IST statement on the racist drive in Europe
Friday 13th July 2018

1. The European Council meeting on 28 June marked a potentially very dangerous turning point in the racist drive against migrants in Europe. After Donald Trump’s election in November 2016 the European Union presented itself as a bastion of liberalism and tolerance standing out against the new American president’s racism ands sexism. But this latest summit saw the EU embrace Trump’s anti-migrant agenda.
2. Trump caused outrage when he detained the children of undocumented migrants separately from their parents. But the EU has decided to create detention camps – so-called “disembarkation platforms” – for whole families along its borders. Libya – a country dominated by warring predatory militias that already traffic, kidnap, torture and rape migrants – has been picked out for a special role in this. The summit gave the Libyan coastguard an exclusive role in “rescuing” refugee boats in the Mediterranean.
3. These decisions are a consequence of ...