03/12/2020
"The social and political composition of the mobilizations against the creation of the new closed camps in the islands was mixed. Both (extreme) right-wing and left-wing protesters and even antifascists and anarchists participated in the clashes and in the blockades. Regarding their class composition, small farmers, self-employed workers and native workers did participate. As far as we know there was no participation of refugees/immigrants and no attempt of communication with them on the part of the “natives”. Regarding the political content of the mobilizations, the blockade at Mantamado was dominated by the Communist Party (CP) which condemned the transformation of Lesvos into a “prison and a concentration camp for immigrants” and called for the abolition of the EU-Turkey agreement and for the transfer of immigrants to the mainland. On the contrary, the blockade of Diavolorema was dominated by right-wing and fascist elements.
It must be noted that, one month before the clashes against the requisitions and the creation of the “closed camps”, in the really massive mobilizations that were organized by the municipal authorities on the 22nd of January demanding the “decongestion” of the islands, the prevalent discourse was calling for the “closure of borders” referring even to the racist trope about the alleged “substitution of the local population by immigrants” and the “islamization of the country”. The regional governor of the Northern Aegean Moutzouris, who was supported by New Democracy in the regional elections, did not refrain from circulating anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about the alleged role of George Soros in bolstering the “sinister role of the NGOs”. Furthermore, fascist/racist vigilante groups had been formed and had already made a number of attacks against members of NGOs, leftists and immigrants in Lesvos and Chios in the previous year. The result of the retreat of the government after the clashes of the local population with the riot police at the end of February was the actual strengthening of the right-wing discourse and practices, despite the influence of the Communist Party in Mantamado and despite the participation of leftists and anarchists in the blockades. As some comrades from Lesvos have noted, the defeat of the riot police put the wind in the sails of the racist vigilante groups that felt that they could do whatever they liked with no repercussions.
When the government of Turkey decided in the beginning of March to encourage immigrants/refugees to cross the borders in Evros in order to exert pressure on the European Union to support its military campaign in Northern Syria against the forces of Assad and Russia and in order to renegotiate the EU-Turkey “deal”, so that it could wrest more funding from the EU for the management of the 3.6 million immigrants/refugees that are stranded within its territory, the reaction of the Greek government was to militarize border control, to open fire, injure and kill immigrants/refugees both in the land and the sea borders and to suspend asylum applications in violation of the Geneva Convention and the International Law. At the same time, it gave free reign to fascist vigilante groups to engage in attacks against immigrants/refugees and journalists at the borders and against members of NGOs, journalists and leftists in the islands. This move was supported (and probably pre-approved) by the leadership of the European Union. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, visited Evros to inspect their troops enforcing border control. It is clear that the leadership of the European Union is completely aligned with the efforts of the Greek government to close the borders with Turkey and to prevent any possibility for the repeat of the 2015 influx of immigrants/refugees into the EU. In this context, the EU provided to the Greek government with an extra aid of 700 million euros to enforce border control and with an additional force of 1.500 Frontex border guards.
At a first glance, it seems that the line of the Visegrád group (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland) and of the far right parties for the closure of borders has become dominant within Europe due to the electoral gains of the latter at the expense of the parties of the centre-right. It must not be forgotten, however, that the closure of borders is also supported by left and centre-left parties such as SYRIZA. Their main disagreements regard the unleashing of the far right vigilante groups and the attempt to envelop the curtailment of the right of asylum with a cloak of legality and humanitarianism, as in the case of the EU-Turkey deal. The left-wing of capital and its state opts for the exclusive control of immigration by the institutions of the state and of the EU, in order to prevent a possible political destabilization that an autonomization of the fascist activities would entail."
Download the article as a pdf The situation in Greece after the EU-Turkey agreement Almost four years have passed since the imposition of the EU-Turkey agreement which attempted to prevent the uncontrolled entry of undocumented immigrants/refugees within the EU and, more broadly, to reconstitute the...
