BackThe tragic events of the past weeks where hundreds of people lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea have filled us with tremendous shock. These desperate attempts to migrate from Africa to Europe in order to escape the deteriorating circumstances at home or simply to find a better life under different economic circumstances have their roots in the unequal distribution of resources at a global level and the political instability in several regions of the world.
Behind this humanitarian disaster lies a deep human rights crisis, where migrants try to flee from war and poverty to what they believe is a better social and peaceful situation. The nature and extent of these recent events once again show that the crisis cannot be solved by the countries directly concerned or some specific organisations alone.
The International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) – as the only global organisation for the cooperation of more than 170 Ombudsman institutions worldwide – therefore calls on its member institutions, especially from the African and European Region, to encourage their respective governments and administrations to join forces to find solutions for this refugee crisis with an open letter that shall serve IOI members to put leverage on their respective governments to help resolve this humanitarian and human rights crisis.
