The Paris summit was another confirmation of Europe’s hypocrisy

The Paris summit was another confirmation of Europe’s hypocrisy towards the suffering of millions of human beings and of our politicians’ inability to deal responsibly with the management of migration flows.

The EU’s only goal is to block the arrival of migrants and to do so it does not hesitate to delegate control of flows to other countries that are unable to secure the most basic human rights.

If the agreement between Italy and Libya becomes the model for managing migratory phenomena, it is clear that Europe’s priority is not to protect the lives of those who escape war, persecution and hunger, but to prevent them from entering the continent at any cost.

As seen in the past, funds that should be spent on cooperation and development projects will be reserved to finance relocation centres and security systems in current transit countries to contain arrivals without any control over the actual living conditions of migrants.

“To persist in distinguishing between those who migrate due to war and those who migrate because of poverty is unjustifiable and unacceptable.

It is unjustifiable because the law provides that the right of asylum is recognised on the basis of individual history and not on the origin of applicants.

It is unacceptable because economic migrants and refugees face the same risks to life by remaining in their countries of origin,” states Rossella Miccio, President of EMERGENCY.

Once again, the reasons why these people seek shelter in Europe have been ignored. As long as we do not take responsibility for dealing with root causes, we will not be able to effectively address the flow of migrants and refugees.

The causes of migration can only be tackled via a real commitment to a politics of peace and cooperation, as well as development projects in the countries of origin. Trafficking in human beings can be stopped only by opening legal and safe humanitarian corridors.

Closing the Mediterranean route on the pretext of fighting the traffickers will only have the effect of moving massacres from the sea to the deserts of North Africa.