Today, during a special debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the European Socialists and Democrats called on the EU Commission and member state governments to urgently promote legal access to EU for migrants in order to avoid further tragedies at sea.
S&D vice-president Tanja Fajon said:
"The Council and the Commission must step up their efforts to reinforce the humanitarian element of EU migration policies by ensuring effective legal and safe routes to Europe; by better cooperation with third countries and by improving the management of emergency situations.
The thousands of deaths every year remind us just how broken Europe's system of dealing with refugees really is. We must stop this failure once and for all and start fulfilling our promises."
Birgit Sippel, S&D spokesperson on civil liberties, justice and home affairs, said:
"We need to distribute asylum seekers and refugees more fairly between member states. Solidarity is the only way to deal with the current challenges.
We haven't had this many refugees in the world since World War II. Now, it is time to act."
