European Parliament’s LIBE Committee calls for new measures for the protection of Asylum Seekers and respect for Human Rights

Since 30 November 2020, several Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in LIBE and FEMM parliamentary committees have been taking stock of dossiers concerning the recent activities of FRONTEX, voluntary returns and detention in first reception centres, asylum seekers’ rights and family reunification, child protection and human trafficking. The purpose of the resolutions is to raise attention of the European Parliament and European Commission on the protection of asylum seekers. MEPs discussions suggested several improvements for the EU legal framework on human rights and new approaches on the application of it at local level.

‘The Walls of Europe’

On Saturday November 9, Europe celebrated the 30-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall that marked the end of a separated Europe from two different, controlling ideologies. However, 30 years later Europe is building walls again, only this time to keep refugees and migrants from entering Europe. A report recently published by the Dutch organisation Stop Wapenhandel argues that “Europe is divided not so much by ideology as by perceived fear of refugees and migrants, some of the world’s most vulnerable people”. The report finds that Europe is spending a lot of money and technology on protecting its borders in a time where new migration policies permeate interior policies in Europe.