OSCE PA humanitarian Chair marks World Refugee Day in Lampedusa

LAMPEDUSA, 20 June 2015 – The Chairperson of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), is in Lampedusa, Italy today, where she is meeting with migrants, refugees and officials at the Lampedusa First Aid and Reception Center, as well as with representatives of NGOs working to help alleviate the human crisis in the Mediterranean. 

She issued the following statement on the occasion of World Refugee Day:

"It is tragic that our commemoration of World Refugee Day is so relevant. Earlier this week the United Nations announced that worldwide displacement is at the highest level ever recorded: One in every 122 persons is now a refugee or otherwise displaced. Here in Lampedusa, on the frontline of the human tragedy that the Mediterranean has become, it is evident that much more can and must be done to address this crisis. Yes, it requires money, but more than anything else it requires political will – something that is all too scare nowadays. 

“It is shameful that a few countries in southern Europe are being left to address this problem while others put up walls – either through their policies, or physically. The principle of European solidarity must also be applied in times of hardship, not only when times are good. Hollow words of support for Italy, Turkey, Greece and other nations trying to cope with this calamity simply will not do. Let us recall, at the same time, that the vast majority of those fleeing their homes remain in the developing world. The industrialized world is being asked to help with just the tip of the iceberg.

“I call on all countries to immediately accelerate and improve the efficiency of procedures for the reception of migrants and the processing of asylum and refugee cases. This will not only help those desperate individuals fleeing their homes, but it will be support the integration of societies and reduce the strain on budgets. I also appeal to European leaders to display courage, putting aside the xenophobia that has been creeping into our discourse, and publicly recognize the strength that migrants bring to our societies. 

“Forty years ago, in the OSCE’s founding document, the Helsinki Final Act, our leaders recognized the pain of those who are separated from their homelands and agreed to ‘Make it their aim to facilitate freer movement and contacts… and to contribute to the solution of the humanitarian problems that arise.’ We must take inspiration from that vision and recognize the moral and ethical imperative to take action.”

Chairperson Santos, accompanied by Italian OSCE parliamentarians Marietta Tidei, the Rapporteur of the Assembly’s Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment, and Cristina De Pietro, will travel to reception centers and meet with civil society organizations in Catania and Mineo in the coming days.