According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there are more than 250 million migrants and around 70 million refugees in the world (ACNUR), and this migration trend is rising. The causes are natural disasters, conflicts or complex emergencies and, fundamentally, chronic inequality. Europe has been turned into one of the epicenters of this phenomenon, with more than a million people having fled the war in Syria. The European response was disappointing: an agreement with Turkey was signed in March 2016 to close the land route through Greece, which forced refugees to try to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean, where more than 5,000 have drowned.
As a result we have been working to support these people from their departure point through to their final destination in Europe, affording them primary care, access to sexual, reproductive and mental health. This legitimizes our demands that safe pathways be established which respect and protect fundamental human rights.
We are also starting to cover other migrant routes, especially in Central America, where the situation has worsened with the hardening of North American immigration policy.
© Jesús Blasco de Avellaneda
