Europe must resist temptation to tightly close borders for refugees – Amnesty International
The Amnesty International human rights organization published the report on refugee crisis in Europe.
In the report titled “Fear and Fences: Europe’s approach to keeping refugees at bay”, the organization calls for creation of the controlled, safe and legal ways for refugees to Europe.
Amnesty International also calls on the European Union not to succumb to temptation to tightly close their external borders not to worsen the human rights situation.
“The expansion of fences along the European borders has only resulted in growing human rights violations and aggravating of problem of humane and peaceful management of refugee flows,” John Dalhuisen, the Amnesty International’s Director for Europe and Central Asia noted.
Amnesty International calls on the EU and its Member States to:
- make safe and legal ways available to refugees, including by increasing opportunities for settlement, permits for family reunification, humanitarian visas and entry permits;
- ensure access for refugees to asylum procedures and their territory through the external land borders;
- stop expulsions of refugees and other human rights violations at the borders, including by means of effective investigation into allegations of such violations at the state level, initiating proceedings in the EU Commission in cases of non-compliance with EU legislation;
- significantly increase the capacity of centers for refugees and the amount of short-term humanitarian assistance in neighboring countries in Europe;
- accelerate and expand the implementation of the resettlement scheme for asylum seekers;
As reported, Amnesty International called on the world leaders to show true statesmanship and refrain from bowing to a knee-jerk anti-refugee agenda in the wake of the despicable attacks in Paris.
