The British newspaper, The Guardian, said that the harsh approach adopted by the European Union countries towards irregular migration violates the principles of the United Nations Refugee Convention, which was approved 70 years ago.
The newspaper pointed out in its editorial that the agreement approved in 1951 stipulates the rights of refugees to seek safe haven and the duty of states to protect them, but it seems that most European countries choose to celebrate the anniversary of the adoption of that agreement by tearing up some of its basic principles.
She pointed out that about a thousand refugees died this year while trying to cross the Mediterranean towards Europe, more than 4 times the number of deaths for the same reasons in the same period last year 2020.
She said that many of these refugees have fled persecution, and some of them are economic migrants, but European countries do not care about this, as they are all "irregular" refugees and their attempts should be thwarted and deterred by its cruel strategy.
The newspaper pointed out that European countries have taken a number of measures to deter refugees, as maritime patrols have been greatly reduced, whether those carried out by Italian or European agencies, and some countries have summoned the owners of rescue ships of non-governmental organizations in the courts and detained their ships, measures that make Disasters related to refugee boat sinking and death at sea are more likely.
The Guardian pointed out that large numbers of refugees are stuck in Greece in a hopeless isthmus, many of them in miserable overcrowded camps, and Greece has recently deployed deafening “sound cannons” on its border with Turkey to keep refugees away, and also built a steel wall to close crossing points towards its lands.
The European Commission - and spoke to the Guardian newspaper - rushed to develop a new compact on migration and asylum after the devastating fire in the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos last September, and stressed the need to balance border protection with concerns about humanitarian risks to refugees, but no There is still agreement among EU member states on resettlement quotas and measures that could defuse the crisis.
The newspaper concluded that European countries have resorted to adopting an immoral and merciless strategy according to which they turn into an impenetrable bulwark against refugees, relying on cruelty, brute force and deterrence, despite the fact that refugees constitute only 0.6 percent of the EU population.