What we’re calling for:
- End the EU’s role in forcing people to move
- End arms exports and other forms of military support to third countries
- Stop security cooperation with third countries whenever there is a risk this will lead to repression and human rights violations
- Stop military operations in third countries; end European participation in the ‘war on terror’; abolish NATO, and stop the EU military build-up
- End unequal trade relations with third countries – including free trade agreements. Hold European and multinational companies responsible for their activities in and regarding third countries
- Stop extracting wealth and resources, including land grabbing, from third countries
- Take actual measures to prevent further climate change and work on climate justice, not ‘green’ capitalism
- Take responsibility for the effects of centuries of colonialism, imperialism, violence, slavery, exploitation, oppression and exclusion. Make reparations and dismantle the current neocolonialist order and infrastructure
Context
A lot of people move because they feel forced to do so. The reasons that lead to this decision are often caused or worsened by the policies and actions taken by Western Europe and the US – historically and today.
European arms exports, and other forms of support to authoritarian regimes, fuel wars, internal conflicts, repression and human rights violations. Military operations cause death, destruction and the destabilisation of countries, communities and economies. Unequal trade relations, exploitation and exclusion maintain and exacerbate poverty. The EU is one of the main drivers of climate change through its extractivist and fossil-fuel dependent economy. These are things which the EU, its member states and other actors refuse to take any responsibility for.
Research and resources
- Smoking guns: How European arms exports are forcing millions from their home, A report by TNI
- The paper ‘The European Union: A New Era in European Imperialism‘ in the journal Peace, Land and Bread attempts to map European neo-imperialism today, concentrating on the EU’s migration policies and Economic Partnership Agreements and delineating how European neo-imperialist powers use the European Union as a vehicle for their policies.
- Leaving the War on Terror: A Progressive Alternative to Counter-Terrorism Policy A report by TNI
Full report in English