Our thoughts are with the thousands of victims that continue to perish in the Mediterranean, year after year. The only dream these people had was to reach the shores of the European Union with the promise of a better life and a future for themselves and their children.

However, the ‘European values’ do not cross borders. They are strictly reserved for European populations and are denied to people coming from elsewhere. Basic human rights, as if they could be different in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe…

‘Fortress Europe’ is killing people. But let us not forget that ‘Fortress Europe’ is made by the governments of the European Union’s member-states. And let us not forget that these governments have always refused to define a common European policy on immigration and asylum.

This is the tragedy. In the same way as the Greek people are forced to pay for the debts made by their banks and governments, African people pay the price for the lack of political courage of 28 national governments.