Thread by @sunderland_jude

On #worldrefugeeday, it’s worth repeating the facts. Thread 1/14 @hrw

@hrw Over 70 million people are forcibly displaced in the world today. A tiny, tiny fraction seek to reach Europe. unhcr.org/globaltrends20… 2/14

@hrw A surge in arrivals to the EU of refugees and migrants in 2015 was grossly mismanaged, leading to a humanitarian and political crisis that set the bloc on a race to adopt every harsher and cynical policies. hrw.org/news/2018/06/1… 3/14

@hrw Most shocking is willingness to let people die at sea. The Mediterranean is the deadliest migration route in the world – almost 15,000 have died since 2014. Just yesterday terrible news of 22 people presumed dead in waters between Morocco and Spain. euronews.com/2019/06/19/20-…

@hrw Instead of doing everything they can to save lives at sea, EU countries have 1) struck deals with countries like Libya to stop the boats; 2) launched legal and administrative attacks on rescue NGOs; and 3) dithered and squabbled over disembarkations 5/14 hrw.org/news/2019/01/2…

@hrw The EU Fundamental Rights Agency just published analysis showing that more EU countries opened legal cases against NGOs but many ended in acquittals or were dropped for lack of evidence. Others are still pending fra.europa.eu/en/news/2019/n… 6/14

@hrw #Italy, for a time a leader on sea rescue, has completely abdicated its obligations by handing responsibility to the Libyan Coast Guard, knowing they are unreliable, sometimes dangerous, and that everyone picked up will be taken back to horrific abuses in Libya. 7/14

@hrw Deputy PM Matteo Salvini has led a smear campaign vs rescue NGOs & “closed Italian ports.”Now, Salvini has rammed through a decree that imposes fines of up to 50,000 euros on ships that bring rescued migrants to Italy. 8/14 theguardian.com/world/2019/jun…

@hrw Outrage over these policies and EU indifference is growing. UN experts urged the Italian government to reject a previous version of the decree ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/… (So did @hrw hrw.org/news/2019/05/1…) 9/14

@hrw The Council of Europe @CommissionerHR slammed “laws, policies & practices contrary to ...legal obligations to ensure effective search and rescue operations, swift & safe disembarkation & treatment of rescued people..[and] the prevention of torture” coe.int/it/web/commiss… 10/14

@hrw @CommissionerHR The OSCE human rights head said, “Saving lives of those in danger is an obligation and not a crime, or even a favor” osce.org/odihr/423428 11/14

@hrw @CommissionerHR Yet right now, @seawatch_intl has 43 people on board its ship with Italy refusing to allow the ship to dock and disembark. Libyan authorities had told them to disembark in Tripoli; they rightly refused because Libya cannot be considered a safe port sea-watch.org/en/sea-watch-d…

@hrw @CommissionerHR @seawatch_intl The EU should live up to its founding human rights values & promise of the 1951 refugee convention. This means proactive rescue ops; cooperation with, rather than obstruction/criminalization, rescue NGOs; swift disembarkation & shared responsibility hrw.org/sites/default/… 13/14

@hrw @CommissionerHR @seawatch_intl And EU govts should create more safe and legal channels, notably refugee resettlement, so people don’t have to undertake these perilous journeys. They should address the human rights abuses that drive forced migration, & improve protection in countries of first refuge 14/14