“A humanitarian crisis of such epic proportions demands a proportionate European response – and that means every country doing their fair share – as Socialist President Francois Hollande this afternoon committed to with his German counterpart Chancellor Angela Merkel.“ said Party of European Socialists President Sergei Stanishev. “We simply cannot remain passive in the face of such a tragedy. Our humanity should not allow it.”
“As social democrats the principle of solidarity is the glue that keeps our family together. This is why we have always been calling for all 28 European Member States to be obliged to provide a safe haven for asylum seekers, so no country may shirk its responsibility.”
“The EU Commission has tried to make a more unified asylum and migration policy. But it is clear that voluntary relocation and resettlement schemes are not working. We need a permanent European mechanism for fairly distributing asylum-seekers in European member states.”
“But first and foremost we need to address the root causes of migration. War, poverty and the stark rise in inequality are global, not local problems. As long as we do not address these causes globally, we cannot deny people the right to look for a more hopeful future in a safer environment.”
