A new petition has been launched calling on European leaders to make radical changes to the way Europe treats and accommodates refugees and asylum seekers. It has already been signed by over 422 organisations, movements, parliamentarians, Members of the European Parliament and politicians, as well as over 130,000 individuals and asks the European Commission to:
- Immediately evacuate all people who had to flee Moria camp. Basic human rights to shelter, food, sanitation facilities and healthcare cannot be upheld on Lesvos or the other Greek islands. Urgently decongest the islands and focus on relocation across Europe.
- Abandon any future approach to migration that would again trap people in inhumane conditions in camps on islands (or facilities at borders), awaiting a decision on their asylum claim. The policy of restricting asylum seekers’ movement from the islands to mainland Greece has to end.
- Implement migration policies that ensure protection, as opposed to exclusion. This requires increased solidarity and responsibility sharing between European countries, and an end to systematic human rights abuses at the borders.
Eurodiaconia has already signed the petition as it has long been advocating for the improvement of the EU’s asylum and migration policies and promoting safe and timely relocation of migrants.
To joint the petition, please visit its official page.
To learn more about our advocacy work on migrant issues, please visit out thematic page.