John Faraclas
Without prejudice
Anathema and Migrants: Human Aggression at its best!
Why all this hypocrisy by all involved and in particular from the so called politically correct EU’s masters of colonialism? Do they have an idea what an… ism ending means and entails…? John Faraclas’s insight on this burning issue:
For over two years now we have elevated in allaboutshipping.co.uk the Migrants issue – including immigration, asylum seeking, refugees and all that, as the number one calamity on Planet Ocean, particularly in regard to what happens with Migrants entering Europe, including the European Union countries from basically Turkey’s Anatolian coast and Northern Africa (Libya in particular) and we have openly branded all these happenings a big Shame, a big Scam! Shame on the politicians who are accepting such a situation and on top of this their aim/task/wish, in their usual practice, is to find scapegoats, in this instance Greece and its authorities. Well, with very few exemptions: shame on all of you! Hands off Greece please!
How come the European Union accepts for example Turkey’s pathetic behaviour on this very issue? Isn’t it time to end this palaver and hype against Greece and the entire European Continent and see the real causa proxima of this issue which is rocking apart Europe and the so called European Union – if it was a real Union they wouldn’t act and react in this inhumane and pathetic way… correct me if I am wrong! Somebody must speak up! It is about time the world learns of Turkey’s blackmail and the way the Turkish governments all along for many years now are “handling” this issue of Migrants sending them over to Greece and its eastern Aegean Islands for the onwards trip to Europe so they destroy Europe. How come in the first place these people arrive in Turkey? Who is allowing their stay there and their onward transportation to Europe, as these people, one way or another, they have to leave Turkey…as we are witnessing?… One must really have in-depth personal knowledge and see for him or herself what really goes on for example in the camps next to Syria in Turkey for all those displaced, one must also see how Turkey tackles the Kurdish and ISIS issues there…
As per Leonard Cohen’s song, “Everybody Knows”, everybody knows the way Turkey acts in retaliation for not being accepted in the EU; and never will… Turkey per the interesting American expression ”New Kids on the block”, they are (the Turks) new kids on the block in the Eastern Med / Black Sea – they are only just one thousand years versus the ten millennia Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, Israelis and Slavs … It is not now that this inhumane human trafficking with the blessing from Ankara and other centres takes place, it has been going on for decades. Now is the chance, as Ankara observes, to become the periphery’s undisputable leader, but the way forward will be covered with blood all over the place. Just wait and see. We must stop them!
Already ten per cent of those crossing over from Turkey’s Anatolian Coast to the Greek Islands (mainly to Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos and small Greek islands and islets in Greece’s eastern Aegean Sea) lose their lives either within Turkish or Greek islands waters – the despicable hundreds of cases involving babies, young children and women speak for themselves! Despite being half way through the winter, more and more try to make the crossing; many thought that due to the weather things would ease following the summer-time waves in the worst holiday time the area ever witnessed spoiling visitors’ holidays and disturbing the lives of locals too. On the contrary, more and more come over, aided by the local traffickers in Turkey, and Ankara keeps – smiling, turning a blind eye. Because these people are a problem, Ankara wishes to take advantage of them and send them over to Europe and serve its long term plans!
Every day the news bulletins refer to the deaths, and the anger is growing as simultaneously Greece is accused of not tackling properly this issue and various ultimatums emanating from the European Union Commission fly here and there – Greece if not complying has to leave the Schengen Agreement zone. Nonsense, pure nonsense. The Turks can only understand one language: that of acid diplomacy and swift action from the European Union and NATO, both of which must protect their long term projected interests, as with the infiltration of all those migrants from Turkey, Europe’s people will be destroyed and same applies for Europe’s social cohesion once and for all! Terrorism flourishes too; we all have seen what happened over the last four months in Europe (the Paris massacre is still here as a reminder) and continue… Our team has travelled in December in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark and we have seen on the spot what happens; how security has changed and all the sufferings of the Europeans…but for some Migrants too; fair’s fair. The media must be very careful how and what they produce and show or print, about what really happens and what is behind all this mess. Religion too pays a pivotal role…
A naval blockade here and now of the entire Turkish coastline by the European Union and fellow NATO members, is a must, led by the USA– we have asked and indeed demanded this long ago! Same to apply with another naval blockade off the Libyan coast. Continuing the talks with the Turkish Government doesn’t lead to any solution, given the need of the West to believe, wrongly, that Turkey is a true ally to all intents and purposes…and a buffer zone in the region protecting the West’s interests… Pure ignorance and hallucinations… Frontex proved totally insufficient as although Frontex had the will, it was incorrectly organised from the very beginning, despite intelligence info to hand. From the very beginning, Frontex planes patrolling Europe’s borders have been intercepted by Turkish Air Force planes; let’s see who can deny this and many other incidents. There is evidence to hand, not just in the daily TV news or printed material, magazines and newspapers… Frontex craft too were limited and above all there wasn’t any clear mandate to act and confront the Turkish traffickers and authorities. Moreover, how many people know what happens when you meet half way through the sea-borders of Turkey and Greece a boat with Migrants? Wonder if in the first place Greece has asked Frontex, as well as the Brussels bureaucrats for Frontex to secure and defend Greece’s and Europe’s south eastern land and sea borders…
Despicable situations happen; traffickers have also become pimps; prostitution and exploitation takes place involving young men and women, not to mention what happens to unaccompanied young children… There are even more despicable things to happen. We can mention here a recent statement by UK Home Secretary Theresa May who successfully piloted the Modern Slavery Act through the British Parliament last year and described the human trafficking as “an affront to the dignity and humanity of every one of us”… The implementation of this Act does send the message that society takes this problem seriously. Modern slavery of any kind and exploitation must stop here and now.
Chios, just off the Harbour Masters/Hellenic Coast Guard HQ’s: innocent young migrants playing around, whilst at the far end their parents wash their clothes…
To elaborate further, exploitation takes place in Greece with dozens of mothers in central Athens and other Greek cities and towns with their babies sat and waiting on the pavements for financial help becoming beggars… The Greek public feels sensitive to their plight and wishes to help all these desperate people, but without knowing the dangers and what is behind all these cases. Xenius Zeus was, not is, one thing, reality yet another! The Greek public in mainland Greece and especially on the Greek islands are doing everything possible to alleviate the pain, and the human catastrophe. They honestly deserve the Nobel Prize for Peace together with the men and women of the Hellenic Coastguard! Our team when visiting Chios Island last summer was aware of exactly what really happens and we challenge anybody to see the entire reality on the Migrants issue. We can take them around and see the reality! One important aspect, a danger looming in the background, is that of ISIS and other terrorists entering Europe under the “proviso” and cover of asylum seekers, migrants, refugees, immigrants, you name it how many different descriptions exist… Another political and legal shame. People should learn also to control their feelings, as more mess can develop, from their noble and humane willingness to help all these people… even to take them into their homes… Have you heard or seen fighting erupting between Greeks, as recently happened on Lesvos Island when Greek gangs went after the engines of the boats… Austerity and other issues are creating more mess!
Already many European Union nations had problems and also cause problems. Germany returning Migrants, say to Austria. Hungary accusing Greece of admitting them in the first place. FYROM closing its boarders every other day with Greece, Croatia raising eyebrows, many tried even to build walls and fences … in Calais you know what is happening… I can make an audit with your participation and presence and you will see how loose the European borders are within Europe… North and West… Come on… grow up! On the other hand you have the raping, sexual assault and robbing in Germany of dozens of women by Migrants over the Christian Festive Season, and other despicable cases of terrible manners in swimming pools and openly in broad daylight in the streets; arrests of migrants being terrorists, the situation and decision of the Danish authorities towards Migrants’ belongings including money etc etc, to be confiscated so as the migrants contribute towards their stay etc, etc… Quotas for Migrants as if they are a commodity, really matters as these are humans after all…and repeat, yes we repeat: Migrants are not a commodity or Res Rei… A total mess; if this doesn’t stop now, the upcoming next wave of events, will make it far worse! I can guarantee you this!
Italy and Malta and to a lesser extent Spain suffers too from Migrants. The Italian Coast Guard, like the Hellenic Coast Guard, has become exhausted. Scenes for strong nerves also take place there with Migrants from Northern Africa, Libya in particular trying to cross over with boats, many of which sank and major disasters took and still take place… Bulgaria too has issues!
Immigration of any kind is an issue, particularly for Europe. Following the collapse of Communism, the Fall of Berlin Wall, and the despicable war in former Yugoslavia – which dismantled an entire region settling old scores and creating other problems of destabilising the Balkans, and the entry into the European Union of mainly former Eastern Bloc Countries’ citizens, all this created an unprecedented and irreversible situation. On top of this add the mafias and you can see how things have changed. Add the Business Hooligans emanating from these nations and the stories in the international media; who can deny this? Eh! Now add the fact of religion as mentioned above and see what you make of it. Any time of religious conflict is higher in threat than any other mess! Would you like to read and understand a bit more; add the ethics and culture of all those coming into Europe; the worst being that after some time when they settle down and get money from “business” and other sources, even clean money from legal employment, they demand even to change entirely the ethics and culture of the locals; ENOUGH! Oh, not enough as we are faced with a BREXIT and still with a GREXIT! Not enough as the geopolitics in Southern and Eastern Europe with the entire periphery of the Middle East on fire… and millions on the move and see what you get… and what you will get in the coming days, months and years to come!
All these people at best and given the worn torn country of Syria and the atrocities committed there by all sides – to be more than fair, eh!, should remain in nations next door to the country where they come from. Now, we have people coming as far as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and also from Somalia, Eritrea, and Sudan so this is more than too much. Add also, yes add also the messy Northern Africa region from Gibraltar and Ceuta to the Suez Canal and see what’s up! It is too much and this will trigger sooner or later a war, which for us is already on. We must stop this war and its escalation before is too late. The architects of the “Arab Spring” and wider Middle East conflict will soon pay a hefty penalty and they will even regret they were born as things will turn sour. In order to avoid any misunderstanding, in the last couple of years 2014 and 2015 I have given live interviews in the NOUSE magazine of the University of York and thank God same have been verbatim printed and published. These interviews deal with Geopolitics, Migrants, Greecem Russia, Turkey and other matters, particularly shipping ones…
Mind you, having been at the Ministry of Shipping Affairs, Islands and Fisheries of Greece in the capacity of aide to the Minister (28th Sept 2010 to 31st of January 2011), I dead well know what goes on and that all involved were afraid to act properly, as well as they were ignorant, in curbing these issues and give once and for all an end to this despicable situation which has brought us today in facing these incalculable repercussions deriving from of the inability of all those in the ministry and conversely in the then and next government in power…. The Greek opposition of that time bears the blame and stigma too; alike today’s coalition regime! Politics too under the PASOK regime of that time were messier than many people can imagine; a morons’ society… Until today, exactly five years since I have ended my time at the Ministry in Greece, things go far worse as the politicians amid the economic chaos and the famous infamous Greek debt, a factor which doesn’t apply by the way only to Greece, but to most countries within or outside the Eurozone, these governmental politicians or in the opposition, are the worst choices and have made it even worse! The Greek Left or to be precise, part of it has begun to destroy too many issues for which they have “fought” for decades. Very wrong people create and will create a bigger mess in Greece and same will affect not just Europe, but the world at large! The opposition too must change course. With a just new electoral law, I can assure you things can change to better days for Greece and Europe. There should be for all European Union nations one electoral system; the rest is nonsense, totally undemocratic! Why does not Brussels issue a Directive stipulating a common electoral system?
Now, I must tell you that I am not pleased with the resignation of the former commandant of the Hellenic Coast Guard following a Migrants disaster. Sorry, but in my view Admiral Demetrios Badias shouldn’t resign… History will out one day, and the truth will shine; I am very optimistic about this!
May I remind you all that I have numerous time insisted in the creation of a European Coast Guard (EUCG); that could have worked and today the sitaution was going to be better, different!
John Faraclas speaking at EXPOSEC 2011 in Athens
I am fortunate and indebted to the Tsomokos Group for having spoken at its “10th Homeland, Corporate Security & Defence Conference & Expo 2011” on the question of “Illegal Immigration”, ( an arrangement organised when I was at the Ministry; if anyone wishes to see the evidence, I can entertain them to that) – Day one 12 April 2011 at the Zappeion Megaron in Athens, stating what has been done in the past successfully via various nations, what was going on at that time and the consequences of not halting illegal immigration, my personal experiences and other issues, hence I speak and write in this manner all along… As you all know, we in shipping are very sensitive in regard to Migrants, Stowaways in particular, issues which has bothered us collectively for over 70 years; ask your P&I club for instance about stowaways and you will get the appropriate replies… Above all, remember that it was impossible even to leave behind and disembark one stowaway!!!
Now, where the government agencies cannot cope and fail, the private sector enters with security firms from all over the place and some of them are exploiting the situation. More importantly these private companies do have better results, but cannot fully deliver because in my humble view there is going to be collusion with others’ vested interests… But can these private security firms halt the waves of Migrants coming over from Turkey to Greece and from Northern Africa to Italy? It remains to be seen. Indeed we have also their participation and interest and same can be seen in reports herein the ALLABOUTSHIPPING.CO.UK medium…
What happens now with other issues such as the interest of Migrants to obtain benefits from all European nations is another major chapter.
The USA as a super power must intervene. Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump as president does matters as we shall like to see their pragmatic policy on the matter when they come into office! Geopolitically, the USA should remember to keep the same distance, particularly within the NATO alliance, as the downing of the Russian jet and what happened also last Friday makes us wonder: Turkey violates the Greek airspace for years now and continues to escalate its provocative behaviour until this very moment. Can we trust Turkey? The Russian – Turkey (Ottoman too) old and modern conflicts are well known… Equally worth reminding you about are the actions of Lawrence of Arabia… You dead well know what I mean!
Greeks have shown their best efforts towards reconciliation with their neighbours in the East, that is Turkey, despite the very recent sad story over Cyprus and other issues with the blessings of others for vested interests in the region… But now things are getting sour and Turkey must be stopped before the shit hits the fan!
In the beginning of this commentary, the words “Anathema” and “Aggression”, better say “Human Aggression” features very emphatically. Well, as a man I do know that we are all aggressive creatures; cannot dispute that, none can do; equally women are more than aggressive lately. We are all at present carefully watching each other and we are trying to be the first to push the button of nuclear catastrophe when the going gets tough. This is how preoccupied we are in both the Western and Eastern societies; right? Right! The problematic issues for war are compelling more than in the sixties, and seventies, not to mention the eighties and nineties… The human aggression and controlling same is of paramount importance. What can you make of it on studying Bertrand Russell and his book on “Has Man a Future?” Well, without war, things can “go” backwards. Before him, the Ancient Greeks whom I throughly trust, had their maxim: “War Father of All”; so if you don’t destroy you cannot rebuilt. This is the pitiful message in history – we have repeated this many times before. To simplify matters: the product of the Second World war was the long period time-charters of the fifties, sixties and seventies to rebuild the world… As for the “Anathema” this very Greek internationally used 8 mega-tonne word, is self explanatory as to what it implies.
Whatever happens, be on guard. We are living in interesting times. But we don’t want to read nonsense every day from our politicians, save very few of them, to continue and call a fast one on us; irrespective of the above, which greatly affects shipping, shipping will become shipping for the very few!
We hope that the above has given you a view of the situation few know and understand. We look forward to a debate and comments. What a pity these things should happen in 2016!
