By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian government has announced that it is planning to ban certain Russian artists from next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in Kiev, Ukraine in May 2017.  Ukraine is in the middle of an economic recession, however plans to spend $49 million on the competition through renovations to the host venue.

This past year, a Ukrainian citizen named Jamala won the competition with a song about deportations of Crimean Tatar’s under the rule of Joseph Stalin.  Crimean Tatars are ethnic Muslims who were accused by Stalin of collaborating with the Nazis.  Stalin had them transported in cattle cars from Crimea to remote regions of the Soviet Union.

Ukrainian Culture Minister Yevhen Nyshchuk said that Russian singers who have been blacklisted by Ukrainian state security for supporting the separatist cause between Russia and Crimea would be banned from the competition if Russia chose them to compete.  He noted that there are “many decent artists” in Russia who understand peace, however warns that Russia is capable of finding the would-be blacklisted singers and pushing them to win local competitions, which might lead to their entry in Eurovision.  Nyshchuk would consider this action by Russia to be a “deliberate provocation.”

Anton Gerashchenko, a parliament member for the ruling party in Ukraine, wishes to uphold the ban against Russian media as well, stating that it is for “Ukraine to decide” whether to block certain Russian media groups from covering the competition.

There are currently 10 Russian singers and actors whose work has been banned from Ukrainian media for its support of the Crimea annexation and Russian separatists.  Chicherina and Kobzon are two Russian singers who have been banned from physically entering Ukraine for performing songs that support Russia’s position in the Crimea annexation.

Jamala’s song in the 2016 event raised concerns in Moscow that the contest was charged by politics.  For this reason, some Russians have suggested that Russia boycott the 2017 Eurovision altogether.  There is still speculation regarding whether or not Russia will honor the ban, or will try to challenge it and send blacklisted artists to the competition.

 

For more information, please see:

EuroVisionary — Ukraine Confirms Russian Artists Still Banned From Entering 2017 Eurovision — 10 September 2016

ABC — Eurovision: Ukraine Names Names City to Host 2017 Song Contest — 9 September 2016

Reuters — Ukraine to Bar Some Russian Singers After Kiev Chosen to host Eurovision — 9 September 2016

EuroVisionary — Ukraine Threatens Russian Artists to Ban them from Eurovision 2017 — 21 May 2016

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

 

LONDON, England — Nine activists of Black Lives Matter UK (BLMUK) staged a protest on a runway of London City Airport in London last Tuesday.  Protestors reportedly swam or traveled via a dinghy across the Thames River from a dock across from the airport in order to reach the runway.  Once on the runway, the protestors constructed themselves into an interlocked tripod formation.

Flights at the airport were suspended until the protesters were arrested and removed from the runway.  According to local police, the seven of the nine protestors were arrested on charges of aggravated trespass, being unlawfully airside, and for breaching the bylaws of the London City Airport.  The remaining two protestors remained interlocked on the runway and continued to engage in negotiations with police officers.

BLMUK stated that London City Airport is planning to expand, which would likely impact the surrounding neighborhoods which are located in a highly deprived part of London.  One reason given by BLMUK for the protest was to highlight the economic disparity between airport travelers and the people who live in the neighborhoods surrounding the airport.  The activist group claims that the airport was “designed for the wealthy,” and compares the salaries of the average London City Airport user (€136,000) to the average population in the surrounding town of Newham (£20,000 or less).

In this same sense, BLMUK provides that the reason for the protest was to “highlight the environmental impact of air travel on the lives of black people locally and globally.”  The group estimates that by 2020, there will be 200 million climate refuges across the world.  They claim that in 2016, 3,176 migrants either died or went missing in the Mediterranean as a result of fleeing conditions they did not create because cheaper, easier, and safer avenues of travel have been blocked or ignored by the UK.

The protest aggravated many affected travelers at London City Airport.  One traveler whose flight was delayed said she understood the purpose of the protest and the concerns surrounding it, but highlighted that there are other ways the group can get their point across without impacting “young families.”  Another set of African American travelers recognizes that “many issues always affect the poorest in society…but it has stopped these two black lives from going on holiday.”

 

For more information, please see:

BBC — Black Lives Matter Protestors Close London City Airport Runway — 6 September 2016

CNN — Black Lives Matter Protesters Removed from London Airport Runway, Police Say — 6 September 2016

The Guardian — Black Lives Matter Protest Stops Flight at London City Airport — 6 September 2016

The Independent — Seven Arrested as Black Lives Matter Protest Hits Flights at London City Airport — 6 September 2016

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

 

PARIS, France — The French Interior Minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, has vowed to gradually dismantle the migrant camp in Calais known as “the jungle,” where migrant refugees are currently living in “dire sanitary conditions.”  In attempt to unblock Calais, Cazeneuve plans to close the site in stages, while simultaneously creating accommodations for thousands of migrants elsewhere in France in hopes of persuading the migrants to leave the Calais jungle voluntarily.  This has posed problematic, however, as migrants were also offered bus rides to other locations around France, but did not utilize this service as much as authorities had hoped.

Calais is currently home to an estimated 7,000 migrants, the majority of whom have traveled to Calais in hopes of crossing the English channel to Britain.  The site was create by the state in 2015 in an attempt to concentrate refugees into one wasteland who had been evicted from other camps across the Calais area.  1,900 police officers are currently patrolling the camp to prevent the migrants from the camp from smuggling themselves onto lorries traveling to Britain.  There has recently been an increase in the number of violent attacks on lorry drivers who are headed to the UK.

In March, French authorities shut down the southern part of the part of the camp in an aim to “radically reduce numbers.”  However Daniel Barney, of the health center Médecins Sans Frontières which opened up a satellite center in the camp, warns that the French authorities’ decision to close the southern part of the camp worsened the issue of overcrowding.  Double the population is fit into half as much land, and access to more water and toilets has not increased to reflect this population increase.

Citizens UK, a campaign group, claims to have identified around 400 children living in the Calais jungle that are eligible to go live in the UK.  About half of these children are eligible to move to the UK under the Dublin III regulation, which would allow them to live there due to their close family ties to the country.  According to Citizens UK, there are approximately 800 unaccompanied children currently living in the camp.

French lorry drivers, and local shopkeepers and farmers are planning to stage a blockade of the port on Monday in order to demonstrate their opinion that the camp is demolished.  Cazeneuve claims that the northern part of the camp has already begun by his orders.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC — Calais ‘Jungle’ Camp: UK Urged to Take in 400 Refugee Children — 2 September 2016

France 24 — Calais ‘Jungle’ Migrant Camp to be ‘Gradually Dismantled’ — 2 September 2016

The Guardian — France Vows to Dismantle ‘Jungle’ Refugee Camp in Calais — 2 September 2016

RT — France Vows to Destroy Calais ‘Jungle’ as Paris Authorities Plan 2 More Refugee Camps — 2 September 2016    

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

ROME, Italy — In the wake of Wednesday’s earthquake in Italy, thousands of migrant refugees currently hoping to gain asylum in Italy flocked to the sites most affected by the quake to aid in rescue efforts.  These refugees hail from multiple countries, including Senegal, Niger, and Burkina Fasso, and arrived in Italy via boats run by human traffickers.   In Calabria, a group of over 70 refugee asylum seekers pooled their daily allowance money of two euros ($2.30) to donate to earthquake survivors.

In the Italian town Arquata del Tronto, one West African migrant named Abdullai told reporters that while he was scared of the earthquake at first, he soon realized that the survivors of the quake needed his help as much as possible.  Abdullai and 16 other migrant workers spent a day weeding, cleaning, and preparing an area to be used as an emergency operations center.  Another group of 20 Muslim migrants used gardening tools to prepare the grounds for tents to be set up, and cleared a field for a helicopter landing space.  While taking a break from their physical labor, the migrants all knelt and prayed together.

According to Letizia Bellabarba, a coordinator of a charity that hosts asylum seekers, the refugees came up with the idea to aid in rescue efforts themselves.  Bellabarba says that the refugees “said that Italy welcomed and helped them, and it was now their turn to help Italians.”  Approximately 50 asylum seekers associated with the charity came forward to help, were split up into groups of 15-20 per day, and were given assignments through Italy’s Civil Protection Department.

The outreach and assistance of these asylum seekers does not quash the anti-immigration movement in Europe, however.  Amidst the tragedy surrounding the earthquake, a priest in Boissano, Father Cesare Donati, expressed his anti-immigration stance through a Facebook post saying “it is now time to put the victims into housing and send the migrants to the tents…”  A lumberjack who was left homeless by the earthquake said that while he is grateful for the help of the migrants, he is worried they are using up resources that should be going to the victims of the quake instead.

For more information, please see:

The Huffington Post — The Refugees Who Helped Survivors of Italy’s Earthquake Know What it Means to Suffer — 28 August 2016

NPR — Migrants Help in Relief Effort After Deadly Earthquake in Italy — 28 August 2016

The Huffington Post — Refugees in Italy Donate Money and Help Clean up After Earthquake — 26 August 2016

Reuters — African Migrants go to Italian Quake Zone to Help Survivors — 26 August 2016

By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

PARIS, France — Burkinis, the full-body bathing suit worn by Muslim women, have been banned by over 15 towns in France, mainly at popular tourist locations on the French Riviera.  The bans do not mention the burkini specifically, however refer to clothing that will be respectful of the principle of secularism.  Authorities cite recent terrorist attacks, such as the ones in Nice and Paris, when justifying the need to keep the public order implications of religious clothing at bay.

France is home to Europe’s largest Muslim population.  However, some mayors of the towns considering the burkini ban admit to never having seen one on their local beaches.  Some of the mayors justify the ban by citing the maintenance of public hygiene and “good morals.”

The bans are raising concerns regarding whether the proliferation of bans on the swimwear is a sign of France’s demand for conformity with the non-Muslim community, or whether the bans are an authentic, affirmative absence of government involvement in religious affairs.  Recent opinion polls reflect the support that many French citizens have for the ban, however many Muslims living in France have expressed that they feel they are being “unfairly targeted.”

This past week, images emerged depicting French police allegedly enforcing the ban on a beach in Nice.  Multiple armed police officers stood around a woman as she removed her long-sleeved tunic, and one officer appeared to write her a fine once she was finished.  Siam, the 34 year old mother who was approached by police regarding her clothing, states that she had been sitting on the beach in leggings, the tunic, and a headscarf when she was fined.  Siam also told the press that she had no intention of swimming.  Nice authorities say the enforcement of the ban is a “necessity” after the terrorist attack in Bastille in July.  Muslim activist group Collective against Islamophobia claim that within the last two weeks, 16 Muslim women have been fined for their attire at beaches in the south of France, however none of those 16 were wearing an actual burkini.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls supports the ban and those mayors who are enforcing it, calling the burkini an “affirmation of political Islam in the public space,” and considers them to be a part of a “policical project” to enslave women.  On the other hand, French education minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, warns that the increase in burkini bans lets “loose” verbal racism.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC — France Burkini Ban: Mayors Urged to Heed Court’s Ruling — 27 August 2016

CNN — Burkini Ban: Police in Nice Force Woman to Remove Part of Clothing — 25 August 2016

The Guardian — France’s Burkini Ban Row Divides Government as Court Mulls Legality — 25 August 2016

BBC — France ‘Burkini Ban’: Images of Police on Beach Fuel Debate — 24 August 2016