London, Europe Brief News – NGOs raised the alarm bells over the rights of thousands of refugees fleeing conflicts around the world.
Seven humanitarian and human rights NGOs appealed to the EU and its member states to revive and scale up their efforts.
Europe must not let the drive to help Ukrainians fleeing war distract it from opening its door to refugees fleeing other conflicts around the world, the NGOs said in a joint statement.
They want Brussels to stick to its pledge of resettling between 20,000 and 30,000 refugees within the bloc per year.
The organisations — including the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Amnesty International, Red Cross EU Office, and Caritas Europa — pointed out in a statement the member states’ efforts in 2021 have come out to a meagre 1% of those in search of safety.
In addition to those fleeing violence and persecution worldwide, recently estimated by the UNHCR to have crossed the 100 million mark, the increasing threat of food shortage that could cause famine will inevitably push more people to seek refuge and safety.
The IRC’s Executive Director of Policy and Advocacy for Europe, Imogen Sudbery, told Euronews the EU should not allow the resettlement programme to falter as the gap between people’s needs and response widens.
“A recently produced IRC report demonstrates an additional 47 million people are projected to experience acute hunger this year. And with Ukraine producing much of the world’s grain, wheat and fertiliser, we see food prices worldwide skyrocketing,” she explained.
“This blockade can push countries that are already on the brink of facing record drought into famine, and we feel like there are people around the world at risk of being doubly punished as the funding and attention shifts towards the Ukraine crisis,” Sudbery said.
