Diary about the European Migration and Refugee Situation, April 2016
Diary about the European Migration and Refugee Situation, April 2016

Summary/Abstract: The author’s diary chronicles a visit to Greece in early April 2016. It highlights the miserable humanitarian conditions for refugees within detention centres or ‘hot-spots’ in Greece after the closure of the Greek-Macedonian border and the coming into force of the EU-Turkey Agreement of 18 March 2016. In the Idomeni camp near the border to Macedonia the situation of more than 11,000 people is described as most precarious. Fajon considers it Europe’s failure not to be able to safeguard humanitarian standards for refugees on its own territory. She anticipates the collapse of the EU-Turkey Agreement as long as EU member states are not willing to support the relocation of refugees in their own countries. The author appeals to solidarity, saving human lives and calls for a common European asylum policy. A commitment to address the root causes of migration is equally necessary as a welldefined integration policy accepting immigration as a normal phenomenon in contemporary Europe.

• Details
• Contents