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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>in de verwachhting dat je dit keer met de Engelse
tekst uit de voeten kunt...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Een oproep vanwege de mensen die gestrand zijn door
de oorlog in Lybie.</FONT></DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT>
<DIV><BR>Appeal:<BR><BR>Voices from Choucha: Open escape routes, take in
refugees!<BR><BR>"We want to leave! Europe must help!" The demands on the
cardboard<BR>signs of refugees and migrants at the Tunisian-Libyan border
are<BR>clear - and compelling: 5000 people have been waiting for weeks
and<BR>months in unbearable conditions in the camp of the UN
High<BR>Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Choucha. All of them managed
to<BR>escape the escalating civil war in Libya. Many were employed as<BR>migrant
workers, others had sought refuge from the war and crisis<BR>zones in
Sub-Saharan-Africa. Survivors of capsized refugee boats meet<BR>in Choucha those
who, arising out of despair and despite all dangers,<BR>are setting off for the
road back towards the Libyan border to risk<BR>the dangerous crossing to Europe.
On the 5th of May 2011, when four<BR>refugees from Eritrea died at a fire in the
improvised tent city,<BR>there were spontaneous protests and road blockades. The
Tunisian<BR>Military responded with tear gas, residents attacked the camp.
At<BR>least two refugees were killed, many were badly injured.<BR><BR>The
refugees in Choucha were and still are hoping for help and<BR>support from the
UNHCR, which had requested the European countries,<BR>among others, several
times during the recent weeks with the intake<BR>of at least 6,000 refugees from
Libya. In vain. Rather, the European<BR>border agency Frontex is given more and
more contracts and the new<BR>democratic governments in Northern Africa are
lured with offers of<BR>money, so they continue to be the watchdogs on the
southern rim of<BR>European borders.<BR>The situation in Choucha must be seen in
the context of the forward<BR>externalisation of the European border regime to
Northern Africa. In<BR>the defense of refugees and migrants, the European
countries have<BR>shamelessly worked together for years with the despots of
the<BR>Maghreb, especially with Ben Ali in Tunisia and Qaddafi in Libya.<BR>Now,
indeed, the democratic transition is welcomed, but help is<BR>refused to all
those who are stranded in the Tunisian refugee camps<BR>and for whom there is no
return.<BR><BR>The voices of Choucha stand for the desperate protest against
a<BR>policy of flagrant human rights violations, as they take place every<BR>day
in many hot spots of Europe's external borders. A break with this<BR>policy is
necessary to stop the dying at sea and in the desert. The<BR>democracy movements
in Northern Africa provide the opportunity for a<BR>fresh start. Instead of
fatal exclusion and grotesque threat<BR>scenarios, openness and solidarity must
shape the future of the<BR>Mediterranean area. It needs bridges instead of walls
for a new<BR>African-European relationship in order that Europe becomes a place
of<BR>real freedom, general security and equal rights for All.<BR><BR>The
acceptance of refugees from Choucha in Europe would, in this<BR>sense, set a
first, not just symbolic character. We therefore call on<BR>the responsible
policymakers at the European level, in the federal<BR>government, states and
municipalities,<BR><BR>- to take emergency aid measures and take in the
refugees from<BR>Choucha and other temporary refugee camps in
Europe.<BR><BR>- to provide humanitarian support for Subsaharan migrants,
who were<BR>already flown out from Libya or Tunisia. For example just in
Mali<BR>over 10,000 refugees have arrived since the beginning of the war
in<BR>Libya.<BR><BR>- to give up the existing deportation policies at the
external<BR>borders in favor of a humane and generous asylum and
immigration<BR>policy that is consistent with the rights of refugees and
migrants.<BR><BR>- to support the democratic upheavals in Northern Africa
seriously<BR>and to understand it as an opportunity for a changing
neighbourhood<BR>policy.<BR><BR>Pro Asyl, Medico International, Borderline
Europe, Afrique-Europe<BR>Interact, Welcome to Europe<BR>31st of May
2011<BR><BR>Sign online: www.medico.de / </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>For further information and to sign online refer to:
http://<BR>www.afrique-europe-interact.net/<BR>http://www.afrique-europe-interact.net/?article_id=486&clang=0<BR><BR><BR></DIV>
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