Independence is our main value. From the beginning we have always fought to act independently of governments and international institutions. Our independence enables us to fight for the most vulnerable. Too often, their rights are denied and their screams for help are silenced.
Through our advocacy work we do everything in our power to restore the rights of their children, and call for justice.
The first lawsuit towards the administration of the refugee camp of Samos
On 12th of June 2019, in collaboration with Help Refugees UK, we filed an official lawsuit to the district attorney’s office of Samos, Greece, against the management of the reception and identification center of the island. The lawsuit condemned the management’s violation of the human rights of unaccompanied minors living in the camp. This was the first time in the history of the Samos hotspot that an NGO took legal action against the managers of a system that has been abusing the weakest for too long.
The lawsuit is built on evidence provided by the children who attended our youth center in a two-year period and on written declarations from our staff members and volunteers. Images, videos and testimonies reveal a shocking reality of psychological, physical and emotional abuses on unaccompanied minors living in the camp.
The European Parliamentary Questions
On July 22nd 2019, Pietro Bartolo, Vice President of the Commission for the Civil freedoms, Justice and Internal Affairs, presented a parliamentary question to the European Parliament on behalf of both Still I Rise and the unaccompanied minors that we serve.
The Commission’s answer in writing
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On September 12th 2019, a second parliamentary question with a request for a written reply was presented by Rosa d’Amato, Laura Ferrara and Isabella Adinolfi, who asked the EU Commission:
- Will the Commission without delay, and at frequent intervals, monitor the management of the hotspots?
- Will the Commission check whether the principles laid down in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union are being complied with in the hotspots, and what action will it take, with due regard for the principle of subsidiarity, to solve the problems reported by the non-profit organisation?
The Commission’s answer in writing.
The Italian Parliamentary Question
On October 29th 2019, Angela Schirò and Lia Quartapelle Procopio submitted a parliamentary question to the Ministry for European Affairs of Italian Parliament to ask the position of the government at EU level on the situation in Samos and our criminal complaint.
ECtHR grants interim measures demand for five unaccompanied minors, students of Still I Rise
On December 24th 2019, the European Court of Human Rights granted interim measures to safeguard the physical and psychological integrity of five unaccompanied minor refugees on the island of Samos, Greece, following the case presented by the legal section of Greek Council for Refugees (GRC), with the support of our NGO, ASGI and the support of Médicins Sans Frontières. The proceeding invoked art. 39 – Interim Measures – of the Rules of procedure at the European Court.
For the first time it focuses on the living conditions of unaccompanied minors living on Samos: the Greek government must now transfer them to an appropriate shelter for unaccompanied minors, in compliance with art. 3 of the European convention of Human Rights, which enshrines the prohibition of torture and degrading treatment.
In North-West Syria the worst humanitarian crisis of our century is happening right now. For many years, the Idlib region has been the scene of bombing, war and clashes. The number of killed and displaced people increases every day.
We fight to bring the spotlight back on the ongoing conflict, to demand justice for all victims, and that humanitarian aid to the people not be exploited and used for political purposes.
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The Democratic Republic of the Congo produces more than 3% of copper and 50% of cobalt sold worldwide. Diamonds, coltan, gold and oil are also found in abundance in the country.
Yet little of all this wealth remains in the DRC due to the interests of foreign companies.
Child labor is a well-known scourge: although the country has announced its intention to remove children from the mines by 2025, they continue to be exploited without any respect for their human rights.
All our students at Pamoja, our school in Kolwezi in the South of the country, are former child miners. In addition to our efforts on the ground, we advocate to end child labor and abuses in the mines by calling for a clean and certified cobalt supply chain.
Click here to find out more about our "No more child miners" campaign.
