Greece: Obama must shine spotlight on Europe’s abysmal failure to protect refugees

US President Barack Obama should use his visit to Greece, which begins on 15 November, to call for concrete action to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Greece and for European countries to stop shirking responsibility for refugee protection, said Amnesty International.

As winter closes in and the global political climate grows harsher, President Obama should demand that wealthy countries take in a significantly greater and fairer share of the world’s refugees

John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International

“President Obama must use his visit to shine the spotlight not only on abysmal conditions for the tens of thousands of refugees stranded in Greece, but also on the failure of world leaders to adequately address the wider global refugee crisis,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe Director for Amnesty International.

“As winter closes in and the global political climate grows harsher, President Obama should demand that wealthy countries meet their obligations and take in a significantly greater and fairer share of the world’s refugees.”

NOTES:

From 14 November, the ‘Museum without a Home’ will spring up across Athens and online, showcasing real objects that the Greek people have donated to those arriving in Greece in need of protection. For details of this initiative by Amnesty International Greece and Oxfam visit https://www.museumwithoutahome.gr

In September, following the “Obama Summit” and the UN Summit on Refugees and Migrants Amnesty International accused world leaders of failing to leadership on refugees https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/09/refugee-crisis-leaders-summit-fails-to-show-leadership/