Turkish Kurd asylum seeker abducted in Athens and handed over to Turkish authorities

Source

Posted by @IrateGreek

The Movement "Expel Racism" reported yesterday (01 June 2013) that, according to information given by the Turkish police to his lawyers and relatives, Bulut Yayla , a Turkish Kurd asylum seeker in Greece, is now in police custody in Turkey [Update: Lawyers for Refugees and Migrants' Rights report that he was handed over to the police in Edirne. He is now held by the antiterrorism unit in Istanbul after being handed by his Greek-speaking kidnappers to another team that spoke both Greek and Turkish, and then to another that spoke Turkish and English.]. He was abducted in downtown Athens in the evening of 30 May by five men who dragged him in a car and had been unheard from since.

An urgent press release dated 31 May and co-signed by the Greek Council for Refugees, the Social Support Network for Refugees and Migrants, the Team of Lawyers for Refugee and Migrant Rights and the Solidarity Committee for Political Prisoners in Turkey and Kurdistan describe events surrounding his disappearance as follows:

Amnesty International: the situation of human rights in Greece is deteriorating

Posted by @IrateGreek

The Greek chapter of Amnesty International organized a press conference to present the organization's annual report in front of the Aliens' Department in Athens today. This symbolic choice reflects Amnesty's key findings about the situation of human rights in Greece in 2013:

"Allegations of human rights abuses by police, including torture and excessive use of force continued throughout the year. Migrants and asylum seekers faced impediments in registering their asylum applications and were often detained in substandard conditions. Hate crime on the basis of race and ethnicity escalated dramatically."

14-year-old Ismael from Afghanistan, a victim of racist violence

Posted by @IrateGreek

14-year-old Ismael from Afghanistan was assaulted on Easter Monday in Athens by men in black who slashed his face with a broken bottle of beer. You can watch below his description of the attack in a video released by Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World) and read the English translation of the dialogue. 

UN High Commission for Refugees: a press conference on refugees from Syria

The UNHCR Press Conference about refugees from Syria was live-tweeted by @WonderMas.

See below:

#rbnews international weekly bulletin 19-25 January 2013

The text companion of the #rbnews international show of 26 January 2013 is online. You can read it after the jump.