24/01/2018 : Lots of raids have taken place in parkings and train stations in the whole country over the last weeks. Some migrants are released with an order to leave the territory, others (among whom a lot of minors) are taken to closed centres. They are selected by nationality. The Office’s current top 1 being Sudanese, Ethiopians and Erithreans.
For the Sudanese, faithful to his past beliefs and convinced that it is them and only them who pollute the North Station and the Maximilian Parc in Brussels night and day, Francken declared that he would continue to arrest them to send them back “to a country that will deport them to Sudan”.
If Ethiopians are currently targeted by the Office, it may probably be linked to an ongoing readmission agreement between the EU and Ethiopia. The negotiations started several years ago, according to the well-functioning logic of “more development aid in exchange of more collaboration in repatriations and migratory controls’. In December 2017, the agreement project was disclosed (see the French article https://martinplaut.wordpress.com/2017/12/06/leaked-european-union-document-outlines-procedure-to-expel-ethiopians/)
Once more, it is not about a real readmission agreement that should be ratified by the European Parliament but about something else (in this case we speak of “admission procedures”) – very practical to avoid any debate…
This agreement notably foresees missions of civil servants of Ethiopian secret services in the EU Member States in charge of identifying the people to be repatriated. Does it ring a bell?
Interviewed by the EUObserver, the Ethiopian ambassador to the EU recently confirmed this information https://euobserver.com/migration/140614
We still ignore when the document will be signed but there is no doubt that the EU wants to conclude the agreement – with the consequences one can imagine for the Ethiopians currently retained in closed centres and for those who will arrested in the near future…
Thank you to the hosts: you were more than 10 this Sunday to share a car to go and visit your guests in the Merskplas closed centre. Please continue to support them in the closed centres, continue to follow them until the end of the road.
Through your actions, you are taking part in a struggle against the restrictive, freedom-destroying, morbid and inhuman European and Belgian asylum and migration policies.
Let’s support the fights and occupations of undocumented people in the whole country.
It is thanks to the individual and global fights that we will impose this beautiful principle of “freedom of movement and establishment for ALL”.
NO BORDERS, STOP DEPORTATIONS !!!!!!
Éthiopie
http://statewatch.org/news/2016/mar/eu-com-eeas-readmission-ethiopia-7205-16.pdf
https://martinplaut.wordpress.com/2017/12/06/leaked-european-union-document-outlines-procedure-to-expel-ethiopians/
https://www.taz.de/!5477240/
https://euobserver.com/migration/140614
