
Graffiti by the artist BLU in Morocco, close to the border with Melilla.We call on the European Union and member states to act immediately on this humanitarian disaster, while also recognising the need for a change in longstanding western policies in the Middle East and Africa, which are at the root of the current crisis. In doing so, we join the wave of popular solidarity that is sweeping Europe and call upon the EU states to take urgent and decisive measures to tackle this crisis.
The sheer scale of displacement is in itself shocking - some 4 million Syrians alone, of whom the majority have fled to neighbouring countries. Those attempting to reach Europe overland via Turkey, and from the North African coast are often fleeing violent conflict and its long-term consequences: poverty, civil war, deprivation, despotic governments. The foreign and immigration policies of the European Union have driven thousands to seek alternative and dangerous ways of gaining entry to Europe. The spectre of overcrowded, sinking vessels and drowned people washing up on European shores is inseparable from inhumane political and legal frameworks, which prevent their rescue and integration in EU countries.
Europe cannot be conceived of in isolation from its relationship with the rest of the world. It is clear that free movement within the Schengen zone is predicated on the tightening of external borders. As beneficiaries of a liberal, democratic, borderless Europe, it is crucial that we recognise that this co-exists with a second enclosed, militarised and violent Fortress Europe. While the global South is forced to accept the removal of borders for western capital, they are faced with borders for human beings. We stand against the foreign policies of western governments which, in the short-term, have caused the displacement of millions across the Middle East and Africa, and which in the long-term have created political instability and economic underdevelopment. Moreover, the immediate response to the recent plight of hundreds of thousands of refugees has been inadequate at best, and disastrous at worst. At the same time, European governments have increased scaremongering and xenophobic tactics which preclude any reimagining of migration based on human dignity rather than economic exploitation.
To begin with, refugees should be allocated more fairly and evenly across member states. This means an EU-wide migration policy with binding obligations on states to host refugees according to their wealth and size. Under the current voluntary scheme, agreed to by the European Commission in May, governments have been able to shamefully evade their moral responsibilities. This has meant that some countries are leading the way in offering sanctuary, while others, such as the UK, have offered only repression or paltry mean-spirited gestures of support. According to some surveys, over two thirds of Europeans would support a shared EU migration policy making this a realistic and achievable short-term response to the unfolding crisis.
It is for these reasons that European states, and the European Union as a whole, must take responsibility for its contributions, present and historical, to the continuing devastation of human life in Africa and the Middle East. What we are calling for is both an immediate response to the present crisis and a long-term political project, which is not predicated on international warmongering and financial exploitation, but rather on the prioritisation of the basic needs of all human life.
On the basis of this assessment, we propose a set of concrete measures to address both the humanitarian and political crisis:
1. Provide food, shelter and medical assistance to the thousands of women, men and children currently arriving in Europe.
2. A common European hosting policy based on wealth and country size. National egotism cannot dictate EU policies.
3. Repeal immediately the “Dublin III Regulation” under which asylum seekers are forcefully deported to their point of entry. A principled policy should rest on shared responsibilities among all European parties.
4. Vigorously condemn all individual, group and state level acts of xenophobia, racism and violence. In particular, we address the Hungarian authorities directly by saying: “Mr. Orban tear down that wall of shame!”. Our Europe is not a walled fortress!
5. Call for an international conference, under the auspices of the UN, to launch an integrated humanitarian and economic assistance programme in the countries of origin of the refugees and neighbouring areas, discriminating positively on the basis of their respective human rights records.

Graffiti by the artist BLU in Morocco, detail.
1. Diego Acosta
2. Siobhan Airey
3. Guy Aitchison
4. Daniela Alaattinoglu
5. Matteo Albanese
6. Xavi Alcalde
7. Hannah al-Hassan Ali
8. Francisco Alonso
9. Chiara Altafin
10. Argyrios Altiparmakis
11. Brais Alvarez-Pereira
12. Aurelie Andry
13. Albert Arcarons
14. Nicholas Barrett
15. Laura Bartolini
16. Emily Baughan
17. Margot Béal
18. María Inés Berniell
19. Federiga Bindi
20. Thibaud Boncourt
21. Oscar Lema Bouza
22. Dorit Brixius
23. Jelle Bruinsma
24. Luc Brunet
25. Anita Buhin
26. Kateryna Burkush
27. Reto Bürgisser
28. Pietro Castelli
29. Semih Çelik
30. Matteo Cernison
31. Anna Elizabeth Chadwick
32. Leiry Cornejo Chavez
33. Daniela Chironi
34. Lorenzo Cini
35. Miguel Serra Coelho
36. Iftah Cohen
37. Chiara Ludovica Comolli
38. Federica Copola
39. Guillemette Crouzet
40. Donagh Davis
41. François Delerue
42. Donatella Della Porta
43. Chares Demetriou
44. Koen Docter
45. David Do Paço
46. Alexis Drach
47. Eliska Drapalova
48. Vedran Duančić
49. Konstantinos Eleftheriadis
50. Miguel Palou Espinosa
51. Irene Otero Fernandez
52. Roel Frakking
53. Caterina Froio
54. Martín Portos García
55. Grigol Gegelia
56. Johanna Gereke
57. Theresa Gessler
58. Rosa Gilbert
59. Tommaso Giordani
60. Itzea Goicolea-Amiano
61. Alexander Golovlev
62. Christelle Gomis
63. Pablo Gracia
64. Ieva Grumbinaitė
65. Lola Guyot
66. Lucrecia Rubio Grundell
67. Caterina Francesca Guidi
68. Sandra Hagman
69. Bogumila Hall
70. Emily Hancox
71. Mari Torsdotter Hauge
72. John-Erik Hansson
73. Dónal Hassett
74. Florian Hertel
75. Masaaki Higashijima
76. Christine Hobden
77. Bram Hoonhout
78. Dr. Neil Howard
79. Pavlina Hubkova
80. Swen Hutter
81. Haakon Andreas Ikonomou
82. Ola Morris Innset
83. Johannes Jüde
84. Jennie Sejr Junghans
85. Kirsten Kamphuis
86. Anna Kandyla
87. Marianna Karttunen
88. Kateryna Kolesnyk
89. Hara Kouki
90. Johanne Kuebler
91. Katharina Kuffner
92. Matthijs Kuipers
93. Joldon Kutmanaliev
94. Joseph Lacey
95. Hugo Leal
96. Katharina Lenner
97. Ludvig Lundstedt
98. Sabrina Marchetti
99. Kimon Markatos
100. Bruno Andre Casal Nunes Martinho
101. Tiago (Manuel) Matos
102. Alfredo Mazzamauro
103. Patrick McDonagh
104. Liam McHugh-Russell
105. Mariana Mendes
106. Elie Michel
107. Chiara Milan
108. Ismay Milford
109. Debora Milito
110. Pierre Monforte
111. Mayo Fuster Morell
112. Jotte Mulder
113. Thuc Linh Nguyen Vu
114. Emma Ní Niatháin
115. Frank O’Connor
116. Didem Oral
117. Stefano Osella
118. Virginia Passalacqua
119. Marie Petersmann
120. Bilyana Petkova
121. Zane Rasnaca
122. Dieter Reinisch
123. Anna Subirats Ribas
124. Noelle Richardson
125. Marco Rizzi
126. Arturo Rodríguez
127. Jerome Roos
128. Julia Rone
129. Suzan Meryem Rosita
130. Jan Rybak
131. Julija Sardelić
132. Pablo Hernández Sau
133. Grazia Sciacchitano
134. Francesca Scrinzi
135. Frederico Ferreira da Silva
136. Nagwan Soliman
137. George Souvlis
138. Maja Spanu
139. Maria Luisa Stasi
140. Ivan Stefanovski
141. Elias Steinhilper
142. Olivia Arigho Stiles
143. Trond Ove Tøllefsen
144. Anna Triandafyllidou
145. Milla Vaha
146. Dimitri Van Der Meersche
147. Guido van Meersbergen
148. Sasa Vejzagic
149. Ilaria Vianello
150. Markos Vogiatzoglou
151. Esther Wahlen
152. Solongo Wandan
153. Patrice Wangen
154. Manès Weisskircher
155. Karin Westerbeek
156. Raphaële Xenidis
157. Olga Yakushenko
158. Musab Younis
159. Lorenzo Zamponi
160. Uros Zver
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