EU Council decisions mean more tragedies and persecutions for refugees
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 2 July 2018, Nicosia
The recent decisions approved by the European Council – with the consent of the Anastasiades government – confirm the deadlocks in the EU’s refugee and immigration policy and of the Union itself. In spite of internal contradictions, the substance remains: the doctrine of “Fortress Europe” will continue. This means more sea tragedies, more refugee concentration camps both inside and outside the EU, more persecution against people who are escaping from regions suffering from untold misery. AKEL joins its voice with all those who are demonstrating that the danger to Europe does not come from refugees and migrants. The danger comes from the ongoing wars and interventions, the growing economic inequalities also within European societies themselves, as well as the danger of racism and xenophobia.
AKEL reiterates that:
- All EU member-states must participate in the hosting of refugees, according to their capabilities, on the basis of the principle of solidarity. The decision by conservative governments, also including the governments aligned to the European People’s Party EPP, to close the borders is contrary to the legal and moral obligations of member states. At the same time, it means that certain member-states assume a disproportionately greater share of the responsibility that all EU member-states should have shared. The notorious “solidarity” is not worth the paper it is written on.
- The Dublin Regulation, which provides for the reallocation of refugees in the country of first arrival – that is to say in the countries of the South – must be abolished and ways to continue it in force should not be sought.
- The “externalization of EU border control” in practice means the development of “warehouses of people” outside Europe (the “disembarkation platforms” being promoted to third countries) and the continuation of the EU-Turkey Agreement, which violates the internationally safeguarded right to asylum, mean greater cruelty against refugees who are being imprisoned and deported to Libya.
- Dignified and open areas grounds for hosting refugees are demanded. Detention in “controlled centres” which was decided the day before yesterday means the imprisonment of people who have only sought to seek salvation and shelter. We point out that UNICEF is also demanding from the EU that it should make clear that the Summit decisions do not mean that the children of refugees will be detained so that we shouldn’t see images such as those in the US with the well-known decision taken by Trump Government’s.
On the other hand, the leaders of the European Union have not taken any decision whatsoever that would contribute towards ending the ongoing wars and bloodshed in the Middle East and North Africa. They did not approve any decision that would actually provide support to the people of Africa who remain trapped in the vicious circle of poverty and exploitation. Instead, they have taken new decisions for “private investments” in the African continent, for the further militarization of the EU and its association with NATO, for more billions of Euros towards the war industry and arms trade. How will there finally be an end to the uprooting of millions of people in our neighborhood, when the EU is continuing its policy of pouring fuel on the flames of wars?
