Death in the Mediterranean, EU asylum policy has failed! 

Death in the Mediterranean  

More than 26,000 people have died trying to flee across the Mediterranean since 2014, with more than 20,000 en route to Italy and Malta. “We cannot afford to hesitate and get lost in another debate about who is responsible. lives are at stake”, said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, this week in Geneva (quoted from SZ April 17, 2023). Especially off the coast of Tunisia, numerous people have died in shipwrecks in the past few days. Tunisia has replaced civil war-torn Libya as the most important transit country for migrants en route to Italy, as refugees tend to avoid Libya because of the civil war and slave trade. In Tunisia, President Tahrir launched a fascist decree to hunt down migrants in the country. During the Easter holidays alone, almost 40 boats with around 2000 people from North Africa reached the Italian islands. Since the beginning of the year, the Italian Interior Ministry counted more than 31,000 refugees on the Mediterranean route, four times as many as in the same period last year. The reception center on Lampedusa is completely overcrowded. Where there are normally 400 beds, there are now supposed to be so many children alone. If you count the adults, there are already 1800 people. Authorities say they are protecting the camp, but locals say the conditions are unbearable and inhumane. Two years ago, the European Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, submitted its "Migration Pact" to the member states, a package of laws intended to regulate the admission, distribution and repatriation of people fleeing. The pact failed because Poland and Hungary refuse to accept recognized asylum seekers, the European asylum policy has failed! Italy, like Greece, has been allowing refugees to travel to other EU countries for months. This "secondary migration" is also causing resentment in countries like the Netherlands, France and Belgium - countries that were previously considered "refugee-friendly". Sweden currently holds the presidency of the Council of Europe, a country that now pursues a radical anti-migration policy and an inhumane practice of deportation. And Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has indicated that a solution to the European migration problem is above all to limit the number of migrants with walls and fences. At other hotspots of migration, such as the Bulgarian-Turkish border, the EU is now helping to finance border installations, walls and fences. But walls and fences are not a solution for the Mediterranean. The egregious failure of the EU refugee policy means that thousands of people are dying in the Mediterranean. Just because the EU countries, which are partly responsible for many causes of flight through their imperialist practices, do not manage to solve the problem at the root. Alassa Mfouapon, spokesman for the Friends of Refugee Solidarity: "We say no to this death in the Mediterranean and demand a right to flee on an anti-fascist basis!"

Come to the rally of the SI and the Friends of Refugee Solidarity on April 22, 11 a.m. in Stuttgart, Schlossplatz under the motto: Let's talk now!

Death in the Mediterranean 

Since 2014, more than 26,000 people have died fleeing across the Mediterranean, more than 20,000 of them on their way to Italy and Malta. "We cannot afford to hesitate and get lost in another debate about who is responsible. Human lives are at stake,” said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, in Geneva this week (quoted by SZ April 17, 2023). Numerous people have again died in shipwrecks off the coast of Tunisia in recent days. Tunisia has replaced civil war-torn Libya as the most important transit country for migrants on their way to Italy, as refugees tend to avoid Libya because of civil war and the slave trade. In Tunisia, President Tahrir opened the hunt for migrants in the country with a fascist decree. During the Easter holidays alone, almost 40 boats with around 2000 people from North Africa reached the Italian islands. Since the beginning of the year, the Italian Interior Ministry counted more than 31,000 refugees on the Mediterranean route, four times as many as in the same period last year. The reception camp on Lampedusa is completely overcrowded. Where there are normally 400 beds, there are now said to be that many children alone. If you add the adults, there are already 1800 people. The authorities say they are protecting the camp, but locals speak of unbearable and inhumane conditions. Two years ago, the European Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, presented its "migration pact" to the member states, a legislative package that was supposed to regulate the reception, distribution and repatriation of people on the run. The pact has failed because Poland and Hungary refuse to take in recognized asylum seekers, European asylum policy has failed! For months, Italy, like Greece, has simply allowed refugees to travel on to other EU countries. This "secondary migration" is also causing resentment in countries like the Netherlands, France and Belgium - countries that were previously considered "refugee-friendly". The Council of Europe is currently chaired by Sweden, a country that now has a radical defensive policy against migration and inhumane deportation practices. And the Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, also suggested that a solution to Europe's migration problem is primarily to limit the number of migrants through walls and fences. In other migration hotspots, such as the Bulgarian-Turkish border, the EU is now helping to finance border installations, walls and fences. But walls and fences are not the solution for the Mediterranean.

The egregious failure of EU refugee policy is leading to thousands of people dying in the Mediterranean. Only because the EU countries, which are partly responsible for many causes of flight through their imperialist practices, fail to solve the problem at its root. Alassa Mfouapon, spokesperson of the Friends of Refugee Solidarity: “We say no to this dying in the Mediterranean and demand a right to flee on an anti-fascist basis!

Come to the rally of SI and Friends of Refugee Solidarity on April 22, 11 am in Stuttgart, Schlossplatz under the motto: Now we are talking!

Friends of Refugee Solidarity in SI, Regional Group South – www.freunde-fluechtlingssolidaritaet.org
Donations via: "Solidarity International eV", IBAN: DE86 5019 0000 6100 8005 84, keyword: "Refugee Solidarity"
change.org/alassa and change.org/evacuation