Under the banner “We have space” and “No more Moria!”, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in 27 European cities today to demonstrate for a fundamental change in the EU migration policy and an immediate evacuation of the people stranded in Moria. Together with Seebrücke and Europe Must Act, various other civil society organizations mobilized for the protests. In addition to the urgent measures the protesters demanded a closing of the the camps on the Aegean islands such as Lesbos, Chios and Samos and a relocation of the people to the EU member states.
Heike Gumz from Europe Must Act explains: “Thousands of people demonstrating across Europe today and the last week conveyed a clear message: civil society has already laid the foundation for a fundamental change towards a migration policy based on facts, fundamental human rights and the values proclaimed by Europe. What is lacking so far is a policy that is aware of its responsibility.”
Christian Schmidt from Europe Must Act adds: “Next Tuesday, the EU will present its new Asylum and Migration Pact that foresees the expansion of the border camp system in Europe. Europe Must Act rejects any policy based on human rights violations and is calling for a paradigm shift!”
Alina Lyapina from Seebrücke concludes: “While Germany is the country with the largest reception capacity in the EU and 180 cities in Germany have expressed their willingness to take in the refugees from the Greek islands, the situation on Lesbos is still dire. The inaction of the German government waiting for a “European solution” at the cost of human lives is unjustifiable. We demand that German Chancellor Angela Merkel acts immediately and allows the German municipalities to welcome people in need.”
Europe Must Act is a growing movement of grassroots NGOs and civil society, determined to fundamentally change the way Europe treats the asylum seekers arriving at all its borders, land and sea.
Seebrücke is a civil society movement that advocates for sea rescue, legal routes to Europe and a municipal reception of refugees in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
Demonstrations took place in:
Krakow, Copenhagen, Florence, Katowice, Warsaw, Arnhem, The Hague, Bad Kreuznach, Brussels, Rotterdam, Halle (Saale), Herrenberg, Madrid, Milano, Winterthur, Duisburg, Esslingen, Leuuwarden, Mainz, Marburg, Oldenburg, Paderborn, Wangen, Wildeshausen, Barcelona, Berlin, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Bielefeld, Birmingham, Essen, Frankfurt, Braunschweig, Göttingen, Helsinki, Lisbon, Luxembourg, Malmö, Nijmegen, Pforzheim, Paris, Poland-wide, Porto, Prague, Riga, Stockholm, Tampere, Utrecht, York, Rome.
Press contacts:
Europe Must Act, germanymustact@gmail.com