policies only fuel racism.

We stand side by side with the residents fighting against the creation of the centres. We support the immediate closure of hotspots and the transfer of refugees to the mainland and a large scale relocation program from Greece

Refugee Support Aegean        Pro Asyl