Written declaration No. 662 | Doc. 14644 | 12 February 2019

Greek islands: more needs to be done

Signatories: Ms Petra De SUTTER, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Petra BAYR, Austria, SOC ; Mr Jokin BILDARRATZ, Spain, ALDE ; Ms Maryvonne BLONDIN, France, SOC ; Mr Ervin BUSHATI, Albania, SOC ; Ms Klotilda BUSHKA, Albania, SOC ; Mr Algirdas BUTKEVIČIUS, Lithuania, SOC ; Ms Lise CHRISTOFFERSEN, Norway, SOC ; Mr Boriss CILEVIČS, Latvia, SOC ; Mr Vernon COAKER, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Doris FIALA, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr Paul GAVAN, Ireland, UEL ; Mr Jonas GUNNARSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Domagoj HAJDUKOVIĆ, Croatia, SOC ; Ms Gabriela HEINRICH, Germany, SOC ; Ms Eva-Lena JANSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Baroness Doreen MASSEY, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Marianne MIKKO, Estonia, SOC ; Mr José MONTILLA, Spain, SOC ; Ms Haya MUFLIH, Jordan ; Mr Killion MUNYAMA, Poland, EPP/CD ; Ms Carina OHLSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Paulo PISCO, Portugal, SOC ; Mr John PRESCOTT, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS, Spain, SOC ; Ms Azadeh ROJHAN GUSTAFSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Axel SCHÄFER, Germany, SOC ; Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria, SOC ; Ms Angela SMITH, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Tineke STRIK, Netherlands, SOC ; Lord Don TOUHIG, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Martin WHITFIELD, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Phil WILSON, United Kingdom, SOC

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

Welcoming the recent transferals of more asylum seekers from the Reception and Identification Centre at Moria and other Greek islands to mainland Greece, we do not believe that this is enough.

Due to lengthy procedures, most asylum applicants have to live for many months in tents, and even those in buildings do neither have sufficient room nor sufficient access to water and toilets. With the winter coming, people could again die of freezing temperatures and terrible hygienic circumstances in the camps.

The camp at Moria has approximately 9 000 inhabitants (300% above its capacity), because arrivals from Turkey considerably increased. People are exposed to life-threatening boat journeys and generally have to pay smugglers through forced labour and prostitution, while the perpetrators act with impunity due to inaction by law enforcement authorities.

Asylum seekers, refugees and migrants deserve our support, as well as the Greek people for their immense assistance provided to those arriving by boat and across the Turkish-Greek land border. The European Union is the biggest donor of refugee aid to the Greek government, but the European Anti-Fraud Office just opened investigations into alleged misappropriation of European Union funds.

We demand more action immediately in order to save human lives.