Westport mourns ‘demise of human rights’

TAKING A STAND?Protesters at The Octagon, Westport, on Sunday evening.

Protesters against the EU/Turkey refugee deal gather in black

Ciara Moynihan

A large group gathered at the Octagon in Westport on Sunday afternoon to protest against the EU/Turkey refugee deal and to ‘mourn the demise of human rights’. Many were dressed in black, and they even brought an inscribed gravestone, red roses and a black umbrella, a symbol so associated with funerals, to mark the occasion.  
The EU/Turkey deal requires that every Syrian who arrives in Greece by boat will be forcibly returned to Turkey, while another Syrian already in Turkey will be resettled to Europe. In return, Turkey will get €6 billion and visa waivers for Turkish citizens visiting the EU.
“Only Syrians will qualify for resettlement and a mere 20,000 resettlement places over two years have been made available,” explained Sabine Hiller, Knockrooskey, one of the protest organisers.
There has been much criticism of the deal because it will not result in less-dangerous boat journeys, as Syrians will only be resettled so long as other Syrians continue making the journey by boat.
“The agreement does not say ‘the EU will resettle Syrians so there is no need for them to take boats’, rather it says ‘first take the boat, then we’ll send you back, and then someone, but probably not you, will be resettled’,” said Hiller.
Turkey already hosts 2.5 million displaced people, and ‘cannot be regarded as a safe third country’, she added.
By international law Turkey is obliged to give refugee status to Europeans, but not to displaced people from outside Europe. “Anybody arriving in Turkey will find themselves either stuck in over-crowded camps that barely provide for survival, or – not being allowed to work – suffer urban destitution, sorting through rubbish in Istanbul or Ankara to survive.”
Turkey has already turned Syrians back at its border and, according to the UN, this deal will vastly increase the number of Syrian refugees who may find themselves returned to war zones.
The deal also excludes Afghans, Iraqis, South Sudanese and many others with genuine claims to asylum. “This clearly contradicts the 1951 Refugee Convention, which states that the right to asylum is extended to the individual, not to people from a specific country,” said Hiller. Hence the protest gravestone’s inscription: ‘Human Rights, 1915 - 2016’.
Human rights organisations say Europe created the human-smuggling business in the 1980s and 1990s by drastically reducing the number of resettlement places available, closing legal routes and forcing people into the hands of smugglers.
As the  EU/Turkey deal only allows Syrians into the EU, the concern is that Afghans, Iraqis, Somalis and many others fleeing war and violence will shift their escape routes to Italy or Malta, or even along the coast to France or Spain, making their journeys more dangerous. “Only significant resettlement can close down smuggling routes and save lives,” said John Mulloy, another of the protest organisers.