AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
MEDIA ADVISORY
Tuesday 30 September Brussels press briefing and interview availability (European Parliament).
Tomorrow, on Tuesday 30 September, Amnesty International will launch a new report, Lives adrift: Refugees and migrants in peril in the central Mediterranean, at the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels. The report will examine the plight of migrants and refugees who risk their lives making the journey from North Africa across the Mediterranean to the European Union (EU) in search of safety and sanctuary.
It will explore the causes and consequences of these horrific journeys on un-seaworthy vessels; as well as EU and member states’ responsibilities and responses regarding international maritime law, and human rights and refugee law obligations. This year alone, 2500 people have lost their lives at sea.
The report comes as Europe prepares to mark the one year anniversaries of the 3 and11 October 2013 shipwrecks off the Italian island of Lampedusa. These collectively took the lives of over 500 people. It will be launched shortly before the EU Commissioner-designate for Migration and Home Affairs, Dimitris Avramopoulos’ hearing before Members of the European Parliament in the EP in Brussels. The hearing will provide a key opportunity to the EP to review the Commissioner-designate’s objectives and political programme in terms of human rights protection.
Amnesty International directors, the report’s researchers, and experts on EU migration policy will be available for interview throughout the day in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. Amnesty International can also facilitate remote interviews with the survivors interviewed for the report.
When: Tuesday 30 September at 11.00 CET
Where: In room A5G315 in the ASP building of the European Parliament, Brussels (ASP A5G315)
For further information, to arrange an interview, or to obtain a copy of the report under embargo, please contact:
Maeve Patterson
Media & Communications
Amnesty International European Institutions Office
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +32 (0)2 548 27 73 Mobile: +32 (0)483 680 812