Brussels, 11/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - Absolute respect for the impartiality of humanitarian aid, a European ban on the sales of arms to countries guilty of serious human rights violations and a five-year road map for implementing the commitments made in Istanbul are among the European Parliament's recommendations ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit (23-24 May). The debate in Strasbourg on Tuesday 10 May between MEPs, European Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Commissioner Christos Stylianides and the representative of the Dutch Presidency of the Council, Jeanine Hennis Plasschaert, gave parliamentarians the opportunity to warn the EU of the pitfalls of a grand gathering that is not followed up with any action. While the EU may take pride in being the world's largest humanitarian aid contributor, that is not enough to address all the challenges of a system overwhelmed by so many crises, they pointed out. The refugee crisis is but one.
“Anyone attending the major UN summits regularly witnesses ceremonies of self-satisfaction and self-congratulation. That should not hide the three dramatic issues that will determine the success of the summit”, said Charles Goerens (ALDE, Luxembourg), referring to the ever-increasingly under threat medical teams, the increase in crises “accepted as inevitable” and the gulf between the pledges made by states, including the EU, and the effective results.
“The pledges made by the EU are, indeed, generous and are regularly renewed for the simple reason that they are not kept. For the member states of the EU, it is a matter of credibility. Our member states would do well to remind themselves of that”, he said, stating that “it's not good enough to note that others, almost all the others, don't do as much as the EU and its member states to let the guard down in the face of the scale of the challenge”.
Miguel Urban Crespo (GUE/NGL, Spain) was critical of the inconsistency of EU policies in response to the refugee crisis. “Climate change and natural disasters are not the sole causes of humanitarian crises. They are caused, too, by armed conflicts created by economic interests”, he argued. He said that “political decisions, such as closing borders to thousands of refugees” also play a part. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)