migrant crisis

Monday's UN summit on Refugees and Migrants in New York is likely to fall far short of what is needed to address the global displacement crisis or protect people on the move.

With its new ‘migration compact’, the EU rewriting its foreign policy so that it serves the single objective of stopping people from coming to Europe, Oxfam said.

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.

EU foreign ministers assessing the six months since November’s Valletta Summit on migration from Africa must shift their focus to the urgent needs of people fleeing from violence and human rights abuses, said Oxfam and ICMC.

The EU must urgently re-think its collective treatment of people arriving at Europe’s borders and ensure that every human being, no matter their status, enjoys the basic respect of their rights and fundamental dignity. 

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. 

European border closures and restrictions are dramatically worsening the humanitarian crisis for refugees and migrants and a decision to shift the EU’s responsibility for refugees to Turkey would see the bloc bargaining its core values and abandoning fundamental legal obligations. 

As the number of people fleeing to Europe passes one million, Oxfam is calling on the international community to address what is a global crisis. The uncomfortable truth is that the conflicts and brutality fuelling refugee migration have grown in recent years to unprecedented levels.