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Can you be forced to be indifferent towards people who are in need of humanitarian assistance such as food, shelter, medical care or legal advice? And if you cannot be made indifferent, are you ready to face sanctions from your own government when you want to help someone in distress?

The issue was raised last week by Social Platform and our members during the European Migration Forum. We believe that EU law – specifically the Facilitation Directive – is not safeguarding your rights as an EU citizen to act with humanity towards your fellow man, to ensure respect for human rights by providing humanitarian assistance to people who are not legally resident in the EU. In some cases EU law has led to the punishment of those who have provided humanitarian assistance to undocumented migrants in need.

Unfortunately this is not a new issue, as documented by the Fundamental Rights Agency: ‘Fishermen fear punishment for rescuing migrants in distress at sea, under the rules on facilitation of irregular entry. Such risk for fishermen was also reported by the press following the tragedies off the Italian island of Lampedusa in October 2013, when two shipwrecks occurred and more than 380 people were reported to have died.’

There are national NGOs who have been threatened with losing their public funding if they provide assistance to undocumented migrants. This may include shelter for the homeless or medical attention for victims of domestic violence. We should never be threatened with sanctions when we decide to help those in need, regardless of their residency status. Punishing humanitarian assistance goes against our values and the EU’s founding principle of solidarity.

I share the desire of the European Parliament to take action to end situations like we face in the Mediterranean Sea in locations like Lampedusa in Italy. I want to be able to provide humanitarian assistance – without the threat of sanctions – to those in need. The current practice encouraged by the EU is contradictory; on the one hand it is restricting entry into its territory with tighter controls, and on the other it says that we must welcome migration as a solution to the impact of demographic ageing.

Currently, facilitating irregular entry is punished in all 28 EU member states. However, the law in Luxembourg, Germany, Portugal and Ireland states that it is only punishable if proven to be for profit or gain. At Social Platform we want the 2002 Facilitation Directive to be revised as follows: member states shall not sanction those who provide humanitarian assistance to persons without EU citizenship. The current law says that they may not, which leaves EU citizens open to punishment.

I am glad that Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos concluded the European Migration Forum by agreeing that humanitarian assistance should not be criminalised and migrants’ human rights should be respected. Now let’s put this belief into practice.

Let’s engage!

Pierre Baussand, Director