migrants

Since January 2015 more than 1 million women, men and children fleeing war, persecution, natural disaster and poverty entered or passed through Greece in search of safety and a better life in Europe. We are working in Lesbos island, one of the main entry points to Europe, responding to the urgent needs of people arriving. 

For too long the EU’s migration policies have ignored the priorities of the countries it partners with for the sake of its own border security and domestic priorities. These have permeated the domestic migration and asylum policies of the Maghreb countries it supports, at the cost of people’s interests.

The fortunes of Latin America’s 73 billionaires surged by $48.2 billion since the beginning of the pandemic even as the region buckles as one of the worst-hit regions in the world, said Oxfam today. 

In response to the proposals from the Greek government to install floating barriers in the sea to deter migrants and refugees, Evelien van Roemburg, Oxfam's Europe Migration Campaign manager, said:

"This is an extremely worrying development that would be a violation of the basic human right for people to seek protection and put even more lives at risk.

"People would be forced to make more dangerous crossings through deep and treacherous waters.


 

The death of a mother in a Greek refugee camp is appalling, and a direct consequence of the EU's migration policies, says Oxfam.

Migrants, including children, at the French-Italian border have been illegally detained and pushed back to Italy by French border guards, testimonies gathered by a coalition of French NGOs, including Oxfam, show. THe organziations have submitted the accounts to a prosecutor in France who is looking into abuses of fundamental rights at the border with Italy.

Oxfam's new report details how the system to identify and protect the most vulnerable people has broken down due to chronic under-staffing and flawed processes. 

EU plans for ‘controlled centers’ for asylum seekers mean more innocent people – including children – will be forced to live in de-facto detention centers, Oxfam said today.

As the EU plans to set up ‘controlled centres’ for refugees and other migrants across Europe, the number of people trapped in deplorable conditions in EU ‘hotspots’ and other camps on the Greek islands has reached an unprecedented 20,110, according to Greek government figures.