Hereby we, groups from the climate justice movement, demand a relaunch of the european approach to asylum- and migration-policy and therefore join the campaign by the German sea rescue organization “Seebrücke” calling in on the day of action for the evacuation of the greek camps taking place on the 5th of April – #LeaveNoOneBehind

In times of the corona virus all of society agrees, that especially weakened and vulnerable people have to be protected from getting infected. Those people, who have been forced to live under inhumane conditions in the different refugee camps at the european borders for months or even years, are often forgotten. On the Aegean islands alone around 40.000 people are holding out, many of them in overcrowded camps such as Moria, which are most likely to become hotspots for the spreading virus. A recent press release from „doctors without borders“ stresses the risk of a fast and unprecdictable spread of the corona virus between the inhabitants of the camps on the islands due to miserable hygiene conditions and highly restricted medical treatment.

Based on the medical expertise of „Doctors without borders“ we demand to evacuate the refugee camps immediately to ensure an adequate accommodation for all inhabitants. Given the declaration by 140 local authorities concerning not only capacity but also the explicit readiness to provide accomodation for refugees, the widely repeated argument of european governments referring to a „lack of capacity“ for taking in refugees is considered to be irrelevant for futher discussions.

The dramatic situation on Lesvos and at the Turkish-Greek borderline are only the tip of the iceberg of a failed asylum- and migration-policy by the European Union. For years authorities have been arguing about a european distribution mechanism and despite the highly insecure situation of asylum seekers in Turkey the European Union are refusing to renounce the refugee agreement between Turkey and the EU countries.

Increasing numbers of deportation and forced “voluntary departures“, give proof that Turkey is not a safe country for refugees at the current state. On top of the already miserable situation, Greek declared to suspend the right of asylum for a whole month becoming effective at the beginning of March. This delevopment in political action underlines the preference of deportation in contrast to finding a solidary resolution to care for people in need of asylum.

Therefore we strongly demand a new political foundation for migration and asylum involving all member countries of the European Union, including the renunciation of the Dublin Regulation in the first place, in order to re-establish justice in the matter of the protection of the human rights of refugees and an equitable solution for the EU as a whole.The mass mortality at the European external borders has to stop!

Based on the urgent call by charities and voluntary initiatives such as medico international, Seebrücke, borderline.europe, Pro Asyl – just to name a few – we demand:

• The Immediate evacuation of the EU refugee camps on the Greek islands
• The welcoming of the 20’000 refugees in solidary cities
• Effective safety precautions against the Corona pandemic for refugees, no matter where
• Permission for local authorities in solidarity to accomodate asylum seekers
• The annullation of the EU – Turkey deal on asylum policies
• A relaunch in migration policy and foreign affairs based on human rights ensuring secure and legal escape routes from conflict areas