Open Letter on the "Migrant Crisis"
Open letter signed by action members (see list below)
Alongside the so-called migrant crisis across the European Union is an evolving moral disaster. Repeated migrant boating tragedies, where hundreds of lives are lost with each capsize, and the escalating desperation in Calais have been greeted with a noticeable decrease in solidarity and empathy from EU policy leaders and citizens.
It seems we are increasingly having to justify what should be a given: a refusal to abandon the most vulnerable. We must all recognise that every individual migrant is part of a worldwide narrative of conflict, disasters and threats of persecution that have made their homes uninhabitable. Many of our fellow citizens have found themselves in similar situations in the past and more recently.
Our consciences should be disturbed further by how most refugees are accommodated, not by the EU, but by lower-income countries. This reflects the sad moral state of our European Union.
The EU has, of course, finite resources, but this suffering offers opportunities for us to shape the world into a better home for all humanity. To avert the unfolding moral and humanitarian disaster we must acknowledge and act upon our obligation to provide humanitarian assistance that ensures shelter, safety and dignity for each refugee.
| Dr Ayesha Ahmad UK Mr Andrew Akampurira Uganda Professor Vilhjalmur Arnason Iceland Dr Sheena M Eagan Chamberlin USA Dr Murat Civaner Turkey Dr Caroline Clarinval Switzerland Professor Michel Debacker Belgium Professor Ignaas Devisch Belgium Professor Michele Landis Dauber USA Professor Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow Switzerland Mr Vilius Dranseika Lithuania Professor Heather Draper UK Professor Jonina Einarsdottir Iceland Professor Eugenijus Gefenas Lithuania Professor Niklas Juth Sweden Assistant Professor Peter Kakuk Hungary Professor Eleni Kalokairinou Greece Professor Pinchas Halpern Israel Dr Ghaiath MA Hussein UK Dr Kararina Komenska Slovakia Professor Dusanka Krajnovic Serbia Dr Donal O’Mathuna Ireland Professor Pierre Mallia Malta |
Dr Jay Marlowe New Zealand Dr Daniel Messelken Germany Dr Signe Mezinska Latvia Dr Goran Mijaljica Croatia Dr Elysee Nouvet Canada Dr Emilomo Ogbe Belgium Dr Teresa Sarmento Pimentel Portugal Dr Aivita Putnina Latvia Professor Vojin Rakic Serbia Mr Rob Ranisch Germany Dr Joanna Rozynska Poland Dr Johan von Schreeb Sweden Professor Jackie Leach Scully UK Dr Kadri Simm Estonia Dr Chesmal Siriwardhana UK Professor Jan Helge Solbakk Norway Professor Peter Sykora Slovakia Dr Behnam Taebi Netherlands Dr Lars Ursin Norway Professor Emanuele Valenti Spain Dr Vina Vaswani India Dr Marcin Waligora Poland Dr Shlomit Zuckerman Israel |
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