JRS-UK joins call for asylum seekers' rights

One of the largest television stations in Norway, TV2, has produced a 20-minute documentary on the asylum 'humanitarian crisis' in Greece.  It is quite a powerful documentary, with disturbing images that represent an even more disturbing reality.

JRS in Europe is very concerned about threats to access to asylum in the EU: the concept of 'Fortress Europe'.  As EU governments try to close down illegal immigration routes into the EU, the cost is a very human one - death, ill-treatment and denial of access to human rights such as the right to claim asylum.

TV2 in Norway has put together a documentary on the crisis in Greece, now one of the main routes into the EU, as other border controls have been tightened and as there are many more patrols in the Mediterranean.  There are agreements between the EU member states that asylum seekers should pursue their asylum claims in the first country they entered in the EU.  This arrangement is controlled by the second Dublin Convention (Dublin II), which has been suspended recently by the UK government with respect to returns to Greece due to the inhumane treatment faced by asylum seekers there (no accommodation, no support, no food other than that given by voluntary organisations such as Caritas, no permission to work, arbitrary detentions and removals, and generalised racism resulting in some racially motivated attacks, lack of due process in asylum claims).

The documentary is important for giving an insight into what people experience trying to get to the EU to seek protection and safety, or indeed for a better life. You should be aware, however, that there are some disturbing images in the documentary.

Further information on this issue is available from Louise Zanré at the JRS UK office.  Link below - and also to You Tube to view the TV2 documentary.


 JRS-UK

 TV2 documentary