INTERVIEW
June 20 marks International Refugee Day, wanted by the United Nations to raise awareness and also raise funds for people fleeing their country, often because of war. This year, this day which falls right in the middle of an unprecedented global health crisis takes on a very special dimension. Indeed, the Covid-19 pandemic prompted many countries to close their borders to limit the spread of the virus. The UN has announced that it was unable to resume its resettlement of refugees in third countries until Thursday. According to the organization, the coronavirus crisis has delayed the departure of some 10,000 people.
"This health crisis has accentuated the suffering of those who have to flee to seek protection," said Saturday at the microphone of Europe 1 Lola Schulmann, in charge of advocacy at Amnesty International on refugee and migrant issues. "The health crisis should not be an excuse to prevent these people from entering European territory or to ill welcome them," insists the official.
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It considers that most of the health measures adopted in the various countries have not taken sufficient account of the refugees. "We are worried that the refugees are not today at the heart of the policies [implemented against the Covid-19, editor's note ]", underlines Lola Schulmann. "Politicians must protect, they cannot sit on the rights and conventions they have signed and ratified. It is their obligation to protect refugees and not, as we see today, to protect them. move away from the territories or put them in detention centers outside of all health care settings, "she deplores.
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"If the number of refugees around the world increases, only a tiny fraction of these people join European territories or France," she explains. It thus opposes the 6,000 asylum applications lodged in France in 2019 (+ 7.9% compared to 2018) to the 6 million refugees massed in Turkey, most of them fleeing the war in Syria. "We are quite capable of welcoming these people with dignity," concludes Lola Schulmann.