Reception of the appeal "Protection for Refugees in Europe War" of PEN Centre Germany (Poets, Essayists, Novelists) with the participation of Martin SCHULZ, EP President, in the EP in Brussels. Extracts from the press point. Statements by John Ralston Saul, PEN International President, Josef HASLINGER, PEN German President and Martin SCHULZ, EP President.

Brussels

press conference

SCHULZ, Martin (S&D, DE)

reception

Reception of the appeal "Protection for Refugees in Europe War" of PEN Centre Germany (Poets, Essayists, Novelists) with the participation of Martin SCHULZ, EP President and extracts from the press point

SOUNDBITE (English), John RALSTON SAUL, PEN International President  , "We are here today to present to you, a declaration, a European declaration, so I am going to be a European today and not a Canadian. It's been signed by 1116 European writers, and to say that the first person to sign it was G&uuml;nther GRASS, and it was his last act in a way, as a great writer and a great public figure. And we are deeply, deeply concerned by the way that refugees are being treated as they arrive or try to arrive in Europe. They are treated sometimes as criminals, sometimes rejected and sent away, we feel that there is an enormous need for the EU to step forward to make this no longer a matter of different governmental policies, some welcoming, some not welcoming, never the right amounts of budget, that there be some kind of harmonisation."

SOUNDBITE (English), Josef HASLINGER, PEN German President, "What disturbs us are these completely different standards which asylum seekers find in different countries and regions of Europe."

SOUNDBITE (English), Josef HASLINGER, PEN German President, "We think that the best way to do that would be a European fund, a common fund so that the money that is necessary to do all these asylum procedures isn't just national money, and people can't protest about giving that much money to the refugees."

SOUNDBITE (English), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, "This is an appeal that we take very serious in the EP, my colleague TERRICABRAS, I am very grateful that he organised our meeting of today, I take it also in remembering the death of a very good, close and highly appreciated friend G&uuml;nther GRASS who passed away as you mentioned yesterday, that he was the first signature is perhaps very representative the day after he passed away"

SOUNDBITE (English), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, "I take your appeal also personally very serious. I just visited last week at the Syrian-Turkish border the camps for refugees there. And I was I must admit, ashamed. To see what Turkey is doing at the Syrian border in a really unprecedented way, how they campaign, how they care about refugees there, with 5 billion dollars that the Turkish state mobilised last year, protecting around one million refugees. And I visited a city, Kilis, which has 105,000 inhabitants, receiving 125,000 refugees, but building fr every family a small house, with kindergarten, with schools, with a hospital, with a known administration of Syrian refugees in the camp. This is really and example of solidarity and dignity, and I am ashamed to look to Member States of the EU where the circumstances are much better than there, which are refusing their duty to apply the international rules of solidarity."

EP President Martin SCHULZ together with the delegation from International PEN, holding the appeal he ahs just received from them.