EU breaks own rules by denying human rights

The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, is denying refugees their dignity, safety, and human rights.

Tusk has turned his back on the EU’s founding principles, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, by ensuring that refugees arriving in Greece will be returned to Turkey. The ‘one-for-one’ deal agreed between Tusk and the Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, will allow one Syrian from a Turkish refugee camp to be resettled in the EU for every Syrian refugee returned to Turkey from Greece. For non-Syrians, the route to Europe is entirely cut off.

The EU has broken its own rules by outsourcing its human rights obligations. Europe needs to do two things. First, it must uphold its own principles, rules, and laws by opening its borders to refugees and allowing them safe passage throughout the EU. Second, it must take a long, hard look at how it contributes to the conflicts that cause people to flee from their homes and to make the dangerous journey to Europe or elsewhere. EU states supply large quantities of weapons to repressive governments in the Middle East and North Africa. It is little surprise that people are being killed and maimed by governments and terrorist organisations that receive the arms directly or indirectly.