Offering a hand, a smile, a meal, a word of kindness – this is what we’ve always done. At their heart, these gestures reflect a basic instinct that connects us all: Helping each other is what makes us human. Help is unconditional. It transcends borders and does not discriminate. Yet, today, this simple act of humanity could lead to trouble with the authorities.
In recent years, intensified enforcement of the EU’s 2002 Facilitation Directive has led to the prosecution of individuals and organisations providing humanitarian aid to people in an irregular situation. Ordinary citizens from all walks of life have faced legal repercussions, from activists and journalists to nuns, farmers, students, and countless others – showing just how deeply mutual aid and solidarity are embedded in our societies.
The European Commission has now proposed revisions to that directive, giving lawmakers in the European Parliament an opportunity to close these gaps and ensure that humanitarian workers can assist people on the move Birgit Sippel MEP, who is leading the Civil Liberties Committee’s work on the file, this month presented a draft report that moves in the right direction.
Protecting humanitarian assistance crucial
Sippel’s report proposes a mandatory humanitarian exemption that decriminalises the provision of humanitarian assistance to people in migration. This is a crucial measure to preserve our ability to help one another. By supporting this proposal, MEPs can play an important role in preventing harm and reaffirming the EU’s commitment to human dignity and solidarity.
While the Facilitation Directive aims to target organised crime and harmonise counter-smuggling practices across Member States, intensifying enforcement measures have been ineffective in stopping smuggling.
According to the Mixed Migration Centre, which researches the intersection of migration and refugee flows, stricter counter-smuggling policies are amplifying risks for migrants by making their journeys longer and more dangerous, while exposing them to increasingly hostile conditions along migration routes and within the EU. Once they reach Europe, some people also risk being prosecuted for facilitating their own journeys and those of their family members.
Smuggled migrants are not perpetrators. The Directive should also ensure that they are not punished.
Our Red Cross colleagues experience how enforcement measures have cast a shadow over people acting out of kindness and solidarity on a daily basis. Rooted in the principles of humanity and impartiality, they offer help to everyone, regardless of who or where they are. But providing unconditional access to essential services without questioning nationality or legal status is increasingly difficult. In the current restrictive regulatory environment, many fear that this work could be misunderstood by authorities.
For example, staff and volunteers have been asked by police about how mobile phones are used in the Restoring Family Links service: a longstanding Red Cross programme to re-establish and maintain contact between family members who have been separated due to disasters, conflict or migration.
The EU must encourage help, not hesitation
Helping others is a shared value: a pillar of society and of a stable democracy. This requires a healthy and vibrant civic space, recognised by policymakers for its vital role in promoting participation in public life, and safeguarded against intimidation and criminalisation. The civic space also enables the realisation of the EU's foundational values of human dignity and solidarity.
Yet, studies by both the European Commission and the European Parliament highlight how the Facilitation Directive's implementation has created a chilling effect. Civil society organisations and individuals are likely to “think twice” before offering help to people without a valid status. This hesitation not only risks leaving people in need without support, but undermines society at large.
As the Parliament prepares its position ahead of the negotiations with the Council and the Commission, MEPs now have the opportunity to stand up for our democratic civic space and protect our right to help. Opting for a mandatory humanitarian exemption would bring greater legal clarity for those who offer assistance. The law can uphold what we instinctively know to be true: Helping others must never be a source of fear or punishment.
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