Covid-19: EU bishops call for
the relocation of refugees
 |
| A girl at a makeshift camp for refugees and migrants next to the Monia camp in Lesbos, Greece |
EU bishops appeal for the relocation of asylum seekers held
on Greek islands to curb the risk of spreading Covid-19 infections and provide
adequate health care to those already infected.
By Linda Bordoni
On the 4th anniversary of Pope Francis’ visit to the Greek
island of Lesbos where he met with migrants and refugees in the Moria detention
centre, European Union Bishops released a statement calling for the relocation
of asylum seekers on the continent to minimise the risks posed by the Covid-19
pandemic.
In its appeal, the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of
the European Union (COMECE), reminds EU member states that “human dignity is
not in quarantine.”
It asks them “to show generosity” in accepting
the relocation of refugees steeped in crowded centers and camps, in order to
minimize the risk of new coronavirus infections among them and to provide
adequate health treatment to those already infected.
Pope’s call to EU leaders
The appeal comes on the heels of the Pope’s Easter
Sunday Urbi
et Orbi message in which he encouraged political leaders to “work
actively for the common good,” and specifically spoke about “the EU facing an
epochal challenge, on which will depend not only its future but that of the
whole world”.
According to the latest UNHCR figures, some 39,200 refugees
and asylum seekers are held in detention centres on the Aegean islands awaiting
asylum status in EU countries. The majority of them come from Afghanistan,
Syria and Somalia. 23% of them are women and children.
Refugees amongst the most vulnerable populations
The Bishops point out that the coronavirus pandemic is
strongly impacting societies from across the world, but say “it shows its
darkest face when it comes to vulnerable populations, among them refugees who
are living in overcrowded centres and settlements, with limited or even no
access to adequate health services”.
“We are in our homes, afraid. I also think of the most
vulnerable: how it must feel for those who are in refugee camps, who have
nothing, not even medicine for the seasonal flu”, said COMECE President,
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, in a recent interview.
COMECE notes that considering the lethal consequences that a
Covid-19 outbreak would have in a refugee camp, international humanitarian
agencies as well as Caritas Europa, have welcomed "the relocation of 12
unaccompanied asylum-seeking children organized by the EU and the Greek authorities
from Greece to Luxembourg, and call for further release of the remaining
migrant children and their families and those detained without a sufficient
legal basis.” Germany is also due to relocate 50 children in the upcoming days.
The situation in Moira camp
However, the Bishops reiterate the need to relocate asylum
seekers from the Greek islands because the situation there is particularly
dramatic with around 20,000 people steeped in Moira camp, on the island of
Lesbos, whose facilities are designed to accommodate only 3,000 asylum seekers.
The dramatic situation on the Greek islands is also due to
the recent adoption of a controversial emergency degree suspending asylum
procedures for one month, and the bishops remind politicians that the
EU’s Schengen Border Code specifically states that measures to manage
risks to public health in case of a pandemic may not prevent people from
seeking asylum.
Thus, COMECE recalls the importance of respecting
international legal obligations of asylum seekers and their families and
encourages EU member states to show solidarity towards them, in particular in
this context of the coronavirus pandemic.
COMECE is composed of Bishops delegated by the Catholic
Bishops’ Conferences of the 27 Member States of the European Union, and in
accordance with its mission, it monitors the political process of the European
Union in all areas of interest to the Church.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét