Brussels, 18/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) has attacked the policy being followed by the EU, or rather its member states, to contain migratory flows. “Its practices, however, cannot stop people from moving; they only create more dangerous migration paths.” It stresses that “at the gates of Europe, in Italy as well as on the Greek islands, migrants are subjected to arbitrary and dangerous border controls and security measures that put their lives at risk”.
The network also criticises the caging of migrants, held as soon as they set foot on European soil. “We do not tolerate this situation. The example of a self-organised reception center in Pikpa on Lesvos, where local people provided hospitality to those arriving proves that there are alternatives to militarised border controls, push backs, and detention centers. This alternative is based on solidarity.”
“Together we will not accept any detention of people who are urgently searching for safety. We want to welcome them in Europe. Their freedom of movement concerns all of us”, states the EMHRN in a press release published on Thursday 17 October. (FB/transl.fl)