The Civil Fleet Podcast

In this episode we speak with Ola , an activist from the Grupa Granica coalition in Poland about the situation for refugees, migrants and people-on-the-move at the country's border with Belarus .   She tells us how border guards on both sides are mistreating people-on-the-move there, about the ping-pong pushbacks across the border, and how the country's Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, plans to "tempo...

In this episode, we speak with Denny , a young refugee from Kashmir who was forced to flee his homeland almost 9 years ago.    He is going to tell us about life in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, his journey through Europe, how he was mistreated by the authorities and supported by activists.    We also talk about his time living in a squat in Bosnia, and how looking after a dog helped his mental state....

In this episode, we speak with Lauren Starkey, a campaigner and independent social worker who works with Albanian victims of human trafficking .    Lauren is going to tell us how the British government decided that Albanian men shouldn't be granted asylum in the UK, even if they are victims of human trafficking.    She tells us how this approach punishes victims of human trafficking, forces them t...

In this episode, we speak with Dan Sohege , director of the human rights advocacy organisation Stand For All .   We've a new government here in the UK. So I thought it'd be a good idea to ask Dan to give us his analysis of the Labour's plans for asylum seekers.   Dan tells us how Labour's plans to increase immigration raids will only make things worse for victims of trafficking.    We also discuss...

In today's episode, we speak with  Spyros , from the Free Pylos 9 campaign.    He's going to tell us more about the Pylos Shipwreck, how the authorities refused to help the 750 people on the small fishing boat, and how it sank on June 14, 2023, when the Greek coastguards tried to tow it. Only 104 of the 750 people survived.    Spyros also tells us about the nine survivors who were used as scapegoa...

In this episode, we go back to the border town of Bihac, in Bosnia, to see how the solidarity network No Name Kitchen (NNK) supports People on the Move there.  In Part 2 of this miniseries on Bosnia, we'll near more from NNK's volunteers in Bosnia, and also from the refugees/migrants/People on the Move who are trapped in the Balkan country.    ---Get in touch---   Twitter: @FleetCivil   Mastodon:...

In April, I went to Bihac, a small town in Bosnia near the border with Croatia, to see how the solidarity network No Name Kitchen (NNK) supports People on the Move there.    In this episode, NNK's volunteers in Bihac will tell us how they provide first aid, food and clothing to the People on the Move there, and how they document border violence.    We'll also talk with a few of the people trapped...

In this episode we speak with Agustina Oliveri , campaigns manager at the UK-based human rights organisation, Free from Torture .   Agustina talks to us about Freedom from Tortures' brilliant campaigns against the British government's plans to exile asylum-seekers to Rwanda by targeting the airlines that are willing to do the government's dirty work.   ---Get in touch---   Twitter: @FleetCivil   M...

In this episode we speak with Kiana, Anne, Mahtab and Hannah from the Free Homayoun campaign.    Homayoun Sabetara, a widower and father of two, fled Iran to reunite with his daughters in Germany in 2021. Mahtab is one of his daughters.    Along the way, Homayoun was forced to drive a car carrying several others across the Greece-Turkey border. He was arrested in Greece, charged with human smuggli...

In this episode, we speak with Camilla from the refugee rescue organisation SOS Humanity .   She tells us about the time the so-called Libyan Coastguard shot at them, disrupting a rescue operation in the central Mediterranean, and causing the death of at least one person in early March 2024.     She also tells us how, after that ordeal, the Italian authorities then ordered the Humanity 1 rescue sh...

Activists aboard the Iuventa rescue ship saved the lives of over 14,000 people in the central Mediterranean between 2016 and 2017.    Based on dodgy allegations from a security guard with links to the far right, the Italian secret services began spying on the Iuventa crew in September 2016.   The Italian authorities seized the Iuventa in August 2017, and initially warned 10 members of the crew tha...

IN THIS episode we speak with Nadia , a young refugee woman from Lebanon, and  Alexandros , a Greek human rights lawyer.   Nadia tells us how she and her husband Dawood were forced to leave Lebanon by boat, how they spent over 10 days at sea, and how, once they were rescued, Dawood was arrested by the Greek authorities and accused of human smuggling.    Alexandros tells us how he and his colleague...

In this episode, we speak with journalist Bashar Deeb from Lighthouse Reports  about two investigations he worked on.   The first, called 'Frontex and the Pirate Ship' , is a disturbing story of how the European Border and Coastguard Agency helped a notorious Libyan rebel group intercept a refugee boat in the Mediterranean.    The second,  'Drowning in Lies', exposes how Greece tried to cover up i...

In this episode, we speak with Sergio from No Name Kitchen .   He tells how the group supports people on the move along the Balkan route, and the types of violence they experience along the European Union's edges.   Sergio also talks to us about No Name Kitchen's Bloody Borders report, and of the horrific levels of abuse suffered at European borders.   --Get in touch---   Twitter: @FleetCivil   Ma...

In this episode we speak with Josephine from Abolish Frontex , a decentralised network of activist groups focused on ending the EU's deadly border regime.   Josephine is going to tell us about Frontex, which is the European Border and Coastguard Agency, it's many scandals, it's operations within and outside Europe, and why it should be abolished.   We also talk about the International Day of Actio...

In this episode, we speak with Paul O'Connor the senior national officer at the Public and Commerical Services (PCS) union - one of the largest unions in the UK, representing workers across all government departments and in the private sector.    Paul tells us about the safe passage for refugees policy the union's members wrote with Care4Calais, and why it is a genuinely humanitarian way to stop t...

Jihed , a Tunisian activist with Alarm Phone and Louise Michelle , talks to us about the mistreatment of refugees / migrants / people on the move in Tunisia in this episode.    He tells us how a speech by Tunisia's President Kais Said earlier this year — in which he spouted off racist, far-right conspiracy theories — affected refugees in Tunisia.    We hear about border violence between Tunisia an...

In this episode, we speak with Serena from Mediterranea: Saving Humans , an Italian refugee rescue organisation.    Serena tells us how the Italian authorities have prevented the organisation's ship, the Mare Jonio, from going back to sea to save lives for over a year.    She also tells how the authorities recently ordered the Mare Jonio to remove all of its rescue equipment or face arrest.    --G...

In this episode, we speak with Jasmine from the Italian cultural association Maldusa , an organisation that supports migrant solidarity efforts, and documents border violence. Jasmine tells us about September 12, when more than 5,000 people arrived on Lampedusa, overwhelming the Mediterranean island's under resourced and completely inadequate migrant reception facilities and services.  She also te...

In this episode we speak with Jutta , the head of deployment on the MareGo , a relatively new refugee rescue organisation operating in the central Mediterranean.    Jutta tells us how the MareGo's crew saved hundreds of lives in two operations in July – one of which was carried out at night with no help from the authorities.    She also tells us about the incompetence of the Italian coastguards.  ...

In this episode we speak with Tigs Louis-Puttick , the founder of Reclaim the Sea , a UK-based organisation helping refugee women reclaim the seaside as a place of joy.   Tigs tells us about teaching refugees to swim and surf, about the UK government placing asylum seekers on a floating barge – the Bibby Stockholm – and the company which owns the barge's links to the trans-atlantic slave trade.  ...

In this episode, we speak with firefighter and refugee rescuer Brendan Woodhouse about Doro, a book he co-wrote with Doro Goumaneh.    Brendan tells us how he rescued his co-author from a boat in the Mediterranean in 2019 from the Sea-Watch 3, and while waiting for Italy to allow the rescued to disembark, Doro asked Brendan to write his story.   Brendan tells us about co-writing the book, Doro's j...

In today's episode, we speak with freelance investigative journalist Nicola Kelly about two important articles she wrote this year for the Guardian newspaper.   The first concerns the UK government providing £3m to the Turkish border guards to stop people on the move at the country's border with Iran.    The second article we discuss is about asylum seekers being abused and intimidated  by staff a...

In today's episode we speak with Barbara from No Name Kitchen about the organisation's work supporting people on the move along the Balkan route into Europe.    She tells us how the EU has externalised its borders in Bosnia and Serbia, how the authorities have effectively made it illegal to help people on the move there, and how this has forced people on the move are to survive underground.  ---Ge...

TODAY we speak with Sophie and Patrick , journalists and activists with the anti-capitalist research co-operative Corporate Watch .    Sophie and Patrick tell us about the private companies profiting from the UK and Europe's deportation regime - specifically Air Partner and Carlson Wagonlit, two corporations that organise chartered deportation flights across the continent.   ---Get in touch--- Twi...