A Médecins Sans Frontières vessel carrying individuals found at sea arrives in the port of Catania, on the island of Sicily on 21 March 2017. NurPhoto/SIPA USA/PA Images. All rights reserved.
On 11 September 2015, as various ministers of home affairs were about to meet for yet another migration summit, Médecins sans Frontières sent an open letter to the heads of state of the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Serbia, and to the President of the European Commission. This letter, entitled “Your fences kill: provide safe passage”, was sent together with life jackets recovered from ships assisted at sea by MSF teams and on Tunisian beaches. These orange life jackets, sometimes marked with messages of hope and phone numbers to be called in case of death, became a powerful symbol of the call for safe passage in Europe.
Opening borders to people in need of protection should not be seen as a political act. It is a humanitarian imperative.
