Published : 04-03-2019
Palestinian refugee Yasser Fa’our has been kept in custody in Greece for the eighth month running over allegations of assaulting Greek police and attempting to burn state property, among other counterfeit charges.
Reaching out to AGPS, Fa’our said he had illegally entered Greece through Turkey on May 20, 2018. He had sought shelter in Moria refugee camp on Lesbos Island. Two months later, an altercation burst out between Arab and Afghani migrants while he was outside the camp.
As tensions soared, police troops showed up in the camp and showered refugee tents with teargas grenades. At the time, Yasser and a group of migrant youths rushed to the camp to evacuate women and children through the barbed wire. Four hours later, the police unlocked the entrance gates, allowing the refugees’ access out of the camp. However soon after, policemen fired teargas once again and arrested Yasser and two other Palestinian refugees, one of them was formerly sheltered in Yarmouk Camp and the other from the blockaded Gaza Strip.
“We were exhaustively interrogated by the police. However, our testimonies were later changed in the court and we were made to sign documents which we could not translate. Five charges were slapped against us, including incitement, attempted arsons against state property, assaulting police, and defamation of public institutions”, said Yasser.
Yasser and the two other arrestees were taken to Athens. Release appeals filed by their attorneys were rebuffed, pending another court hearing.
“When we reached out to the Palestinian Embassy we’d been told that there is nothing they could do for us as they are only tasked with issuing required documents”, he added.
Fa’our stayed for two years in Libya and four years in Lebanon, after he fled Yarmouk Camp, in war-torn Syria. He later entered Turkey through Kurdistan and spent 10 months in the country, before he embarked on a life-threatening Greece-bound journey.
Over recent years, Yasser volunteered at human rights associations and humanitarian charities. He had launched a theatre training project and a psychological support program for youths in Moria camp, before he was ultimately sent to jail.
Palestinian refugees from Syria who have been stranded in Greece continue to sound distress signals after most European states opted for a closed-door immigration policy, leaving hundreds of refugees trapped in underequipped makeshift refugee camps. An agreement between Turkey and Greece to tighten grip on refugees from Syria trying to creep into the Greek territories via the Turkish borders has made the situation far worse.
Palestinian refugee Yasser Fa’our has been kept in custody in Greece for the eighth month running over allegations of assaulting Greek police and attempting to burn state property, among other counterfeit charges.
Reaching out to AGPS, Fa’our said he had illegally entered Greece through Turkey on May 20, 2018. He had sought shelter in Moria refugee camp on Lesbos Island. Two months later, an altercation burst out between Arab and Afghani migrants while he was outside the camp.
As tensions soared, police troops showed up in the camp and showered refugee tents with teargas grenades. At the time, Yasser and a group of migrant youths rushed to the camp to evacuate women and children through the barbed wire. Four hours later, the police unlocked the entrance gates, allowing the refugees’ access out of the camp. However soon after, policemen fired teargas once again and arrested Yasser and two other Palestinian refugees, one of them was formerly sheltered in Yarmouk Camp and the other from the blockaded Gaza Strip.
“We were exhaustively interrogated by the police. However, our testimonies were later changed in the court and we were made to sign documents which we could not translate. Five charges were slapped against us, including incitement, attempted arsons against state property, assaulting police, and defamation of public institutions”, said Yasser.
Yasser and the two other arrestees were taken to Athens. Release appeals filed by their attorneys were rebuffed, pending another court hearing.
“When we reached out to the Palestinian Embassy we’d been told that there is nothing they could do for us as they are only tasked with issuing required documents”, he added.
Fa’our stayed for two years in Libya and four years in Lebanon, after he fled Yarmouk Camp, in war-torn Syria. He later entered Turkey through Kurdistan and spent 10 months in the country, before he embarked on a life-threatening Greece-bound journey.
Over recent years, Yasser volunteered at human rights associations and humanitarian charities. He had launched a theatre training project and a psychological support program for youths in Moria camp, before he was ultimately sent to jail.
Palestinian refugees from Syria who have been stranded in Greece continue to sound distress signals after most European states opted for a closed-door immigration policy, leaving hundreds of refugees trapped in underequipped makeshift refugee camps. An agreement between Turkey and Greece to tighten grip on refugees from Syria trying to creep into the Greek territories via the Turkish borders has made the situation far worse.
