Leaders must urgently scale up refugee reception
Tuesday, 15 September 2015
Save the Children responds to the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council extraordinary meeting in Brussels on the refugee crisis.
Responding to the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, a Save the Children spokesperson said:
“Save the Children is extremely disappointed at the painstakingly slow pace of decision making our European leaders have shown on the refugee crisis. Meeting in Brussels, EU Ministers look to have failed once again to take immediate and concrete measures to resolve the crisis. Urgent action is required when it comes to ensuring adequate reception, considering thousands of men, women and children are currently not assisted at all or packed into substandard and in some cases inhumane reception facilities in Greece and along the Balkans route. Their plight is getting more desperate by the day and they cannot afford for EU leaders to delay. We need to move from proposals to action. The EU can and must act now. Save the Children’s new 5 point plan sets out what European Ministers must do to stem the escalating humanitarian crisis.”
Regarding border control:
“Save the Children is extremely alarmed that thousands of children are caught up in chaos caused by certain European countries closing their borders. We know that when countries are overwhelmed with thousands upon thousands of refugee arrivals, children are particularly vulnerable. This has resulted, in many cases, in children having to sleep rough and being at risk of people trafficking, violence and exploitation.”
- Save the Children’s new 5 point plan sets out what European Ministers must do to stem the escalating humanitarian crisis. The plan includes scaling up reception services, increased relocation and resettlement, greater aid to the countries refugees flee from, a call to maintain search and rescue operations at sea, and setting up safe routes to Europe
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