Europe’s inhuman migration policies are, once again, tragically evident across the continent.

Off the coast of Italy, over 60 people  – including at least 12 children – died when a boat capsized on Sunday. It had sailed from Turkey carrying refugees from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, in Greece, hundreds of extra border guards have been deployed to fortify the country’s border with Turkey, preparing to push back an anticipated wave of refugees from the Turkish-Syrian earthquakes, as Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government also vowed to enlarge a border wall.

As Greece and the EU’s notorious Frontex agency pursue ever more inhuman and hostile border policies in the Aegean, more and more migrants attempt to sail from Turkey directly to Italy. Even when they survive the extremely perilous route, their rescue is far from certain, as Sunday’s tragedy clearly shows, as Giorgia Meloni cracks down on NGOs operating rescue ships.

The tragic earthquakes that hit the Turkish-Syrian border led to a strong humanitarian reaction by millions of Europeans who saw those who lost everything in the catastrophe as their brothers and sisters. At the same time, shielded by this wave of European solidarity from below, Europe’s governments proceeded to further their already barbaric immigration policies, tightening the security measures along the Turkish-European border, fearing that the misery that our solidarity is trying to alleviate might make its way to European shores. The hypocrisy is stunning.

MERA25 in Greece, Italy and Germany condemn their governments, and the EU, for their indifference to the lives of refugees, disregard to international law, and their hypocrisy. While they advocate for “human rights” and (rightfully) support of refugees from Ukraine, hundreds of others drown in the Mediterranean for the crime of not being European.

Europe needs a joint, transnational and humane migration policy – something only MERA25 parties are sure to deliver.

The DiEM25 approach to migration is guided by our democratic and humanist traditions and as our Second Green Paper on Migration states, our approach commits us to:  

• open borders, hosting refugees and migrants and granting them equal rights, including political rights
• playing an active role internationally in fighting causes of flight
• supporting other host countries and communities both operationally and financially

Furthermore, it is vital to overcome the false distinction between political/economic migrants and refugees which leads to discriminatory policies, deprives people of agency and forces them into underemployment and exploitation.

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