[PRESS RELEASE] Adoption of the European Pact on Asylum and Migration

10/04/2024

PRESS RELEASE

ADOPTION OF THE EUROPEAN PACT ON ASYLUM AND MIGRATION:

THE ANVITA TERRITORIES REACT

This Wednesday 10 April, 2024, the European Parliament adopts the European Past on Asylum and Migration. The local authorities and elected representatives, members of ANVITA, deplore the failure of the Pact to take local issues into account. Our network is worried about the many violations of human rights resulting from these texts, which will have concrete consequences in our territories, particularly regarding the right to asylum.

Widespread keeping files on exiled people from the age of 6, acceleration of the externalisation of EU's borders, holding people in camps at the borders, sorting and refusing asylum seekers on the basis of questionable criteria... This Pact is part of a logic of security, repression and closing borders, and in no way takes into account the realities and demands of our territories in Europe, reflected in our June 2023 manifesto: Pour des politiques européennes fondées sur les droits et l’accueil digne.

« Repression has never prevented people from crossing borders. Repression makes the journey dangerous, consolidates the smugglers' networks and puts people's lives at risk. » affirms Damien Carême, Member of the European Parliament, of its Committee on Civil Liberties, and co-chair of ANVITA.

The association strongly denounces the outrageous stigmatisation of exiled people induced by this Pact, feeding the prevailing xenophobic discourse blaming them for all the ills of our societies. As elected representatives and local authorities committed to the respect of human rights, we once again oppose this drift, which is contrary to the national and territorial cohesion of which we are the guarantors, in the same way as the Commission Nationale Consultative des Droits de l’Homme (CNCDH).

« As was the case with the Immigration Law promulgated in France on 26 January 2024, we will continue to denounce national and European texts that run counter to human rights and fundamental freedoms. » adds Jeanne Barseghian, Mayor of Strasbourg and co-chair of ANVITA.

As a network of 87 cities and territories and 56 elected representatives mobilised for unconditional welcome in our territories, we are warning of the consequences of this European Pact, further degrading the living conditions of people seeking refuge and support, at a time when the housing and social crisis is hitting our residents.

As elected representatives of welcoming territories, we reaffirm that an alternative reception policy exists and are determined that France remains a welcoming country.

Press contact:
ANVITA - Léa Enon-Baron – Co-director – lea.enon-baron@anvita.fr / 0767711444

To find out more about the content of the Pact and its consequences: ANVITA organised in February 2024 a webinar which is freely accessible on Youtube: you can find it here.