The trial of 24 humanitarian aid workers charged with facilitating illegal immigration to Europe began on the Greek island of Lesbos on Tuesday (10 January), the latest in a series of restrictive actions by EU border states on NGO activity.
The two dozen defendants worked for the now-defunct NGO Emergency Response Centre International (ECRI) which regularly cooperated with the Greek coast guard in search and rescue missions from 2016 to 2018.
The trial is “the largest case of criminalisation of solidarity in Europe”, according to a 2021 European Parliament report.
The defendants face charges related to espionage, assisting smuggling networks, membership of a criminal organisation and money laundering. If convicted, they face up to 25 years in prison.
This is the first hearing of the case since it was adjourned in November 2021 on procedural grounds.
Among the accused are Irish humanitarian worker Seán Binder and Syrian swimmer Sarah Mardini, both of whom were arrested by Greek authorities in August 2018 and detained in pre-charge detention for over three months.
“Oftentimes I’m told that my actions in trying to help people at risk of drowning was trying to undermine European values, because people who are coming in pose a threat to us all,” Binder told the European Parliament in December. “Yet I think we’ve lost those values if we are closing our borders down to people in distress.”
On Sunday, Green MEP Grace O’Sullivan called for the charges to be dropped, saying that the trial “should not even be taking place”. O’Sullivan nominated Binder for the 2022 European Citizen’s Prize for his work in search and rescue.
In 2021, 71 MEPs signed an open letter calling for “a thorough review and change to Member State policies that have led to the criminalisation of humanitarian workers […] and to ensure the protection of humanitarian assistance at the EU’s external borders under national and European laws”.
Almost 1,200 people who attempted to enter Europe via the Mediterranean and Northwest African maritime routes died or went missing at sea in the first half of 2022, according to UNHCR estimates.
Criminalisation of humanitarian aid
The trial is the latest in a series of efforts by ‘frontline’ migration member states to restrict and control the work of humanitarian aid organisations and NGOs supporting refugees and asylum seekers at the EU’s Mediterranean sea and Balkan borders.
In November 2022, a tug-of-war ensued between Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government in Italy, search and rescue NGOs and member states, when the Meloni administration blocked the disembarkation of NGO boats carrying refugees at Italy’s ports.
On 28 December, Italy approved a decree to regulate the operations of these NGOs at sea, which the Italian medical sector NGO Emergency described as a way to “drastically reduce the chances of saving lives at sea, limiting the operations of humanitarian ships and multiplying the costs of rescues for all NGOs”.
NGO boats are not responsible for migrant relocation, experts tell Italy
Boats operated by NGOs in the Mediterranean Sea are not responsible for migrant relocation as they do not represent a national government, migration experts have told EURACTIV, contradicting the claim used by the Italian government.
Increasingly strict registration requirements for civil society organisations working in the area of asylum, migration and social inclusion “continue to raise concerns”, according to the European Commission’s Rule of Law report, published in July 2022.
In February 2022, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi denounced the increasing violence and human rights violations at the EU’s borders, condemning ill-treatment and pushbacks at multiple entry points on Europe’s land and sea borders.
“We fear these deplorable practices now risk becoming normalised, and policy based. They reinforce a harmful and unnecessary ‘fortress Europe’ narrative,” Grandi said in a statement.
In April, the International Court of Jurists (ICJ) called on the EU and member states to redefine the crime of smuggling to exclude humanitarian aid.
Rescue ships are one of the migration 'pull factors', EU border agency says
People seek asylum in the EU as a result of a wide range of ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors, such as NGO rescue boats, a source from EU border agency Frontex told EURACTIV. NGOs, however, have rejected the claim.
Towards an EU-level common approach
A series of files aimed at creating a harmonised EU approach to the relocation of people from third countries, including the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, are currently in progress.
In September, the European Parliament alongside the permanent representatives of the present and upcoming EU Council presidencies – Sweden, Spain, Belgium and France – signed a roadmap seeking to approve the new legislation before the end of the current mandate in Spring 2024.
Migration reform to be approved by 2024, say parliament leaders and diplomats
The European Parliament together with the permanent representatives of Czechia, Sweden, Spain, Belgium and France agreed to approve the Pact on Migration and Asylum by February 2024, to ensure that the legislation is adopted before the next European elections in May 2024.
In the meantime, the European Commission announced an action plan for dealing with migration in the Central Mediterranean area in November, seeking common ground with EU home affairs ministers on the crisis and further security measures at Europe’s borders.
On NGOs, the plan stated that “a specific framework and guidelines for vessels for search and rescue” is required.
The trial of the 24 NGO workers is expected to conclude on Friday.
[Edited by Benjamin Fox]
Source: euractiv.com
