What Evin spoke about.

Madam President, Madam Commissioner, colleagues, we see a worsening situation for LGBTIQ+ people in many parts of the world. It is alarming. They are even being deprived of their human rights when seeking refuge. The responsibility to protect vulnerable groups is enriched in the mandate of all humanitarian interventions. In March 2021 Chriton Atuhwera, an activist and refugee from Uganda, was killed in a homophobic attack in the UNHCR Kakuma camp in Kenya. This is and unimaginable and unacceptable failure for the international community. This year, several LGBTIQ+ refugees had to be relocated or forced to flee the Kakuma camp due to threats of being attacked, injured and even killed. Let me stress the absurdity of refugees having to flee a refugee camp where they are already seeking shelter, because their human rights cannot be secured there. As an ally of the LGBTIQ+ community and a firm believer in the humanitarian system, I call on the UNHCR and the Kenyan government to act immediately to ensure sufficient protection in place for those subjected to homophobic violence. I also urge all safe countries around the world, including the EU Member States, to take their share of responsibility and increase their resettlement quotas in order to ensure that international protection of the most vulnerable groups is their shared responsibility.

Mr President, thank you very much. Colleagues! There's a pandemic that's been going on longer than anyone else. Men's violence against women. The unwillingness of society to fight it has led to women and girls paying the ultimate price: his life. If we listen carefully enough, we can hear all the women and girls screaming for our help. For too long, society has turned its back on them. Instead of responding to calls for emergency aid, some have been silenced in the hands of the perpetrators. Others have had their freedom restricted by living in hiding, and many live with fear for their lives. In our modern Europe, dictatorships are allowed to thrive, but we women and girls suffer. There is nothing fully democratic in Europe as long as people are murdered because of their gender or gender identity. A democratic Europe presupposes a feminist Europe. Work must start from an early age. Men's violence against women begins with boys' violence against girls. welcomes the fact that the Commission will present a proposal on gender-based violence; It's important. Colleagues, politics is the desire for change and direction. Today, it's a tight spot. Today, we have to take a stand to ensure that the Commission's legislative proposal becomes strong and that it includes not only all women and girls, but also LGBTQ people, who are victims of murder, hatred, intimidation and violence every day.

Mr President, thank you very much. The EU is at a crossroads: to look forward to a modern and democratic future or back to the past, after a time when democracy shines with its absence. The right-wing conservative government in Poland is clear about where it stands: Medieval ideas of misogyny, LGBTQ hostility, lack of media freedom, politicization of the judiciary. These are no longer just dreams for these conservatives, but reality, where they gain power. They are trying by all means to change the Polish institutions, laws and constitution in order to favour their power. One of the first things they do is get an iron grip on the media. That's how dictatorships come about. Now it's time for the EU to tighten its muscles. It will sting in the wallets of rogue governments that refuse to respect fundamental rights. Fined the government of the villain in Poland. Eliminate EU financial support for it. Instead, step up support for the freedom-loving people, journalists and civil society organisations in Poland, who are taking the fight against forces that risk throwing us back decades.

Madam President, thank you very much. Lebanon is currently in one of the world's, one of the, worst economic crises of the century. The lack of policy for ordinary people through socio-economic improvements was evident when I was in Beirut last week, together with my Socialist colleagues. Lack of supplies such as food, clean water and basic medicines is the everyday life of the Lebanese people. The people suffer the consequences of a corrupt political system that has to change from head to toe. The tragic explosion last year further exacerbated the situation. The system in the country turned out from its worst side, and to this day no one has been held accountable. The explosion embodies the current situation: a chaotic situation, where the people fall victim, with hitherto a lack of political will to solve it. It is good that a new government is in place, but it must now also deliver: fight poverty and inequality, eliminate corruption, ensure that free and fair elections can be held according to plan and that those responsible for the Beirut explosion are held accountable. A country that welcomes the most refugees per capita in the world must be supported. That is why it pisses me off to hear how some in this Parliament want to stop support for the UN agency UNRWA. At the same time, I welcome the work of sanctioning those actors who do not take their responsibility for the good of the people. Friends, I believe that it is time for us to join the demands of the Lebanese people for stability, justice and a secure future. And to the people of Lebanon I want to say: (The speaker uses a non-official language.)

Mr President, thank you very much. In a country where human rights are still a dream and arbitrary imprisonment is a reality, the situation for children and young people becomes even more alarming. Saudi Arabia is a country that has clearly shown how signatures on international commitments such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child are not enough. With commitments comes the obligation to implement. Today, children and young people are both imprisoned and murdered by the regime. whereas the execution of Mustafa Hashem al-Darwish and the continued imprisonment and death sentence of Abdullah al-Howaiti are vile examples of ancient methods used by the Saudi regime, even against children and young people; Certainly, the promises of the Saudi regime to improve human rights sound good. So far, however, little has been seen in reality. Saudi Arabia must ensure that it immediately starts to respect the commitments it has made itself, to protect children by ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but also to respect human rights. whereas the UN and the EU have an obligation towards all children and young people in the country; The death sentences must be stopped and those behind the executions must not go unpunished.

Mr President, thank you very much. Freedom of expression and freedom of the press has always been and will always be a threat to dictatorship and oppressive regimes. This is where the attacks are most intense, even in Hong Kong. whereas according to Reporters Without Borders’ 2021 Press Freedom Index, the Communist dictatorship in China continues to lead the league in the number of imprisoned press freedom defenders worldwide; Since last year, they also rule Hong Kong with the help of the National Security Law they put in place. Those who do not kneel before the dictatorship and Xi Jinping are imprisoned and many are murdered. The only crime they committed was to thirst for freedom and let the power of the word speak its own language about the repression in Hong Kong by the regime in China. Most recently, the Apple Daily newspaper closed on June 24, and founder Jimmy Lai is imprisoned with hit-and-run allegations that he participated in the 2019 demonstration that would pose a security threat. National security laws must stop at once and political prisoners must be released. For the EU, business as usual cannot continue in trade relations as the situation continues to deteriorate.

Madam President, thank you very much. Colleagues. When fundamentalism and extremism rule, democracy, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, equality and dissidents become the enemy. The Iranian regime has repeatedly demonstrated this. Iran has the highest number of executions per capita in the world. Swedish-Iranian Ahmadreza Djalali and other prisoners of conscience must be released immediately. It is good that the EU has, among other things, extended previous measures such as banning the export of technologies that could be used to intercept and otherwise oppress opposition dissidents. It is also good that the new EU global sanctions mechanism has now been used against eight individuals and three entities. This means that 89 individuals and four entities have now been sanctioned for human rights violations in recent years. But it is not acceptable that, since our last discussion last year on the situation in Iran, no Member State of the European Union has been able to meet its citizens who have been arbitrarily deprived of their freedom. Many of them are even at risk of being deprived of their lives. Unless Ahmadreza Djalali and all other prisoners of conscience are immediately released, not a single representative of the Iranian regime will be able to set foot in our Union.

Mr President, 2019 – a country going towards the right direction. 2020 and still in 2021 – a country with negative development. It is enough. All the people of Ethiopia deserve democracy and equality now. The spiral of war and conflict must end. Tigray and other regions are suffering from violence and human rights violations, regional and ethnic tensions. There needs to be an independent investigation into the war crimes taking place in Tigray, and international organisations must access Tigray to provide the people with emergency needs. The Ethiopian central government needs to facilitate an inclusive national dialogue with minority communities, political parties and wider civil society to try to find a lasting political solution and peace for the country, peace for the people. Genuine and constructive engagement by all actors is the only way to restore peace and stability in Ethiopia. Here the EU can have an important mediating role.

Madam President, the EU global human rights mechanism regime was adopted just six months ago, and it is without a doubt one of the most forceful tools in defence of respect for human rights. It is hard on people and companies responsible for human rights violation, but spares innocent citizens that might otherwise have been hit by other kinds of sanctions. In these six months, the mechanism has already been applied to individuals and companies in several countries. However, the potential of the mechanism is much greater and we should strive to enhance it as well as increase Parliament’s involvement in the process. I also want to join the call for the inclusion of crimes of corruption in the sanctions regimes, as corruption, bad governance and human rights violations often go hand—in—hand.

Madam President, democracy is under attack right now, both by internal forces in our Union as well as by foreign forces, and both offline and online. Offline we see Erdoğan and Turkish authorities spreading their tentacles into our Union in their aim to pursue dissidents, many times Kurdish dissidents. And Xi Jinping and Chinese authorities send threatening emails to EU journalists like the freelance journalist Jojje Olsson at the Swedish newspaper Expressen. Online we constantly see how Putin in Russia, but also Chinese authorities, spread fake news about the EU, elections in Member States and parties that are not pro-Putin. Even worse is that some of the foreign dictators link arms with their like-minded in the EU: Orbán in Hungary and Kaczyński in Poland. I now ask Mr Borrell: how is the Commission ensuring that the policies that aim to combat foreign interference also lead to consequences for those EU government leaders who link arms with foreign leaders that attack our democracies?