Brussels, 04/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 3 March, some 60 organisations - including the “Association nationale pour l'assistance aux frontiers des étrangers”, the “Association de défense des droits de l'homme au Maroc”, and the “Collectif suisse pour le droit de rester” - called on Europe to show solidarity and to take in refugees as a united effort by the European Union to take in the tens of thousands of refugees fleeing Libya across the Tunisian border, AFP reports.
In a press release, the above associations express regret that the EU governments and bodies are above all concerned about protecting themselves from uncontrollable migratory flows that could cause havoc in the southern Mediterranean. They state that Europe cannot continue to act as if it were not concerned by the fate of tens or hundreds of thousands of people who need protection in the countries currently hit by crisis, or by that of migrants from various other Arab, African and Asian countries, who reside in those countries. They solemnly call on all European governments and on the EU bodies and all political parties to take the emergency measures needed in consultation with the partners of the Mediterranean rim. Such measures include hosting on European territory those refugees who cannot return to their homeland.
The EPP Group also called, on Friday 4 March, for solidarity between the 27 member states with regards the asylum system and for a fair distribution of immigration, said Vito Bonsignore (EPP, Italy) during the 7th Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean in Rome, pointing out that Italy and Malta fear they will not be able to face up to the massive influx of refugees. (S.P./transl.jl)