United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: Grandi accuses the European Union of violating the law

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Grandi, has criticized the European Union’s handling of refugees. Violent replays and asylum scams can be observed time and time again. An EU based on the rule of law should have done better.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, accused the European Union of violating the law in dealing with refugees. In some places, “violent pushbacks have been seen, including beatings of refugees and migrants,” Grandi said in a speech at the European Parliament in Brussels. Refugees and migrants are sometimes stripped naked and thrown into rivers or left to drown in the sea.

You’ve seen “Attempts to evade asylum obligations by paying other countries to absolve you of responsibility”. He criticized the European Union based on the rule of law “must and can be better”, as he criticized the United Nations High Commissioner before MEPs.

Location on the Polish-Belarus border ‘unacceptable’

In his speech, Grandi also spoke about the current situation on the Belarus-Poland border. He said it was “unacceptable” for countries to encourage dangerous travel for vulnerable people.

Between 2,000 and 4,000 migrants are currently stranded in the border area between Belarus and Poland. Soldiers from both countries are stationed in the area. Observers fear that the situation will worsen.

The European Union accuses Belarus Governor Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately smuggling migrants from the Middle East to the European Union countries of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in order to respond to this. Brussels sanctions decisions To practice.

Johansson insists on EU values

The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, has also criticized the pushbacks. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Johansson said such an approach should not under any circumstances be “normalized or codified”. ARD studio Brussels. The European Union must abide by its values:

We are not Lukashenko, we are the European Union and we have to show that.

At the same time, Johansson urged EU countries to protect their external borders and prevent unauthorized border crossings. “We do not have open borders,” the EU commissioner stressed. However, it must be ensured that migrants can apply for asylum in a country at border posts.