The Civil Fleet Podcast
Saving lives at sea is not a crime But for the past few years, European states have treated those brave enough to save refugees from drowning in the Mediterranean as if they were breaking the law. Welcome to The Civil Fleet, a podcast by civilfleet.com that focuses on the NGO refugee rescuers in the central Mediterranean and beyond.
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Episode 69: ‘You don't have children anymore‘
03/07/2025
Episode 69: ‘You don't have children anymore‘
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: [email protected] --- Show notes --- For more on Seapunks, visit Follow them on Instagram on: And on Bluesky here: For more on Sea-Watch, check out episodes: 43, 22, 7 and 1 of The Civil Fleet Podcast Listen to episodes 48 and 20 for more on Louise Michel For more on Iuventa, download episodes 54, 36, 24 and 2 For more on Refugee Rescue, see here: Interviews with Alarm Phone activists are in episodes 48, 5 and 3 Check out our two interviews with Brendan Woodhouse in episodes 43 and 22
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Episode 68: EU plans to criminalise solidarity with refugees
02/25/2025
Episode 68: EU plans to criminalise solidarity with refugees
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: [email protected] --- Show notes --- For more on StateWatch, check out their work here: Follow them on BlueSky: Ben misquotes the late left-wing politician Tony Benn, who once said: “The way a government treats refugees is very instructive, because it shows you how they would treat the rest of us if they thought they could get away with it.” In fact, the phrase may have been misattributed to Tony Benn. You can watch one of Tony Benn's most famous speeches against the US-UK' illegal invasion of Iraq, here: Yasha mentions the an independent media company Bristol Cable. You can read their work here: Ben and Yasha talk briefly about the toppling of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol in 2020. You can read more about that here; Here's where you can find out more about Migreurop: Ben mentions an episode of The Civil Fleet with Jihed, a Tunisian activist with Alarm Phone and Louise Michelle. Check out episode 48 for that. For more on Frontex, the European Border and Coastguard Agency, check out episodes 54, 52, 50, 34, 31, 23, 15, 7 and 1 Ben mentions previous The Civil Fleet Podcast episodes with people who have been arrested and given ludicrous sentences for driving boats or cars across borders. Check out episodes: 56, which focuses on Homayoun Sabetara, a father who fled Iran to be reunited with his daughters in Germany and was sentenced to 18 years behind bars in Greece after he was forced to drive across the border. 53 with Nadia, a young refugee woman from Lebanon who husband was arrested by the Greek authorities and accused of human smuggling after spending 10 days adrift in the Mediterranean. 35 with Hanad, a Somalian refugee who was senteced to 142 years behind bars for trying to stop his boat from sinking in the Aegean Sea and saving the lives of 33 others Here are the links Yasha sent: EU: New migrant smuggling law to ensure criminalisation of solidarity (December 2024) A new EU law on the criminalisation of migrant smuggling will be examined by the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council. The Council is due to approve its position for negotiations with the European Parliament. The existing law has been criticised for failing to prevent the criminalisation of migration and acts of solidarity with migrants and refugees. The new text, obtained by Statewatch and published here, appears likely to worsen the situation. ----- EU: Council lowers threshold for migrant smuggling prosecutions (July 2024, with PICUM) EU institutions are discussing proposed changes to the law criminalising the facilitation of irregular migration, which has also been used to criminalise migrants and individuals acting in solidarity with them. The Belgian Council presidency presented a revised draft to other EU member states at the end of May, which would simplify the criminalisation of irregular entry, amongst other things. The draft will serve as the basis for further discussions within the Council, with Hungary now in the presidency role until the end of this year. ----- Viewpoint, Hindering humanitarianism: European Commission will not ensure protection for those aiding sans-papiers, Chris Jones (April 2017) ----- The shrinking space for solidarity with migrants and refugees: how the European Union and Member States target and criminalize defenders of the rights of people on the move (TNI, Yasha Maccanico, Ben Hayes, Samuel Kenny, Frank Barat, September 2018) ----- Libya/elmasri: including full text of Shatz/Branco submission to the ICC against Italian ministers: ----- Secrecy: ----- Tunisia: ----- Deportations (aka returns): ----- Egypt: ----- “Outsourcing borders” externalisation bulletin project, bulletins and documents archive: ----- To challenge border militarisation (with partners, 2023/24), Telling the story of EU border militarisation, ----- Europe’s techno-borders (2023 with EuroMed Rights) ----- Frontex and interoperable databases: knowledge as power? (2023) ----- Empowering the police, removing protections: the new Europol Regulation (2022) ----- Interoperability, eu-LISA and the biometric state (2022) Building the biometric state: Police powers and discrimination ----- Background docs selection on interoperability and the EU JHA policy field ----- Secrecy and externalisation of EU border control (2022) ----- Renditions observatory
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Episode 67: Syria, Gaza, and European hostility to refugees
12/30/2024
Episode 67: Syria, Gaza, and European hostility to refugees
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: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: [email protected] --- Show notes --- For more on MSF, visit: Follow MSF UK on Twitter here: Check out MSF Crash's website here: Michael refers to the cyclone which battered Mayotte in December. Read about MSF's work on teh Indian Ocean island here: For more on MSF's rescue ship, the Geo Barents, see here: AND, check out episode 14 of The Civil Fleet Podcast, with the ship's search-and-rescue team leader Riccardo Gatti and midwife Kira Smith. Listen to episode 21 also, with MSF UK advocacy officer Sophie McCann. This 2017 video by Vox is a fairly good summation of the differing sides in the Syrian Civil War: Here is an excellent speech by the late journalist Robert Fisk in 2016 on the Arab Spring, Egypt, Isis, Iraq and the West's role in the Middle East: Ben mentions a previous episode with Syrian refugee Hasan. Check out episode 25 of The Civil Fleet Podcast to hear that For more on MSF's work in Gaza, see here: Michael mentions an article in the Haaretz newspaper about Israeli soldiers killing any Palestinian person who crosses the Neztarim corridor. You can read that here: That article is behind a paywall, unfortunately, BUT you can read about it here (for free!) on Middle East Eye: Michael mentions the siege of Mosul. For more on that, see here: For more on MSF's work in the UK, particularly at the Wethersfield migrant containment centre, see here: For more on the conditions inside Britain's migrant containment centres, check out episode 32 with journalist Bethany Rielly (then home affairs reporter at the Morning Star newspaper, now a co-editor at the New Internationalist) For more on Doctors of the World, see here: Ben mentions his exclusive articles revealing the number of deaths in UK Home Office Accommodation in 2022 and 2023. Read that here:
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Episode 66: We found a child floating alone in the dark
12/24/2024
Episode 66: We found a child floating alone in the dark
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: ---Show Notes--- For more on CompassCollective, see their website here: Follow them on Twitter: Mastodon: Facebook: Insta: And YouTube: For more on the Piantedosi Decree, see here: And/or check out episode 65 or The Civil Fleet Podcast For more on Sea-Watch and their reconnaissance planes, listen to episodes: 65, 43, 22, 7 and 1 For more on Alarm Phone, check out episodes 48, 5 and 3 For more on Maldusa, listen to episode 46
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Episode 65: ‘A pain in the ass to inhumane authorities’
11/24/2024
Episode 65: ‘A pain in the ass to inhumane authorities’
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: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- For more on Sea-Watch, visit: For more on the Seabirds 1 & 2, see here: Follow Sea-Watch on Twitter on Bluesky: Instagram: Also, check out episodes 43, 22, 7 and 1 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on Sea-Watch. Read more about Carola Rackete here: For more on SOS Humanity, see episodes 55 and 31 Read The Civil Fleet's coverage of Sea-Watch here: For more on the Matteo Salvini kidnapping trial. see: It was SOS Humanity who rescued one person at sea in late October. They were then forced to sail to the distant port of Salerno, 870km, away from where the rescue took place. Read more about that here: You can read Ben's interbiew with Sea-Watch's Tamino Bohm, here: For more on the sip captain Paul metions who was arrested for handing people over to the Libya, see here: The merchant shop Ben talks about was the Maersk Etienne. You can read about that saga here: For more on the Maersk Etienne case, check out episodes 18 and 47 Read about Malta's treatment of the civilian rescuers here: For more on the Pylos shipwreck, see Episodes 60 and 52 Paul mention's a testimony by Ibrahim Hsian, the son of Mohammed Hsian who drowned in the shipwreck of 2nd September 2024. You can read that here:
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Episode 64: Pingpong pushbacks at the Poland-Belarus border
11/15/2024
Episode 64: Pingpong pushbacks at the Poland-Belarus border
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 treated the activists. ---Get in touch--- Twitter: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- For more on Grupa Granica, see their Facebook page here: See their Instagram account here: For more on the Belarus border, see episode 33 with Dalia, an activist from the Lithuanian human rights and medical aid organisation, Sienos Grupe. Ola mention Alarm Phone. For more them, visit: , and find them on Twitter on And check out The Civil Fleet's episodes 48, 5 and 3. Read this France 24 news article on African people fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine being mistreated by the Polish border guards: Read this FT article about the Afghans stuck at the Poland-Belarus border in 2021, here: And this Amnesty International article here: For more on the Ethiopian people who died at the Poland-Belarus border last year, see here: Read this Al Jazeera news report on the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk plans to temporarily suspend the human right to claim asylum here: Read about Finland's government also blocking the human right to claim asylum here: And this Amnesty International response to it: Ben mentions people in Europe being dubbed smugglers for giving food, water, first aid, etc to people-on-the-move. More examples of that can be found in episodes: 59, 58, 51, 50, 47, 46, 41, 37, 35, 28, 24, 20, 16, 13, 7, 4 and 2 Ola uses the phrase "Dublinned" in the episode. This is a reference to the EU's Dublin Agreement — which is essentially supposed to keep asylum seekers away from northern Europe. Check out this explainer video by The Guardian newspaper:
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Episode 63: ‘You feel like the most wanted criminal in the world’
10/04/2024
Episode 63: ‘You feel like the most wanted criminal in the world’
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: ---Show Notes--- For more on the oppression in India-occupied Kashmir, see this 2019 Al Jazeera article: For more on Britain's partition of India, see this Ted Ed video here: For more on Britain's awful colonial rule of India, check out this video here: Read this BBC news story about the Indian army killing of Kashmiri activists in May: Ben mentions Klara in this interview. She was an activist with No Name Kitchen in Bosnia. Check out episodes 58 and 59 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on Bosnia and No Name Kitchen Ben mentions Bihac, but doesn't explain where that is. Whoops. It's a small town in northwest Bosnia on the border with Croatia. Episodes 58 and 59 are there. Denny mentions Kurdistan. More more on them, check out this episode of Revolution and Ideology:
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Epsode 62: The UK's mistreatment of Albanian asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking
09/20/2024
Epsode 62: The UK's mistreatment of Albanian asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking
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 talk about Labour's reported plans to end asylum seekers to Albania. ---Get in touch--- Twitter: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- You can follow Lauren Starkey on Twitter here: Lauren mentions the defunct (in the UK) charity Love 146. You can check out their US website here: For more on the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), see here: Ben mentions a journalist trying to interview people as they cross the Channel. You can watch that here: For more on the UK, see episodes 61, 57, 49, 44, 42, 40, 39, 38, 32, 25, 21, 17 and 11 of The Civil Fleet Podcast. Check out Amnesty International's assessment on the Nationality and Borders' Act 2022, see here: See here for more on the UK government's legal battle with former Albanian president Berisha: Read this Guardian report on the children who went missing from Britain's migrant hotels: You can read about the British PM visit Italy's far-right PM Giorgia Meloni here: For more on Israel's Rwanda scheme, see here:
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Episode 61: Labour, immigration raids, and far-right riots
08/10/2024
Episode 61: Labour, immigration raids, and far-right riots
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--- Twitter: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- Follow Dan Sohege on Twitter: For more on Stand for All, visit: Ben mentions a website where you can see a decade's worth of headlines on immigration. You can see that here: Check out episode 44 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Reclaim the Sea for more on the Bibby Stockholm Ben mentions episode 49 with Paul O'Connor from the Public and Commerical Services (PCS) union in this episode. Check that out. For more episodes focused on the UK, see episodes 57, 49, 44, 42, 40, 39, 38, 32, 25, 21, 17 and 11. Check out this story on the UK Border Force carrying out push back training: Read more about UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's comments on Bangladeshi asylum seekers here: Corporate Watch have a story here on the state of the hotels housing asylum seekers in the UK: For more on the Southport murders and the far-right conspiracies that set off the riots in Britain, see here: Dan mentions a far right protest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Knowsley last year. Read about that here:
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Episode 60: Pylos Shipwreck – The Greek coastguards watched them drown
07/26/2024
Episode 60: Pylos Shipwreck – The Greek coastguards watched them drown
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: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- For more on Free Pylos 9, see their website here: Follow the Free Pylos 9 campaign on Twitter here: Find them on Instagram: For more background on the Pylos shipwreck and the 9 criminalised survivors, read this article by the Human Rights Legal Project: Spyros mentions the Captain Support Network. Check them out here: He also mentioned the Justice for Pylos campaign. Check out their website (in Greek) here: For more on The Civil Fleet's coverage of the Pylos Shipwreck, see here: Check out episodes 3, 4, 9, 16, 25, 26, 28, 35, 52, 53, and 56 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on Greece Ben mention Lighthouse Reports and their investigation into the Pylos Shipwreck. You can read that here: Check out Solomon's coverage of the shipwreck here: For more on Alarm Phone visit: , and find them on Twitter on . You can read Alarm Phone's timeline of the shipwreck here: Oh, and by the way, Hellas is Greece in Greek, and therefore the Greek coastguard are also called the Hellenic Coastguard.
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Episode 59: Solidarity in Bosnia (Part 2)
06/13/2024
Episode 59: Solidarity in Bosnia (Part 2)
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: Follow NNK on Twitter via Follow them on Instagram: And listen to episodes 58 Part 2, 51, 41, and 6 of The Civil Fleet Podcast. Want to know where Bihac is exactly? Check out this map: Ben mentions border guards forcing people-on-the-move to stay inside hot cars as a form of punishment. For more on this practice, see this story by Lighthouse Reports: And check out Episode 34 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Klaas van Dijken, one of the co-founders of Lighthouse Reports Check out a film called Shadow Game for more on the term the game:
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Episode 58: Solidarity in Bosnia (Part 1)
06/08/2024
Episode 58: Solidarity in Bosnia (Part 1)
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--- Twitter: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- For more on No Name Kitchen, see their website here: Follow NNK on Twitter via Follow them on Instagram: And listen to episodes 58 Part 2, 51, 41, and 6 of The Civil Fleet Podcast. Want to know where Bihac is exactly? Check out this map: Joe mentions the IWGB union. For more on them, check them out here: Joe also mentions Sea-Watch, one of the bigger refugee rescue groups operating in the Mediterranean. For more on them, see: And check out episodes 54, 43, 22, 7, and 1 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on Sea-Watch, too. You can read Joe's article on the Chinese person he meet in Bosnia, here:
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Episode 57: People power vs the UK's Rwanda scheme
05/07/2024
Episode 57: People power vs the UK's Rwanda scheme
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 out on Twitter, here: Or On Instagram, here: Join Freedom from Torture's campaign calling on Jet2 and AirTanker to stand on the right side of history: Check out this video of Agustina on the phone with Jet2 about the Rwanda scheme: Check out this video of Freedom from Torture presenting Privilege Style with the Worst Airline of the Year Award in 2022: Watch Freedom from Torture's video of Joan, a Holocaust survivor, confronting Suella Braverman on her hateful language here: Here's a photo of Freedom from Torture crashing the Real Madrid vs Barcelona FC match in 2022 with a message about the Rwanda Scheme. Read The Civil Fleet's exclusive story on the 40 people who died in Home Office asylum-seeker accommodation in 2023: Read The Civil Fleet's stories on the UK's Rwanda scheme: Read the UN statement condemning the UK's Rwanda scheme: For more on Samos Volunteers, see here: For more on the Bibby Stockholm, check out Episode 44 with Reclaim the Sea For more on the UK holding asylum-seekers on former military bases, check out Episode 32 with journalist Bethany Rielly Check out Episode 42, with journalist Nicola Kelly, on asylum seekers being abused and intimidated by staff at Home Office hotels. Ben mentioned the Australian policy of exiling asylum seekers to an island nation, but couldn't remember which. It was Nauru. Read this Amnesty International investigation exposing the abuse of refugees there: Read about the direct action in the courts and in the streets which stopped the first deportation flight to Rwanda: Read this 2023 Human Rights Watch report on the UK Supreme Court finding the UK-Rwanda scheme unlawful: Here's a video of British cops rounding up people set to be deported to Rwanda: Here's the Home Office's video of cops rounding up people set to be exiled to Rwanda: Read this story in The National on the government of Belize denying it is negotiating with the UK over its inhumane deportation policy: Here's a video of people preventing a deportation raid in Peckham, southeast London on May 2, 2024:
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Episode 56: Free Homayoun
04/13/2024
Episode 56: Free Homayoun
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 appeal on April 22, and how Europe's systematic criminalisation of people on the move. ---Get in touch--- Twitter: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- For more details on the Free Homayoun campaign, visit: Follow the Homayoun campaign on social media: Instagram Twitter: Mastodon: Anne and Hannah mention the Seebrucke movement. For more on that, see: Borderline Europe is also mentioned in this episode. For more on that organisation, see here: Ben makes frequent reference to the Iuventa crew in this episode. If you don't know who they are and/or want to know more about them, see epiosde 54 and read here: For more on the Samos 2, see episode 26. Incidentally, Dimitris Choulis who is interviewed in that episode, is also Homayoun Sabetara's lawyer. For more on the criminalisation of people on the move, see episodes 53, 48, 35, 29, 28, 26 and more. Ben mentions Sean Binder & Sara Mandini, Check out episode 16 for more on them.
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Episode 55: The Libyan Coastguards shot at us
03/29/2024
Episode 55: The Libyan Coastguards shot at us
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 Libyan Coastguards. --Get in touch--- Twitter: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- For more on SOS Humanity, check out their website, here: You can donate to them here: Follow SOS Humanity on Twitter: You can watch video footage of the Libyan Coastguard's interference of the Humanity 1 rescue, here: Check out episode 31 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on the Humanity 1 rescue ship Also, read more about SOS Humanity on The Civil Fleet news blog, here: Ben mentions Mediterranea: Saving Humans and their rescue ship, the Mare Jonio. For more on them, check out episodes 18 and 47 of The Civil Fleet Podcast Ben mentions a trip to Trapani and the Iuventa rescuers. Check out the previous episode of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on that, and check out episodes 2, 24 and 36 Camilla mentions fellow refugee rescue organisation SOS Mediterranee. For more on them, see here: Fore more on the Libyan Coastguards, see here: And read this exclusive story on the EU continuing its support of the Libyan Coastguard despite its fears of human rights abuses: And this 2020 investigation on how the EU’s supposed training of the Libyan coastguard has only made things worse: Camilla mentions Alarm Phone. Want to know more about them? Check out episodes 48, 5 and 3. Read about Italy's top court declaring Libya not to be a safe port: Read about the Libyan Coastguards harassing MSF's rescue ship Geo Barents here: And watch this video of another incident: Ben mentions the Pirate History Podcast. Check that out here: You can read SOS Humanity, Sea-Watch and Sea-Eye's joint statement on the detention of their ships in March 2024, here:
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Episode 54: Solidarity And Resistance
03/19/2024
Episode 54: Solidarity And Resistance
Activists aboard the Iuventa rescue ship saved the lives of over 14,000 people in the central Mediterranean between 2016 and 2017. Based on dodgy allegations from a security guard with links to the far right, the Italian secret services began spying on the Iuventa crew in September 2016. The Italian authorities seized the Iuventa in August 2017, and initially warned 10 members of the crew that they were under investigation for human smuggling. But in March 2021, only four of them were charged with “aiding and abetting illegal immigration to Italy.” The four are Kathrin Schmidt, Dariush Beigui, Sascha Girke and Uli Tröder. The preliminary hearing began in May 2022, and has been marred by the prosecution’s many procedural errors and a lack of proper translation for the German defendants. At the end of February 2024, Ben Cowles went to Trapani, on the Italian island of Sicily, to cover what was hoped to be the end of the pretrial. In this episode we interview Dariush and Sascha, two of the Iuventa four, on the day the prosecution gave up. We speak with Elisa De Pieri from Amnesty International, Allison West from ECCHR, former Iuventa crewmate and Die Linke Party candidate Lea Reisner, and Mediterranea: Saving Humans' head of operations Beppe Caccia. We also hear from the Iuventa's lawyers Nicola Canestrini and Francesca Cancellaro about the absurdity of the charges brought against the activists. --Get in touch--- Twitter: Twitter: @FleetCivil Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- Check out The Civil Fleet's previous episodes with Iuventa crew members: • Episode 2 with Sascha Girke • Episode 24 with Kathrin Schmidt • Episode 36 with one of their lawyers Francesca Cancellaro Read all about the Iuventa on The Civil Fleet blog, here: Read about Italy's top court declaring Libya not to be a safe port: You can read the full European Ombudsman's findings on Frontex's operations, here: Or you can read a news story about it, here: For more on the ECCHR, listen to episode 15 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Silvia Rojas-Castro, a legal advisor at the ECCHR, and Elise Flecher, a senior programmes officer at Lawyers for Justice in Libya Allison mentions UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawler. You can read about her intervention in the Iuventa case, here: And on The Civil Fleet, here: You can read the latest ECCHR report on the Iuventa pretrial, here: A few times in the episode, Ben mentions a man, Ibrahima Bah, who was prosecuted in the UK for driving a boat across the Chanel. You can read about him in the Guardian newspaper, here: Read Ben's written interview with Lea Reisner on The Civil Fleet, here: Read about former Frontex boss Fabrice Leggeri joining the far right in France: Read about UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joining a protest organised by a climate conspiracy group last month: For more on Mediterranea: Saving Humans and the Maersk Etienne, check out episodes 18 and 47 of The Civil Fleet Podcast Read about the Maersk Etienne, here:
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Episode 53: ‘Sink or you're a smuggler’
02/25/2024
Episode 53: ‘Sink or you're a smuggler’
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. --Get in touch--- Twitter: Mastodon: Bluesky: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- For more on Dawood's case, read this article by the Human Rights Legal Project Check the Human Rights Legal Project out here: For more on the situation in Lebanon following the 2020 explosion, read this Guardian report: Check out The Civil Fleet's previous interview with Alexandros about the Samos 2: 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: Want to see what Malta's search-and-rescue zone looks like? See the July-August 2022 issue of ECHOES from the Central Mediterranean: Here's the UK Home Office's tweet of Ibrahima Bah, who was criminalised for steering a dinghy which collapsed in the Channel: For more on Ibrahima Bah, read this statement by Captain Support UK: And this news report by Sky News: For more on the Maersk Etienne, read about it here: And check out episode 18 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Iason Apostolopoulos, who talks about it in that interview:
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Episode 52: Frontex, Pirates and Greek lies
01/25/2024
Episode 52: Frontex, Pirates and Greek lies
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--- Twitter: Mastodon: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- Check out Lighthouse Reports here: And follow them on Twitter: Read Frontex and the Pirate Ship here: Read Drowning in Lies here: For more on Frontex, see episodes 50 and 23 of The Civil Fleet Podcast Read The Civil Fleet's coverage of Frontex, here: 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: For more on the Tariq Ben Zeyad unit, read this Amnesty International report: 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: Read this interview with a Somali refugee held in a bogus ‘refugee camp’ in Libya: 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: 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: For more on Alarm Phone, listen to episodes 48, 5, and 3 of The Civil Fleet Podcast. Read about them here, too: Read about the Crotone shipwreck here: Read about the Pylos shipwreck, here: 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’."
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Episode 51: Europe's Bloody Borders
01/09/2024
Episode 51: Europe's Bloody Borders
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: Mastodon: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- For more No Name Kitchen, visit: Follow them on Twitter here: Read NNK's Bloody Borders Report here: If you'd like to volunteer with NNK, see here: Check out Sergio's awesome NNK jumper here: Check out episodes 6 (Irina) and 41 (with Barbara) of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on NNK. Episode 6 is here and episode 41 is here: Want to know where Ceuta is? See this Google Map: Never heard of Šid? Here it is in Serbia: 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: Sergio mentions the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN). For more on them, check out episode 8 of The Civil Fleet Podcast here: . And see their website here: Sergio mentions Lighthouse Reports. For more on them, see here: 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: 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: , or listen to it here: .
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Episode 50: Abolish Frontex
11/16/2023
Episode 50: Abolish Frontex
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: Mastodon: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- For more on Abolish Frontex visit: For more of the network's demands, see here: For more on the International Day of Action, see here: For more on Frontex's involvement in pushbacks in Greece, read this: See this article for more on Frontex's involvement in the abuse of people on the move in the Balkans: Read The Civil Fleet's coverage of Frontex, here: Ben mentions an arms fair that took place in London this summer. For more on that, see: For more on the Transnational Institue, go here: Ben, briefly mentions Frag Den Staat (Ask the State). See here for more on them: 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)
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Episode 49: Safe Passage for Refugees
10/27/2023
Episode 49: Safe Passage for Refugees
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: Mastodon: Instagram: [email protected] civilfleet.com Support: ---Show Notes--- For more on the PCS union, see: For more on PCS and Care4Calais' Safe Passage Policy, read about it here: If you'd like to email your MP about PCS's safe passage policy, see here: 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: See here for more on the UK Border Force training to push refugees back across the Channel already, here: 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: 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: 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: 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:
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Episode 48: Europe's Tunisian border
10/17/2023
Episode 48: Europe's Tunisian border
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: Mastodon: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- You can follow Jihed on Twitter here: For more on Alarm Phone visit: , and find them on Twitter on . For more on Louise Michel, visit: Follow Louise Michel on Twitter: For more on human rights issues in Tunisia, read Amnesty International's 2022 report, here: For more on the EU's anti-migrant deals with Tunisia, read this Human Rights Watch article: 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.
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Episode 47: ‘Remove the rescue equipment or we will arrest you’
09/30/2023
Episode 47: ‘Remove the rescue equipment or we will arrest you’
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: Mastodon: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- Visit Mediterranea: Saving Human's website here: Follow Mediterranea: Saving Humans on Twitter: 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: 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: 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: 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: And read in the Guardian newspaper about how even members of her own right-wing party think she has gone too far: 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: Maersk Etienne, check out episode 18. And/or, read about it here: For more on the Iuventa, check out Episodes 2, 24 and 36. For more on Lampedusa, see Episode 46 with Maldusa's Jasmine
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Episode 46: Organised chaos in Lampedusa
09/22/2023
Episode 46: Organised chaos in Lampedusa
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: Mastodon: Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- For more on Maldusa, visit: Follow them on Twitter: Here is a joint statement signed by Maldusa and many other organisations on Lampedusa and Europe's 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: Don't know where Lampedusa is? Then check out this google map, . 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: 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: 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:
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Episode 45: Saving lives in the dead of night
08/26/2023
Episode 45: Saving lives in the dead of night
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: Mastodon: Instagram: [email protected] civilfleet.com Support: ---Show Notes--- For more on the MareGo, visit: Follow MareGo on Twiiter: To donate to the MareGo, see here: Read about the MareGo's nighttime rescue on The Civil Fleet here:
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Episode 44: Reclaim the Sea
08/13/2023
Episode 44: Reclaim the Sea
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: Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: thecivilfleet [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- Follow Reclaim the Sea on Twitter: You can read Reclaim the Sea's report on the financial and moral cost of the Bibby Stockholm here: Read Reclaim the Sea's open letter to UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman here: 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: For more on the Bibby Stockholm's links to the transatlantic slave trade, see this article by Corporate Watch: 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: 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: For more on the UK's Police Crime and Sentencing Act, see this explanation by the human rights organisation Liberty: For more on the UK's Illegal Migration Bill, see episodes 38, 39 and 42 of The Civil Fleet Podcast.
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Episode 43: Doro - refugee, hero, champion, survivor
07/29/2023
Episode 43: Doro - refugee, hero, champion, survivor
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: Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: thecivilfleet [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- You can buy Brendan and Doro's book from publishers Unbound, here: Or from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), here: You can follow Brendan on Twitter here: Check out episode 22 of The Civil Fleet podcast to hear Brendan's previous interview. For more on Sea-Watch, follow them on Twitter: Or check out their website, here: To read the article Ben mentions about Miguel Roldan and the FBU, see here: For more on the Iuventa, check out episodes 2, 24 and 36.
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Episode 42: Exposing the Home Office's treatment of asylum seekers
07/16/2023
Episode 42: Exposing the Home Office's treatment of asylum seekers
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: Mastodon: Instagram: thecivilfleet [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- Follow Nicola on Twitter here: You can read the articles we discussed in this episode here: UK provided £3m to Turkish border forces to stop migrants: Asylum seekers ‘abused and intimidated by staff in Home Office hotels’: 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: Nicola mentions a far-right protest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Knowsley, near Liverpool. You can read more about that here: Check out this interview with anti-fascist activists who were at the protest: And more about the aftermath here: 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: Nicola mentions that child asylum-seekers have gone missing from a hotel in Brighton. You can read about that here:
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Episode 41: Solidarity along the Balkan route
06/30/2023
Episode 41: Solidarity along the Balkan route
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: Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- For more on No Name Kitchen, see their website here: Follow them on Twitter: And find them on Instagram here: To volunteer with No Name Kitchen, see here: Check out No Name Kitchen's merch here: 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:
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Episode 40: Profiting from Europe's deportation regime
06/16/2023
Episode 40: Profiting from Europe's deportation regime
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: Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: thecivilfleet [email protected] Support: ---Show Notes--- If you're facing deportation from the UK, this article by Right to Remain may be useful: Visit Corporate Watch's website, here: Follow Corporate Watch on Twitter here: You can listen to the first episode of Corporate Watch's Eco-defence podcast here: And you can subscribe to Corporate Watch newsletter here: 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: Here's the online course you can do for free with Corporate Watch: 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: If you're interested in anti-immigration raids in the UK, see here: Here's an article on Open Democracy about the activists who stopped a Rwanda-bound deportation plane: Be sure to read this Liberty Investigate's expose: 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: , here: , and here:
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