RESOLUTION
Today, the 18th of March 2016, we, members of Women’s Organisations, representatives of Islanders from the Aegean, and other Greek citizens, upon invitation of the Greek League for Women’s Rights, attended to the awarding of the “Women’s Social Achievement Award ALICE YOTOPOULOS MARANGOPOULOS” to the women of the Eastern Aegean islands. These women, motivated solely by a spirit of humanism and solidarity for their fellow beings, offer shelter, hospitality and comfort to refugees arriving to the islands, fleeing their country at the risk of their life from war and violence.
All of us, unanimously approve the following RESOLUTION.
We declare our respect and pride over the humanitarian spirit and solidarity of men and women of the Aegean islands, who, motivated by their conscious alone, rescue and offer shelter, comfort and love to fellow human beings, who fell victims of war, violence and devastation. Their attitude set an example, and motivated individuals and NGOs from Greece and abroad to offer volunteer work, and made obvious to the International Community the human aspect of the problem. These simple islanders set into action the principles of the European Union (EU), which remains inflexible and untouched by the drama of refugees, only responding by offering financial support and agreements of questionable European and international legitimacy.
We denounce those countries of the EU who, acting unilaterally and by infringement of fundamental rules of the EU, build fences and close borders, thus ruling out constructive dialogue aiming at facing up to the consequences of a war, for which neither the refugees nor the countries of first arrival are to be held responsible, but is rather instigated by alien illegal interests. This attitude constitutes a severe infringement of universal values and rights on which the EU is founded, as well as of International Conventions on Human Rights and on the protection of Refugees, binding all EU member states.
We demand the immediate cease of armed conflicts at the countries of origin of the Refugees, conflicts that are the cause for the Odyssey of these people.
We demand the immediate lifting of all barriers that obstruct the passage of Refugees, the pulling down of the fences, the opening of the borders, and the allocation of the burden for receiving and sheltering those distressed fellow human beings proportionately to all the EU countries. Only one country, especially in the middle of economic crisis, cannot possibly bear the burden. We are faced with a European problem. The participation of all in facing this problem is necessary if the honour of EU is to be saved; necessary also for the unity of the EU, and, above all, for its existence, menaced by disruptive actions of certain countries, which violate their obligations arising from EU and international law.
