To:

Mr. Christos Stylianides, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid & Crisis Management

Copy to:

Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the , First Vice President , Foreign Affairs and Security Policy , Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship , European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations , International Cooperation and Development Matthias Ruete, Director General of the Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs Cecilia Wikström (ALDE, SE), Rapporteur on the Dublin regulation

13 July 2018

Dear Commissioner Stylianides,

We, the undersigned organisations, call on the European Commission to do all in its powers to halt the further loss of lives in the Mediterranean. Whilst we understand that the and its Member States, following the Summit on 28 June 2018, are seeking a long-term solution to migration and asylum which ensures responsibility-sharing and solidarity between member states, it must take decisive and immediate interim measures to stop the unacceptable drowning of hundreds of babies, children, women and men on our doorstep.

The current inability of NGO search and rescue vessels to operate has reportedly led to a skyrocketing of deaths. As the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid & Crisis Management, we call on you, Mr Stylianides, to do all which is within your power to ensure that the activities of search and rescue vessels are no longer obstructed, that they are released from their current docking positions, granted access to European ports, and that they are not subjected to fears of criminalisation and legal repercussions due to their rescue work.

Handing over the responsibility to the Libyan coast guard to handle the migratory situation in the Mediterranean appears to directly contravene all values upon which the European Union was built. There can be no doubt about the atrocities unfolding on Libyan soil, including rape, extortion, torture and killings, as well as reports of slave auctions. In light of this, the European Union can and must step in to ensure an interim solution which safeguards the right to life of hundreds of children, women and men at sea. We call on you, Mr Stylianides, to do the necessary, take decisive action and show firm leadership on this seemingly non- negotiable matter.

We look forward to a response at your very earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

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Ariel Ricker, Executive Director, Advocates Abroad

Dominique Guibert, President, Association Européenne pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme

Panayote Dimitras, Spokesperson, Greek Helsinki Monitor

Josephine Naughton, CEO, Help Refugees

Epaminondas Farmakis, Director, Human Rights 360

Brian Killoran, Chief Executive Officer, Immigrant Council of Ireland

Liz Clegg, Founder, MEENA Centre for Women and Children

Sarah Story, Co-founder, Refugee Info Bus

Marta Welander, Executive Director, Refugee Rights Europe

Jonny Willis, CEO, Refugee Youth Service

Jon O’Connor, Chair of Trustees, The School Bus Project

Antigone Lyberaki, General Manager, SolidarityNow

Mina Jaf, Founder and Director, Women Refugee Route

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