Refugees and asylum seekers

Ahead of the first plenary of the newly elected European Parliament, more than 90 human rights and humanitarian organisations are sounding the alarm over attempts by the EU and EU countries to offload their migration responsibilities to countries outside of Europe.

This week, EU negotiators are hammering out the final details of the long-awaited EU migration pact.

Ahead of the trilogues, Stephanie Pope, Oxfam EU migration expert, said: “The deal is nothing but a house of cards incapable of fixing the EU’s broken asylum system. After years of negotiation, we are left with a pact that ushers in increased detention, more pushbacks, and dubious deals with non-EU countries.

Ahead of European interior ministers meeting in Brussels today to discuss progress on EU migration and asylum policy, Oxfam denounces plans to make EU countries commit to a “voluntary, simple and predictable solidarity mechanism”.

As the second Global Refugee Forum (GRF) is about to take place in Geneva this week, the InterAgency Working Group for East and Central Africa (IAWG) urges world leaders to honour their commitment to support refugees and the countries hosting them, through increased, equitable responsibility-sharing.   

In response to the EU’s decision to extend the Temporary Protection Directive for refugees fleeing Ukraine, Nicola Bay, Lead of Oxfam’s Ukraine response, said:

The new Greek asylum system is designed to deport people rather than offer them safety and protection, warned the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) and Oxfam today.

“It’s deeply concerning that the number of forcibly displaced people has increased for the tenth year in a row to yet another record level. In addition to the violence, persecution, and hardship that these people are fleeing, many are now also facing the threat of the global coronavirus pandemic in overcrowded camps without enough clean water or health facilities", said Fionna Smyth, Oxfam’s Head of Humanitarian Campaigns, in response to the launch of the UNHCR’s annual Global Trends report today.

The Global Refugee Forum ended today with refugees making sure that their message to be fully included in all decisions about their futures was heard by world leaders.

Despite real strides taken to include more refugees at the Forum, where they have been represented on high-level panels alongside governments, business leaders, and UN agencies, only 2% of the total 3000 participants were refugees. World leaders must do more to bring real change and uphold their pledges to the 25.9m refugees worldwide.

As EU heads of state and government meet today in Brussels to discuss Europe’s response to migration, Oxfam says the EU must address the human rights abuses suffered by refugees and migrants within and at Europe’s borders, instead of obsessively focusing on stopping people arriving.

All around the world, war, violence, poverty, famine and disasters force ordinary people from their homes every day, as they desperately search for safety and protection. Many have left everything behind and end up living in squalid conditions with not enough food, clean water or proper sanitation. You can help.