PANDEMIC REPORT BY İZMİR BAR ASSOCIATION
‘No Doctors, No Quarantine, No Hygiene Products in Harmandalı Removal Center’
* Photo: Evrensel
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İzmir Bar Association has released a report on the violations of rights committed in Harmandalı Removal Center during the pandemic.
Lawyers from the Migration and Asylum Commission of the bar reached refugees by phone. They shared the following problems with lawyers:
* When new people are brought to the removal center, they are not taken to a separate place (that can be called quarantine), but they are taken to stay with others and the ones brought after them are also directly taken to stay with them without being held in another place first.
* A refugee brought to the removal center in early March has said that 15 people stayed in the same room and new people were constantly brought to the center and room in the two weeks when s/he was held there.
* A refugee brought to the removal center in late March has said that there were 12 people in the rooms and 200 people on the same floor; however, in April, the number of people held in the same room has been reduced to four and that of the ones living on the same floor to 70.
* Some refugees have said that they have been given no official information or no official decision has been notified to them except for that they are placed in a quarantine and will be let out 14 days later. Though their 14-day is quarantine is now over, they are still locked up.
* Some refugees have said that their names are misspelled on the deportation papers, but they cannot consult with anyone, but the security personnel in the center.
* The halls on the floors are not cleaned regularly.
* Rooms are not cleaned by cleaning personnel, they clean their rooms themselves. But, they are not given sufficient cleaning supplies for that.
* Since they were brought to the center, they have been given only one soap and detergent. They are not given any other hygiene products.
* There are no disinfectants, gloves, etc. in the rooms, floors and halls.
* Rooms are stuffy, the ventilation of floors is not good, either.
* Garbage is not collected regularly, they pile up.
* There is a type of insect in the removal center. While this insect causes several people to have rash and swelling, the authorities do not deal with it.
* Their temperatures are taken only in the morning and when someone has a high body temperature, he or she is given anti-febriles to reduce the fever, but the person in question is not taken to a separate place or room.
* When a person said in the evening that s/he had fever and did not feel well, the temperature of the person was not taken and s/he was not taken to see a doctor. They attended to the person after s/he called his/her attorney.
* Access to doctors is very limited, their requests to see a doctor are not met.
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The Migration and Asylum Commission of İzmir Bar Association has also made a series of recommendations within this context: * The deportation procedures should be halted by immigration authorities in this process. An order of administrative detention should be issued and people's applications for international protection should be registered. * The ones still held in removal centers should undergo the necessary medical check and be released in accordance with the 14-day quarantine. * For those who do not have any opportunities of shelter and request a place to stay, the removal center should be reorganized in such a way that there will be two people in the rooms the most and social distancing rules are observed. * In Harmandalı Removal Center, the access to healthcare services, especially for the ones who have corona symptoms, should be ensured urgently. * Cleaning and hygiene equipments should be given not only to the personnel, but to the people held in the center as well (In case of a shortage of equipments, our bar association can be contacted to mobilize the relevant institutions and organizations). * An official statement should be made regarding the deferment of some refugees' obligation to give signatures during the course of the pandemic, refugees should be informed about the issue. |
(RT/SD)