Brussels, 23/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - Two campaigns to heighten awareness of the EU's treatment of migrants are to be launched on Wednesday 24 April at the European Parliament, on the initiative of Amnesty International and the Migreurope and European Alternatives networks. Amnesty's campaign, known as “S.O.S Europe” on what is happening at Europe's borders, aims to call on member states to step up their vigilance and their protection when migrants reach the coasts of Europe. The NGO will present a petition bearing 70,000 signatures passing on this call to member states, a press release states. Amnesty International's aim is to shed light on member states' practices at their borders. The second awareness campaign will be presented to the EP by several MEPs, including Hélène Flautre (Greens/EFA, France) and Marie-Christine Vergiat (GUE/NGL, France), entitled “Open Access Now”, which tackles the question of migrants' detention. According to the associations, between 2000 and 2012, the number of detention centres listed by the Migreurop network in EU countries and those located at the borders of the EU increased from 324 to 473. In 2012, 570,660 foreigners were deprived of their freedom on EU territory for “migration management”, the campaign organisers say. The idea of the campaign is to promote access by NGOs to detention centres, as well as access for associations and journalists, so that they may report the reality of the situation in those centres. (SP/transl.jl)