The quick acceptance of Ukrainians fleeing Russian aggression highlights the “double standards” in Europe around migrants, contrasting with its rejection of people fleeing violence in Africa, the Middle East and other parts of the world, he assured. The director of the largest humanitarian network on the planet announced Monday.
Francesco Rocca, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said he does not believe that “there is any difference” between someone fleeing the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine and someone fleeing the extremist group Boko Haram in Nigeria.
“Those fleeing violence, those seeking protection, should be treated the same,” said Rocca, whose organization operates in more than 192 countries and has nearly 15 million volunteers. .
He pointed at a press conference that there is “a moral imperative” to help people fleeing violence and uprisings, and “the political, public and humanitarian response to the Ukrainian crisis has shown what can be done when you put humanity and dignity first, when there is global solidarity”.
“We hoped that the Ukrainian crisis would have been a turning point in European migration policies,” Rocca said. “But unfortunately that was not the case.”
He said the European Union still has different approaches to migration on its eastern border from Ukraine and on its southern border, in the Mediterranean.
The war, which Russia insists on calling a “special military operation,” has unleashed one of the worst humanitarian crises in Europe since World War II.
Since Russia invaded the As his neighbor arrived on February 24, more than 6 million people have left Ukraine, of which Poland has accepted more than 3.3 million, Romania more than 900,000, Hungary 605,000, Moldova at 463,000 and Slovakia at 421,000, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
In contrast, he assured Rocca, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers trying to reach Europe continue to die, suffer abuse and struggle to access essential services.
Since 2014, more than 48,000 migrants have died. or disappeared at sea, and the most dangerous route is the one taken by migrants through the Mediterranean to Europe, where at least 19,000 deaths have been reported, he assured.
Those who do make it, mainly to Italy, Greece and Spain, are often sent to camps and have to wait a long time for a hearing on their asylum claims.
“In Europe there is a great heart and a great soul, because the European community was able to open its arms and receive millions of Ukrainians in a few days,” Rocca said. “ that they lie about the threat that comes through the Mediterranean, when it is about a few thousand people”.
that “ethnicity and nationality should not be a determining factor in saving lives.”
“There is a double standard,” he assured. “This is self-evident. is before our eyes, and we cannot deny it when it comes to seeking protection.”
Rocca was at the UN headquarters for the first review of the global agreement in July 2018 aimed at promoting safe and orderly migration and reducing human trafficking and smuggling. The agreement was the first global document to address the issue of migration and was signed by more than 190 nations. The administration of US President Donald Trump boycotted the negotiations.
Although progress has been made on the agreement, especially with regard to the Ukrainians, Rocca assured that there is still “a lot to do” to fulfill the commitments and the vision of the pact. He said that the lives of many migrants have been lost due to the inability of governments to modify their policies and guarantee safe and dignified migration.
“Governments have the right to establish their migratory policies and manage its borders”, he sentenced. “They are obliged to do so in a way that avoids suffering and death”.