A Europe of solidarity not of cruelty
Statement of Georgos Loucaides, AKEL C.C. Spokesperson
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 7th March 2016, Nicosia
The persistence of certain European leaders on the closure of the “Balkan corridor” for the refugees is an act of cruelty against the thousands of families escaping the rage of a war, which – let no one ever forget – the European Union itself has also contributed to. This would mean the captivity of tens of thousands of refugees in Greece and would represent a new retreat in the face of the xenophobic populism of European governments. The EU leaders should reflect that countries such as Lebanon with a population of six million people host more than one million Syrian refugees, while Europe with a population of 500 million people is turning its back on the most severe humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.
AKEL urges the President of the Republic not to consent neither to the decisions that are being promoted mainly by the governments of Central Europe, nor to accept unacceptable demands by the Erdogan government, which is exploiting the role that the EU is assigning it in the management of the refugee issue. AKEL demands the full respect of the Geneva Convention and International Law on refugees. AKEL demands the abolition of the Dublin Regulation and a binding relocation and resettlement program in the EU, so that every European state should host a concrete number of refugees on the basis of its population and capabilities.
Fences and walls, the patrols of NATO and Frontex, repression and racism constitute a policy of modern barbarism. The solidarity being expressed by the people of Greece and the struggle to end the bloody war in Syria and interventions in the region is the policy that AKEL proposes.
