20
Oct
2021
Watch
Pushbacks at the EU's external border (debate)
Madam President, Ladies and gentlemen, this is a violation of international law, and it must finally come to an end! Fortress Europe is not only cementing itself externally, it is now moving from Member State to Member State, from border fence to border fence, across the EU – something I never thought possible! On behalf of Member States, such as Poland, refugees are detained at EU-sponsored border walls. Or they'll be robbed somewhere. They are beaten, humiliated, starved. Under the eyes of Frontex, women, children, men are exposed to the sea, pushed into forests, thrown into rivers. Tens of thousands died at the EU's borders. And nothing happens! Push-backs It's a human rights surrender, and it's illegal. No national court in the world – nor, moreover, any Polish court – can Push-backs legalize. The core of each Push-backs Refugees are denied the right to apply for asylum in the first place. This completely abolishes the individual right to asylum – it is gone! And we can't let that happen! The peoples of Europe have experienced in two terrible world wars what it means not to be able to flee anywhere. The fundamental right to asylum is one of the most important values of post-war Europe, is the great lesson of a century in which millions of people were abandoned and their lives destroyed. There must be no turning back to this barbaric age! I call on the Commission to take action not only against Lukashenka, but against every Member State that tramples on human rights.