JRS Italy calls on EU to
relocate migrants from Greece
A statement released by the Centro Astalli, the Jesuit
Refugee Service in Italy, calls for the relocation of migrants in Greece and
the activation of humanitarian visas for Syrian refugees.
By Linda Bordoni
In light of what is happening to migrants stranded in
Greece, and following the tragic news of the escalation of violence in Syria’s
Idlib province, the JRS-run Centro Astalli has issued an
urgent appeal to national governments and European institutions to demand the
immediate evacuation of the refugee camps in Greece, and the establishment of
humanitarian visas for Syrians fleeing fighting.
Turkey’s decision this week to stop curbing the movement of
tens of thousands of migrants trapped in the country, following a 2016
agreement with the EU, has resulted in thousands of displaced people massing at
the frontier with Greece, where army and police patrols are using tear gas and
stun grenades to block them.
In Greece, meanwhile, overcrowded detention centres host
tens of thousands of migrants in inhumane conditions.
Pope Francis expressed his sorrow on Sunday for the plight
of so many displaced men, women and children whom, he said, have been discarded
and thrown away by war, and he asked the faithful to pray for them.
The Centro Astalli’s Donatella Parisi spoke
to Vatican Radio about the JRS appeal.
“JRS in Italy is very concerned about the situation in
Greece and more in general in Syria for refugees who try to make their way into
Europe,” Parisi said.
Regarding what is happening to migrants in Greece, she
stated, “we are asking national governments and EU institutions to act
immediately to evacuate refugee camps in Greece and to establish a sort of a
humanitarian corridor for those who are ‘under the bombs’ in Syria where the
situation is terrible.
“We are convinced that the European Union can do more than
what they are doing,” she said.
Pope Francis' concern
Regarding Pope Francis’ appeal for the migrants, Parisi said
the Centro Astalli hopes it will have an impact on those with political
responsibility.
“We hope, for example, that the agreement with Turkey is
immediately interrupted,” because it is a very big problem for people trying to
reach Europe, including Syrian and Iraqi refugees.
The EU-Turkey deal, signed in March 2016, is a statement of
cooperation between European states and the Turkish government, seeking to
control the crossing of refugees and migrants from Turkey to the Greek islands.
The crux of the deal was that every person arriving irregularly in Greece –
including asylum-seekers – would be returned to Turkey. In exchange, EU Member
States would take one Syrian refugee from Turkey for every Syrian returned from
the islands.
The Centro Astalli appeal calls for a “humanitarian corridor
for the Syrians fleeing the bombs” that should be opened immediately, “putting
an end to the wicked agreement with Turkey which has condemned millions of
people to misery, despair and death.”
Parisi said the rights of refugees are in urgent need of
re-establishment: for example, the rights enshrined in the Geneva Convention
regarding the right of non-refoulement and the right to receive protection if
the person is escaping war or persecution.
So, she said, Centro Astalli sincerely hopes that the words
of the Pope will be taken into consideration by the people who have decisional
powers for “the lives of these people.”
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