Violations of Human Rights at EU Borders

Pushbacks are happening on our doorstep.

Pushbacks are happening at EU borders, robbing traumatised people of their human right to ask for protection and asylum from persecution. During a pushback victims are often beaten, irregularly detained, sexually assaulted, tortured and robbed. Pushbacks are a systematic part of an unofficial but carefully planned border policy across Europe.

"The asylum seekers, including one pregnant woman and six children, did not have access to water, food, medical care, or items to keep them warm. For days, they were exposed to cold and humid weather on a small islet in the Evros river…they were eating garbage left on the islet…"

From At Europe’s Borders: Between Impunity and Criminalization, Greek Council for Refugees report 

POLITICAL DENIAL

Political leaders deny wrongdoing, but survivors of pushbacks are bravely reporting and sharing testimony of their experiences. Listen here to Samah, a pushback survivor from Palestine who shared her story with Oxfam Ireland.

Journalists, lawyers, activists and international organisations are increasingly documenting instances of pushbacks and violent practices. Oxfam’s partner in Greece, the Greek Council for Refugees on RTE News.

Dimitris Choulis, a Lawyer with Human Rights Legal Project, Samos, Greece and Maciej Nowicki, President of the Board of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Poland describe their work fighting pushbacks in Greece and Poland.

An account from Oxfam’s partner, Polish organisation Egala, describing how people are being forced back into Belarus and cut off from humanitarian assistance: Violent pushbacks, a no-go zone and hostility.

Pushbacks have been reported in many EU countries including Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Spain.  We cannot have a system that perpetuates abuse, exploitation, violence and hatred at European borders. Europe should be a safe place, where suffering ceases for people who have already been through trauma. 

As an EU member state, Ireland can have a say in stopping pushbacks in the EU.  Despite the horrors, there is hope. We need your help.  

Take action to stop pushbacks!  

We are calling on Ireland to show leadership at EU level to end illegal pushbacks, including on the EU Council where our Minister for Justice meets with Ministers from around the EU on migration issues. 

Join us – urge Ireland to ensure equal right to refuge for all by:

• Showing leadership at EU level and calling on Greece and any other EU member states to end the illegal and inhumane practice of pushbacks 
• Calling for the establishment of an Independent Border Monitoring Mechanism that will investigate human rights violations at EU borders and hold perpetrators accountable 
• Preventing a preferential EU refugee response in Ireland and across the EU, where some are met with solidarity and others with hostility

Wherever you come from, your right to seek safety and find refuge is the same. 

Seeking asylum is a human right, enshrined in international and European law.