Europe refugee crisis: Who’s responsible for saving those at sea?
European governments criticised for using pandemic to restrict refugee and migrant entry.
On Wednesday, July 22 at 19:30 GMT:
Humanitarian groups have long criticised Europe’s migration policies for its focus on keeping refugees and migrants out of their borders rather than creating paths to safety. And with an ongoing pandemic, many European politicians have yet another reason to keep people at sea.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that so far this year nearly 400 people have died in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe from African shores. Since 2014, at least 20,000 have died while attempting the journey.
In the past three years, the UN says at least 36,000 people have been handed back to Libyan detention centres where detainees say they face torture and other human rights abuses.
As COVID-19 restrictions on movement ease, humanitarian rescue ships have returned to the Mediterranean. In this episode, we’ll get an update on Europe’s refugee crisis and speak to those assisting refugees and migrants at sea. Join the conversation.
On this episode of The Stream, we speak with:
Deanna Dadusc, @Deanka7
Spokesperson, AlarmPhone, @alarm_phone
alarmphone.org
Faras Ghani, @farasG
Digital editor, Al Jazeera English
farasghani.com
Frederic Penard, @fpenard
Director of operations, SOS Mediterranee, @SOSMedIntl
sosmediterranee.com
Read more:
Black lives matter, ‘even the ones drowning in the Mediterranean’ – Al Jazeera
‘EU dignity has drowned’: Body left in the sea despite NGO pleas – Al Jazeera