By Ben Cowles
The podcast currently has 65 episodes available.
In this episode, we speak with Paul Wagner, the media officer for Sea-Watch's airborne operations.
He tells us about the rescue organisation's reconnaissance missions over the central Mediterranean, the push and pullbacks they have witnessed at sea, and how the EU has refugee blood on its hands.
He also tell us about the various ways the Italian government has tried to stop them from carrying out their human rights monitoring missions.
---Get in touch---
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---Show Notes---
For more on Sea-Watch, visit: sea-watch.org/en
For more on the Seabirds 1 & 2, see here: sea-watch.org/mission/airborne/
Follow Sea-Watch on Twitter on @seawatch_intl Bluesky: @en.sea-watch.org Instagram: seawatchcrew
Also, check out episodes 43, 22, 7 and 1 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on Sea-Watch.
Read more about Carola Rackete here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/01/17/italys-highest-court-confirms-ngo-captain-should-not-have-been-arrested-for-saving-refugee-lives/
For more on SOS Humanity, see episodes 55 and 31
Read The Civil Fleet's coverage of Sea-Watch here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Sea-Watch
For more on the Matteo Salvini kidnapping trial. see: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/09/15/italian-deputy-pm-matteo-salvini-faces-possible-six-years-in-prison-over-migrants-case
It was SOS Humanity who rescued one person at sea in late October. They were then forced to sail to the distant port of Salerno, 870km, away from where the rescue took place. Read more about that here: twitter.com/soshumanity_en/status/1850235169568891033
You can read Ben's interbiew with Sea-Watch's Tamino Bohm, here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/07/18/the-libyan-coastguards-interceptions-of-refugees-couldnt-happen-without-europes-planes
For more on the sip captain Paul metions who was arrested for handing people over to the Libya, see here: euronews.com/2021/10/14/italy-ship-captain-convicted-after-sending-101-migrants-to-libya-in-2018
The merchant shop Ben talks about was the Maersk Etienne. You can read about that saga here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/09/13/forty-day-nightmare-finally-over-as-the-mare-jonio-brings-the-etienne-27-to-land
For more on the Maersk Etienne case, check out episodes 18 and 47
Read about Malta's treatment of the civilian rescuers here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Malta
For more on the Pylos shipwreck, see Episodes 60 and 52
Paul mention's a testimony by Ibrahim Hsian, the son of Mohammed Hsian who drowned in the shipwreck of 2nd September 2024. You can read that here: sea-watch.org/en/my-father-was-a-unique-irreplaceable-person
In this episode we speak with Ola, an activist from the Grupa Granica coalition in Poland about the situation for refugees, migrants and people-on-the-move at the country's border with Belarus.
She tells us how border guards on both sides are mistreating people-on-the-move there, about the ping-pong pushbacks across the border, and how the country's Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, plans to "temporarily" ban the human right to claim asylum.
Ola also tells us about Grupa Granica's work supporting people-on-the-move with food, clothes and first aid, and how the authorities have treated the activists.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
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---Show Notes---
For more on Grupa Granica, see their Facebook page here: facebook.com/grupagranica
See their Instagram account here: instagram.com/grupagranica
For more on the Belarus border, see episode 33 with Dalia, an activist from the Lithuanian human rights and medical aid organisation, Sienos Grupe.
Ola mention Alarm Phone. For more them, visit: alarmphone.org, and find them on Twitter on @alarm_phone.
And check out The Civil Fleet's episodes 48, 5 and 3.
Read this France 24 news article on African people fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine being mistreated by the Polish border guards: france24.com/en/europe/20220228-pushed-back-because-we-re-black-africans-stranded-at-ukraine-poland-border
Read this FT article about the Afghans stuck at the Poland-Belarus border in 2021, here: https://archive.ph/RL4iK
And this Amnesty International article here: amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2021/09/poland-belarus-border-crisis/
For more on the Ethiopian people who died at the Poland-Belarus border last year, see here: https://ecre.org/eu-eastern-borders-more-deaths-at-poland-belarus-border-as-reports-of-pushbacks-detention-and-crack-down-on-solidarity-continue-council-of-europe-concerned-over-pushbacks-and-criminalisation-in-lat/
Read this Al Jazeera news report on the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk plans to temporarily suspend the human right to claim asylum here: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/12/poland-to-temporarily-suspend-asylum-rights-amid-belarus-border-tensions
Read about Finland's government also blocking the human right to claim asylum here: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/12/finland-passes-law-to-block-asylum-seekers-crossing-from-russia
And this Amnesty International response to it: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/finland-emergency-law-block-people-seeking-asylum-should-never-have-passed
Ben mentions people in Europe being dubbed smugglers for giving food, water, first aid, etc to people-on-the-move. More examples of that can be found in episodes: 59, 58, 51, 50, 47, 46, 41, 37, 35, 28, 24, 20, 16, 13, 7, 4 and 2
Ola uses the phrase "Dublinned" in the episode. This is a reference to the EU's Dublin Agreement — which is essentially supposed to keep asylum seekers away from northern Europe. Check out this explainer video by The Guardian newspaper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ooecJWPcAY&t=28s&ab_channel=TheGuardian
In this episode, we speak with Denny, a young refugee from Kashmir who was forced to flee his homeland almost 9 years ago.
He is going to tell us about life in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, his journey through Europe, how he was mistreated by the authorities and supported by activists.
We also talk about his time living in a squat in Bosnia, and how looking after a dog helped his mental state.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social
Instagram: thecivilfleet
[email protected]
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---
For more on the oppression in India-occupied Kashmir, see this 2019 Al Jazeera article: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/8/15/kashmirs-struggle-did-not-start-in-1947-and-will-not-end-today
For more on Britain's partition of India, see this Ted Ed video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrcCTgwbsjc&ab_channel=TED-Ed
For more on Britain's awful colonial rule of India, check out this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIzQxNZfGM4&ab_channel=OddCompass
Read this BBC news story about the Indian army killing of Kashmiri activists in May: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4n11j4wewxo
Ben mentions Klara in this interview. She was an activist with No Name Kitchen in Bosnia. Check out episodes 58 and 59 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on Bosnia and No Name Kitchen
Ben mentions Bihac, but doesn't explain where that is. Whoops. It's a small town in northwest Bosnia on the border with Croatia. Episodes 58 and 59 are there.
Denny mentions Kurdistan. More more on them, check out this episode of Revolution and Ideology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rH-6ojrXv0&ab_channel=RevolutionandIdeology
In this episode, we speak with Lauren Starkey, a campaigner and independent social worker who works with Albanian victims of human trafficking.
Lauren is going to tell us how the British government decided that Albanian men shouldn't be granted asylum in the UK, even if they are victims of human trafficking.
She tells us how this approach punishes victims of human trafficking, forces them to live in destitution, and threatens to send them back to an environment they were trafficked from.
And we also have an addendum at the end of the episode, in which we talk about Labour's reported plans to end asylum seekers to Albania.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social
Instagram: thecivilfleet
[email protected]
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---
You can follow Lauren Starkey on Twitter here: @LaurenHStarkey
Lauren mentions the defunct (in the UK) charity Love 146. You can check out their US website here: https://love146.org/
For more on the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), see here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/human-trafficking-victims-referral-and-assessment-forms/guidance-on-the-national-referral-mechanism-for-potential-adult-victims-of-modern-slavery-england-and-wales
Ben mentions a journalist trying to interview people as they cross the Channel. You can watch that here: bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-53722861
For more on the UK, see episodes 61, 57, 49, 44, 42, 40, 39, 38, 32, 25, 21, 17 and 11 of The Civil Fleet Podcast.
Check out Amnesty International's assessment on the Nationality and Borders' Act 2022, see here: amnesty.org.uk/nationality-borders-bill-truth-behind-claims
See here for more on the UK government's legal battle with former Albanian president Berisha: reuters.com/world/europe/albanias-former-pm-berisha-loses-appeal-against-ban-uk-2024-06-17/
Read this Guardian report on the children who went missing from Britain's migrant hotels: theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/jul/17/children-missing-from-home-office-hotels-likely-to-have-been-trafficked-report-finds
You can read about the British PM visit Italy's far-right PM Giorgia Meloni here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/starmer-italy-asylum-offhore-meloni-b2613670.html
For more on Israel's Rwanda scheme, see here: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/03/israel-deportation-of-african-asylum-seekers-is-a-cruel-and-misguided-abandonment-of-responsibility
In this episode, we speak with Dan Sohege, director of the human rights advocacy organisation Stand For All.
We've a new government here in the UK. So I thought it'd be a good idea to ask Dan to give us his analysis of the Labour's plans for asylum seekers.
Dan tells us how Labour's plans to increase immigration raids will only make things worse for victims of trafficking.
We also discuss the recent far-right riots happening across Britain and Northern Ireland, and how our media and politicians bear much of the blame for the violence.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social
Instagram: thecivilfleet
[email protected]
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---
Follow Dan Sohege on Twitter: @stand_for_all
For more on Stand for All, visit: standforall.co.uk
Ben mentions a website where you can see a decade's worth of headlines on immigration. You can see that here: stuartleech.com/canto/dehumanising-headlines
Check out episode 44 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Reclaim the Sea for more on the Bibby Stockholm
Ben mentions episode 49 with Paul O'Connor from the Public and Commerical Services (PCS) union in this episode. Check that out.
For more episodes focused on the UK, see episodes 57, 49, 44, 42, 40, 39, 38, 32, 25, 21, 17 and 11.
Check out this story on the UK Border Force carrying out push back training: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2022/01/14/uk-border-force-may-have-begun-attempts-to-push-refugees-back-across-the-channel-already-evidence-suggests/
Read more about UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's comments on Bangladeshi asylum seekers here: middleeasteye.net/news/uk-labours-keir-starmer-caused-diplomatic-row-over-bangladesh-comments
Corporate Watch have a story here on the state of the hotels housing asylum seekers in the UK: https://corporatewatch.org/refugees-are-being-housed-in-an-infested-hotel-while-the-home-offices-slum-landlords-are-raking-it-in/
For more on the Southport murders and the far-right conspiracies that set off the riots in Britain, see here: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jul/31/how-false-online-claims-about-southport-knife-attack-spread-so-rapidly
Dan mentions a far right protest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Knowsley last year. Read about that here: morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/refugee-hate-and-rabble-rousing-who-are-patriotic-alternative
In today's episode, we speak with Spyros, from the Free Pylos 9 campaign.
He's going to tell us more about the Pylos Shipwreck, how the authorities refused to help the 750 people on the small fishing boat, and how it sank on June 14, 2023, when the Greek coastguards tried to tow it. Only 104 of the 750 people survived.
Spyros also tells us about the nine survivors who were used as scapegoats for the disaster and jailed, about the campaign to free them, and how they were treated once they were acquitted.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social
Instagram: thecivilfleet
[email protected]
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---
For more on Free Pylos 9, see their website here: freepylos9.info
Follow the Free Pylos 9 campaign on Twitter here: @FreePylos9
Find them on Instagram: freepylos9
For more background on the Pylos shipwreck and the 9 criminalised survivors, read this article by the Human Rights Legal Project: humanrightslp.eu/post/the-lack-of-jurisdiction-in-the-pylos-9-trial-and-the-incoherent-interpretation-of-international-cri
Spyros mentions the Captain Support Network. Check them out here: captainsupport.net
He also mentioned the Justice for Pylos campaign. Check out their website (in Greek) here: justice4pylos.org
For more on The Civil Fleet's coverage of the Pylos Shipwreck, see here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Greece
Check out episodes 3, 4, 9, 16, 25, 26, 28, 35, 52, 53, and 56 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on Greece
Ben mention Lighthouse Reports and their investigation into the Pylos Shipwreck. You can read that here: lighthousereports.com/investigation/drowning-in-lies/
Check out Solomon's coverage of the shipwreck here: wearesolomon.com/mag/focus-area/migration/how-the-pylos-tragedy-could-have-been-avoided
For more on Alarm Phone visit: alarmphone.org, and find them on Twitter on @alarm_phone.
You can read Alarm Phone's timeline of the shipwreck here: alarmphone.org/en/2023/06/14/europes-shield/
Oh, and by the way, Hellas is Greece in Greek, and therefore the Greek coastguard are also called the Hellenic Coastguard.
In this episode, we go back to the border town of Bihac, in Bosnia, to see how the solidarity network No Name Kitchen (NNK) supports People on the Move there.
In Part 2 of this miniseries on Bosnia, we'll near more from NNK's volunteers in Bosnia, and also from the refugees/migrants/People on the Move who are trapped in the Balkan country.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social
Instagram: thecivilfleet
[email protected]
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---
For more on No Name Kitchen, see their website here: nonamekitchen.org
Follow NNK on Twitter via @NoNameKitchen1
Follow them on Instagram: @no_name_kitchen
And listen to episodes 58 Part 2, 51, 41, and 6 of The Civil Fleet Podcast.
Want to know where Bihac is exactly? Check out this map: tinyurl.com/34txjd3d
Ben mentions border guards forcing people-on-the-move to stay inside hot cars as a form of punishment. For more on this practice, see this story by Lighthouse Reports: lighthousereports.com/investigation/europes-black-sites/
And check out Episode 34 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Klaas van Dijken, one of the co-founders of Lighthouse Reports
Check out a film called Shadow Game for more on the term the game: shadowgame.eu/en/film/
In April, I went to Bihac, a small town in Bosnia near the border with Croatia, to see how the solidarity network No Name Kitchen (NNK) supports People on the Move there.
In this episode, NNK's volunteers in Bihac will tell us how they provide first aid, food and clothing to the People on the Move there, and how they document border violence.
We'll also talk with a few of the people trapped in Bosnia, who'll tell us about their journeys to the Balkan country, and the abuses they have faced from border guards at the edge of Fortress Europe.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social
Instagram: thecivilfleet
[email protected]
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---
For more on No Name Kitchen, see their website here: nonamekitchen.org
Follow NNK on Twitter via @NoNameKitchen1
Follow them on Instagram: @no_name_kitchen
And listen to episodes 58 Part 2, 51, 41, and 6 of The Civil Fleet Podcast.
Want to know where Bihac is exactly? Check out this map: tinyurl.com/34txjd3d
Joe mentions the IWGB union. For more on them, check them out here: iwgb.org.uk
Joe also mentions Sea-Watch, one of the bigger refugee rescue groups operating in the Mediterranean. For more on them, see: sea-watch.org
And check out episodes 54, 43, 22, 7, and 1 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on Sea-Watch, too.
You can read Joe's article on the Chinese person he meet in Bosnia, here: nonamekitchen.org/a-new-friend-in-the-field-people-from-china-in-the-balkans-seeking-for-a-better-life/
In this episode we speak with Agustina Oliveri, campaigns manager at the UK-based human rights organisation, Free from Torture.
Agustina talks to us about Freedom from Tortures' brilliant campaigns against the British government's plans to exile asylum-seekers to Rwanda by targeting the airlines that are willing to do the government's dirty work.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social
Instagram: thecivilfleet
[email protected]
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---
For more on Freedom from Torture, see: freedomfromtorture.org
Check them out on Twitter, here: @FreefromTorture
Or On Instagram, here: instagram.com/freedomfromtorture
Join Freedom from Torture's campaign calling on Jet2 and AirTanker to stand on the right side of history: https://secure.freedomfromtorture.org/page/148549/action/1?ea_tracking_id=web
Check out this video of Agustina on the phone with Jet2 about the Rwanda scheme: https://twitter.com/FreefromTorture/status/1785646030723194902/video/1
Check out this video of Freedom from Torture presenting Privilege Style with the Worst Airline of the Year Award in 2022: https://twitter.com/fl360aero/status/1581635733554548741/video/1
Watch Freedom from Torture's video of Joan, a Holocaust survivor, confronting Suella Braverman on her hateful language here: twitter.com/FreefromTorture/status/1614172335921303554
Here's a photo of Freedom from Torture crashing the Real Madrid vs Barcelona FC match in 2022 with a message about the Rwanda Scheme. https://twitter.com/FreefromTorture/status/1582026657854259203
Read The Civil Fleet's exclusive story on the 40 people who died in Home Office asylum-seeker accommodation in 2023: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2024/04/30/at-least-40-people-died-in-home-office-asylum-seeker-accommodation-in-2023/
Read The Civil Fleet's stories on the UK's Rwanda scheme: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Rwanda/
Read the UN statement condemning the UK's Rwanda scheme: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/04/uk-rwanda-asylum-law-un-leaders-warn-harmful-consequences
For more on Samos Volunteers, see here: samosvolunteers.org
For more on the Bibby Stockholm, check out Episode 44 with Reclaim the Sea
For more on the UK holding asylum-seekers on former military bases, check out Episode 32 with journalist Bethany Rielly
Check out Episode 42, with journalist Nicola Kelly, on asylum seekers being abused and intimidated by staff at Home Office hotels.
Ben mentioned the Australian policy of exiling asylum seekers to an island nation, but couldn't remember which. It was Nauru. Read this Amnesty International investigation exposing the abuse of refugees there: amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/australia-investigation-discovers-appalling-abuse-refugees-nauru
Read about the direct action in the courts and in the streets which stopped the first deportation flight to Rwanda: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2022/06/15/britains-first-rwanda-deportation-flight-grounded-due-to-action-in-the-courts-and-on-the-streets/
Read this 2023 Human Rights Watch report on the UK Supreme Court finding the UK-Rwanda scheme unlawful: hrw.org/news/2023/11/15/uk-supreme-court-finds-uk-rwanda-asylum-scheme-unlawful
Here's a video of British cops rounding up people set to be deported to Rwanda: twitter.com/BennnyH/status/1786305873196839313
Here's the Home Office's video of cops rounding up people set to be exiled to Rwanda: twitter.com/ukhomeoffice/status/1785635671316537510
Read this story in The National on the government of Belize denying it is negotiating with the UK over its inhumane deportation policy: thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2022/11/03/belize-denies-negotiating-with-uk-over-inhumane-deportation-policy/
Here's a video of people preventing a deportation raid in Peckham, southeast London on May 2, 2024: https://twitter.com/TobyonTV/status/1786034196038693135
In this episode we speak with Kiana, Anne, Mahtab and Hannah from the Free Homayoun campaign.
Homayoun Sabetara, a widower and father of two, fled Iran to reunite with his daughters in Germany in 2021. Mahtab is one of his daughters.
Along the way, Homayoun was forced to drive a car carrying several others across the Greece-Turkey border. He was arrested in Greece, charged with human smuggling, and sentenced to 18 years behind bars at a trial conducted without interpreters.
Kiana, Anne, Mahtab and Hannah tell us more about Homayoun's case, his upcoming appeal on April 22, and how Europe's systematic criminalisation of people on the move.
---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social
Instagram: thecivilfleet
[email protected]
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---Show Notes---
For more details on the Free Homayoun campaign, visit: freehomayoun.org/en
Follow the Homayoun campaign on social media: Instagram @freehomayoun Twitter: @freehomayoun Mastodon: @freehomayoun
Anne and Hannah mention the Seebrucke movement. For more on that, see: seebruecke.org/en
Borderline Europe is also mentioned in this episode. For more on that organisation, see here: borderline-europe.de/?l=en
Ben makes frequent reference to the Iuventa crew in this episode. If you don't know who they are and/or want to know more about them, see epiosde 54 and read here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Iuventa/
For more on the Samos 2, see episode 26. Incidentally, Dimitris Choulis who is interviewed in that episode, is also Homayoun Sabetara's lawyer.
For more on the criminalisation of people on the move, see episodes 53, 48, 35, 29, 28, 26 and more.
Ben mentions Sean Binder & Sara Mandini, Check out episode 16 for more on them.
The podcast currently has 65 episodes available.