Thousands of Syrians Return From Turkey to Celebrate Eid
Turkey has opened the border for Syrian refugees who want to go home for the holy month of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday, allowing them to return within a month.
At least 30,000 Syrians have returned through the Cilvegozu crossing since it opened on June 1, and another border crossing opened this week, according to Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency.
Some of the Syrians told Reuters they planned to return to Turkey, while others hoped to head home for good.
Turkey shut its borders with Syria in 2015. There are about 3 million Syrian refugees in the country.
More Than 1,000 Rescued at Sea in One Day
Rescue ships saved more than 1,000 people trying to reach Europe from Libya on June 16. They were traveling in nine rubber and wooden boats in the Mediterranean, according to Italy’s coastguard.
Earlier the same day Proactiva Open Arms said their rescue vessel was picking up 11 people from a small boat when Libyan coastguard officials fired in the air. The NGO called it an act of intimidation. No one was hurt.
Another humanitarian group operating boats on the Mediterranean previously accused the coastguard of interfering with its rescue operation.
Facebook Video Shows Abuse of Migrant Captives in Libya
A Facebook video from inside a militia detention center in Libya that shows appalling abuse of migrants has been circulated online.
It shows around 260 people, mainly Somalis and Ethiopians, crowded in a room, many with visible signs of emaciation and abuse. The exact location is unknown.
The video was recorded by a Somali journalist based in Turkey and posted on June 9. He speaks to someone inside the detention center who takes him round to talk to migrants.
They say women are held separately and they fear they are being sexually abused. Some describe having their arms broken, teeth removed; one had a concrete block strapped to his back. Many of them plead for help.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it believed the video was authentic and it was “deeply concerned” about the captives.
The IOM said parents and relatives of the captives had already received video clips via social media with ransom demands of $8,000–10,0000. The United Nations agency said it would not share the video in order to protect the people shown from retaliation by their captors.
“This is a global problem where a smuggler or a criminal gang can easily use digital platforms to advertise their services, entice vulnerable people on the move and then exploit them and their families,” said the IOM director of operations and emergencies, Mohammed Abdiker.
“It is high time that social media and tech companies recognized the extreme harm that is occurring because of their failure to monitor and react to situations of grave human rights abuses – leading ultimately to murder – that are being shared through their channels,” he said.
Recommended Reads
- The New York Times: Efforts to Rescue Migrants Caused Deadly, Unexpected Consequences
- IRIN News: Italy’s Migrant Reception System Is Breaking
- The Economist: Why Migration From West Africa Is Slowing
- Transparency International: Collective Commitment to Enhance Accountability and Transparency in Emergencies
- European Council on Foreign Relations: Don’t Close Borders, Manage Them