Thursday, 27th August, 20-50 people were found dead in a lorry that was parked in Austria, near the Hungarian border. It is highly likely that these people were not allowed to board the trains to Austria after diligent ethnic profiling by the Hungarian police. The profiling, of course, focuses on who looks like a “migrant”, or a “refugee”.
For those people in Hungary who have spent the last months helping others on different transit zones this tragedy comes as a cruel reminder that the Dublin regulation results in death. For us, these are not faceless people whom we don’t have to care about because we have not met them. Hundreds of volunteers in Hungary have spoken with teenagers, men, women, grandpas, grandpas and children who were kicked out of the Vienna-bound trains. We have tried to get refunds for their train tickets, we have helped them in looking for lost siblings and children, we have recorded rights violations. Now the volunteers and members of different groups from Migration Aid to Migszol and others can only wonder - how many people do we know among those who are dead?
With this short commentary we want to raise a broader concern: will this tragedy again result in more intense hunting of smugglers, or will there finally be a move from authorities’ towards admitting that the Dublin Regulation kills people? As long as we keep on sanctifying the Dublin Regulations and keeping people off trains, smugglers will unfortunately not only be needed but also making a lot of money. For us, in Hungary, it is a reminder that helping people is not enough: what we need is a safe passage through our country, and for that, we need to fight the European legislation.
For those people in Hungary who have spent the last months helping others on different transit zones this tragedy comes as a cruel reminder that the Dublin regulation results in death. For us, these are not faceless people whom we don’t have to care about because we have not met them. Hundreds of volunteers in Hungary have spoken with teenagers, men, women, grandpas, grandpas and children who were kicked out of the Vienna-bound trains. We have tried to get refunds for their train tickets, we have helped them in looking for lost siblings and children, we have recorded rights violations. Now the volunteers and members of different groups from Migration Aid to Migszol and others can only wonder - how many people do we know among those who are dead?
With this short commentary we want to raise a broader concern: will this tragedy again result in more intense hunting of smugglers, or will there finally be a move from authorities’ towards admitting that the Dublin Regulation kills people? As long as we keep on sanctifying the Dublin Regulations and keeping people off trains, smugglers will unfortunately not only be needed but also making a lot of money. For us, in Hungary, it is a reminder that helping people is not enough: what we need is a safe passage through our country, and for that, we need to fight the European legislation.
RSS Feed