03/11/2016 – Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children, fleeing conflict, human right violations and poverty, have crossed the Mediterranean in the past three years in search of safe haven or a better life. In the absence of safe and legal routes into Europe, they have travelled irregularly, at considerable risk to their own lives. This has posed significant challenges to European leaders, who have largely failed to meet them. They have placed a particularly large burden on Greece, but also on Italy, which has led efforts to save lives at sea and has seen over 150 thousand irregular arrivals for each of the last three years. Rather than creating a bold, orderly system providing safe avenues for people to seek protection in Europe, and advocating for the respect and protection of human rights in countries where conflict and persecution are displacing people, European leaders have resorted to negotiating with human rights violating governments to stop them coming. Rather than promoting solidar
