EU Summit - Continuation of a failed strategy to tackle refugee crisis
There is nothing game-changing in what EU leaders agreed to early this morning said Amnesty International today following the EU leaders' summit on migration.
"What was needed was a bold, ambitious new approach. But what we got was the continuation of a failed strategy," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's Director of Europe.
"The proposed EUR1 billion for refugee hosting countries is positive but beyond this, the commitments disappoint. EU leaders should have been agreeing on how to ensure safe and legal routes for refugees into Europe and fixing Europe's failing asylum system."
"Instead, the focus of the proposals on keeping refugees out ignores the realities of a global refugee crisis and states' obligations to provide protection to those unable to find it elsewhere.
"The relocation figures agreed yesterday won't significantly relieve the pressure on frontline states and without much more concrete and immediate assistance to these countries, the chaotic tragic scenes we have witnessed in recent weeks, will only continue and likely worsen.
"Against this backdrop, the commitment to upholding the Dublin system looks more like wishful thinking than an informed policy decision."