HOSPITALS AND SCHOOLS CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY THEIR STAFF, AND MANY PEOPLE CANNOT AFFORD TO BUY FOOD, ADDING TO AN ALREADY DIRE HUNGER CRISIS. CAN THE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION CAUSE YET ANOTHER FLOW OF PEOPLE DESPERATELY LOOKING FOR ASYLUM IN THE NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES AND IN EUROPE? WHAT DOES AFGHANISTAN LOOK LIKE 6 MONTHS AFTER THE TALIBAN TOOK POWER?

UKRAINE: NEW REFUGEE CRISIS LOOMING?

AS A POTENTIAL RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE SLID FROM POSSIBLE TO PROBABLE, NATIONAL LEADERS IN THE NEIGHBORING EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES BEGAN ISSUING STATEMENTS AND ACTIVATING ACTION PLANS TO RECEIVE CROSS-BORDER ARRIVALS FROM UKRAINE. HOW MANY UKRAINIAN ASYLUM SEEKERS IS EUROPE WILLING TO WELCOME AND HOW DIFFERENT WOULD THE WESTERN REACTION BE TOWARDS UKRAINIANS IN COMPARISON TO THE ONE TOWARDS ASYLUM SEEKERS FROM THE SOUTH?

AS THE VIOLENCE AND HEAVY BOMBARDMENT BY RUSSIAN MILITARY FORCES ENTERED ITS SEVENTH DAY, THE QUEUES OF PEOPLE SEEKING REFUGE HAVE BEEN GROWING LONGER AT THE BORDERS OF POLAND, HUNGARY, MOLDOVA, ROMANIA AND SLOVAKIA. THE REFUGEES ARE ARRIVING BY CRAMMED-FULL TRAINS, CAR, AND EVEN ON FOOT. ALL NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES HAVE DECLARED TO KEEP THEIR BORDERS OPEN FOR REFUGEES FLEEING UKRAINE. MOST HAVE FLED TO POLAND.

ACCORDING TO THE POLISH BORDER GUARDS, MORE THAN HALF A MILLION HAVE CROSSED SINCE FEBRUARY 24TH. IN THIS SPECIAL EPISODE OF "FRACTURED" WE ARE SPEAKING TO KSENIA AND EVANS, JUST TWO OF A MASSIVE WAVE OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE FLED UKRAINE IN THE FIRST PHASE OF THE CONFLICT.

FRACTURED

WHILE JOURNALISTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS HAVE DOCUMENTED #PUSHBACKS FROM GREECE TO TURKEY GOING BACK FOR DECADES, THE FREQUENCY OF PUSHBACKS HAS BECOME ALARMING IN THE LAST TWO YEARS. IN 2020 ADVOCATES BEGAN DOCUMENTING A NOVEL PRACTICE THAT'S BECOME KNOWN AS "DRIFTBACKS", A TYPE OF PUSHBACK WHERE #ASYLUMSEEKERS ARE DEPOSITED IN UNNAVIGABLE FLOATING LIFE RAFTS IN TURKISH WATERS AND LEFT TO DRIFT AT SEA.

LAST MONTH LIGHTHOUSE REPORTS ISSUED THE FIRST THOROUGHLY DETAILED REPORT DOCUMENTING AN EVEN MORE SINISTER PRACTICE, RELAYING TESTIMONY OF AN ASYLUM SEEKER WHO ATTEST EH WAS THROWN DIRECTLY INTO THE WATER BY GREEK COASTGUARD OFFICERS AND TOLD TO SWIM BACK TO TURKISH SHORES. THIS YOUNG MAN SAID HE WAS ONE OF THREE ASYLUM SEEKERS THUS SENT BACK. THE OTHER TWO DRIFTED BACK TO TURKEY AS LIFELESS BODIES.

FOR MORE IN-DEPTH WRITING SUBSCRIBE TO JOEL'S WEEKLY REPORT AT HTTPS://MIXEDMIGRATION.SUBSTACK.COM

SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE RUSSIAN AGGRESSION OVER FOUR MILLION UKRAINIANS HAVE FLED THEIR HOMELAND. SIX MILLION MORE ARE INTERNALLY DISPLACED, MANY LOOKING FOR SAFETY IN LVIV ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE COUNTRY. LVIV’S LOCATION ALLOWS IT TO BE A SAFE PORT FOR MANY, FOR OTHERS IT IS A POINT OF DEPARTURE. AS THE CITY HAS BEEN FAR FROM THE FRONT LINE, LIFE GOES ON LIKE IT DID BEFORE THE WAR….WELL, ALMOST.

DURING OUR NEEDS ASSESSMENT TRIP TO UKRAINE, TWO RESIDENTS OF LVIV: KRYSTYNA AND TARAS SHOW US AROUND, DISCUSS THE WAR SITUATION AS WELL AS EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE CITY THAT NOW HOSTS 300 000 MORE PEOPLE THAN JUST A MONTH AGO.

THE EUROPEAN UNION HAS GIVEN UKRAINIANS ESCAPING THE RUSSIAN AGGRESSION A SPECIAL STATUS WITH UP TO 3 YEARS OF LEGAL PROTECTION, ACCESS TO THE LABOR MARKET AND SOCIAL SECURITY. THIS GENEROUS RESPONSE HOWEVER IS AN EXCEPTION, NOT A RULE. THE EU ASYLUM AND MIGRATION POLICY IS LACKING AMBITION ARGUING THAT WE CAN’T AFFORD GENEROUS RESPONSES TOWARDS REFUGEES. HOWEVER OUR RESPONSE TOWARDS UKRAINIANS DENIES THOSE ARGUMENTS. SO WHY CAN WE AFFORD BROAD SUPPORT FOR UKRAINIANS AND NOT TOWARDS OTHER NATIONALITIES?

LISTEN TO JOEL HERNANDEZ’S TAKE ON THIS ISSUE IN THE LATEST EPISODE OF "FRACTURED"

DESPITE THE FACT THAT OFFICIAL STATISTICS SHOW THE DECREASE IN NUMBERS OF PEOPLE REACHING THE EUROPEAN UNION THROUGH THE MEDITERRANEAN, ASYLUM SEEKERS GO ON THIS DANGEROUS JOURNEY EVERY DAY. MANY DON’T MAKE IT.

ACCORDING TO THE UNHCR DATA 478 PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY BEEN DECLARED DEAD OR MISSING IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SINCE THE BEGINNING OF 2022 UNTIL APRIL 20TH. WE CLOSED 2021 WITH ALMOST 2000 DEATHS, WHICH WAS NOT A BIG NUMBER COMPARED TO 2016. OVER 5000 PEOPLE DIED IN THE MEDITERRANEAN THEN. ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT ISSUES IS THE BODY IDENTIFICATION OF A DECEASED REFUGEE.

AS MANY CROSS THE SEA ALONE AND WITHOUT ANY DOCUMENTS, THEIR IDENTIFICATION IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE. IN THIS EPISODE OF FRACTURED WE COVER THE TOPIC OF DEATHS AT SEA AND THE INTRODUCTION OF A PROPER PROTOCOL FOR IDENTIFICATION AND BURIALS IN GREECE BASED ON “EVEN AFTER DEATH” DOCUMENTARY PRODUCED IN COOPERATION WITH @MINORITYRIGHTSGROUP.

ON APRIL 29TH FRONTEX DIRECTOR FABRICE LEGGERI RESIGNED AS AN OUTCOME OF THE ACCUSATIONS OF THE AGENCY OF FACILITATING ILLEGAL PUSHBACKS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.

OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS FRONTEX HAS CONSISTENTLY CLAIMED THAT ALL ITS OPERATIONS IN THE AEGEAN COMPLY WITH THE EU LAW AND THAT IT CONSISTED OF PREVENTING BOATS FROM CROSSING INTERNATIONAL BORDERS AND THEN ASKING THE TURKISH COAST GUARDS TO RESCUE PASSENGERS AND BRING THEM BACK TO TURKEY. YET OVER THE TIME IT BECAME CLEAR THAT IN MANY CASES FRONTEX WASN’T DOING JUST THAT BUT RATHER WAS HELPING TO INTERCEPT DINGHIES WITHIN GREEK WATERS AND THEN LOOKING THE OTHER WAY AS COAST GOURDS PUSHED THOSE DINGHIES BACK INTO TURKISH WATERS VIOLATING THE PROHIBITION ON NON-REFOULEMENT AND THE PROHIBITION ON COLLECTIVE EXPOSURE.

IN THE NEWEST EPISODE OF FRACTURED JOEL HERNANDEZ DESCRIBES WHICH OF FRONTEX ACTIONS WERE JUST MORALLY WRONG AND WHICH OPENLY AGAINST THE LAW AND HOW THEY LEAD TO MR LEGGERI’S RESIGNATION.

SINCE MARCH 2016, WHEN IT COMES TO THE REFUGEE SITUATION IN GREECE, MEDIA HAVE BEEN PREDOMINANTLY FOCUSED ON THE ARRIVALS AND LIVING CONDITIONS ON THE FIVE EASTERN AEGEAN ISLANDS HOSTING THE SO-CALLED HOTSPOTS. HOWEVER, AT THE SAME TIME, THE EVENTS TAKING PLACE ON THE LAND BORDER BETWEEN GREECE AND TURKEY IN THE NORTH-EAST EVROS REGION HAVE BEEN LARGELY OVERLOOKED. DESPITE A SMALLER NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE NORTHERN BORDER, CROSSING THE EVROS RIVER IS VERY DANGEROUS AND HAS RESULTED IN MANY DEATHS OVER THE YEARS.

THIS EPISODE OF OUR "FRACTURED" PODCAST IS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO THE BODIES OF THOSE WHO DON’T MAKE IT?

THIS EPISODE AND ALL OTHERS NOW STREAMING ON SPOTIFY, APPLE PODCASTS, ANCHOR, GOOGLE PODCASTS, AND WHEREVER YOU TUNE IN.

IN THIS WEEK'S EPISODE OF FRACTURED, WE CELEBRATE THE FIRST YEAR OF MIXED MIGRATION—HEBDO BY REVIEWING THE BROAD TRENDS IN MIGRATION NEWS AND EVENTS, AND REFLECTING ON THE BROADER TRENDS THAT HAVE EMERGED SINCE MMH LAUNCHED IN MID-JUNE 2021 BY FRACTURED CO-HOST JOEL HERNANDEZ. BY LISTENING TO THIS EPISODE YOU WILL GAIN A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE REFUGEE SITUATION IN ASIA, AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA AND AN OVERLOOK OF HOW THE MIGRATION SITUATION MAY CHANGE IN THE NEAREST FEATURE.

TO ACCESS MMH, REVIEW THE TRENDS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE, AND SUBSCRIBE, PLEASE VISIT ITS HOMEPAGE HERE: HTTPS://MIXEDMIGRATION.SUBSTACK.COM/

LISTEN TO FRACTURED ON SPOTIFY, APPLE PODCAST, GOOGLE PODCAST AND ANCHOR.

ON JUNE 24TH A GROUP OF APPROXIMATELY 2000 ASYLUM SEEKERS TRIED TO CROSS THE BORDER SEPARATING MELILLA - A SPANISH ENCLAVE IN MOROCCO. MORE THAN 500 PEOPLE MANAGED TO ENTER THE BORDER CONTROL AREA AFTER CUTTING A FENCE AND 130 OF THEM SUCCEEDED IN ENTERING MELILLA. ACCORDING TO THE LATEST REPORTS, 23 PEOPLE DIED WHILE TRYING TO CROSS TO THIS SPANISH ENCLAVE. SEVERAL INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS HAVE SINCE DEMANDED AN INQUIRY INTO WHAT CAUSED THE DEATHS. A SPOKESPERSON FOR THE UN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS CALLED ON SPAIN AND MOROCCO TO CONDUCT AN INDEPENDENT AND EFFICIENT INVESTIGATION AND TO HOLD THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENED ACCOUNTABLE.

IN THIS EPISODE OF FRACTURED WE’RE BRINGING YOU THE SITUATION IN CEUTA, MALILA’S SISTER SO TO SPEAK, SO YOU UNDERSTAND THE COMPLEXITY OF ISSUES IN SPANISH ENCLAVES IN MOROCCO.

FRESH ON THE HEELS OF BORIS JOHNSON’S RESIGNATION AS PRIME MINISTER OF THE UK, WE REFLECT ON IMMIGRATION POLICY IN THE UK, HOW WE’VE GOTTEN TO WHERE WE ARE, WHAT BOJO’S RESIGNATION IMPLIES—AND WHAT IT DOESN’T.

SINCE EARLY MAY, THE UK HAS MADE A LOT OF NOISE WITH A NEW POLICY THAT IT DESCRIBES AS WORLD-LEADING, AND THAT MOST ADVOCATES DESCRIBE AS LUNACY: AN IMMIGRATION AGREEMENT WITH RWANDA, WHICH WOULD SEE EVERY ASYLUM SEEKER ARRIVING IRREGULARLY TO THE UK DEPORTED TO RWANDA. BUT BEFORE WE GET INTO HOW THE UK-RWANDA DEAL TIES IN WITH BORIS JOHNSON’S RESIGNATION WE LOOP BACK AND CONSIDER THE MODERN HISTORY. THERE ARE DECADES WORTH OF BAD DECISIONS, WISHFUL THINKING, PERVERSE INCENTIVES, AND POOR POLICY-MAKING, THAT HAVE CULMINATED INTO TURNING THE UK, AT ONCE, INTO A COUNTRY WITH A LARGE AND RELATIVELY WELL-INTEGRATED IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY, AND ALSO A TOXIC ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH TO BE AN IMMIGRANT—LET ALONE IN WHICH TO ARRIVE AS AN IMMIGRANT.

EPISODE HOSTED BY JOEL HERNANDEZ, PRODUCED BY SONIA NANDZIK-HERMAN, EDITED BY MAJID BAHKSHI AND DOUGLAS HERMAN, MUSIC BY EAMON KELLY.

ONE YEAR AFTER THE TALIBAN TOOK OVER POWER IN AFGHANISTAN MILLIONS BECAME UNEMPLOYED AFTER JOBS WITH FOREIGN EMBASSIES, MILITARIES AND NGOS VANISHED PRACTICALLY OVERNIGHT.

MALNOURISHED CHILDREN HAVE FLOODED KABUL’S HOSPITALS IN RECENT MONTHS AND MORE THAN HALF THE POPULATION FACES LIFE-THREATENING FOOD INSECURITY. YET, THE TALIBAN REGIME CELEBRATED LAST MONDAY AND ANNOUNCED AUGUST 15TH A NATIONAL HOLIDAY.

IN THIS EPISODE SONIA NANDZIK-HERMAN SPEAKS TO REZA ADIB, AN AFGHAN JOURNALIST AND FILMMAKER ABOUT EVERYDAY LIFE IN AFGHANISTAN ONE YEAR INTO THIS NEW/OLD REALITY. EPISODE HOSTED BY SONIA NANDZIK-HERMAN SPECIAL GUEST: SAID REZA HOSSINI ADIB EDIT: MAJID BAKHSHI