In the Belarus border case, there were 'only' thousands of people concerned, and Poland's authorities, with the EU fully behind them, couldn't even deal with the situation properly - failing to recognize basic, long-existing human rights standards...

politico.eu/article/war-uk…
Instead, even with those relatively manageable numbers, the EU chose to lie to give Warsaw cover to break the law, sending people back to deadly danger and making a bad humanitarian situation worse.

hrw.org/news/2021/12/0…
Honestly, that doesn’t bode well for a “worst-case”, “big-numbers” scenario in Ukraine, does it?
So, what should Poland and the EU do to prepare?

How about read up on their obligations under international refugee law and determine this time to act as if EU values meant something?
Specifically, Poland & the EU should:

1⃣ Plan to NOT return people back to danger like they did last time.

2⃣ Plan to NOT ban access to aid groups like they did last time.

3⃣ Plan to NOT ban media from covering the area like they did last time.
If Poland & the EU are now doing contingency planning for refugee flows in the event of a worst-case scenario in #Ukraine, they need to learn from their illegal & indecent actions on the Belarus border.

In short: plan to put human life first this time.

hrw.org/news/2021/11/2… Image

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More from @astroehlein

Feb 10
The science says we should make as many vaccines as possible & get them to as many people as possible as quickly as possible.

But leaders in the EU & UK reject the science.

They have been blocking wider vaccine production globally from the beginning.

bbc.com/news/health-60… Image
From the beginning, the EU & UK have been blocking & delaying wider vaccine production globally by obstructing the #TRIPSwaiver at the World Trade Organization, a proposal to temporarily waive some intellectual property (IP) rules on vaccines & other health products.
TRILLIONS in economic damage.

BILLIONS of people unable to get even one vaccine dose.

MILLIONS dead from Covid.

THOUSANDS of doctors & health experts demanding change.

ONE vile policy to block wider vaccine production during a global pandemic.

We need a #PeoplesVaccine. Image
Read 5 tweets
Jan 28
On some things, it's like Brexit never happened…

Johnson & von der Leyen have the same policy of blocking wider vaccine production globally to boost pharma monopoly profits, prolonging the pandemic.

☠️ more death

☠️ more suffering

☠️ more time for new variants to emerge
I think the fact that they both have the same deadly policy has made the push to end this madness more difficult.
People in the UK & EU got so entrenched in positions of "hoorah for brexit Britain" or "the EU is the sane one here" that neither side would ever want to admit that both the UK & the EU can be wrong - that they can both have the same deadly policy.
Read 6 tweets
Jan 28
The @EU_Commission has been keeping its dealings with pharma monopolies secret to try to hide the fact that they are prioritising pharma profits over the needs of humanity: literally blocking wider vaccine production globally to restrict supply during a global pandemic.
The arrogance of the @EU_commission in trying to hide what it's doing is bad.

What it's trying to hide is even worse...
For nearly 16 months, the EU has been blocking & delaying wider vaccine production globally by obstructing the #TRIPSwaiver, a proposal to temporarily lift some intellectual property rules on vaccines & other health products.
Read 17 tweets
Jan 27
The EU’s landmark anti-deforestation draft law will be working its way through the EU Parliament & member states in the coming months, but the proposal contains a crucial flaw: it doesn’t compel businesses to uphold international standards in regard to land rights.

🧵
The EU's draft regulation on deforestation-free products proposes to restrict imports of key agricultural commodities – cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, soy, and wood – grown on land that was deforested after 2020.

Sounds good, but...
The EU draft does not place restrictions on commodities linked to rights violations as defined by international standards.
Read 11 tweets
Jan 27
Today is #HolocaustRemembranceDay - held on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Take time to reflect & learn from experts like @AuschwitzMuseum & @holocaustmuseum.

#NeverForget is not a passive idea; it is an active call to defend our rights every day.
Genocides do not begin with mass murder. That's where they end up.

Genocides & other mass atrocity crimes begin with words - specifically, with powerful people dehumanizing a powerless minority.

Once they are seen as less than human, anything is possible, even mass murder.
Today, we see political leaders do this in many countries, telling crowds that their problems are the fault of some minority group - migrants, LGBT people, an ethnic group...

We have to call out this dangerous scapegoating for what it is, to stop things at their very first step
Read 5 tweets
Jan 26
#Poland's year of fear: Who will die next in abortion crackdown?

Urszula Grycuk of @federapl in @euobs today.

euobserver.com/opinion/154191
One year after the ruling by #Poland’s discredited Constitutional Tribunal banning access to abortion in almost all circumstances took effect, it has had a devastating impact on the lives of women.

Read more: hrw.org/news/2022/01/2…
Since the ruling took effect on 27 January 2021, more than 1,000 women have turned to the European Court of Human Rights in an effort to vindicate their rights, challenging #Poland’s highly restrictive abortion law and seeking justice.
Read 8 tweets

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