STOP TRADING REFUGEES, END INHUMAN EUROPEAN MIGRATION DEALS

Over the past few years, the European Union has been concluding partnerships or “deals” with third countries, as part of the European Agenda on Migration, promising several advantages to these countries, on the condition that there is more control and deportation of human beings.

The procedures of the so‐called deals, are unfortunately always the same&colon the European Union promises a large amount of money, to support the country’s development and to foster discussions with neighboring countries. In exchange for this, the third country will need to control their nationals not to cross borders , to prevent refugees from fleeing , or to take back their nationals returned from the European Union despite the fact that their lives are in danger. This started with the Khartoum process, the EU‐Turkey deal, the Joint Way Forward with Afghanistan etc.. The current plan to set up a general ‘Partnership Framework’ clearly shows that the EU intends to sign other agreements of this kind.

We, refugees living in Europe, witness the dangerous character of these deals every day, as refugees are being returned to their home country where their life is at risk, preventing them from fleeing from their persecutors. According to IOM, 2016 has been one of the deadliest years for refugees and migrants worldwide &colon 7189 of them lost their lives or remain missing ‐ among them 4812 in the Mediterranean Sea alone. This is the result of the conscious choices made by policymakers to resort to all possible means to prevent people from reaching or staying in Europe.

The European Union is clearly “trading” refugees, through new procedures to limit its responsibility and to keep these individuals outside of the European Union’s border. This is a violation of the most basic human rights as people don’t have access to asylum procedures ‐ either they are forced to stay in their country or they are deported back to a third country, although this right is protected by the Geneva Convention.

Sign now and urge the European Union authorities to end “migration deals”, and work on ensuring the respect of all human rights , provide international protection and to come up with an alternative migration policy, reflecting the welcoming character of Europe as continent of human rights.