Increasingly, it seems that much of Europe is choosing to commemorate the anniversary by ripping up some of the convention’s core principles. There have been multiple accounts, from Greece and elsewhere, of refugees being expelled without their asylum applications being heard. The stated goal of Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, is that no more asylum applications should take place in Denmark. Britain has criminalised migrants arriving by irregular routes, hoping thereby to force them to make asylum applications elsewhere. Inexorably, unethically, Europe is defaulting to a cruel “fortress” strategy based on brute force and deterrence.

Source: The Guardian August 01, 2021 17:26 UTC