On Monday March 14th a large group of refugees walked from the Idomeni camp towards the greek Macedonian border. Volunteers from different organisations, including Aid Delivery Mission were present in Idomeni when the walking group departed camp. A meeting that morning (14/03/16) between NGO’s and volunteers, regarding the recent drownings of refugees in a river close to the border, determined the dangers of the proposed march, and discussed action to stop the event itself.
The walk headed west along the border into the hills surrounding Idomeni. Volunteers informed walkers of the previous drownings, the dangers of their proposed route, and began to support the most vulnerable walkers. The march arrived at a river crossing that rains had left with a powerful current. The first refugees began to cross the fast flowing river. It became apparent that to stop the crossing was impossible. A section of volunteers aided refugees in forming a spontaneous chain across the river as a safety measure. The main crossing lasted for over an hour with volunteers patrolling the river. Volunteers continued to support the now wet and cold walking group as the march crossed rough terrain.
Aid Delivery Mission works alongside NGO’s and other aid groups to deliver support at Idomeni camp, including hot meals, clothing, tents and blankets. The recent growth of numbers has increased our meal delivery to upwards of 9000 hot meals per day, and for the past months we have helped deliver aid to thousands, as long as there are people in need we will continue.
As an independent volunteer group we offer a responsive aid structure to a constantly changing situation.
The events of March 14th have been represented in a number of different ways, it’s incredible and shocking to hear rumours that forget the efforts of volunteers, and instead create accusations that sensationalise an already terrible situation.
ADM plus independent volunteers
Das Flugblatt vom «Kommando Norbert Blüm»
Durch einen reissenden Fluss flohen Flüchtlinge gestern nach Mazedonien. Nun tauchen Hinweise auf, dass die Aktion organisiert war.
Verzweifelte Migranten überqueren zu hunderten illegal reisenden Grenzfluss nach Mazedonien youtube
"Illegal" Bullshit - still Greece, the border is another 300ydrs
Es organisiert zu nennen ist Rassismus
Es impliziert nämlich, daß Menschen, die monatelang unterwegs sind, keine eigenen Entscheidungen treffen können, selbst deutsche Staatsmedien interviewten Flüchtlinge die von "Diskussionen und gemeinsamen Beschluß" sprachen. Wer auch immer das Flugblatt gemacht hat, kann nicht länger als ein paar Stunden vor Ort gewesen sein oder war ein Nazi, denn alle wissen, was es für kleine Flüsse bedeutet, wenn es dort tagelang regnet
Some facts to get the events of the March from Idomeni
Some facts to get the events of Monday the 14th of March straight, when
around 2000 refugees marched to Macedonia/FYROM from Idomeni camp, Greece.
As reported by several media outlets such as Balkan Newsbeat and the
telegraf.mk on the morning of the 14th, at around 6:45 AM three people
were reported dead at the police station in Gevgelija. They died of
drowning, in the Suva Reka river southern Macedonia. 23 other people
were rescued.
These deaths occurred in the night before the march took place. They
were reported in the morning before the march had set off.
The route of the march did not follow the itinerary indicated on the
flyer, which was allegedly distributed in the camp before the march set off.
The flyer we saw in the press after the march contained several
false allegations and misleading information. It was stated for example
that the probability of Idomeni camp being evacuated was high and that
refugees would be deported back to Turkey. This has nowhere been
officially announced nor confirmed.
We denounce the media’s total lack of consideration for the chronology
of the events as well as their erroneous reporting. Furthermore, we
condemn the allegedly distributed flyer for being fear-mongering and
misleading.
We would like to add that it is insulting to those who took their
destiny into their own hands and took the decision to march together, to
think that a flyer could be the sole cause of their decision-making. The
violence of the border closure in Idomeni as well as the squalid living
conditions people have been subjected to are themselves good enough
reasons to decide to take collective action. What is more, people have
been walking together and defying border regimes for months now as it
was the case in Serbia in October and Hungary in the summer of 2015.
We urge the media to focus on the fact that over 2000 people took
collective action to find their own way to central Europe. And
crucially, that Macedonia/FYROM violently and illegally pushed them back
to Greece, without giving them the possibility to ask for international
protection.
http://livetickereidomeni.bordermonitoring.eu/2016/03/16/16-3-2016/