three activists protesting in front of the boat while the deportation starts for Turkey. |
text from Platanos here and more fotos: https://www.facebook.com/solidarityplatanos/posts/1164461890260876 Today at the break of dawn began the second process of deportation, from the harbour of Mitilini, while 174 individuals (100 from Kos, 29 from Samos and 45 from Mitilini) were led to Dikeli, accompanied by an equal number of body guards, that each one was in charge of the “safety” of the transported. Since the night before, the harbour of Mitilini was closed off by forces of Riot police. As the hours passed the presence of police in the area became progressively more intense. People in solidarity that recognized the upcoming deportation, began to gather at the point, in order to stand by the side of these persons whose only mistake to receive this kind of treatment, was to be born in… the wrong point of the map. Around 7am, the buses that had left earlier from the harbour to the detention centre of Moria, returned in order to begin loading the 45 migrants onto the ship “Lesvos ” of the Turyol company, which was completed under the sounds of solidarity from the gathered people, but not without confrontation with certain patriotic residents who hurried to vomit their racist poison. People in solidarity also dove in the harbour, swimming up to the boat in a symbolic movement of protest toward the deportation, without causing any certain essential hindrance of the process, while the coastguard did not lose occasion to show their dominating demeanor, demanding verifications for nonsense reasons even from journalists. Around 10am, and after the amount of the gathered people had withdrawn from the region, the second phase of the deportation of 129 migrants from Samos and Kos, took place with the transport by Terra Jet that is shipped from the ministry of shipping, in the boat “Nazli Zalem” of the Zalem tour company, Ιt should be noted that the two boats were also boarded by squads of Riot police to insure that no possible incidents could be created from the detainees.