Cities and municipalities across Europe have shown their voluntary willingness to take in people seeking protection in recent years. These welcoming municipalities are growing in number and, together with the many civil society groups, they stand for a Europe of solidarity that respects human rights and takes responsibility for the protection of human lives.
Since 2015, talk of the supposed refugee crisis has been omnipresent. According to the UNHCR, over 80 million people worldwide were on the run at the end of 2020, but most of them do not make it to Europe and remain in the Global South. In reality, the crisis lies in the lack of access to protection via regulated, safe routes to Europe.
70 years after the adoption of the Geneva Convention on Refugees, European asylum and migration policy is at an impasse. Yet the cities and municipalities in Europe are very willing to take in refugees. At the end of June, mayors from various European cities and municipalities met in Palermo at the "From the Sea to the City" conference to look for solidarity-based solutions to the humanitarian...
On 25 and 26 June, mayors from all over Europe will come together with civil society actors in Palermo for a conference of cities for a Europe of solidarity and propose solutions for the reception of refugees.
We are happy to finally announce the date of our joint conference! The conference is organised by From the Sea to the City, a European civil society network in cooperation with the cities of Palermo and Potsdam.
Cities and municipalities are not only key players when it comes to providing protection, integration and social cohesion, they are also centres for business and development. At the same time, they must find effective local solutions to the effects of transnational challenges and thus make an important contribution to solving global problems.
As part of the From the See to the City consortium, we are very pleased to publish our first joint publication with key recommendations and best practices in the field of European migration. The recommendations are aimed at EU representatives, mayors, local authority representatives and civil society.
