The European Union must face its responsibilities in dealing with migration

How many tragic deaths in the Mediterranean Sea will it take before the European Union acknowledges its international commitments and receive migrants from the Maghreb who are now waiting at its doorstep?

AEDH laments the death of hundreds of Somalian and Eritrean migrants, who perished when their vessel sank off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa last 6 April. While it recognises that the European Union could not have predicted the influx that would be generated by the uprisings in the Arab world, AEDH contends that Member States still have the responsibility of providing a proper reception to the migrants who have arrived in Europe these past weeks, and to propose solutions that would help reinstate tens of thousands of refugees who, in fleeing Libya, had no other choice but to go to Tunisia or Egypt.

The consequences of Europe's border security policy are obvious. Obliged to take greater risks to avoid border controls, many migrants meet their death as they try to get past the barriers placed before them. The fact that the European Union, through the Commissioner in charge of migration, Cecilia Malmström, plans to reinforce Frontex's powers, shows just how little value Europe places on the lives of "foreigners".

In this difficult yet jubilant period of Tunisia's economic and democratic reconstruction, the EU persists in wanting to impose its vision of border controls upon the country. In turning people back to Tunisia, it demonstrates the lack of ambition it accords to the Euro-Mediterranean partnership.

AEDH states once again that no one can be denied the right to leave their country. Migrating, leaving one's country, regardless of motive, is always a painful but deeply personal choice that no state-mandated measure, including confinement, can prevent in a world where goods, services, and capital move freely, and where the free movement of persons is and should be a right.

AEDH maintains that Europe cannot pass on its responsibility to take in asylum-seekers to third countries, and that it must grant access to EU territory to migrants seeking asylum or protection because of the situation in their countries of origin. The acceptance of migrants by Member States should not be limited to tolerating their presence on European soil, but lead concretely to the granting of residence permits. In this context, AEDH finds the migration ping-pong played by certain Member States both shocking and degrading.

Consequently, AEDH asks the Council of the European Union to bring into immediate force the instrument that will allow the granting of temporary protection, as provided for by the directive of 20 July 2001^[1], to all persons who can claim such protection.

AEDH also calls upon the European Union and the Member States to demonstrate their international solidarity and their commitment to the Geneva Convention by taking in sub-Saharan refugees, and upon the solidarity between Member States in receiving migrants.

Contact :

Pierre Barge, Président

AEDH, European Association for the defense of Human Rights

33, rue de la Caserne. B-1000 Bruxelles

Tel : +32(0)25112100  Fax : +32(0)25113200  Email : aedh@aedh.eu   

The European Association for the Defense of Human Rights (AEDH) is an umbrella organisation that brings together leagues and associations defending Human Rights in EU countries. It is an associate member of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). For further information: www.aedh.eu

^[1] Council Directive 2001/55/EE of 20 July 2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between Member States in receiving such persons and the consequences thereof.