Episode 64: Pingpong pushbacks at the Poland-Belarus border
The Civil Fleet Podcast
In this episode we speak with Ola, an activist from the Grupa Granica coalition in Poland about the situation for refugees, migrants and people-on-the-move at the country's border with Belarus. She tells us how border guards on both sides are mistreating people-on-the-move there, about the ping-pong pushbacks across the border, and how the country's Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, plans to "temporarily" ban the human right to claim asylum. Ola also tells us about Grupa Granica's work supporting people-on-the-move with food, clothes and first aid, and how the authorities have...
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Episode 63: ‘You feel like the most wanted criminal in the world’
The Civil Fleet Podcast
In this episode, we speak with Denny, a young refugee from Kashmir who was forced to flee his homeland almost 9 years ago. He is going to tell us about life in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, his journey through Europe, how he was mistreated by the authorities and supported by activists. We also talk about his time living in a squat in Bosnia, and how looking after a dog helped his mental state. ---Get in touch--- Twitter: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ...
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Epsode 62: The UK's mistreatment of Albanian asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking
The Civil Fleet Podcast
In this episode, we speak with Lauren Starkey, a campaigner and independent social worker who works with Albanian victims of human trafficking. Lauren is going to tell us how the British government decided that Albanian men shouldn't be granted asylum in the UK, even if they are victims of human trafficking. She tells us how this approach punishes victims of human trafficking, forces them to live in destitution, and threatens to send them back to an environment they were trafficked from. And we also have an addendum at the end of the episode, in which we...
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Episode 61: Labour, immigration raids, and far-right riots
The Civil Fleet Podcast
In this episode, we speak with Dan Sohege, director of the human rights advocacy organisation Stand For All. We've a new government here in the UK. So I thought it'd be a good idea to ask Dan to give us his analysis of the Labour's plans for asylum seekers. Dan tells us how Labour's plans to increase immigration raids will only make things worse for victims of trafficking. We also discuss the recent far-right riots happening across Britain and Northern Ireland, and how our media and politicians bear much of the blame for the violence. ---Get in touch--- ...
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Episode 60: Pylos Shipwreck – The Greek coastguards watched them drown
The Civil Fleet Podcast
In today's episode, we speak with Spyros, from the Free Pylos 9 campaign. He's going to tell us more about the Pylos Shipwreck, how the authorities refused to help the 750 people on the small fishing boat, and how it sank on June 14, 2023, when the Greek coastguards tried to tow it. Only 104 of the 750 people survived. Spyros also tells us about the nine survivors who were used as scapegoats for the disaster and jailed, about the campaign to free them, and how they were treated once they were acquitted. ---Get in touch--- Twitter: ...
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Episode 59: Solidarity in Bosnia (Part 2)
The Civil Fleet Podcast
In this episode, we go back to the border town of Bihac, in Bosnia, to see how the solidarity network No Name Kitchen (NNK) supports People on the Move there. In Part 2 of this miniseries on Bosnia, we'll near more from NNK's volunteers in Bosnia, and also from the refugees/migrants/People on the Move who are trapped in the Balkan country. ---Get in touch--- Twitter: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- For more on No Name Kitchen, see their website here: ...
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Episode 58: Solidarity in Bosnia (Part 1)
The Civil Fleet Podcast
In April, I went to Bihac, a small town in Bosnia near the border with Croatia, to see how the solidarity network No Name Kitchen (NNK) supports People on the Move there. In this episode, NNK's volunteers in Bihac will tell us how they provide first aid, food and clothing to the People on the Move there, and how they document border violence. We'll also talk with a few of the people trapped in Bosnia, who'll tell us about their journeys to the Balkan country, and the abuses they have faced from border guards at the edge of Fortress Europe. ---Get in touch--- ...
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Episode 57: People power vs the UK's Rwanda scheme
The Civil Fleet Podcast
In this episode we speak with Agustina Oliveri, campaigns manager at the UK-based human rights organisation, Free from Torture. Agustina talks to us about Freedom from Tortures' brilliant campaigns against the British government's plans to exile asylum-seekers to Rwanda by targeting the airlines that are willing to do the government's dirty work. ---Get in touch--- Twitter: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- For more on Freedom from Torture, see: Check them...
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Episode 56: Free Homayoun
The Civil Fleet Podcast
In this episode we speak with Kiana, Anne, Mahtab and Hannah from the Free Homayoun campaign. Homayoun Sabetara, a widower and father of two, fled Iran to reunite with his daughters in Germany in 2021. Mahtab is one of his daughters. Along the way, Homayoun was forced to drive a car carrying several others across the Greece-Turkey border. He was arrested in Greece, charged with human smuggling, and sentenced to 18 years behind bars at a trial conducted without interpreters. Kiana, Anne, Mahtab and Hannah tell us more about Homayoun's case, his upcoming...
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Episode 55: The Libyan Coastguards shot at us
The Civil Fleet Podcast
In this episode, we speak with Camilla from the refugee rescue organisation SOS Humanity. She tells us about the time the so-called Libyan Coastguard shot at them, disrupting a rescue operation in the central Mediterranean, and causing the death of at least one person in early March 2024. She also tells us how, after that ordeal, the Italian authorities then ordered the Humanity 1 rescue ship to sail for a port, thousands of miles away. And how, when they finally reached land, the authorities tried to detain the ship because they apparently disobeyed the...
info_outlineIn 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
Mastodon: @[email protected]
[email protected]
civilfleet.com
Support:
ko-fi.com/civilfleet
---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.”