23.10.2015.

Appeal to Governments in the Region: Raise Your Voice for Solidarity and Open Europe

Croatian Initiative „Welcome!“ that brings together over 60 associations, together with Slovenian and Hungarian activists, submitted a letter to the Government of Republic of Croatia and the Government of Republic of Slovenia on the eve of the emergency meeting of the leaders of European states to take place on Sunday, October 25th.Civil society organisations in the region consider this meeting critical for the prevention of human tragedies that are escalating due to political frictions and lack of coordination among neighbouring countries on the so-called Balkan route.

Just like the volunteers have managed to find strength, as they share water, food, blankets, raincoats, and, most of all, information and encouragement to refugees on numerous border and admission checkpoints day and night, they demand the same from government leaders – to find strength and commitment for a clear political agreement on a common regime of admission and protection of refugees, without „hide and seek games“ on information exchange, registration, the closing and opening of borders. The government leaders' agreement on Sunday is crucial for the upcoming winter months where long hours of waiting of exhausted people in mud and snow, especially children, can result in additional deaths on European soil, instead of safety from war.

For these reasons, the Initiative „Welcome!“ proposes a precise agreement on monthly regimes of transport, admission and protection of refugees throughout the entire route, from Greece to Germany, with defined inter-governmental obligations on information exchange on admission, registration and cooperation of all services in the field, mandatory provision of public transport and prevention of s smuggling of migrants and other forms of organised crime. In addition, it is necessary to activate the temporary protection mechanism in line with the Council Directive 2001/55/EC for the sake of swift provision of refugee status for as long as war conflicts continue. This mechanism became part of the EU legislation based on the experiences with the refugee crisis in former Yugoslavia during the 1990's, yet it has never been activated. This week, for the first time, it was highlighted as necessary by the EPP Congress in its emergency resolution on refugee crisis.

Militarization – as a reaction to bare-handed people seeking refuge - is not only contrary to European values, EU founding treaties and international humanitarian law, but also poses an inadequate and futile response to the current refugee crisis in the EU.

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