Villagers in Crete are fighting the government’s plan to convert a disused factory into a reception center for people on the move, escalating a monthslong standoff that pits xenophobic backlash against an increasingly securitized European border regime.
People on the move arriving on Crete are held in makeshift facilities where they have no rights, as authorities freeze asylum registration while implementing the EU’s contested new Migration and Asylum Pact.
Heraklion, Crete – For the last two years, in the largest city on the small island of Crete, the Integral Cooperative of Heraklion (I.C. Her) has operated an autonomous open market out of the last bit of free space in the city. A network of…