Shocking video footage emerged on Tuesday of the Greek coast guard forcibly repelling a boat full of refugees away from the Greek coast. The footage shows the coast guard attempting to capsize the refugee boat and later firing shots around it.
This barbaric treatment of people who have fled war and persecution is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the EU’s border policies. Over the last decade tens of thousands of refugees have drowned in the Mediterranean as a result of the EU’s refusal to allow people to come here. Thousands more have been detained on Greek islands. Others have been stopped by the Libyan regime and forced into slave labour – aided and abetted by EU funding. In Ireland, the Direct Provision system remains a stain on our society here.
Moreover, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has since come out in praise of the Greek government, describing Greece as Europe’s “shield”. She also announced €700 million in funding for Greece to invest in further border infrastructure and policing.
Having inflicted vicious economic terrorism on Greece for years through bitter austerity measures, the EU has suddenly found the cash to help the Greek state continue with these barbarous border policies.
All of this comes only months after the right wing parties of the European parliament, including the 4 Fine Gael MEPs, voted along with the far right against funding search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean.
The world rightly decried Trump’s racism and vicious border policies in the US. Meanwhile, the EU still attempts to maintain a liberal facade while keeping refugees in camps and creating a mass grave in the Mediterranean.
People Before Profit call on people to support the protest called today March 5th at 6pm at The Spire.
Stop the EU’s border barbarism! Welcome refugees!