MPG’s Carmine Conte to provide input into the EESC’s public hearing on ‘A renewed EU action plan against migrant smuggling (2021-2025)’
As part of preparations of its opinion on a renewed EU action plan against migrant smuggling (2021-2025) presented by the Commission, the EESC is hosting a public hearing on 4 February from 10:00am – 13:00pm CET.
Dr Carmine Conte, MPG’s Legal Policy Analyst, will be attending the hearing and providing a contribution wherein he will be advocating for the legal rights of those attempting to aid and rescue migrants. In recent months, these rights have been cast into question, with a number of high-profile cases involving the prosecution of humanitarian workers charged with human smuggling (see for example the trial against Seán Binder, Sarah Mardini and Nassos Karakitsos, members of an organisation saving the lives of many refugees arriving on the Greek islands).
Dr Conte’s intervention here constitutes a continuation of past research by MPG in this area, notably the Research Social Platform on Migration and Asylum (ReSOMA) project. The project, which led to the production of several policy briefs concerning the crackdown on NGOs and volunteers helping refugees and other migrants, has helped to shed light on the challenges that EU citizens are facing when providing assistance to migrants and has also put forward policy options to end the criminalisation of solidarity.
About the Migration Policy Group (MPG)
MPG is an independent think-and-do-tank based in Brussels. MPG’s purpose is rooted in its ability to inspire networks to provide evidence-based projects, research and campaigns in the areas of integration, migration and anti-discrimination.