Instead of refugees crossing stormy seas in a dinghy, burrowing under border fences and dodging hostile guards, a Swedish group wants them to come to Europe an easier and cheaper way – by plane.
Refugees fleeing Syria’s civil war spend thousands of dollars on the hazardous journey to Europe, far more than a plane ticket costs, but airlines prevent refugees from boarding a plane because of a 2001 EU directive.
Many of those trying to reach Europe have died on the way, either on flimsy, overcrowded boats, or while travelling overland. Police found a truck in Austria last month which contained the bodies of 71 refugees, many of them Syrian.
“It’s senseless, we can’t just sit and watch people die. We’re going to show that it doesn’t have to be this way,” said Emad Zand, a co-founder of Refugee Air.
The organisation is raising money from individuals and firms to charter a plane and fly some refugees to the European Union before winter, co-founder Susanne Najafi said in a statement on Thursday.
Half a million refugees may have arrived in Europe so far this year, European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday. EU officials want to introduce mandatory resettlement quotas, but some member states have resisted this.
SMUGGLERS
The EU “carriers’ liability” rule forces airlines to pay the costs of passengers who seek asylum when they arrive at their destination but whose claims are rejected.
The text of European Council directive 2001/51/EC states that this should not undermine refugees’ right to flee persecution under the United Nations 1951 convention on the status of refugees.
But in practice, governments delegate enforcement of the directive to airlines, which bar people without visas from boarding flights because of the financial risk. This means they cannot reach a European country to apply for asylum status.
“These policies push refugees into the hands of smugglers who take advantage of their desperation,” said Zand.
Refugee Air is working with NGOs to conduct “careful pre-screening” of passengers to ensure those travelling will have a viable asylum claim in the country to which they are travelling.
Zand and Najafi were interviewed on Swedish television on Thursday morning, while Swedish broadcaster Hans Rosling and Angus Macneil, a Scottish nationalist member of Britain’s parliament, have supported the campaign on Twitter.
(Reuters)
