S&Ds: human rights should be at the core of the EU migration policy
Date
01 Mar 2019
Sections
Justice & Home Affairs
Security
A sub-committee on human rights cross party delegation of the European Parliament, led by S&D MEP Antonio Panzeri, visited Rome with the objective of meeting migrants and refugees located in community centres in order to collect first-hand information about their experiences traveling from the country of origin to the country of destination.
Italy is one of the European countries which is dealing with and hosting one of the largest number of refugees and migrants in Europe.
The chair of the sub-committee on human rights (DROI) and S&D member, Antonio Panzeri, said:
“Human rights should be at the centre of the EU migration policy and legislators at EU level should more actively insist on a revision of the Dublin Agreement and build an asylum system based on solidarity. “The S&D Group already acknowledged the decisive role played by NGO's in saving lives in the Mediterranean by nominating a group of 11 of them for the Sakharov Prize 2019 and was very supportive of the UN Global Compacts on migration and refugees adopted in Marrakesh last December.”
The S&D Group spokesperson on human rights, Soraya Post, added:
“We have heard horrible testimonies from the asylum seekers during their detention in Libyan camps on their way to Europe: forced labour, sexual abuses, forced prostitution, lack of food and hygiene. “The EU should be ashamed to continue to finance the externalization of the migration policy, notably in Libya, while knowing all the human rights abuses. “The EU should pay for humanitarian corridors and not migrants.”
Note for editors:
The delegation met with Italian NGO's and civil society involved in Search and Rescue Operations at sea, with UN organisations notably UNHCR, IOM and UNICEF, with H.E. Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, Secretary for the Holy See's Relations with States, with the Prefect Gerarda Pantalone, responsible for civil liberties and immigration in the Interior Ministry, with Emanuela Del Re, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and with the Captain Della Corte and Lieutenant Gnoffo, Coordinator and Deputy Coordinator at the International Coordination Centre for the Joint Frontex/EBCGA. The members also had meetings in the Italian Parliament and in the Senate.