Let us Build a Global Pact of Solidarity
for the Rights of Migrant and Refugee Peoples
The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, recently presented by the European Commission (EC) in Brussels (September 23), turns human migratory movements into crimes and migrants and refugees into potential criminals who must be identified, and tracked in case of absconding, detained and returned to origin countries, regardless of the circumstances by which they reached EU borders.
Fortress Europe of Borders and Sites without Rights
The Pact was compared by the EC Vice-President Schinas to a “house with three floors”, including:
1) The external dimension, focused around strengthened and specific partnerships with countries of origin and transit, designed to keep people in those countries and force the country under ”carrot-and-stick” schemes, to readmit those able to reach Europe;
2) The management and militarisation of the EU external borders, with a reinforced FRONTEX and quicker “selection” procedures and return mechanisms to prevent people to set foot in Europe and
3) A so-called “solidarity” mechanism, which totally distorts the concept, and involves a division of responsibilities between states regarding the implementation of measures for the identification and control of migrants and refugees. These measures include restriction of human rights, repression at borders and prevention of rescue at sea from a humanitarian point of view – but without in any way recognizing the fundamental rights of migrant and refugee peoples and their communities. For them there are no rights and not even solidarity. Continue reading →
