Skjól, lögfræðisjóður sem verið er að stofna til að auka möguleika hælisleitenda á að leita sér lögfræðiaðstoðar stendur fyrir tónleikum á Grand Rokk þann 14. nóvember.

“Skjól” (shelter) a legal aid fund being set up is hosting a concert at Grand Rokk on the 14th of November.

Fram koma/Appearing:

Nýhil
Helgi Valur
Mad-X (flóttamaður/refugee frá/from Sierra Leone)
Nour (ef hann verður kominn aftur til landsins/if he is back in the country)
Thugs on Parole
Sesar A
Blaz Roca
DJ Kocoon
Pedro Pílatus
Retro Stefsson
Skelkur í Bringu
Bárujárn

Þar sem hver hælisleitendi fær 2500kr í vasapeninga á viku og að opna hvert lögfræðimál kostar um 100.000-200.000 krónur þa er mjög erfitt að standa undir þess háttar kostnaði. Í mörgum tilfellum greiða aðrir lögfræðiþjónustu eða ráðgjöf, td RKÍ en ekki allir geta leitað ser aðstoðar þar. Þessi sjóður kemur til með að auka möguleika hælisleitenda og flóttamanna að leita sér aðstoðar, sérstaklega eftir að til ólögleg brottvisun er framkvæmd en þá er einna erfiðast fyrir þau að sækja sér lögfræðihjálp hér a landi.

Asylum seekers in Iceland get 2500kr per week as pocket money. Seeing as opening each case can cost between 100.000 and 200.000 kr then asylum seekers can find it very hard to pay these costs. In many cases other groups pay for legal aid but this is not always the and this fund will give asylum seekers and refugees a greater chance of seeking legal aid. This will be especially be helpful in cases of illegal deportations when it is hardest for them to seek legal aid.

Mætið timanlega!
Dont be late!

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http://dagskra.ruv.is/ras1/4501783/2009/10/23/

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[1] http://www.hrw.org/en/node/76211/section/9

[2] http://clandestinenglish.wordpress.com/tag/turkey/

[3] http://www.unhcr.se/en/Protect/statistic_en.html

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Article 1.

• All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

In other words, if someone asks for help, you should help him – but Icelands authorities rather send them away!!!

Article 2.

• Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 5.

• No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Being sent back to Greece, means being sent back to inhuman living situations. None or insuffiecient sanitary facilities, no access to medical supply. Facing racism and xenophobia – often even in the form of physical violence through Greek people and/or the police.

Five immigrants were killed by cops and coast guards during last year in Greece. More than fifty humans have been killed the last ten years because of “luckily gun-fires”, “unclear situations”, “health problems”, “unreasonable self-suicides”, the “reasonable rage of citizens”. In this list there are no cases of deaths that were caused because of inexistent safety measures in workplaces (13 dead immigrants ONLY during the olympic games’ constructions. On this list the deaths because of land-mines at Evros river, or shipwrecks in the Aegean sea are not included, as well as the cases of  gun-fire exchange, which were filed as’ “legal self-defense” cases although its certain they were plain murders.  In this list there are only cases of straight murders.

http://clandestinenglish.wordpress.com/tag/immigrant-abuse/

“Now you will die!”: Coast Guard attempt to drown asylum-seekers in Lesbos

Source: http://libcom.org/news/now-you-will-die-coast-guard-attempt-drown-asylum-seekers-lesbos-03082009

Coast guard of Lesbos tied 12 Somali immigrants in an inflatable boat and then pierced its sides with knives in order to drown the helpless asylum seekers who were saved by passing cruise boat

The Coast Guard of Lesbos Island has been accused of attempting to mass murder 12 Somali asylum seekers, amongst which one woman. According to the case, on the 5th of July an Austrian European border Frontex Helicopter spotted an inflatable boat containing the 12 immigrants off Korakas Cape in Lesbos.

Upon the arrival of the Greek Coast Guard, the helicopter left, leaving the Greek cops to arrest the 12. The Coast Guard took the 12 out of their boat, tied their hands to their necks, beat them, and put them back in the inflatable boat before piercing its sides with knives. Then they let the boat go to the open sea telling the asylum seekers in English: “Now you will die!”.

Immediately the boat started getting water in, and sinking. The asylum seekers were saved from certain drowning when a British cruise boat passed by, saw them and saved them. The asylum seekers were then taken to Pagani detention camp on Lesbos from where they contacted the UN through a sympathetic lawyer. The Coast Guard adding insult to harm has called the UN law suit against them an act of provocation.

http://clandestinenglish.wordpress.com/tag/turkey/

Article 7.

• All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8.

• Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9.

• No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Arresting asylum seekers and treating them like criminals is an inhuman act and therefor a violation of the human rights declaration. None of them is a criminal, in contrary they usually try very hard to integrate into the society, since it’s already difficult for them because of their origin, eventually different religious believes, etc. In addition, sending them to Greece means, in most cases, detention or arrest there.

Article 10.

• Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

As in article 9, they are treated like criminals by the icelandic authorities and even worse in Greece!

Article 12.

• No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Eventually refer to the incident of the police searching their rooms for criminal ‘activities’ ?

Article 13.

• (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.

• (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14.

• (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

• (2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15.

• (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.

• (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 21.

• (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

• (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.

• (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

If the people are opposed to deportations, deportations should NOT happen!!!

Article 22.

• Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

It is not social security, if you have to wait for months, or even years for an answer concerning your future, your life. By letting the refugees wait for such long times they are deprived from their social security. In addition no one is helping them to integrate into the society, which would be very important.

Article 23.

• (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

• (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

• (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

• (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Obviously this doesn’t apply if you’re an asylum seeker (in Iceland)

Article 25.

• (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Not guaranteed in Greece/Greek refugee camps

Article 26.

• (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

• (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

In Iceland they don’t even get adequate Icelandic-language courses, no mention of school education!!

Article 27.

• (1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

• (2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28.

• Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29.

• (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.

• (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

• (3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30.

• Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

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Mætum öll og sýnum samstöðu með Wali Safi, sem átti að senda úr landi fyrir helgi.
Krefjumst þess að honum verði veitt hæli og ekki aðskilinn frá unnustu sinni og 4 stjúpbörnum.

http://visir.is/article/20091016/FRETTIR01/231531210

http://www.dv.is/frettir/2009/10/16/flottamadur-farinn-i-felur-eg-ottast-um-lif-mitt/

Hvar: Lækjartorg
Hvenar: 12:00, sunnudaginn 18.10.09

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I’ve been crying a lot and become more cry, I love Iceland so much and I was hoping to stay there all my life forever. But they did not give me a chance of survival and life . Why? I want to know why.

I did not see good people in my life like the people of Iceland.

I am now in Greece do not know what to do and did not sleep for 3 days They put me in the airport prison, I swear my life more than 100 people inside the prison, I could not sleep I did not find the place or a bed to sleep. This morning They told me you have to come with us for the interview, I swear to God the time of interview was not more than 10 minutes and after that they told me You Free, i asked them where to go  I do not have a place here in Greece, they told me that (you want to go or you want to stay here in prison).

I do not want to speak more because I do not want to hurt myself a lot All I want to say now and I’m crying like a baby:

I loved Iceland and I hope to see you agine guys in iceland and Thank you very much to each person he help me, I LOVE YOU ALL A LOT.

With love and sincerity and respect for all.

Noor Al-Azzawi.

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Niður með rasisma, niður með UTL!

Mótmælum brottvísun flóttamanna frá Íslandi.

Í gær, miðvikudaginn 14. okt voru 3 flóttamenn frá Írak og Afganistan sendir
á vit óvissunnar í Grikklandi þar sem þeir munu dveljast við aðstæður sem
Sameinuðu Þjóðirnar hafa úrskurðað að séu óviðunandi, og þá er mikið sagt.
Þar munu þeir bíða þess að verða sendir aftur til heimalanda sinna í þær
hörmulegu og lífshættulegu aðstæður sem knúðu þá til að yfirgefa fjölskyldur
sínar og flýja land.

Mótmælum þessari ákvörðun, sem og rasískum og ómannúðlegum aðferðum
Útlendingastofnunar (UTL), Dómsmálaráðuneytisins og lögreglunnar.

Síðar í dag verður send út önnur tilkynning um hverjir ræðumenn verða.

Hvar? - Lækjartorgi
Hvenær? - Á föstudaginn 16 okt, kl 12:00.

—

Destroy Racism - Fuck the Directorate of Immigration!

Protest against the deportation of refugees.

Yesterday, Wednesday October 14th, 3 refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan
were arrested by the Icelandic police and this morning, sent back to
Greece, where thet originally came to from their home countries. In Greece
they will end up in very poor refugees camps, which the United Nations
have said are unacceptable.

From Greece they will most likely be sent back to their home countries, to
the horrible and life-threatening situations that forced them in the first
place to leave their families and escape their countries.

We will protest this decission, as well as the racist and enormously
inhumane methods of the Directorate of Immigration (UTL), the Mininstry of
Justice and [n.b.] HUMAN RIGHTS, and the facsist police.

Later today, a letter will be sent announcing who will speak on the
protest. It will be a short one, half and hour up to an hour maximum.

Where? - On Lækjartorg Square
When? - Friday, October 16th at 12:00.

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This letter has been sent to members of the commitee working on the refugee-issue, the minister of Justice, the media, etc.

Til nefndarinnar um málefni flóttamanna
(English version below)

Varðandi meðferð flóttamanna á Íslandi eru þónokkur siðferðileg og lagaleg atriði sem við viljum vekja athygli ykkar á. Yfirvöld hafa ekki aðeins gerst sek um að brjóta gegn hinum ýmsu alþjóðlegu lögum og samningum sem Ísland er aðili að, landslögum og reglugerðum sem þau hafa sjálf sett sér til aðhalds, heldur er háttalag þeirra í málefnum flóttamanna ómannúðlegt og siðlaust og starfshættir þeirra brjóta þvert gegn tilgangi og anda laganna.

Eftirfarandi eru þau meginatriði sem hafa vakið athygli okkar og við myndum vilja sjá nefndina mæla fyrir breytingum á:

Staðsetning flóttamannabúðanna
Upplýsingaveita varðandi lögfræðileg atriði
Uppfylling grundvallarþarfa:
-    Læknisaðstoð og heilbrigðisþjónusta
-    Sálfræðiaðstoð
-    Íslenskukennsla og almenn menntun
-    Möguleikar á aðlögun og þátttöku í samfélaginu
Framkvæmd brottvísunar
Ákvörðunin varðandi ástandið í Grikklandi
Ítrekuð brot gegn Dyflinnarreglugerðinni, með áherslu á tímaramma hennar
Ófullnægjandi starfshættir yfirvalda og eftirlit með viðkomandi stofnunum

Staðsetning flóttamannabúðanna
Eins og auglýst er á vefsíðu „farfuglaheimilisins” eru flóttamannabúðirnar staðsettar í 5 mínútna fjarlægð frá flugvellinum, en staðsetningin er til merkis um hið fordómafulla viðhorf yfirvalda og tilætlunar- og viljaleysi þeirra til þess að taka á móti flóttamönnum. Staðsetning búðanna hindrar aðgang að mikilvægum stoðum og stofnunum s.s. höfuðstöðvum Rauða Krossins, lögfræðingum, Útlendingastofnun o.s.frv. Auk þess hefur flóttamönnum reynst erfitt að aðlagast hinu litla samfélagi sem Reykjanesbær er, þar sem þeir standa augljóslega út úr sem utanaðkomandi. Fjarlægðin frá Reykjavík meinar þeim að nýta sér að fullu þá möguleika sem þar eru í boði og það sem auðugra fjölmenningarsamfélag hefur upp á að bjóða. Þess fyrir utan hafa átt sér stað atvik á farfuglaheimilinu sem lýsa neikvæðri afstöðu og óþoli gagnvart flóttamönnunum. Að okkar áliti ætti ekki að blanda viðskiptum inn í svo veigamikil mál, en farfuglaheimilið Fit hefur haft traustar tekjur af hýsingu flóttamanna og annars sem viðskiptasamningur þeirra við Reykjanesbæ kveður á um.
Af ofantöldum ástæðum er nauðsynlegt að búðirnar verði fluttar í miðborgina, þangað sem hægt er að veita flóttamönnum það sem þarf til þess að mæta helstu þörfum og svo þeir megi lifa eðlilegra lífi.

Upplýsingaveita varðandi lögfræðileg atriði
Flóttamenn sem hér ber að garði og sækja um hæli tala fæstir ensku nema í besta falli til þess að bjarga sér í einföldustu samræðum. Engir þeirra tala íslensku. Þrátt fyrir þetta berast þeim flest gögn frá útlendingastofnun um sig og sín mál á íslensku með einstaka þýðingum á ensku. Þetta er ekki aðeins óviðunandi heldur brýtur gegn fjöldanum öllum af lagagreinum og ákvæðum í samningum bundnum í lög. Lögbrotin eru tvenns konar, annars vegar brot gegn ákvæðum sem beinlínis kveða á um að tungumál skiljanleg viðkomandi skulu notuð.1 Hins vegar eru brot gegn lögum varðandi upplýsingaveitu en það sér hver maður að þegar upplýsingum er komið áleiðis á tungumáli sem móttakandinn skilur ekki hefur takmarkinu um að veita upplýsingar ekki verið náð. Þannig eru í málefnum flóttamanna í sífellu brotin yfirleitt öll lög sem kveða á um skyldur yfirvaldsins til veitu upplýsinga til þeirra einstaklinga sem um ræðir.2

Íslensk lög og reglugerðir gætu þó verið miklum mun skýrari um skyldu yfirvalda til veitingu upplýsinga til flóttamanna sem sótt hafa um hæli, varðandi sjálfsagðan og eðlilegan rétt þeirra sem manneskjur og sem flóttamenn. Æskilegt og eðlilegt væri að yfirvöldum bæri samkvæmt lögum þar um að veita flóttamönnum sem sækja um hæli allar viðkomandi upplýsingar um íslenskt réttarkerfi, málsmeðferðir hælisumsækjenda á Íslandi almennt, meðferð eigin mála, rétt til lögfræðiaðstoðar, rétt þeirra við handtökur, rétt skv. Dyflinnarreglugerðinni, rétt skv. mannréttindasáttmálum og flóttamannaviðaukum þeirra. Enn fremur ætti vera beinum orðum í lögum að allar upplýsingar skuli veittar á tungumáli sem viðkomandi skilur og helst á eigin móðurmáli.

[click to continue…]

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The Althingi parliament’s general committee has written an opinion on the Ministry of Justice’s report on the position of asylum seekers in Greece and the Dublin Regulation, concluding that the conditions there are improving and that Iceland could therefore continue to send refugees there, just as the other Nordic countries.

However, the committee recommended that each case be evaluated individually, Fréttabladid reports.

“[The opinion] states that we are dealing with these matters in a sensible and well-balanced manner as the other Nordic counties are doing,” said chairwoman of the general committee Steinunn Valdís Óskarsdóttir.

The Ministry of Justice’s report, which was undertaken at the request of Minister of Justice Ragna Árnadóttir, had concluded that there were “serious flaws” in the treatment of asylum seekers in Greece.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is against refugees being sent back there in authority of the Dublin Regulation.

“Judging by what I have seen from the conditions in Greece, I’m surprised that people are going to go this way,” said Arnar Thór Jónsson, the lawyer representing six asylum seekers in Iceland who are at risk of being deported to Greece where they claim their lives are in danger. Most of them have been in Iceland for more than six months.

“And considering how long my clients have been in this country and how long this case has taken, it would be a matter of responsibility to send them back to Greece,” Jónsson stated. “It is not at all certain that the Greek feel that they are responsible for them.”

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