Episode 69: ‘You don't have children anymore‘
The Civil Fleet Podcast
In this episode, we speak with Arturo, captain of the refugee rescue ship Seapunk I. He's going to tell us all about the Seapunks activist group and its connection with punk rock music. He also tells us about a dramatic rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea in January, in which several people died. We also discuss how the Italian authorities force NGO ships to take the refugees to distant ports, and how this deliberately results in more refugee deaths. ---Get in touch--- Twitter: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: ...
info_outline
Episode 68: EU plans to criminalise solidarity with refugees
The Civil Fleet Podcast
In this episode, we speak with Yasha Maccanico a researcher and journalist at StateWatch, a UK-based charity focused on civil liberties, human rights and democracy in Europe. We talk about a proposed EU law that could make it easier for states to criminalise acts of solidarity with people on the move. Yasha also talks to us about abuses of state power in Europe under the guise of lowering immigration, the externalisation of the EU's borders in Africa, and much more. ---Get in touch--- Twitter: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: ...
info_outline
Episode 67: Syria, Gaza, and European hostility to refugees
The Civil Fleet Podcast
In this episode, we speak with Michaël Neuman from Doctors' Without Borders (MSF). He tells us about the charity's work in Syria, and how the fall of Bashar Assad's regime could affect this. We also discuss MSF's work in Gaza, Israel's ongoing genocide against the Palestinians and the fact that, unlike most conflicts, the people there have no escape. Michaël also tells us why MSF decided it needed to help asylum seekers in the UK, and why European governments have been far too quick to pause asylum claims for Syrians. ---Get in touch--- Twitter:...
info_outline
Episode 66: We found a child floating alone in the dark
The Civil Fleet Podcast
In this episode, we speak with Katja and Matthias, co-founders of the refugee rescue group CompassCollective. They tell us how they operate their rescue ship, the Trotamar III, to document human rights violations and save lives in the central Mediterranean. They also tell us about the recent rescue of an 11-year-old-girl they found by chance floating alone at sea for 2 or 3 days. ---Get in touch--- Twitter: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: [email protected] Support:...
info_outline
Episode 65: ‘A pain in the ass to inhumane authorities’
The Civil Fleet Podcast
In this episode, we speak with Paul Wagner, the media officer for Sea-Watch's airborne operations. He tells us about the rescue organisation's reconnaissance missions over the central Mediterranean, the push and pullbacks they have witnessed at sea, and how the EU has refugee blood on its hands. He also tell us about the various ways the Italian government has tried to stop them from carrying out their human rights monitoring missions. ---Get in touch--- Twitter: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: ...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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: ...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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--- ...
info_outline
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: ...
info_outlineIn 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---
Twitter: @FleetCivil
Mastodon: @[email protected]
Instagram: thecivilfleet
Support:
---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’."