Commenting on EU leaders finally adopting a plan to deal with the humanitarian emergency in the Mediterranean Sea, Luca Visentini, ETUC Confederal Secretary said “It’s disappointing to see how difficult it was to taken even this small step forward.”
“Progress is painfully slow and there is still a need for investment in reception infrastructures, and in schemes to integrate refugees into the labour market.”
“It is hard to understand why still-not-obligatory relocation plan of migrants within the EU is limited to Eritreans and Syrians. Why just choose two nationalities out of all the people fleeing poverty and war?”
“The EU must also ensure that there are sufficient resources to continue search and rescue operations after the summer period if necessary.”
The ETUC Executive Committee adopted last week a declaration on the humanitarian emergency which stated “Europe must overcome divisions and nationalism and give a common response to this humanitarian emergency.”
https://www.etuc.org/documents/etuc-declaration-immigration#.VY0GZvmqpHw
The ETUC has also circulated a petition ‘Backlash on the migration agenda puts shame on national Governments’ signed by hundreds of trade union leaders including Susanna Camusso of CGIL, Italy; Candido Mendez of UGT Spain; Eva Nordmark and Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson of TCO and LO, Sweden; Rudy DeLeeuw, FGTB, Belgium; Laurent Berger, CFDT, France and Plamen Dimitrov, CITUB, Bulgaria.
