[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants François Crépeau on Tuesday urged [press release] the European Union (EU) [official website] to create a new human-rights-minded migration policy to empower migrants and solve the issue of human smuggling in the Eurozone. Crépeau said he believes that the EU has not been handling the current migration issues properly and that more needs to be done as movement of individuals across Eurozone borders will inevitably continue. He also criticized many of the methods currently used by the EU,“[b]uilding fences, using tear gas and other forms of violence against migrants and asylum seekers, detention, withholding access to basics such as shelter, food or water and using threatening language or hateful speech will not stop migrants from coming or trying to come to Europe.” Crépeau said that in order for the EU to control its borders more efficiently, it must accept the migration issue and work to help those who are seeking asylum. Crépeau also noted the need for countries to combat the discrimination against migrants as well as their exploitation in underground labor markets.

Migrant rights have generated a tremendous humanitarian issue around the world with hundreds of deaths in recent months. Last week migrants who set up a tent city in Athens, Greece, began relocation [JURIST report]. Many migrants coming from Afghanistan, Syria and other countries migrated to the country to escape violence, and with more than 130,000 migrants coming in the last year alone, a strain has been put on Greece’s finite finances. Earlier this month the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that more than 2,000 migrants have died this year [JURIST report] in an attempt to enter Europe through the Mediterranean Sea. According to IOM, the death toll this year, up from 1,607 at the same point in the year last year, confirms that migrants’ attempt to enter Europe through the Mediterranean is especially dangerous, and in fact more dangerous than other routes according to statistics. In June a British ship launched a mission [JURIST report] to rescue more than 500 migrants stranded in the sea.