Amnesty urges ‘drastic change’ to EU refugee policy
Amnesty International on Wednesday called for a drastic change in the handling of the refugee crisis sweeping Europe and criticised the response of state leaders as “piecemeal and incoherent”.
Ahead of the expected announcement Wednesday by the European Commission of proposals for mandatory quotas for EU states, the rights group launched a five-point plan to help ease the crisis.
“The level of suffering facing refugees fleeing violence and human rights violations has reached a level unseen in Europe since the Second World War,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International‘s Director for Europe and Central Asia.
“The response to the refugee crisis in Europe has been piecemeal and incoherent at a time when the need for clear-sighted leadership and radical reform of Europe’s collapsing asylum system has never been greater.”
The human rights group urged leaders to increase support for frontline EU member states, ensure access to EU territory for refugees arriving at border states and use an emergency relocation scheme to relieve pressure on border countries.
They should also revise EU laws that limit the freedom of movement of successful asylum seekers within the EU while frontline member states must refrain from ill-treatment and excessive or unnecessary use of force against the refugees, said Amnesty.
The London-based group estimates that “around 1.38 million resettlement places for the most vulnerable refugees around the world will be needed over the next two years” and is calling upon the EU member states to offer at least 300,000 over the same period.
“There is a global refugee crisis not just a European refugee crisis,” it said. “EU leaders cannot ignore this or turn their backs on its tragic consequences.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday welcomed European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker’s plan to relocate refugees from overstretched EU states, but said it was only “a first important step”.
According to Juncker’s proposal for mandatory quotas for EU states which is set to be unveiled Wednesday, Germany and France would take about half of the 120,000 refugees to be relocated from frontline states such as Greece and Italy.
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