The Civil Fleet Podcast

IN THIS episode we speak with Nadia, a young refugee woman from Lebanon, and Alexandros, a Greek human rights lawyer.

Nadia tells us how she and her husband Dawood were forced to leave Lebanon by boat, how they spent over 10 days at sea, and how, once they were rescued, Dawood was arrested by the Greek authorities and accused of human smuggling. 

Alexandros tells us how he and his colleague Dmitris won the legal case against Dawood, and tells us more about the unjust EU directive that is locking up refugees. 

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---Show Notes---

For more on Dawood's case, read this article by the Human Rights Legal Project humanrightslp.eu/post/hrlp-lawyers-to-defend-dawood-who-has-been-in-custody-for-a-year-and-a-half

Check the Human Rights Legal Project out here: humanrightslp.eu/who-we-are-hrlp

For more on the situation in Lebanon following the 2020 explosion, read this Guardian report: theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/03/port-of-beirut-explosion-aftermath-scars-on-already-broken-lebanon

Check out The Civil Fleet's previous interview with Alexandros about the Samos 2: civilfleet.libsyn.com/episode-26-the-samos-2-and-the-criminalisation-of-refugees-in-greece

And here's the interview Alexandros helped set up with Hanad Abdi Mohammad, a Somalian refugee who was sentenced to 142 years behind bars because he momentarily steered a boat: civilfleet.libsyn.com/episode-35-sentenced-to-142-years-for-doing-what-any-human-would-do

Want to see what Malta's search-and-rescue zone looks like? See the July-August 2022 issue of ECHOES from the Central Mediterranean: https://issuu.com/civilmrcc/docs/cmrcc_echoes_issue_1_jul_aug_2022

Here's the UK Home Office's tweet of Ibrahima Bah, who was criminalised for steering a dinghy which collapsed in the Channel: twitter.com/ukhomeoffice/status/1761090973520576879

For more on Ibrahima Bah, read this statement by Captain Support UK: captainsupport.net/jury-convicts-ibrahima-bah-statement-from-captain-support-uk/

And this news report by Sky News: news.sky.com/story/ibrahima-bah-asylum-seeker-boat-pilot-locked-up-after-death-of-four-migrants-13078980

For more on the Maersk Etienne, read about it here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Etienne/

And check out episode 18 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Iason Apostolopoulos, who talks about it in that interview: civilfleet.libsyn.com/episode-18-there-is-no-end-to-this-cruelty

In this episode, we speak with journalist Bashar Deeb from Lighthouse Reports about two investigations he worked on.

The first, called 'Frontex and the Pirate Ship', is a disturbing story of how the European Border and Coastguard Agency helped a notorious Libyan rebel group intercept a refugee boat in the Mediterranean. 

The second, ‘Drowning in Lies’, exposes how Greece tried to cover up its role in the Pylos shipwreck by tampering with witness testimony.

--Get in touch---

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---Show Notes---

Check out Lighthouse Reports here: lighthousereports.com

And follow them on Twitter: @LHreports

Read Frontex and the Pirate Ship here: lighthousereports.com/investigation/frontex-and-the-pirate-ship/

Read Drowning in Lies here: lighthousereports.com/investigation/drowning-in-lies/

For more on Frontex, see episodes 50 and 23 of The Civil Fleet Podcast

Read The Civil Fleet's coverage of Frontex, here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Frontex/

Check out this 2021 report by Sea-Watch called ‘Crimes of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex in the Central Mediterranean Sea’ here: sea-watch.org/frontex_crimes/

For more on the Tariq Ben Zeyad unit, read this Amnesty International report: amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/12/libya-hold-commanders-of-tariq-ben-zeyad-armed-group-accountable-for-catalogue-of-horrors/

For more on the campaign group Refugees in Libya, check out episode 23 of The Civil Fleet Podcast

In early 2020, The Civil Fleet exposed how the EU planned to continue to support the Libyan Coastguard despite the bloc's concerns the government was violating the human rights of migrants and profiting from their detention: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/02/21/eu-to-continue-supporting-the-libyan-coastguard-despite-its-fears-of-human-rights-abuses/

Read this interview with a Somali refugee held in a bogus ‘refugee camp’ in Libya: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/03/09/they-lock-our-legs-together-with-a-chain-an-interview-with-a-slave/

For more on Libya, check out episode 15 of The Civil Fleet Podcast

Check out episode 33 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on the situation at the Lithuania-Belarus border

For more on Malta's floating prisons, read this: maltatoday.com.mt/comment/blogs/102694/illegal_floating_prisons__carla_camilleri

The UK is also holding people on the move on a floating prison, called the Bibby Stockholm. For more on that, see episodes 44 and 40 of The Civil Fleet Podcast. 

It was the Maersk Etienne that rescued 27 people in 2020, which Malta refused to allow to come ashore. Listen to episode 18 and/or, read about it here: bit.ly/3HyJMHU

For more on Alarm Phone, listen to episodes 48, 5, and 3 of The Civil Fleet Podcast. Read about them here, too: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Alarm-Phone/ 

Read about the Crotone shipwreck here: msf.org/italy-over-60-people-killed-crotone-shipwreck 

Read about the Pylos shipwreck, here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2023/06/16/shipwreck-survivors-say-greek-coasts-towed-their-boat-before-it-sank/ 

Ben was trying to paraphrase this quote by Robert Fisk at the end of the episode: Journalists rarely "move mountains or bring down regimes; instead, we just chip, chip, chip away at the rock face, hoping that someone notices — so that no one can say ‘we didn’t know’."

In this episode, we speak with Sergio from No Name Kitchen.

He tells how the group supports people on the move along the Balkan route, and the types of violence they experience along the European Union's edges.

Sergio also talks to us about No Name Kitchen's Bloody Borders report, and of the horrific levels of abuse suffered at European borders.

--Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social

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---Show Notes---

For more No Name Kitchen, visit: nonamekitchen.org

Follow them on Twitter here: twitter.com/NoNameKitchen1

Read NNK's Bloody Borders Report here: tinyurl.com/27ss86b8 

If you'd like to volunteer with NNK, see here: nonamekitchen.org/volunteer/

Check out Sergio's awesome NNK jumper here: nonamekitchen.org/shop/

Check out episodes 6 (Irina) and 41 (with Barbara) of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on NNK. Episode 6 is here tinyurl.com/mrx2twad and episode 41 is here: tinyurl.com/yn8z2duk 

Want to know where Ceuta is? See this Google Map: tinyurl.com/yftbf79v 

Never heard of Šid? Here it is in Serbia: http://tinyurl.com/3j53k8r3

According to the UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM), at least 974 people died in the central Mediterranean in 2023, and at least 1,372 are missing. 17,025 people were intercepted at sea and returned to Libya.

Watch the Emergency NGO video Ben mentions in the episode here: tinyurl.com/2d78v54z 
 

Sergio mentions the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN). For more on them, check out episode 8 of The Civil Fleet Podcast here: tinyurl.com/2p8v39s4. And see their website here: borderviolence.eu

Sergio mentions Lighthouse Reports. For more on them, see here: https://www.lighthousereports.com. And, check out episode 34 of The Civil Fleet Podcast: tinyurl.com/3bez9u9c 

We very briefly mention the situation for people on the move at the Belarus border. For more on that, check out episode 33 of The Civil Fleet Podcast: tinyurl.com/2mkrwepe 

Ben makes yet another reference to the works of Noam Chomsky in this episode when he talks about ‘worthy’ and ‘unworthy victims.’ For more on that, read about it here: chomsky.info/consent01, or listen to it here: tinyurl.com/muttcnmw.

In this episode we speak with Josephine from Abolish Frontex, a decentralised network of activist groups focused on ending the EU's deadly border regime.

Josephine is going to tell us about Frontex, which is the European Border and Coastguard Agency, it's many scandals, it's operations within and outside Europe, and why it should be abolished.

We also talk about the International Day of Action the network is calling for on December 18th, demanding Frontex ends its operations in Africa. 

--Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social

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---Show Notes---

For more on Abolish Frontex visit: abolishfrontex.org

For more of the network's demands, see here: abolishfrontex.org/how

For more on the International Day of Action, see here: abolishfrontex.org/blog/2023/10/30/frontex-out-of-africa-join-our-international-action-day-on-18-12-2023/ 

For more on Frontex's involvement in pushbacks in Greece, read this:
https://www.dw.com/en/eu-border-force-frontex-implicated-in-migrant-abuse/a-49892097

See this article for more on Frontex's involvement in the abuse of people on the move in the Balkans: balkaninsight.com/2020/02/06/frontexs-history-of-handling-abuse-evidence-dogs-balkan-expansion/

Read The Civil Fleet's coverage of Frontex, here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Frontex/

Ben mentions an arms fair that took place in London this summer. For more on that, see: stopthearmsfair.org.uk

For more on the Transnational Institue, go here: tni.org/en

Ben, briefly mentions Frag Den Staat (Ask the State). See here for more on them: fragdenstaat.de

And, check out episode 23 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Frag Den Staat's Luisa Izuzquiza – in which we focus on Frontex

Want to know more about the Balkan route that Ben and Josephine briefly mention? Then check out episodes 41 (with No Nae Kitchen) and episode 8 (Border Violence Monitoring Network - BVMN)

In this episode, we speak with Paul O'Connor the senior national officer at the Public and Commerical Services (PCS) union - one of the largest unions in the UK, representing workers across all government departments and in the private sector. 

Paul tells us about the safe passage for refugees policy the union's members wrote with Care4Calais, and why it is a genuinely humanitarian way to stop the small boat crossings of the Channel. 

We also touch on working class solidarity, anti-fascism and, the Bibby Stockholm, the hostile environment, and how a string of governments have created the asylum-seeker backlog. 

--Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social

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---Show Notes---

For more on the PCS union, see: pcs.org.uk

For more on PCS and Care4Calais' Safe Passage Policy, read about it here: https://care4calais.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Safe-Passage-Policy-Paper.pdf

If you'd like to email your MP about PCS's safe passage policy, see here: action.pcs.org.uk/page/134188/action/1 

Ben and Paul speak about the Tories throughout this episode. The Tories is the nickname of the ruling Conservative Party.

For more on The World Transformed, the festival Ben mentions in the episode, see here: theworldtransformed.org

See here for more on the UK Border Force training to push refugees back across the Channel already, here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2022/01/14/uk-border-force-may-have-begun-attempts-to-push-refugees-back-across-the-channel-already-evidence-suggests/

For more on Channel Rescue and Care4Calais, see episodes 11 and 17 of The Civil Fleet Podcast

Ben and Paul speak about Priti Patel a few times in this episode. She was the UK's Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. She was replaced by Suella Braverman. The Home Secretary is a similar governmental role to interior minister in many European countries. 

For more on the UK's treatment of refugees, the Rwanda Scheme, the Hostile Environment, the Illegal Immigration Act and the Bibby Stockholm see episodes 21, 25, 32, 38, 39, 40, 42 and 44.

Paul mention Detention Action. For more on them, see: detentionaction.org.uk

Ben and Paul speak about the FBU, which is the Fire Brigades Union. For more on the union's solidarity work with refugees, see here: https://www.fbu.org.uk/news/2023/03/05/trade-unions-unite-solidarity-refugees

Paul mentions the Scottish Rolls-Royce workers who refused to work on fighter jets bound for Chile in the 1970s, when the country was ruled by the western-back dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. For more on that, check out the documentary film Nae Pasaran, here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/naepasaran 

For more on the vast amounts of money the UK government has spent in France trying to stop people from crossing the Channel, see this Al Jazeera report from March 2023: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/10/uk-to-fund-france-detention-centre-as-leaders-agree-migration-deal

Jihed, a Tunisian activist with Alarm Phone and Louise Michelle, talks to us about the mistreatment of refugees / migrants / people on the move in Tunisia in this episode. 

He tells us how a speech by Tunisia's President Kais Said earlier this year — in which he spouted off racist, far-right conspiracy theories — affected refugees in Tunisia. 

We hear about border violence between Tunisia and Libya, and how Europe's border operates inside the country. 

Jihed was also an active participant in the Tunisian revolution. He tells us about that and its effects on refugees today. We also hear how Kais Said's government oppresses Tunisian citizens. 

--Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social

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---Show Notes---

You can follow Jihed on Twitter here: @brirmijihed

For more on Alarm Phone visit: alarmphone.org, and find them on Twitter on @alarm_phone.
 

For more on Louise Michel, visit: mvlouisemichel.org. Follow Louise Michel on Twitter: @MVLouiseMichel

For more on human rights issues in Tunisia, read Amnesty International's 2022 report, here: amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/tunisia/report-tunisia/
 

For more on the EU's anti-migrant deals with Tunisia, read this Human Rights Watch article: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/28/eu-commission-should-stop-ignoring-tunisias-abuses-against-migrants 

Ben mentions people across Europe being afraid to help refugees for fear of being accused of people smuggling. Check out The Civil Fleet Podcast's episodes 47, 41, 36, 35, 33, 28, 24, 17, 16, 9, 8 and 2 for more on this. 

Ben also mentions how refugees in Europe are also being kept in cars for hours in hot weather as a form of torture before they're pushed back across borders. See episode 34 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Lighthouse Reports for more on this. 

Jihed mentioned Maldusa, an Italian cultural association that supports migrant solidarity efforts across the country. Check out episode 46 of The Civil Fleet Podcast to hear from Maldusa activist Jasmine.  

In this episode, we speak with Serena from Mediterranea: Saving Humans, an Italian refugee rescue organisation. 

Serena tells us how the Italian authorities have prevented the organisation's ship, the Mare Jonio, from going back to sea to save lives for over a year. 

She also tells how the authorities recently ordered the Mare Jonio to remove all of its rescue equipment or face arrest. 

--Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social

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Support: 
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---Show Notes---

Visit Mediterranea: Saving Human's website here: mediterranearescue.org/en

Follow Mediterranea: Saving Humans on Twitter: @RescueMed

For more on Mediterranea: Saving Humans, and the ongoing pretrial case against it, check out Episode 18 with Iason Apostolopoulos

Read The Civil Fleet's stories about Mediterranea: Saving Humans, here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/mediterranea/

Ben and Serena mention Matteo Salvini. He is Italy's transport minister, former interior minister, and the leader of one of the country's far-right parties. 

Mare Nostrum was an Italian-state-run refugee rescue mission in the central Mediterranean. Read this Guardian newspaper report from 2014 on its end: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/31/italy-sea-mission-thousands-risk

Article 98 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea requires all ships to "render assistance to any person found at sea in danger of being lost to proceed with all possible speed to the rescue of persons in distress..." Read that here: https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf 

Ben mentions UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman a few times in this episode. Earlier this week, she outlined her ambition to overhaul international refugee conventions during a speech in the United States. 

Read about that here in the Morning Star newspaper: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/shameful-cruel-and-dangerous

And read in the Guardian newspaper about how even members of her own right-wing party think she has gone too far: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/28/tory-mps-criticise-suella-braverman-alarmist-speech-on-migration 

Ben and Serena breifly touch on the EU's deals with Tunisia. Read this article by Human Rights Watch calling on the EU Commission to stop ignoring Tunisia's abuses of migrants: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/28/eu-commission-should-stop-ignoring-tunisias-abuses-against-migrants

Maersk Etienne, check out episode 18. And/or, read about it here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/?s=Etienne 

For more on the Iuventa, check out Episodes 2, 24 and 36.

For more on Lampedusa, see Episode 46 with Maldusa's Jasmine

In this episode, we speak with Jasmine from the Italian cultural association Maldusa, an organisation that supports migrant solidarity efforts, and documents border violence.

Jasmine tells us about September 12, when more than 5,000 people arrived on Lampedusa, overwhelming the Mediterranean island's under resourced and completely inadequate migrant reception facilities and services. 

She also tells us how the Italian state has not only completely failed the migrants but the locals too, and how many of them mobilised in solidarity with the new arrivals. 

---Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social

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Support: 
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---Show Notes---

For more on Maldusa, visit: maldusa.org/en

Follow them on Twitter: @Maldusa_Project

Here is a joint statement signed by Maldusa and many other organisations on Lampedusa and Europe's reception crisis: https://www.maldusa.org/l/arrivals-in-lampedusa-solidarity-and-resistance-in-the-face-of-europes-reception-crisis/

Jasmine mentions the Italian refugee rescue organisation Mediterranea: Saving Humans. For more on them, listen to episode 18, and stay tuned for episode 47!

Find out more about Mediterranea: Saving Humans, here: mediterranearescue.org/en 

Don't know where Lampedusa is? Then check out this google map, here.

Jasmine talks about Italian ships saving people lives at sea in 2015. This was naval mission was called Mare Nostrum. Read this Guardian report from 2014 on the end of Mare Nostrum: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/31/italy-sea-mission-thousands-risk

Georgia Meloni is the far-right Prime Minister of Italy. Matteo Piantedosi is Interior Minister, and Ursula von der Leyen is president of the European Commission. 

Want to know more about the Dublin Agreement? Then check out this explainer video by The Guardian newspaper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ooecJWPcAY&t=28s&ab_channel=TheGuardian 

The book Ben forgets the name of is called No Wall They Can Build, published by the US-based anarchist collective CrimethInc. You can listen to the audiobook here: https://crimethinc.com/podcasts/no-wall-they-can-build

In this episode we speak with Jutta, the head of deployment on the MareGo, a relatively new refugee rescue organisation operating in the central Mediterranean. 

Jutta tells us how the MareGo's crew saved hundreds of lives in two operations in July – one of which was carried out at night with no help from the authorities. 

She also tells us about the incompetence of the Italian coastguards.

---Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social

Instagram: thecivilfleet

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Support: 
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 ---Show Notes---

 
For more on the MareGo, visit: mare-go.de

Follow MareGo on Twiiter: @marego_vessel

To donate to the MareGo, see here: mare-go.de/spenden

Read about the MareGo's nighttime rescue on The Civil Fleet here: bit.ly/47RrkHO

In this episode we speak with Tigs Louis-Puttick, the founder of Reclaim the Sea, a UK-based organisation helping refugee women reclaim the seaside as a place of joy.

Tigs tells us about teaching refugees to swim and surf, about the UK government placing asylum seekers on a floating barge – the Bibby Stockholm – and the company which owns the barge's links to the trans-atlantic slave trade.

She also tells us how she was arrested in July 2023 during a protest outside the UK Home Office against the Illegal Migration Bill.  

---Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social

Instagram: thecivilfleet

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Support: 
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 ---Show Notes---

Follow Reclaim the Sea on Twitter: @Reclaim_The_Sea

You can read Reclaim the Sea's report on the financial and moral cost of the Bibby Stockholm here: reclaimthesea.org.uk/atwhatcost 

Read Reclaim the Sea's open letter to UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman here: bit.ly/3DTusoT 

Two days before this podcast was released, the people who were being held on the Bibby Stockholm were taken off the prison barge because legionella was found in its water supply. Read about that here: bit.ly/45r3wss 

For more on the Bibby Stockholm's links to the transatlantic slave trade, see this article by Corporate Watch: bit.ly/3KDwQnI 

For more on Corporate Watch, check out episode 40 of The Civil Fleet Podcast

This short article on the Liverpool Museum's website also looks at Bibby Marine's links to the slave trade: liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/bibby-line-shipowners

For more on Sea-Watch and Sea-Eye, see episodes 1, 7, 10, 22, 23 and 40 of The Civil Fleet Podcast.

Check out this trailer for The Swimmers, a film Ben mentions in the podcast: bit.ly/4578xqd 

For more on the UK's Police Crime and Sentencing Act, see this explanation by the human rights organisation Liberty: bit.ly/3KzJgwL 

For more on the UK's Illegal Migration Bill, see episodes 38, 39 and 42 of The Civil Fleet Podcast.

In this episode, we speak with firefighter and refugee rescuer Brendan Woodhouse about Doro, a book he co-wrote with Doro Goumaneh. 

Brendan tells us how he rescued his co-author from a boat in the Mediterranean in 2019 from the Sea-Watch 3, and while waiting for Italy to allow the rescued to disembark, Doro asked Brendan to write his story.

Brendan tells us about co-writing the book, Doro's journey and new life in France, and how the book has been received. 

---Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social

Instagram: thecivilfleet

info@civilfleet.com

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Support: 
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---Show Notes---

You can buy Brendan and Doro's book from publishers Unbound, here: unbound.com/books/doro/

Or from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), here: https://shop.fbu.org.uk/products/doro-book

You can follow Brendan on Twitter here: @_Brendan01_

Check out episode 22 of The Civil Fleet podcast to hear Brendan's previous interview.

For more on Sea-Watch, follow them on Twitter: @seawatch_intl 

Or check out their website, here: sea-watch.org/ 

To read the article Ben mentions about Miguel Roldan and the FBU, see here:  bit.ly/3QqcX6W

For more on the Iuventa, check out episodes 2, 24 and 36.

In today's episode, we speak with freelance investigative journalist Nicola Kelly about two important articles she wrote this year for the Guardian newspaper.

The first concerns the UK government providing £3m to the Turkish border guards to stop people on the move at the country's border with Iran. 

The second article we discuss is about asylum seekers being abused and intimidated  by staff at Home Office hotels. 

---Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social
Instagram: thecivilfleet
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Support: 
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---Show Notes---

Follow Nicola on Twitter here: @NicolaKelly

You can read the articles we discussed in this episode here:

UK provided £3m to Turkish border forces to stop migrants: bit.ly/46NVviG 

Asylum seekers ‘abused and intimidated by staff in Home Office hotels’: bit.ly/3pImJ9T 

Since we recorded this interview, Nicola has written the first in her mini-series of 'Lost at Sea', which follows those who have gone missing in the Channel. Read that here: bit.ly/46NVLOG 

Nicola mentions a far-right protest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Knowsley, near Liverpool. You can read more about that here: bit.ly/46UcwaT 

Check out this interview with anti-fascist activists who were at the protest: bit.ly/46Ttmaa 

And more about the aftermath here: bit.ly/3XX7bf8 

For more on the UK, check out episodes 11, 17, 21, 32, 38, 39, and 40 of The Civil Fleet podcast

Ben mentions an Al Jazeera infographic on refugees, host countries and routes. Check that out here: bit.ly/3XQ2F1T 

Nicola mentions that child asylum-seekers have gone missing from a hotel in Brighton. You can read about that here: bit.ly/3Ddwm3k 

In today's episode we speak with Barbara from No Name Kitchen about the organisation's work supporting people on the move along the Balkan route into Europe. 

She tells us how the EU has externalised its borders in Bosnia and Serbia, how the authorities have effectively made it illegal to help people on the move there, and how this has forced people on the move are to survive underground. 

---Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social
Instagram: thecivilfleet

info@civilfleet.com
civilfleet.com
 

Support: 
ko-fi.com/civilfleet

---Show Notes---

For more on No Name Kitchen, see their website here: nonamekitchen.org 

Follow them on Twitter: @NoNameKitchen1

And find them on Instagram here: no_name_kitchen 

To volunteer with No Name Kitchen, see here: nonamekitchen.org/volunteer

Check out No Name Kitchen's merch here: nonamekitchen.org/shop

Check out episode 6 with No Name Kitchen's Irina on the Spanish military brutally forcing hundreds of people back across the border at Ceuta.

Ben and Barbara mention the criminalisation of solidarity in Greece. For more on the situation there, check out episode 28, with Alice and Hamid from Borderline Lesvos, episode 26, with Samos 2 lawyers Alexandros Georgoulis and Dimitris Choulis, and episode 16, with criminalised activists Madi Williamson and Sean Binder.

Don't know what the Dublin Protocal is? Check out this video explanation from the Guardian here: tinyurl.com/2ps3a6em

TODAY we speak with Sophie and Patrick, journalists and activists with the anti-capitalist research co-operative Corporate Watch. 

Sophie and Patrick tell us about the private companies profiting from the UK and Europe's deportation regime - specifically Air Partner and Carlson Wagonlit, two corporations that organise chartered deportation flights across the continent.

---Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social
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---Show Notes---

If you're facing deportation from the UK, this article by Right to Remain may be useful: righttoremain.org.uk/toolkit/removal

Visit Corporate Watch's website, here: corporatewatch.org

Follow Corporate Watch on Twitter here: @CorpWatchUK

You can listen to the first episode of Corporate Watch's Eco-defence podcast here: corporatewatch.org/eco-defence-podcast-episode-one-an-interview-with-coal-action-network/ 

And you can subscribe to Corporate Watch newsletter here: mailtrain.cw.autonomic.zone/subscription/j0wqz7hDr

Oh, and here's the Corporate Watch book Ben mentions, which is actually called Investigating Companies: A Do-It-Yourself Handbook, and you can download it there for free: corporatewatch.org/product/investigating-companies-a-do-it-yourself-handbook

Here's the online course you can do for free with Corporate Watch: corporatewatch.org/courses/knowyourenemy

Patrick briefly mentions the situation in Calais. See episodes 11 and 17 for more on that.

He also mentions the Dublin Regulation — an EU law that sends people on the move back to the first member state they applied for asylum in. For more on that, see this video explanation by The Guardian newspaper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ooecJWPcAY&ab_channel=TheGuardian

If you're interested in anti-immigration raids in the UK, see here: antiraids.net/about/

Here's an article on Open Democracy about the activists who stopped a Rwanda-bound deportation plane: opendemocracy.net/en/rwanda-asylum-plan-deportation-protest

Be sure to read this Liberty Investigate's expose: Horrors of self-harm and desperation on failed Rwanda flight: libertyinvestigates.org.uk/articles/revealed-horrors-of-self-harm-and-desperation-on-failed-rwanda-flight

Sophie mentions G4S and the death of Jimmy Mubenga. For more about him, see here: inquest.org.uk/jimmy-mubenga-jury-conclusions, here: theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/dec/16/g4s-guards-found-not-guilty-manslaughter-jimmy-mubenga , and here: ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/he-breathe-remembering-jimmy-mubenga-years

In today's episode we speak with filmmaker Sonita Gale, about her award-winning documentary film Hostile. 

Sonita tells us how Britain's "hostile environment" stretches much further back than 2012, when then home secretary Theresa May coined the term, and is rooted in the British Empire. 

We hear how successive governments — both Labour and Conservative — have created an inhumane system for migrants and refugees in the UK and how this has affected the people in her film. 

She also tells us how these dehumanising policies lead to the Windrush Scandal, and how they link with the NHS crisis, workers' rights, poverty, and the government's anti-protest laws. 

 ---Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil
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---Show Notes---

For more on Sonita Gale's documentary, see here: hostiledocumentary.com

If you're in the UK, you can watch the film online here: tinyurl.com/569sfdd7

If you're outside the UK, then check here for more information on how to watch it: https://www.hostiledocumentary.com/watch-the-film/ 

See the trailer for Hostile here: tinyurl.com/34me88cv 

You can follow Hostile on Twitter here: @hostiledoc

And follow Hostile on Instagram here: instagram.com/hostiledoc

For anyone outside the UK that doesn't know what the Home Office is, it is similar to the Ministry of the Interior in much of Europe, or the Department for Homeland Security in the US. 

The head of the UK Home Office (called the Home Secretary) is Suella Braverman. Before her, it was Priti Patel. Both are mentioned in the podcast. 

Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron were all former Conservative Prime Ministers. Members of the Conservative party are often referred to as Tories, and the party as The Tory Party. 

Theresa May was the Home Secretary in 2012. She coined the term Hostile Environment in 2012. You can read more about that, and the 10-year anniversary of it, here: tinyurl.com/4aynzkbz  

Ben and Sonita mention Enoch Powell and his Rivers of Blood speech. You can read more about him and his infamous speech here: tinyurl.com/mtt3pcdf

Here's a good explanation of the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill and why it is so dangerous by the human rights organisation Liberty: tinyurl.com/ktwxcxtw  

For more on the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) policy, see the NRPF Network, here: tinyurl.com/yc6rj3x9

Here is a good explanation of the Windrush Scandal by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants: tinyurl.com/t6stcvnx 

The Noam Chomsky quote at the end of the film is this: "As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as they please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the outcome.”

The Chomsky quote that Ben (mis)quotes (again!) is this: “If you assume that there’s no hope, you guarantee there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities to change things.”

In today's episode we speak with Jelka and Amara.

Amara was one of 108 people who were rescued by an oil tanker, called the El Hiblu 1, in March 2019 after escaping Libya.

The European authorities ordered the El Hiblu 1's crew to wait for the Libyan coastguards to come and take the rescued back to the war-torn country. 

But, the rescued convinced the crew to sail north instead. Amara, along with fellow teenagers Abdalla and Kadar, acted as translators between the refugees and the crew.

The Maltese special forces eventually raided the ship, in full tactical gear, when it got close to the island nation. 

Amara, Abdalla and Kadar were arrested and accused of terrorism, piracy and worse for what is essentially an extraordinary act of humanitarianism. 

They have been stuck in a bureaucratic legal nightmare for four years while the Maltese prosecutors try to figure out what crime to charge them with. 

We're going to hear from Amara briefly about halfway through today's episode. With the pretrial in Malta still ongoing, he is unable to tell us too much about what happened. 

And so, we'll mainly be speaking with Jalka from the Free the El Hiblu 3 campaign. 

She's going to tell us more about what happened to Amara, Abdalla and Kader and the campaign to free them.

---Get in touch---
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info@civilfleet.com
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---Show Notes---

For more on the El Hiblu 3 and the Free the El Hiblu 3 campaign, see here: elhiblu3.info

Follow Free the El Hiblu 3 on Twitter on: @ElHiblu3, and on Instagram here: instagram.com/elhiblu3

If you'd like to read the El Hiblu 3 e-book, then go here: elhiblu3.info/book

You can read more about Amara's story here: elhiblu3.info/amara.html

Read Kader's here: elhiblu3.info/kader.html

And Abdalla's here: elhiblu3.info/abdalla.html

Ben mentions an exclusive story he worked on about the rising numbers of deaths at UK Home Office asylum-seeker accommodation. You can read that here: bit.ly/42xtR7v 

Ben and Jelka mention EUNAVFOR MED, which stands for European Union Naval Force Mediterranean. You can read more about that here: bit.ly/3K0LQvP, here: bit.ly/40pF6go, and here: bit.ly/3yY04qO

Ben and Jelka briefly mention the campaign group Refugees In Libya and one of its organisers David Yambio. He appears on episode 29 of The Civil Fleet podcast. 

Here's a link to the Times of Malta documentary on the El Hiblu 3 with English subtitles: bit.ly/3LJJra0

Ben briefly mentions Derbyshire Refugee Solidarity. You can find more about them here: derbyshirerefugeesolidarity.org

In today's episode we speak with Francesca Cancellaro, one of the human rights lawyers representing the Iuventa 4 — four activists on pretrial in Italy after saving over 14,000 lives in the Mediterranean. 

Francesca updates us on the pretrial, walks us through some of the many irregularities prolonging it, and explains why the case is so important for the future of activist-led rescue missions. 

She also tells us why the Iuventa crew are taking the Trapani Prosecutor’s Office to court over the abandonment and destruction of their ship.

---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
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info@civilfleet.com

Support: 
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---Show Notes---

Find more on the Iuventa here: iuventa-crew.org/en

Follow them on Twitter: @IuventaCrew 

Wanna hear more from the Iuventa 4?

Check out Episode 2 with Sascha and Episode 24 with Kathrin of The Civil Fleet podcast. 

Also, check out this 2020 lockdown video interview I did with Darius and Hendrik about the Iuventa. Ten former members of the crew were under investigation then. (Ignore my cringy introduction.) Watch it here: bit.ly/3JwCOq4

Read more about the Iuventa on The Civil Fleet here: bit.ly/3ZFHf7K

Ben and Francesca mention Matteo Salvini several times throughout this episode. He is a far-right Italian politician, and at the time the Iuventa was operating, he was the country's Interior Minister. 

For more on the No Translation No Justice campaign, see here: bit.ly/3Lo3DOq 

Francesca mentions the ECCHR (European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights) at one point in the podcast. For more about them, visit: ecchr.eu/en and/or listen to Episode 15 of The Civil Fleet podcast. 

For more on the February 26 2023 shipwreck off the coast of Italy, see here: bit.ly/3ZIj8FA

Following the shipwreck, Sascha gave this powerful speech in court: bit.ly/3mKgGzG

Francesca also mentions Mary Lawlor, the UN's special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. You can read her recent statement about the criminalisation of the Iuventa 4 here: bit.ly/3JwhVv4

Read how the ship has been left to rot in port and why the Iuventa crew are taking the Trapani Prosecutor’s Office to court over it here: bit.ly/3mIaND1 

For more on Carola Rackete — captain of the Sea Watch 3 in 2019 who, after the crew had saved 40 lives in the Mediterranean Sea, entered the port of Lampedusa without permission — read this: bit.ly/3ytzRQG

In this episode we speak with Hanad Abdi Mohammad, a Somalian refugee who has gone through hell. 

In 2020, Hanad and about 33 others were abandoned by Turkish human traffickers in a dinghy in the Aegean Sea. 

They calle for help, but instead of saving their lives, the Turkish coastguards pushed their boat towards Greek waters.

When they were eventually rescued by the Greek coastguards and taken to Greece, Hanad was arrested for human smuggling because he tried to steer the boat.

In 2021, he was given 142 years behind bars for his supposed crime. But at an appeal court in January this year, his sentence was reduced to eight years and the judge ordered his release.

Hanad tells us his side of the story. 

---Get in touch---
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In today's episode, we speak with Klaas van Dijken, one of the co-founders of the investigative journalism organisation Lighthouse Reports. 

Klaas talks to us about two recent investigations he and his team worked on:

• How asylum seekers are held in secret prisons on commercial ships to facilitate illegal pushbacks from Italy to Greece, and

• How refugees are being arbitrarily detained and tortured at secret facilities along EU borders before being illegally forced back across borders.

---Get in touch---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social
info@civilfleet.com

Support: 
ko-fi.com/civilfleet

---Show Notes---

Lighthouse Reports website can be found here: lighthousereports.nl

To read the two stories discussed in this episode, see here: 
• Detained below deck: bit.ly/3R97fVF
• Europe’s Black Sites: bit.ly/3HAlY8H 

Find Lighthouse Reports on Twitter here: @LHreports

Here's a BBC news story from 2014 on the ECHR ruling on Italy's practice of sending people back to Greece: bbc.in/3DjDMT9  

What is the Dublin Agreement? Read this explainer by InfoMigrants: bit.ly/3WQj9oI

Here's a report from The Brussels Times on the new Frontex chief Hans Leijtens saying the agency needs to "restore trust": bit.ly/408AUlH 

Klaas mentions a report Lighthouse published on Frontex's involvement in illegal pushbacks. You can read that here: bit.ly/3XGhtPv 

Ben mentions the 200 missing asylum seekers children in Britain. Read about that here: bit.ly/3DjeB3d 

Klaas briefly mentions No Name Kitchen. Find out more about them here: nonamekitchen.org and/or check out episode 6 of The Civil Fleet podcast