Debate - Humanity lost at sea: The regularity of deaths in the Mediterranean

In the first four months of 2015, 1,770 Africans and Asians drowned on their way to Europe. With the death toll in the Mediterranean rising by the thousands, the European Union has showed once again that it is ready to pay the price of lives lost at sea in order to maintain the myth of sovereignty over its borders.

REINFORM cordially invites you to a discussion over the human rights cost of the EU closing the gates to unwanted outsiders, and the fair distribution of refugees in the European Union.

Big part of the mainstream media engaged in a debate over the damage caused by the “huge” migration flows to Europe. They did not hesitate to weigh the struggle for survival of people fleeing persecution, war, and need, against the complaints of discomforted tourists in the Greek holiday islands.

We wish not only to raise an alternative voice, but also to question underlying assumptions and stereotypes: Why is the movement of people from the South to the North “illegal”? What are the implications of the Dublin system? What is the human rights cost of border policing? What forms of resistance are possible?

Speakers:
Mariana Gkliati, PhD researcher, Leiden University
Joke Kaviaar, migration activist, AAGU
Pim Fischer, lawyer

The discussion will be moderated by
Kleoniki Alexopoulou, PhD researcher, University of Wageningen
Time: 15.00
Free entrance
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