CEC Governing Board statement on external borders of the EU especially the Mediterranean

Conference European Churches3 June 2015: Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it (Hebrews 13: 2)

The Conference of European Churches (CEC) expresses its deep concern about the repeated loss of life in the Mediterranean. CEC deplores that for over two decades tens of thousands of migrants have drowned in their attempts to reach safety or find a more dignified life in Europe.

Conflicts on the doorsteps of Europe have led to ever more migrants fleeing within and beyond their region. Many are trying to cross the Mediterranean to Italy or Malta, others climb barbed wire border fences in Ceuta in Melilla or cross to the Greek Aegean islands or Cyprus. Less known are flight routes across Eastern external borders of Europe, but observations from the field suggest that human suffering and death might also be a reality here. Continue reading “CEC Governing Board statement on external borders of the EU especially the Mediterranean”

Please act now: Call on the Prime Minister to protect refugees in the Mediterranean

refugee-council

The world is in the grip of the greatest refugee crisis in recent memory.

Shamefully, our leaders’ response has been to build the walls of fortress Europe ever higher, leaving desperate people dying disgracefully on our doorstep in the Mediterranean Sea.

On the 25th of June, European leaders have the chance to take decisive action to save lives and stop the smugglers in their tracks by offering refugees another route to safety. Continue reading “Please act now: Call on the Prime Minister to protect refugees in the Mediterranean”

6 JUNE Surround YarlsWood: Demonstrate to END Detention & Shut Down Yarl’s Wood – STOP the scapegoating of immigrants!

Yarl’s Wood is the central battleground for women’s rights in the UK; exposed as a site of mental and physical torture, of sexual abuse, a place where women are locked up indefinitely for no crime. The women of Yarls Wood are freedom fighters, organising to stop deportations and expose the truth about abuse and racism.

The women of Yarls Wood have bravely exposed the truth about sexual abuse by the guards, they have organised to resist deportations, they have spoken the truth over years – a truth that is now more widely known thanks to Channel 4 News undercover reporting. Continue reading “6 JUNE Surround YarlsWood: Demonstrate to END Detention & Shut Down Yarl’s Wood – STOP the scapegoating of immigrants!”

How many people have to die before we start talking responsibly about immigration?

open democracyLast week’s deaths in the Mediterranean were directly linked to xenophobic politics in Britain.  

It’s easy to forget, when a dehumanised mass of “immigrants” is invoked in political debate, that these are people no different from you and me, our families and our friends. The Guardian cites “one survivor of a [migrant boat] sinking off Malta [who] recounted spending several days clinging to a buoyancy aid along with a teenage Egyptian whose hope was to pay for heart medicine for his father. The youth drowned before they could be saved”. Continue reading “How many people have to die before we start talking responsibly about immigration?”