STATEMENT: Refugees Welcome – No to Fortress Europe

By /

sutr

 

Refugees Welcome – No to Fortress Europe

Refugees are continuing to drown in the Mediterranean. Famine, poverty, war, persecution and environmental destruction mean Europe is experiencing the biggest migration of refugees since the Second World War.

Britain and the EU have failed to put forward a viable solution. The recent deal between the EU and Turkey has been spun as a solution but in reality it is not. In practice undermines the 1951 Geneva Convention on refugees.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Europe Director Vincent Cochetel, has raised concerns about the implementation of the deal in practice. The deal only applies to Syrian refugees in Turkey. Those from African countries, Pakistan and other parts of the world are not considered refugees. The EU will also take Syrian refugees directly from camps in Turkey in exchange for the refugees sent back to Turkey but this will be limited to 72,000 – This is a drop in the ocean compared to the 2.8 million refugees in Turkey.

The EU has failed to agree a solution to the many refugees still stuck in the EU living in squalid conditions in makeshift camps. There are around 45,000 refugees still stuck in Greece that arrived before the EU/Turkey agreement. There are 3,000 refugees still in Calais and 2,000 in Dunkirk.

The French government authorised the bull-dozing of half the Calais refugee camp, meaning 3,000 people lost their temporary homes. No proper system is in place to house those whose homes have been destroyed.

Lebanon a poor country approximately the size of Cornwall has taken over 1.3 million refugees – equivalent to 25 per cent of its population and the number of refugees taken across the entire EU in 2015. Although Britain has pledged to take 20,000 refugees over five years, it is has offered no solution to those arriving in the EU.

The right to seek asylum is enshrined in international law. We say no to Fortress Europe and call on the government to:

  1. Call on the EU to review the Turkey deal and ensure that refugees in Greece have access to proper interpretation and ensure all applications for asylum go through proper judicial process including the right to appeal.

  1. Support Alf Dubs amendments to the Immigration Bill that include calling for Britain to take 3,000 unaccompanied children in Europe.

  1. We call on the government to take swift action in allowing 150 children in Calais that have family in the UK and have applied for asylum in Britain to enter Britain immediately.

  2. We call on the Government to allow a fair proportion of refugees of those currently stranded in Europe including those in Calais and Dunkirk, to seek asylum in Britain.

  1. We call on the government and EU to establish safe routes to Britain and the EU and reinstate the search and rescue operations.

Stand up to Racism is organising a number of initiatives to campaign for these demands:

  • Sunday 24 April – Student Central – Convoy to Calais organising summit

  • Wednesday 25 May – Mander Hall – Refugees Welcome Here – Racism out of the Referendum

  • Saturday 18 June – Convoy to Calais with Unite the Union, CWU, TSSA, Peoples Assembly Against Austerity, Momentum, Stop the War and the Muslim Association of Britain.

  • Saturday 8 October – Refugees Welcome Here – Stand up to Racism conference

 

Scroll to Top