Caritas
Europa: migrants’ deaths are a “catastrophe”
(Vatican
Radio) Caritas Europa issued a statement on Friday (28th Aug) saying that
“the migrants are not a threat to the EU but our policies are a threat to
them.” The statement came in response to the news that hundreds of migrants
were missing and feared dead after two boats capsized on Thursday (27th
Aug) off the coast of Libya, and over 70 migrants were found dead in an
Austrian truck on the same day.
Caritas
Europa’s Asylum and Migration Officer is Marie Tempesta. She said the
latest deaths involving migrants were a “catastrophe”, and reiterated
Pope Francis’ words that the Mediterranean could not become a “vast cemetery.”
She spoke to Claire Gilbody Dickerson on the migrant crisis.
Tempesta
said that Caritas was calling for a review of the EU rules on migration,
because she said only a few countries were shouldering the burden of the
migrant crisis, something “totally not in accordance with the EU’s principle of
solidarity.”
The
Caritas migration expert said that the EU commission was calling for resettlement
and rescue operations as part of the EU migration agenda, which she described
as “good”, but she said the proposed 20,000 resettlement places were “not
enough”, and Caritas was calling for more.
Stressing
how “really important” it is for the EU to help refugees and asylum seekers,
Tempesta said that these people “are traumatized by conflicts in their home
countries and should be able to come to Europe and ask for asylum without
risking their lives in the Mediterranean.”
When
asked what Caritas thought the coming months would be like, Tempesta said they
were “not optimistic about the future” because with “desperate” migrants
arriving during the winter the situation will worsen given the much less
favorable weather conditions.
She
said in conclusion that Caritas and other NGOs are “trying their best”, though
the response from EU members was “not enough” to tackle the crisis.
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