asylum

The Greek government must ensure people on the move are registered and have access to the asylum process, says Oxfam in reaction to the closure of the Idomeni makeshift camp in Northern Greece.

Deportations of refugees and migrants from Greece to Turkey must be halted immediately and people wanting to seek asylum should not be kept in detention, said Oxfam, Norwegian Refugee Council and Solidarity Now today in Greece. 

Rich countries have resettled only 1.39 percent of the nearly five million Syrian refugees, a fraction of the 10 percent of people who need to be urgently offered a safe haven. As wealthy states meet in Geneva on 30 March to discuss the Syria refugee crisis, Oxfam urges them to redouble their efforts and offer their ‘fair share’ of support to hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Europe’s leaders have just missed a crucial opportunity to make a real difference in the lives and deaths of the people suffering daily in the Mediterranean. Instead of heeding calls to restore immediately a search-and-rescue operation in the Mediterranean, the EU has chosen to focus on its border control operation.