Ms Frauke Ossig:

Regarding funding, our intervention in Poland and Lithuania is an example where it is really important for us that these programmes are not funded by the EU or ECOFIN because we want distance from the political agenda. Regarding comments on what can be done and that democracy seems to be in question in many countries, one of the most important points regarding Poland and Lithuania is the people need to get out of the forest. It is still below zero in the forest and it is still snowing in Lithuania. It has been snowing a couple of days ago and there are still children, women and men who are hiding in the forest on the European Union side because they do not have a safe, protected and unconditional way out of the forest. They will continue to hide there until they can make their own way out of it. We need to get them out of the forest because if we do not, the death toll will not stay at 21. There will be more deaths because people will continue hiding because of the fear of being violently pushed back and not having any fundamental rights respected. This is the major call from our side. European member states and the European Union must find a way to get these people out of the forest unconditionally and provide them with a safe way to access their basic rights.

We also hope the countries that are concerned about the rights of the migrants will raise their voices towards the European Union and the European Commission to criticise and oppose the proposal that we believe is endangering respect for the fundamental rights of migrants. The proposal, for example, allows an lengthened period for the registration of asylum applications of up to four weeks. This will very likely come with automatic detention at the border posts. The proposal also will allow people to be detained at the border posts where they will say they will be able to implement asylum procedures so they do not have to go to a registration centre any more, as it can be done at the border posts. The proposal will allow the respective countries to, under the provision of only covering basic needs, detain people up to 16 weeks. From our perspective, this is unacceptable because it violates any kind of asylum law that has been put in place and the EU asylum directive. There is no exemption for vulnerable groups. The screening of vulnerable groups and specific risks to groups regarding their home countries and potential deportation are not properly covered. There is no call for humanitarian access. The only call in the proposal is for vague co-operation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR. There is no adequate monitoring mechanisms that will ensure that human rights are not violated to the extent that they are being violated at the moment by the national legislation put in place by Poland and Lithuania. Our call is for concerns to be raised and objections to be made to the proposal.