Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-09-28-Speech-3-447-000"
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"en.20110928.24.3-447-000"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, I would first of all like to welcome the openness that the government and people of Tunisia have shown over recent months to tens of thousands of refugees, even though the country was in the midst of a revolution.
I would add that it is very important for our Parliament to celebrate the tremendous change that has taken place in Tunisia more visibly. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to say how much I hope that next month’s elections are a huge democratic and popular success.
I should like to come back to the question of the refugees currently in Tunisian territory. My fellow Members in other groups and I went there in July, as you know. We went to the Shousha camp, on the border with Libya. It is a place where almost 20 000 people a day found refuge at the height of the crisis. Their living conditions were extremely difficult.
Since the evacuations you mentioned, Commissioner, in the countries of origin more than 5 000 people, who have indisputably been given the status of ‘refugee’ by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), are still blocked in camps like the Shousha camp. They have no prospects of returning to their homes in countries ravaged by persecution, war, famine and violence, if their country still exists that is. However, they cannot find solutions in other countries either, because the majority of Member States of the European Union turn a blind eye and a deaf ear when it comes to strengthening resettlement schemes.
We all have roughly the same figures and the same sources: for 2 400 people, whose resettlement was validated in mid-September, only 650 places were pledged, fewer than half in the Member States. Ultimately, slightly fewer than 200 refugees were resettled elsewhere. We must, of course, congratulate the Member States that made pledges, and Norway too. Many Member States, however – and not insignificant ones in terms of size and power – did not make a single pledge to resettle these refugees from Libya. Not a single one. They argue that they are already very active in the current resettlement process. They say they are taking action as and when the need arises. If only that were true, which it is not. There is therefore every reason to be extremely angry at such cynicism.
Moreover, the lack of response and of any prospects for resettlement has direct and dramatic consequence. With no hope of returning to their homes, these refugees are driven into the arms of smugglers to take to the seas and to go for broke, at risk of their lives. Therefore, the question that needs to be asked is very simple: how many lives must be lost at sea before the Member States finally react?
As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Geneva Convention, which you alluded to earlier, Commissioner, many of us believe that the Member States of the European Union have a special responsibility towards these refugees. They must pledge places for resettlement and they must pledge them quickly. You can be sure of our support to exert the necessary pressure."@en1
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