
Mass pushback near Lesvos: What happend on April 2nd?
FeaturedDer Massen-Pushback von mehr als 230 Menschen in der Nacht vom 2. auf den 3. April ist ein Paradebeispiel dafür, wie Pushbacks und das Leben von Geflüchteten im geopolitischen Konflikt zwischen der Türkei und Griechenland instrumentalisiert werden.

Pushbacks Quarterly: Continuous pushbacks and escalation in violence in the Aegean
FeaturedIn den ersten drei Monaten des Jahres 2021 haben wir bereits 55 Pushback-Fälle in der Ägäis gezählt. 1.479 Menschen versuchten über das Meer nach Griechenland zu gelangen und wurden illegal und in vielen Fällen unter Anwendung brutaler Gewalt abgewiesen.

Suspected murder by pushback
FeaturedLast week, probably one of the most brutal pushbacks ever documented took place in the Aegean.

A shameful anniversary: 5 years of Europe’s deadly deal with Turkey
NewsAm 28. Februar 2020 kündigte der türkische Staatspräsident Erdogan an, die Grenze zur EU zu öffnen. Die einseitige Grenzöffnung fand als Reaktion auf den sich erneut verschärfenden Bürgerkrieg in Syrien statt und wurde als Bruch mit dem 2016 verabschiedeten EU-Türkei-Deal gewertet.

Alarming start to 2021 - Brutal pushback in the Aegean almost every other day
NewsLast year, we recorded 321 pushback cases in the Aegean Sea. This illegal and degrading practice of abandoning refugees at sea has become standard practice by Greek and European authorities in 2020.

Submission to the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants: pushback practices
and their impact on the human rights of migrants by Mare Liberum
News
Submission-Mare-Liberumdownload
and their impact on the human rights of migrants by Mare Liberum

Greece: De facto suspension of human rights for refugees in the Aegean
Featured, Press ReleaseA new report by the organization Mare Liberum shows an unprecedented escalation of human rights violations in the Aegean during the last year, both at sea and on land.

“This is a message from a refugee, who does not have human rights” – a report from inside Moria 2.0
NewsThe following text was written by a resident of the camp Moria 2.0 on Lesvos, who chose the alias A&H and was sent to us via messenger.

Lipa is the cruel consequence of the European border politics
NewsAppeal from Balkanbrücke, Seebrücke und Pro Asyl.

Poster Campaign
NewsIn order to draw attention to the unbearable conditions on the Greek islands for refugees, the increasingly brutal execution of pushbacks and the resulting human rights violations in the Aegean, we are launching a poster campaign.

Moria 2: Censorship, fear and the loss of freedom of press
NewsOver Christmas, the public focus shifted once again to Europe's largest refugee camp, Moria 2, also known as Kara Tepe.

Pushback from Lesvos: A testimony
NewsWe spoke to people who were among the group of 24 refugees that landed at Katia in the south of Lesvos at around 1 a.m. on 10 November.

Germany: On the frontline of pushbacks
NewsOver the past year, pushbacks have become a reality in the Aegean that is as common as it is inhumane.

Frontex: The European institutionalization of pushbacks
NewsIt is no secret that refugees are illegally pushed back at Europe's external borders. What Europe calls 'border protection' leads to human rights being disregarded and people being put in mortal danger—if not actually dying.

“Once they put us on the Coast Guard ship, they shot our boat approximately 20 times” - A pushback testimony
NewsA group of 19 refugees who had reached Greek waters was first put in danger by the Greek military and then violently and illegally returned to Turkish waters by the Hellenic Coast Guard, where they were forced into two life rafts and abandoned floating at sea.

Europe says "solidarity" and means cooperation in deportation
NewsHow the "New Pact on Migration and Asylum" further strengthens Fortress Europe and excludes humanity.

10 days of death, pushbacks and non-assistance “in line with European law”
NewsOnce again has Notis Mitarakis, the Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum, publicly insisted that no illegal pushbacks are taking place in Greece.

The daily horror of pushbacks
News8521. This is the number of refugees that have been illegally pushed back while trying to cross the Aegean Sea since March 2020. Mare Liberum collected information on 266 pushbacks, but the actual number is most likely much higher.

An opinion piece from Lesvos
NewsAfter all this time in which we've grown numb to the horrors of Moria and daily reports of violence of the European borders regime, the new camp on Lesvos Moria 2.0 first seemed like another shit camp.

The missing people of Moria
News
When the fire destroyed Europe's biggest refugee camp Moria on September 8th, over 12000 people, were once again displaced and found themselves out on the streets.

Dehumanisation through pushback
NewsMare Liberum has seen evidence that since March of this year, over 8,000 people have been illegally and brutally forced back across the Greek-Turkish maritime border in the Aegean Sea.

October in the Aegean – a month of excessively brutal pushbacks
NewsWhile the situation inside the camps is still more than critical and will worsen significantly with the upcoming winter, Greece continues to perform illegal pushbacks to an extent that is beyond anything there has ever been before.

MINISTER OF TRANSPORT SCHEUER ACCEPTS HIS DEFEAT AGAINST MARE LIBERUM
NewsThe decision against the detention of our ships is valid!

Pushing back refugees, pushing away witnesses
FeaturedThe Hellenic Coastguard is systematically performing brutal pushbacks to Turkey on a daily basis. Meanwhile, European states have failed to condemn these illegal practices.

Moria 2.0 - The reproduction of inhumanity
NewsAfter years of the EU and Greece turning a blind eye, Moria refugee camp on Lesvos burned to the ground on the night of 8-9 September 2020. The underlying structures, however, remain in place and continue to reproduce the injustice elsewhere.

European Values Burned in Moria’s Fire
NewsCo-signed statement from Europe Must Act.

How involved is Germany in illegal pushbacks in the Aegean?
NewsTo what extent are German police and Bundeswehr (german military) ships involved in practices that violate international maritime law, the Geneva Convention and applicable EU law?

COVID-19 on the smaller Greek islands
NewsThe situation in the camps on Kos and Leros is a bit different, since they are continuously “closed” camps by definition. As the camps and the islands hosting them are much smaller, there are fewer solidarity networks and very little information about the current situation.

How Greece and the EU systematically violate human rights
NewsAn overview of illegal and inhumane pushbacks in the Aegean Sea.

500 Million for Deterrence
NewsIn July 2020, the European Union granted an additional 500 million Euro to Turkey within the framework of the so-called "EU-Turkey Deal". Over 6 billion Euro have so far been paid to Turkey by the EU since the 2016 deal, whereby EU leaders persuaded the country to support them in “protecting their borders” by forcibly preventing a further influx of refugees.

Quarantine Camps - High Risk of Infection
NewsThe initial idea that COVID-19 would make everyone equal quickly was misplaced, especially on Lesvos. While race, nationality, gender, and wealth do not physically determine who is most likely to be infected with COVID-19, these factors starkly influence how comfortably and efficiently people can protect themselves from or suffer an infection with the virus.

The deadly border in the Aegean Sea
NewsOn June 29th the Turkish Coast Guard picked up a dinghy in distress. The boat had reached Greek waters before but was stopped there by the Hellenic Coast Guard. Instead of rescuing the people from the absolutely unseaworthy dinghy as it would have been their duty, the Coast Guard took away their fuel and pushed the 40 people on board back to Turkish waters.

Is Greece transforming Moria into a closed camp?
NewsWhile for several weeks now pushbacks and dangerous standoffs at sea became the common practice in the Aegean to prevent migrants from reaching Greece, we witness that at the same time there are many efforts to ‘empty the island’ and push refugees to leave.

Locked down in Hell
NewsWhile bars, restaurants and hotels are anxiously awaiting the first tourists, refugee camps located on the Greek islands of the Aegean Sea today went into their 4rd round of lockdown lasting until the 5th of July.

New pushback-strategy - How the Hellenic Coast Guard leaves refugees in life rafts at sea
NewsFrom May 23 to 25 2020 the Turkish Coast Guard rescued a total of 101 migrants from six life rafts in the Aegean Sea.

The legalization of border violence
NewsSystematic human rights violations have become the norm at the EU external borders. Refugees that are trying to cross into Europe are met with extrem violence from the authorities on a daily basis.

Chronology of Incidents on Lesvos
NewsHow 20.000 refugees just want to leave and conservative islanders, as well as solidary people want them to travel forward – Everybody for very different reasons.

"My country is not safe to live in"
NewsInterview with Aziz from Afghanistan. We met Aziz in Moria. He spoke to us in German.

There is a secret war on refugees and nobody is looking
NewsIt seemed as if everybody was holding their breath in expectance of many boats to reach the Greek islands. A few arrived and then: Nothing!

Pushbacks in the Aegean reached a new level of severity
NewsPushback of 14 people documented who had reached the shores of Chios already.

Lesvos 2020 - A retrospective on the developments on the island over the past few months
NewsInterview with an activists from Welcome2Europe.

Fascists coming back to the streets of Lesvos - fight fascism!
NewsAfter years of being completely left alone by the EU and being pushed to its breaking point and beyond by having to carry the burden of the European migration policy, far right groups and angry locals took control of the narrative.

A month of uncertainty
NewsMigrants on the north shore of Lesvos, Greece.

Testimony: Illegal Pushback by the Greek Coast Guard
News, VideoWe have an eyewitness account of a “pushback” which describes exactly how the “border guards” proceed. The incident happend in March.

Migrants Arriving on Lesvos in State of Exception
NewsSituation of the new arrivals on the island of Lesvos since March 1st, 2020.

Do not Test, Do not See
NewsWhereas containment measures are being put in place on the island of Lesvos, it is surprising that nothing is done for the island's focal point, Moria refugee camp, in case of a COVID-19 outbreak.

Corona is not the problem, Moria is the problem!
NewsWhen one begins to imagine the catastrophic consequences of a virus without a cure in Moria, it truly exemplifies how bad the situation already is in the camp, even without Covid-19.

4 Years EU Turkey Deal
NewsPut a Stop to the Shame, Put a Stop to the EU Turkey deal!

Refugees Welcome! Don’t shoot!
NewsStop Europe's trent towards fascism!

Mare Liberum in Port!
NewsToday, March 11t h Mare Liberum finally moored in a port! The port authorities of Mytilene provided us a place, at least for one day, where they guarantee our safety.

Strong protest against prison camps
NewsToday and also tomorrow Lesvos and the Northern Aegean islands are on general strike as a result of the central government‘s decision to „send riot police to islands of Lesvos and Chios to impose violent transformation of new prisons in defiance of the will of islanders.”

Annual Report: The Aegean Sea, where human rights are less and less important
NewsMare Liberum Annual Report 2019.

Tensions on Aegean Islands culminate in nationalist General Strike
NewsOn Wednesday, 22 January 2020 Mytilene witnessed one of the biggest strikes of the island. Large buses transported people from the villages into Mytilene to take part in a demonstration.

Sentinels of the Sea: why NGOs like Mare Liberum are important now more than ever
NewsAt dawn, when the first rays of light begin to reflect on the Aegean waters, Mare Liberum’s onboard radio continues to crackle, belching out numbers, coordinates and requests for Turkish Coast Guard (TCG) intervention from the European Coast Guards (ECGs).

Who will be held responsible for these crimes at sea?
NewsThe stretch of land connecting Turkey to Europe has long been a zone of migratory transit, and historically was the main route by which early humans coming from the “fertile crescent” of the Middle East.

The sea should know this
NewsMare Liberum was part of the action to renew the Memorial in Korakas. Now we share some impressions about it in a Video.

This was not an accident!
NewsThey died because of Europe’s cruel deterrence and detention regime!

Is Afghanistan Europe’s Forgotten War? Not for Europe’s Afghan Refugees
NewsThe people of Afghanistan are under attack, and they have been for quite some time.

Court rejects political attack on solidarity with refugees
NewsThe human rights monitoring organisation Mare Liberum, registered in Berlin as a non-profit, is operating a 20 meter long vessel under German flag in the Aegean Sea, also called “Mare Liberum”.

Migrants keep coming to the Greek islands
NewsDespite the EU-Turkey deal, migrants continue to set out on the dangerous route to Europe with the aim of a future worth living. According to the NGO Aegean Boat Report 2.198 migrants reached the Greek islands between August 1 and 11.

„I was like a bird in a cage looking for freedom.“
NewsWir haben mit einem Mann gesprochen, der vor kurzem von Lesbos in den Iraq abgeschoben wurde. Die griechische Regierung verlegte ihn vom Hotspot Camp Moria in die Türkei. Hier wurde er weiter in den Iraq gebracht.

I tried 13 times before I reached the Greek islands
NewsOur interview partner is a Palestinian psychologist from Gaza. He left Gaza to come to Europe. Currently he lives living in the hotspot camp in Moria on Lesvos. Before he arrived on Lesvos, he was pulled back 12 times by the Turkish coast guard and once even pushed back by German Frontex.

Right wing tendencies in Chios and Greece threaten safety of refugees and activists
NewsThe island of Chios, located in the Aegean Sea, is the unforgiving ‘temporary’ home of around 2000 refugees. The vast majority of them live in Vial refugee camp, located 6.8km from Chios’ main port and town.

Alarming conditions for refugees in Samos
NewsA team from Mare Liberum recently travelled to Samos.

Mare Liberum sets sail!
NewsWir sind endlich wieder zurück auf See und nun auf Beobachtungsposten an der Ostküste der griechischen Insel Lesbos, mit Sicht auf die türkische Grenze.

Life-jacket graveyard at Lesbos' North shore
NewsIn den Hügeln nahe der griechischen Stadt Molyvos vermitteln zehntausende von Rettungswesten ein Bild davon, wie Migration an der europäischen Außengrenze aussieht. Fast alle davon sind so genannte "gefälschte Rettungswesten", die in der Türkei für rund 10 Euro verkauft werden.

Mare Liberum is ready to set sail once again
NewsMare Liberum is monitoring human rights in the Aegean Sea by ship, and we are prepared to set sail for the second season of monitoring human rights. Our dedicated volunteers feel the urge to prevent unnecessary deaths at Europe’s maritime border.

Mass pushback near Lesvos: What happend on April 2nd?
FeaturedDer Massen-Pushback von mehr als 230 Menschen in der Nacht vom 2. auf den 3. April ist ein Paradebeispiel dafür, wie Pushbacks und das Leben von Geflüchteten im geopolitischen Konflikt zwischen der Türkei und Griechenland instrumentalisiert werden.

Pushbacks Quarterly: Continuous pushbacks and escalation in violence in the Aegean
FeaturedIn den ersten drei Monaten des Jahres 2021 haben wir bereits 55 Pushback-Fälle in der Ägäis gezählt. 1.479 Menschen versuchten über das Meer nach Griechenland zu gelangen und wurden illegal und in vielen Fällen unter Anwendung brutaler Gewalt abgewiesen.

Suspected murder by pushback
FeaturedLast week, probably one of the most brutal pushbacks ever documented took place in the Aegean.

Greece: De facto suspension of human rights for refugees in the Aegean
Featured, Press ReleaseA new report by the organization Mare Liberum shows an unprecedented escalation of human rights violations in the Aegean during the last year, both at sea and on land.

Pushing back refugees, pushing away witnesses
FeaturedThe Hellenic Coastguard is systematically performing brutal pushbacks to Turkey on a daily basis. Meanwhile, European states have failed to condemn these illegal practices.

Greece: De facto suspension of human rights for refugees in the Aegean
Featured, Press ReleaseA new report by the organization Mare Liberum shows an unprecedented escalation of human rights violations in the Aegean during the last year, both at sea and on land.

Geflüchtete zurückdrängen, Zeugen vertreiben
Press ReleaseDie Menschenrechtsorganisation Mare Liberum sieht sich der Kriminalisierung durch griechischen Behörden ausgesetzt.

Scheuer scheitert – Mare Liberum bekommt Recht
Press ReleaseIn zweierlei Hinsicht hat das Verwaltungsgericht Hamburg Mare Liberum Recht gegeben. Am 2. Oktober 2020 verkündete das Gericht, dass die Schiffe von Mare Liberum unter der geltenden Rechtslage keine Schiffssicherheitszeugnisse benötigen.

Germany detains ships of human rights organization Mare Liberum
Press ReleaseToday, German authorities ordered the detention of the ships "Mare Liberum" and "Sebastian K" of the non-profit association Mare Liberum e.V.

Ministry of Transport obstructs refugee relief missions
Press ReleasePress Statement by the organisations Mare Liberum, MISSION LIFELINE and RESQSHIP.

Europe Must Act - Open the Island Now!
Press ReleasePress Release, March 3rd 2020.

Mare Liberum Wins Appeal in Court
Press ReleasePress Release, 13th September 2019.

Mare Liberum Wins in Court
Press ReleasePress Release, 15th Mai 2019.

The human rights monitoring ship Mare Liberum is being prevented from leaving port
Press ReleasePress Release, 29th April 2019.