Easter Appeal 2020 to the Federal Council as well as the Parliament, which is accompanied by numerous actions and appeals until today.
The catastrophic situation in Moria has been known for a long time: More than 13,000 people were living in the camp that has been originally designed for 3,000 people, until the fire on 09 September 2020. In times of a pandemic, thousands had to sleep in tents or in the open, there were not enough sanitary facilities, people often had to queue hours for food. Keeping your distance, protecting yourself from the virus, was not possible in this situation.
For this reason, evacuate NOW urgently calls on the Federal Council and Parliament to bring as many refugees as possible from the Aegean to Switzerland. As a Dublin state, Switzerland shares responsibility for the humanitarian catastrophe on the Greek islands. It has the necessary capacities and financial means to make an important contribution to the evacuation.
The Easter Appeal therefore calls for the
In early July, a response to the petition by evacuate NOW came from Karin Keller-Sutter, head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police. The reply ignored the expressions of solidarity from the municipalities and cities and pointed out that the Federal Council would continue its previous commitment. However, the last few months in particular have shown that this commitment is non-existent. 50’458 signatures and 132 organisations of evacuate NOW thus receive only a vague and incomplete response.
On 10 October 2020, several Swiss organisations called for a national rally to mobilise together on the streets and lead by example. Over 4,000 people came to show their solidarity and to demand action from the government.
Photos of the rally and additional information here.
The campaign is not over yet! You can find more ways to get active at the evacuateNOW alliance.