IFLRY - International Federation of Liberal Youth

We, the European Youth Forum and the undersigned political parties’ youth organisations, strongly condemn the recent attacks on civil society organisations (CSOs) receiving EU funding.

More than 100,000 children and adolescents are missing each year in the European Union. In 2022, 733 cases of wrongful removal of children were recorded in Slovenia, 604 in Germany, 314 in Belgium. We fear that the number is much higher due to lack of registration and differences in reporting. Additionally, refugee orphans are not considered. The children facing this problem are European youth whose voices are being taken. The European Youth Forum stands for youth that can no longer do it for themselves.

In March 2023, the Government of Georgia initiated work on a legislative proposal on “foreign agents” that would have forced civil society organisations to be registered as being under foreign influence should they be receiving funding from sources outside of the country. As Georgia initiated negotiations for EU membership merely 6 months ago, this underscores how fragile Democracy and the Rule of Law are in our societies and how civic spaces must be protected tirelessly every day, everywhere.

The Israel-Hamas war has reopened a wound in the hearts of millions of Jews, Muslims, Israelis, Palestinians, and Arabs.

The British Youth Council, together with over 100 youth organisations from all over Europe, is deeply concerned by the British Government's recent rhetoric on refugees and expresses alarm at the British Government’s so-called ‘Rwanda deportation policy’ and its efforts to undermine the right to asylum.