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MODERATOR: Hernan del Valle, Head of Advocacy & Operational Communications, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Operational Centre Amsterdam
PANEL MEMEBERS:
Marian Benbow Pfisterer, Head of the International Organization for Migration ( IOM) Country Office for Austria
Ulrike Lunacek, Politician, Vice President of the European Parliament
Manfred Nowak, Secretary General, EIUC, Professor of International Law and Human Rights – University of Vienna
Bolstered by the consequences of the EU-Turkey deal which has sharply reduced crossings into Greece, the EU has reiterated the need to close now the central Mediterranean route. While in the Malta Declaration of February 3rd the EU reaffirms its determination to act in full respect of human rights, international law, and European values, recent reports on the situation of displaced persons in Libya portray a sharply different reality: arbitrary detention and unbearable conditions in prison-like detention centres where ill-treatment or torture, unlawful killings, sexual exploitation, and a plethora of other human rights abuses take place. The panel will explore the consequences of the new EU-Libya Deal in that context. Will the EU – while executing the new EU-Libya deal – walk the talk on European values and full respect of human rights? Or is the EU turning a blind eye to the dehumanised situation in Libya for the sake of protecting borders and of keeping displaced people away from Europe?