A Barefoot March to the Venice Film Festival in Support of Refugees
Monica Frassoni, Co-Chair of the European Green Party (EGP), expressed the party’s backing of the barefoot march organised in Venice today, in favour of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in Europe (watch the video). The Italian Greens will participate in the demonstration, born from a bottom-up approach, which will start in the afternoon of 11 September 2015, departing from Santa Maria Elisabetta Square and ending in the heart of the Venice International Film Festival. Cities like Paris, Leipzig and Fribourg have also announced similar marches, while in Italy, the initiative has gathered the interest of over 60 cities.
Among the requests being called upon by the European Greens are: safe humanitarian corridors for victims of war and climate catastrophes, among others; serious financial support for border countries, who experience the brunt of the refugee flow and are often overwhelmed by it; and a real redistribution of refugees among the EU member states. Discussions on legal ways to migrate to Europe must also take precedence.
“Many measures could be put in place at EU and national levels to provide a concrete basis for action, – comments Monica Frassoni ahead of the event, – for example removing the expenses incurred for welcoming and integrating migrants and refugees from deficit calculations.
“We want to underline the importance of the march: that Syrians, Iraqis and in general people escaping from war and climate change are trying to improve their fate. Europe has so far had a very dubious, uncertain and divided answer to the crisis. The Greens have always advocated for a mandatory redistribution of refugees and for a permanent, common crisis-management mechanism.
“During yesterday’s plenary, the European Parliament, a place of European unity in diversity, expressed strong support for President Juncker’s proposals on the refugees’ crisis. Today with this march, European citizens are sending an even stronger signal against the national egoism that many national governments have expressed during the current refugee crisis.
“The Europe we want is not a fortress Europe made up of barricades, and we ask national governments to acknowledge the sense of unity, humanity and responsibility that was expressed yesterday by the Parliament, and today by Italian and European citizens in Venice and in other Italian and European cities”.
Monica Frassoni, Co-Chair of the European Green Party (EGP), expressed the party’s backing of the barefoot march organised in Venice today, in favour of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in Europe (watch the video). The Italian Greens will participate in the demonstration, born from a bottom-up approach, which will start in the afternoon of 11 September 2015, departing from Santa Maria Elisabetta Square and ending in the heart of the Venice International Film Festival. Cities like Paris, Leipzig and Fribourg have also announced similar marches, while in Italy, the initiative has gathered the interest of over 60 cities.
Among the requests being called upon by the European Greens are: safe humanitarian corridors for victims of war and climate catastrophes, among others; serious financial support for border countries, who experience the brunt of the refugee flow and are often overwhelmed by it; and a real redistribution of refugees among the EU member states. Discussions on legal ways to migrate to Europe must also take precedence.
“Many measures could be put in place at EU and national levels to provide a concrete basis for action, – comments Monica Frassoni ahead of the event, – for example removing the expenses incurred for welcoming and integrating migrants and refugees from deficit calculations.
“We want to underline the importance of the march: that Syrians, Iraqis and in general people escaping from war and climate change are trying to improve their fate. Europe has so far had a very dubious, uncertain and divided answer to the crisis. The Greens have always advocated for a mandatory redistribution of refugees and for a permanent, common crisis-management mechanism.
“During yesterday’s plenary, the European Parliament, a place of European unity in diversity, expressed strong support for President Juncker’s proposals on the refugees’ crisis. Today with this march, European citizens are sending an even stronger signal against the national egoism that many national governments have expressed during the current refugee crisis.
“The Europe we want is not a fortress Europe made up of barricades, and we ask national governments to acknowledge the sense of unity, humanity and responsibility that was expressed yesterday by the Parliament, and today by Italian and European citizens in Venice and in other Italian and European cities”.