European Youth Forum calls on European Council for urgent action on “humanitarian crisis” and questions the EU/Turkey deal respect of human rights

Ahead of this week’s European Council on the migration crisis, the European Youth Forum in an open letter to President Tusk and all EU Heads of States or Governments has expressed its deep concern with the proposals made on 7th March under a deal between the European Union and Turkey in order to tackle the refugee crisis.

The Youth Forum, representing 100 youth organisations across Europe, is particularly concerned for the majority of asylum seekers, who are young people and whose rights are not being protected.

In its letter the Youth Forum condemns the political bargaining and the proposal to “exchange” one human being with another as extremely dehumanising and not a sustainable way to solve the current humanitarian crisis. It also denounces the use of such talks to negotiate Turkey’s accession to the EU.

The European Youth Forum calls for immediate, common action to implement long term solutions, including the development of a common policy on asylum and immigration which safeguards the human rights of migrants.