Appeal to those responsible in EU: Immediately stop the carnage on EU external borders!

We are gathered due to the mass deaths of refugees on the external borders of the EU and the irresponsible reaction of EU leaders that insistently decontextualize the tragedy and who by this, cause the indifference of the European public and even generate its unfounded feelings of being threatened by refugees and migrants in general. We are the participants of public tribune named ‘Let's Stop the Carnage in Mediterranean’ sea that took place on Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana on May 5. This tribune decided to form a network that’s aim is to coordinate concrete activities to stop killings on EU external borders. Our first common initiative is the following appeal to EU leaders, and we encourage all that are moved and indignant because of the ongoing carnage and European shame to support this appeal with their signatures.


Appeal to those responsible in EU: Immediately stop the carnage on EU external borders!

Based upon years of experience and accumulated expertise on migration, we firmly protest against the hypocrisy of those responsible in the EU, and their refusal to accept responsibility for carnage on the EU’s external borders. Knowledge produced in the framework of research projects, teachings about social phenomena of migration, activist and solidarity engagement clearly reveal that the mass deaths in Mediterranean sea and on other border areas with the EU are the result of EU and its member states migration policies.

Therefore we demand from those responsible in the EU to stop the carnage on external borders, which means to suspend all policies and activities that lead to the criminalization of migration that leads to the existence of the vulnerable population of migrants without rights that are, for this reason, victims of systematic mistreatment. We urge those responsible to adopt policies and actions derived from the recognition of the responsability of the EU for the current situation and, based on the understanding of migration as a complex social movement that has to be recognized and legalized to pave the way for just global relations.


Concretely we demand:

- the immediate establishment of a wide -and as functional as possible- corridor for the safe passage of refugees to safe areas in EU. The establishment of such a corridor demands an immediate suspension of the externalization of European borders in practice, suspension of migration remote control, that is a visa regime and the organization of safe and legal transportation from the areas by the external EU borders to areas in the EU;

- the distribution of the burden in the receiving of refugees in all EU member states, while absolutely respecting the preferences of the refugees themselves;

- an immediate moratorium on the repression of refugees. Comprising the ‘hot returns’ passed by Spanish parliament and other forms of repression. We demand the formation of mechanisms for the treatment and integration of refugees in the EU states that are in accordance with international law (principle of non refoulement on the basis of Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees) and the European Convention on Human Rights and Basic Freedoms (closure of detention centers and suspension of all forms of detention and non voluntary deportation).

- the immediate undoing of the consequences of criminal migration policies, that produce undocumented migrants that are highly vulnerable individuals without rights. We demand immediate action in the direction of the legalization of their statuses and immediate suspension of deportations;

- beginning of the democratic process of forming new common migration policies within the EU. To stop the carnage on external EU borders, and to stop the mass production of people without papers in EU member states are the first and necessary steps to begin such a process. This process must include transnational and migrant communities, states of migration origin and European civil society. The deaths on external EU borders and rapid degradation of civil life in the EU caused by the systematic production of people without papers, can be resolved only by a global agreement that is going to be an agreement of global justice.

 

As agents of European Civil Society referring to the expert knowledge we possess, we insist that the following considerations are taken into account when addressing the current refugee crisis:

- all short, medium and long term political actions must be based on knowledge of and the prevention of the causes of destruction of human lives in border, refugee life situations, that are connected to political, economic and criminal sources of inequality and the denial of human rights;

- in the formation of policies, various perspectives of phenomena of refugees that are based on unjust inter-human divisions according to gender, age, state of body, ethnicity, nationality, mother tongue, religion, political beliefs, social class and cultural stratum must be considered;

- the middle and long term political handling of the refugee situation must be based on research studies carried out on refugee phenomena. In case of conflicting results between studies (for example when it comes to the economic effects of refugees) the decisions are to be based on those studies that have a vision of solidarity within society and of the common good.


Undersigned participants of public tribune Let's stop the carnage in Mediterranean Sea:

Aigul Hakimova

Andrej Kurnik

Armin Salihović

Asja Hrvatin

Barbara Beznec

Boris Vezjak

Branko Drevenšek

Danijela Tamše

Darij Zadnikar

David Limon

Dejan Turk

Draga Potočnjak

Eva Marn

Ibrahim Nouhoum

Iva Juhart

Jaro Veselinovič,

Jelka Zorn

Jernej Mlekuž

Karmen Vršić Drevenšek

Katerina Majerhold

Maja Pan

Marina Lukšič-Hacin

Mateja Kraševec

Max Zimani

Meta Simčič

Mitja Velikonja

Natalija Vrečer

Nataša Kotar

Neža Kogovšek Šalamon

Nina Kozinc

Renata Šribar

Romana Zajec

Sanja Fidler

Sara Verderber

Uršula Berlot

Uršula Lipovec Čebron

Zavratnik Simona

Žiga Podgornik

 

Časopis za kritiko znanosti

Društvo Humanitas

Klub prijateljic in prijateljev Časopisa za kritiko znanosti

Mirovni inštitut

Mednarodni afriški forum

Protestival

Puko učkur

Socialni center Rog

Zavod APIS

Zavod Global

4. skupina Združene levice - civilnodružbena gibanja in posamezniki