maart 5, 2020
Joint statement on the situation of refugees in Greece
GriekenlandMigratieMigratieNews
- EU institutions and Member States, while applying Article 78.3 of the Treaty, to take all appropriate urgent measures to resettle and relocate refugees – including both the recent arrivals from Turkey as well as those currently living in overcrowded camps on the Greek Aegean Islands – in acknowledgement of the core EU principles of freedom, equality, solidarity and human dignity;
- EU institutions and Member States to guarantee to all persons reaching European territory an immediate access to the right to asylum and to refuse to adopt and to condemn and sanction any law or measure aiming to suspend the application of this right or seeking to return refugees to countries where they risk exposure to human rights violations (infringing European and international law, including within the framework of the application of Article 78.3 of the Treaty);
- EU institutions and Member States to ensure implementation of the 2001/55/CE Directive, specifically adopted to address a large influx of displaced persons in order to grant them a temporary protection;
- Greek and Turkish authorities to immediately cease all measures jeopardizing the life and dignity of refugees or involving use of force against refugees, in violation of European and international law, and for the European institutions and Member States to condemn and sanction these policies instead of supporting them;
- EU institutions and Member States to revise their migration policy aiming to externalize the responsibility of migration management to countries not offering sufficient guarantees to respect human rights, and
- All parties involved to respect human rights and the principle of the Rule of Law, which are guaranteed by the Treaties and the European and international law on human rights and refugees.