During te plenary session (14-17 September 2020) of the European Parliament in Brussels, MEPs call for an urgent EU response to address the humanitarian crisis on the island of Lesbos following the fire that razed the Moria refugee camp.

Brussels

EU - Greece (T)

debate

plenary session

respect for human rights in the world (T)

migration and refugees in Europe (T)

REINTKE, Terry (Greens/EFA, DE)

IN 'T VELD, Sophia (Renew, NL)

GARCÍA PÉREZ, Iratxe (S&D, ES)

JOHANSSON, Ylva (SE, EC)

Need for an immediate and humanitarian EU response to the current situation in the refugee camp in Moria: extract from the debate

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, And one of the goals with the work I have been working on to find and present a new pact, immigration and asylum, to be able to come to a solution where we can agree on a Common European migration asylum. One important aim is no more Morias. We should not accept people living under these conditions.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, We already have started, as you know, the relocation of unaccompanied minors to other member states. And now we would step up on this and continue this coordination and relocation of unaccompanied minors. But I'm also worried about other vulnerable people, families with small children, elderly, the pregnant women.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, In Moria, we have done in six months we have gone from 25,000 people to 12,000 people. It's still too many. It is still unacceptable. But I have pushed for change and numbers are going down thanks to the efforts of the Greek authorities and thanks to the efforts of the European Commission.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Moria is not normal. But migration is normal. It is something that we can manage. Moria is a leftover or the 2015 migration crisis but times have changed.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA (EPP, MT), We simply cannot have ad hoc solidarity anymore. We need permanent instruments where every state plays its part, where meaningful solidarity is more than just a buzzword, where responsibility is truly shared, where lives are saved, where we completely reform Dublin, we improve our rate of return, we go after traffickers, we give people in need of protection a chance at a future without fear.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Iratxe GARC&#205;A P&#201;REZ (S&amp;D, ES), How far will some people go when it comes to converting the Mediterranean into a cemetery? People are drowning, but so is the dignity of our European project. There are people who forget that the Mediterranean is the cradle of rights and refugees have rights.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sophia IN&apos;T VELD (RE, NL), If we let people drown, if we let them starve, if we let them live in the streets without even water, food and medicine, can we look ourselves in the eyes?

SOUNDBITE (English), Terry REINTKE (Greens/EFA, DE), I want all of you to listen to the testimony that Subi from Afghanistan gave to him.  (Reported speech via recording) "Hi. My name is Subi. I am from Afghanistan and I am also one of the refugees who used to live in camp Moria. Now I left camp area, these refugees have been sleeping on the ground. This is an extremely horrible and heartbreaking situation. If you think that the refugees are not suffering here, please see if you can come here with your own families, with your beloved ones, cross the sea with a rubber boat and try to see if you can sleep on the ground with your own beloved ones."

SOUNDBITE (English), Katarina BARLEY (S&amp;D, DE), Excuse me. We are here as Members of Parliament. If we have other people speaking here, on behalf of, I think if we start that we can have 450 million speaking here. I am sorry, even though I understand what you want to say. Please, could you carry on in a different way? Maybe reading it out loud or something. 

SOUNDBITE (English), Terry REINTKE (Greens/EFA, DE), Okay Madam President, If I must I'm going to read out the rest of the statement that Subi from Afghanistan gave. "If you think that the refugees are not suffering here, please see if you can come here with your own families, with your beloved ones, cross the sea with a rubber boat and try to see if you can sleep on the ground with your own beloved ones. Try it without having enough food, water or some sort of a shelter. How can this happen?"

SOUNDBITE (English), Terry REINTKE (Greens/EFA, DE), "Honestly, we as refugees believed that human rights would be respected in Europe. The fact that we are refugees still doesn't mean that we should be a burden on anyone's shoulders. No, we can work as long as there are opportunities provided for us. We know how to even offer help because we have been through so much in life. We had heartbreaking reasons for leaving our countries. We had heartbreaking reasons for leaving our families and beloved ones behind. I really don't know what else to say. Because these words should be enough to wake up those that make decisions."

Cutaway of Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs