👉Seeking asylum is not a crime. It is a fundamental human right. 👉European governments should stop criminalising people seeking safety. Instead, they should start holding accountable those who enforce inhumane and violent policies.

In Greece, more than 300 people from Sudan – mostly aged 15 to 21 – are imprisoned. Some have already been sentenced; others are in pre-trial detention. They face decades or life in prison. Their “crime”? Steering a boat or taking on other tasks during their own flight.

»Wir sind nur Menschen, die überleben wollen«, schreibt er in einem Brief an die Gruppe de:criminalize aus dem Gefängnis. Hunderte Jugendliche landen direkt in europäischen Knästen, nachdem sie dem Krieg in #Sudan überlebt haben. Wir unterstützen sie in ihren Verfahren. www.akweb.de/politik/der-...

Auf der Flucht vor dem Krieg im #Sudan landen viele Jugendliche in griechischen Gefängnissen – kriminalisiert, weil sie Schutz suchen. Gemeinsam mit unseren Partner:innen @de-criminalize.bsky.social unterstützen wir sie durch den Fonds für Bewegungsfreiheit. 1/2 www.akweb.de/politik/der-...

‘twas a great and very insightful session, thanks!

Yesterday we took part in the Festival Sabir in Palermo! 🌊✨ Born a year after the Lampedusa tragedy of Oct 3, 2013, Festival Sabir was created to give voice to the Mediterranean that refuses to accept deaths at the border and the criminalization of people on the move — and of solidarity itself. 1/4

Hoe Griekenland dehumaniseert:

Yesterday, 22.10.25, the trial of Nourdeen & Mohamad, two 20-year-olds from Sudan, took place in Chania, Crete. They faced a sentence of multiple decades for “facilitation of unauthorized entry” of 55 other people — because they were steering the boat. 1/5

This Wednesday, 22.10., several people will once again stand trial and face lengthy prison terms simply because they steered a boat or took on another task during the journey. We are in direct contact with Nourdeen, Mohamad, & S.G., all young men from Sudan, who are on trial on Crete and Samos. 1/7

Shame on @ec.europa.eu: Stop funding, equipping, and training the Libyan militias! They force people into torture, they shoot at rescue ships – and the EU enables it.

On Monday, I had the pleasure to moderate a powerful panel with @allisonrwest.bsky.social/ @ecchr.bsky.social, David Yambio/ @refugeesinlibya.bsky.social & Phoebe Walton/Forensis at the 5th “Understanding Prison” session by MENA Prison Forum—this time on Libya’s prison industry & EU complicity.1/6

We also discussed our work at @de-criminalize.bsky.social and how many people, after surviving detention in Libya’s prison industry, often find themselves imprisoned again in Europe upon arrival—charged with “smuggling” for steering the boat during the journey and sentenced to long prison terms. 4/6

🔥 These things got us talking at our annual workshop: creatively disrupting hostile border systems; navigating abolition; borderless empires vs bordered reparations. Watch to find out more! 👇 @juliawinkler.bsky.social @mfbosworth.bsky.social @smilivojevic.bsky.social @cambridgelaw.bsky.social

Tomorrow, 6 October at 7 PM, I’m happy to be moderating the 5th edition of the MENA Prison Forum Series. This session will focus on the detention industry in Libya and the crimes against humanity committed against people on the move - and European complicity!

Join us on Monday, 6 October in Berlin for a film screening and talk about Libya’s Detention Industry & Italy’s Complicity👇 @refugeesinlibya.bsky.social @de-criminalize.bsky.social @medico2.bsky.social @forensicarchi.bsky.social @libyanjustice.bsky.social

On the Berlin Smuggler’s Gala, and how “criminalisation is always contingent on the current political and social context.” Continuing our discussions is Julia Winkler of de:criminalize, an organisation supporting people criminalised for migration. At our 2nd panel #BorderCrim2025 #HopeNotBorders

On the common understanding between law enforcement practitioners and migration crime experts: “everyone is pretty much aware that there are very strong backfire effects brought on by counter-smuggling.” @davidlsuber.bsky.social at our 2nd panel. @cambridgelaw.bsky.social #BorderCrim2025

“Given the centrality of the protection of life and fundamental rights to ethics, the criminalisation of migrant smuggling fails to protect either life or rights” Dr Myriam Fotou at our 2nd panel #BorderCrim2025 #HopeNotBorders

“It’s a condescending and patriarchal narrative that the state can best protect those on the move through containment” Andrew Fallone in our 2nd panel on Reframing smuggling and clandestine migration as knowledge and acts of debordering. @cambridgelaw.bsky.social #BorderCrim2025 #HopeNotBorders

Flucht ist kein Verbrechen. Gemeinsam mit unseren Partnerorganisationen stellen wir uns gegen die Kriminalisierung von Menschen auf der Flucht. Mit dem Fonds für Bewegungsfreiheit verteidigen @medico.de und @de-criminalize.bsky.social Betroffene vor Gericht. Unterstützt uns dabei! 6/6

Ten years after the “summer of migration”, Europe’s walls are higher than ever. Inés Marco and Elahe Kouhestani of @de-criminalize.bsky.social expose how the EU criminalizes freedom of movement — and why decriminalization is essential.

Yes!

"Zehn Jahre nach dem Sommer der Migration: Von Solidarität zur Normalität der Gewalt" - ein aktueller Gastbeitrag von @valeriahaensel.bsky.social und mir in der Frankfurter Rundschau. @medico2.bsky.social

Herzlichen Glückwunsch an unsere Partner von @de-criminalize.bsky.social für den großartig Erfolg auf Kreta!

🥳 Yesterday, four individuals from Sudan were acquitted of all smuggling charges by the court of Heraklion, Crete. The lawyers of the first case from an NGO successfully argued that he is a refugee fleeing war and must not be criminalized for taking on tasks during his own journey. 1/7

Im Prozess gegen die Aktivist*innen #Hajnówka5 sind die Anhörungen abgeschlossen; das Urteil wird nächsten Montag verkündet. In ihrem Schlussplädoyer bezeichete die Staatsanwaltschaft das Handeln der Angeklagten als „staats- & systemfeindlich" und forderte eine Haftstrafe von 1 Jahr + 4 Monaten. 1/8

Heute berichte ich über die Kriminalisierung von #Bewegungsfreiheit und Hilfe an den EU-Außengrenzen in Polen und Griechenland, die Fälle der #Hajnowka5 und der sudanesischen Jugendlichen auf Kreta, die @medico.de und @de-criminalize.bsky.social mit dem Fonds für Bewegungsfreiheit unterstützten.

Update on today's trial👇 Today in Crete, we witnessed the trials of boys who had fled Sudan only to be treated not as people exercising their right to move, but as “criminals" accused of "smuggling". ⭕ None of their cases were heard; all the trials were postponed until November and December. 1/4

This opposition reveals the core of the trial: if caring for another person’s dignity – or even their survival – is deemed “hostile” to the system simply because they lack the right papers, then their actions were indeed against the state and system – and rightly so.

We will keep fighting with the boys and everyone else on trial for smuggling! @de-criminalize.bsky.social @medico2.bsky.social #FreeTheBoys #AllEyesOnCrete

Not a single case, but the systematisation of taking away people's rights, again and again. ❗Grant the right to a fair trial now! This also includes the right to a due process! ❗Grant the right to seek asylum, now! #freethemall #dropthecharges

Del que ningú parla: avui s’estan duent a terme judicis massius de persones refugiades a La Canea (Creta, Grècia). En un únic dia, 23 casos i més de 50 acusadxs.

Update on today's trial👇 Today in Crete, we witnessed the trials of boys who had fled Sudan only to be treated not as people exercising their right to move, but as “criminals" accused of "smuggling". ⭕ None of their cases were heard; all the trials were postponed until November and December. 1/4

Την Δευτέρα 1 Σεπτεμβρίου 2025 θα δικαστούν στο Μονομελές Εφετείο Κακουργημάτων Χανίων, πενήντα κατηγορούμενοι, ως διακινητές μεταναστών. Οι ιστορίες τεσσάρων αγοριών από το Σουδάν όπως τις μοιράστηκαν στο @de-criminalize.bsky.social

Die Prozessliste für den 1.9. ist raus: 23 Verfahren, über 50 Angeklagte. Das Gericht arbeitet von 9-15 Uhr. Jede*r kann selbst ausrechnen, wie viel Zeit – Minuten! – offensichtlich pro Verfahren angesetzt sind – Verfahren, in denen über jahrzehntelange Haft entschieden wird. #AllEyesOnCrete

On September 1st + 2nd, dozens of young Sudanese men and boys, as well as people of other nationalities, are set to stand trial in smuggling cases in Chania, Crete. 16 Sudanese individuals, some as young as 16, have contacted us alone so far, all of whom have their trial on one of these days. 1/5

Yesterday, our teams and survivors on the Ocean Viking were deliberately shot at by Libyan Coast Guard, on a vessel gifted by Italy. We demand a full investigation into these horrifying events and an immediate end to all European collaboration with Libya. www.sosmediterranee.org/sos-med-liby...

Der Fall des 17-jährigen Hani verdeutlicht besonders die Gewalt europ. Schleuser-Gesetze: Kind, Kriegsflüchtling, Opfer von Menschenhandel – nobody cares. In kolonialer Kontinuität schafft Europa erneut eine Gruppe von Menschen, denen selbst das Recht, Rechte zu haben, verwehrt wird. #AllEyesOnCrete

#AllEyesOnCrete − Hani’s case is a particularly brutal example of the violence and injustice of anti-smuggling laws that punish people for seeking safety. These laws are the real crime, and a continuation of Europe’s colonial legacy. 1/8 #FreeTheBoys

We will be there with them! ✊ #FreeTheBoys #AllEyesOnCrete

On September 1st + 2nd, dozens of young Sudanese men and boys, as well as people of other nationalities, are set to stand trial in smuggling cases in Chania, Crete. 16 Sudanese individuals, some as young as 16, have contacted us alone so far, all of whom have their trial on one of these days. 1/5

We stand with Garan David! Only 16 years old, he is one of the at least 13 boys on trial on September 1, 2025, in Chania, Crete, facing life in prison for steering the boat. He is being imprisoned and prosecuted as an adult, despite clearly being a minor.

migration policy enforcement is also undoing obligations regarding ‘a child’s best interest’, more de facto than in principle or formally…

#FreeGaran #DecriminaliseMigration

We stand with Garan David! Only 16 years old, he is one of the at least 13 boys on trial on September 1, 2025, in Chania, Crete, facing life in prison for steering the boat. He is being imprisoned and prosecuted as an adult, despite clearly being a minor.

At the Transborder Summer Camp with our comrades from @medico2.bsky.social and many many more! Fight Fortress Europe! ✊

Grüße vom Transborder Summercamp in Frankreich mit @valeriahaensel.bsky.social, Ines von decriminalize und vielen weiteren Partner:innen von @medico2.bsky.social aus Mali, Niger, Türkei, Italien, Griechenland. Gemeinsam mit 100en Menschen diskutieren wir Erfahrungen im Kampf gegen das EU-Grenzregime

We stand with people on the move criminalized as "smugglers", arrested at the EU borders and beyond. So far we’ve supported over 60 people in their fight for justice, with legal support and campaigns. But there are many more. Donate here to fight back against criminalization: shorturl.at/TGzLu

Wahnsinnig glücklich über den heutigen Erfolg auf Kreta, wo erstmals ein Geflüchteter des Vorwurfs der Schleuserei freigesprochen wurde, eben weil er ein Geflüchteter ist. Niom wird aus dem Gefängnis entlassen und kann endlich zu seiner Frau, die im achten Monat schwanger ist! #FreeTheBoys

🥳 In a completely unexpected turn, the court acquitted Niom today of all charges! The court accepted the defence’s argument that, as an asylum seeker fleeing the war in Sudan, he must not be criminalised for steering the boat. Of course, this is the only right decision to take. 1/4 #FreeTheBoys