"Refugee-supporting organizations from Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland call on the European Union and European states to overcome their fatal division concerning asylum policies. The governments should, without delay, establish a system that offers, even at first EU entry points, fast registration and identification as well as immediate humanitarian assistance. Proper identification of vulnerability as well as the respect of already existing ties of refugees in the EU shall be part of the new common system," ECRE said.
The ECRE member organisations called on their governments to ensure fair and transparent access to national asylum systems at sea, land or airports.
"In 2015 we saw fences instead of humanity, chaos instead of reasonable policies, and political egoism instead of solidarity and cooperation. (...) As a consequence, more than a million refugees had to make the life-threatening passage over sea, resulting in almost 3700 men, women and children dying in the Central Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea," ECRE said.