Europe is failing some of the world's most vulnerable people in its response to the refugee crisis. Oxfam said in a joint briefing paper yesterday.
Image credit: UK GovernmentThe paper, A Safe Haven? Britain's role in protecting people on the move, can be read here.
Oxfam, the British Refugee Council, the International Rescue Committee (IRC-UK) and ten other agencies say in the paper that while the response from EU Member States has been mixed, the overriding imperative appears to be one of deterrence.
Focusing on the UK, the paper says Britain has been a leader in providing vital assistance to support refugees in countries such as Lebanon and Jordan, but it has fallen short of welcoming its fair share of refugees.
Oxfam calls on the UK to commit to resettle a fair and proportionate share of the world's most vulnerable refugees, and advocate for other countries to do the same.
In addition, the paper calls for the UK to make it easier for families separated by forced displacement to reunite with their family members by:
• Making legal aid available for family reunion applications and appeals.
• Making the family reunion submission process safer for applicants, by allowing the sponsor in the UK to submit the application on their behalf.
• Broadening the definition of family for the purposes of refugee family reunion to allow adult refugees in the UK to be reunited with their parents, siblings and adult children.
• Recognizing relationships in which applicants are dependent on sponsors for their survival and wellbeing, including where such relationships depart from conventional family structures.
• Ensuring that the relevant team in the Home Office is sufficiently resourced to swiftly process family reunification applications.
Oxfam also says that the UK should suspend returns to other European countries under the Dublin III Regulation except for the purposes of family reunification.
Maya Mailer, Oxfam's Head of Humanitarian Policy, was quoted as saying: "The UK is trying to pretend that this is someone else's problem, and that refugees and migrants could and should be dealt with elsewhere. But people who are desperate will take huge risks to reach safety."
"The UK needs to accept its moral responsibility to offer a safe haven to the world's poorest and most vulnerable - men, women and children - who have been made homeless by war, violence and disasters."
British Refugee Council Chief Executive, Maurice Wren, said: "While European leaders demonstrate a collective failure of political leadership and moral courage, people who have escaped war and tyranny are met with barbed wire and tear gas, mums are forced to bathe their infants in dirty puddles, and yet more refugee children drown on Europe's shores."
"European governments, including the UK, must take a long hard look at themselves and ask is this the best they can do? We say that it doesn't have to be this way. Today we're presenting a roadmap for change which prioritises saving lives, solidarity and safe passage."