Lesbos, Greece, February 25, 2016 — The International Rescue Committee is disappointed by the decision made by Austria and nine Balkan states to institute new measures on refugees who travel across their borders, in effect sealing off their borders and forcing the majority of refugees to be returned to Greece.
The IRC also notes that this latest turmoil stems from one arbitrary decision made by one country in Europe - Austria - to institute quotas on refugees allowed to seek asylum and transit across its borders.
To date hundreds of thousands of refugees have transited through the Balkans on their way to seek safety and a better life in a Europe whose governments continue to struggle to develop a cohesive response.
Across the region IRC staff have met refugees from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq with heart wrenching stories of war. From a young pregnant Iraqi woman whose husband has gone missing with no real hope of ever seeing him again, to a young Syrian man who was forced to flee Aleppo because of threats to his life, and students from Afghanistan who fled the Taliban, there is no solace for them in their homeland, torn apart by war, with no chance in the foreseeable future of a return to more peaceful ways.
IRC's Europe regional representative, Kirk Day said: "Yes this is a complex issue. No there are not any easy answers. However the IRC urges all European leaders to exercise compassion for those who have taken the desperate decision to leave their homes in search of sanctuary.
"Shutting down borders along the route is not the answer. All it will do is exacerbate an already grave humanitarian crisis and put the most vulnerable at increased risk.
"Greece cannot be expected to carry the responsibility of this humanitarian crisis on its own."
The International Rescue Committee is disappointed by the decision made by Austria and nine Balkan states to institute new measures on refugees who travel across their borders, in effect sealing off their borders and forcing the majority of refugees to be returned to Greece.
The IRC also notes that this latest turmoil stems from one arbitrary decision made by one country in Europe - Austria - to institute quotas on refugees allowed to seek asylum and transit across its borders.
To date hundreds of thousands of refugees have transited through the Balkans on their way to seek safety and a better life in a Europe whose governments continue to struggle to develop a cohesive response.
Across the region IRC staff have met refugees from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq with heart wrenching stories of war. From a young pregnant Iraqi woman whose husband has gone missing with no real hope of ever seeing him again, to a young Syrian man who was forced to flee Aleppo because of threats to his life, and students from Afghanistan who fled the Taliban, there is no solace for them in their homeland, torn apart by war, with no chance in the foreseeable future of a return to more peaceful ways.
IRC's Europe regional representative, Kirk Day said: "Yes this is a complex issue. No there are not any easy answers. However the IRC urges all European leaders to exercise compassion for those who have taken the desperate decision to leave their homes in search of sanctuary.
"Shutting down borders along the route is not the answer. All it will do is exacerbate an already grave humanitarian crisis and put the most vulnerable at increased risk.
"Greece cannot be expected to carry the responsibility of this humanitarian crisis on its own."