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Webinar focuses on Coronavirus and EU border restrictions

The Centre for European Policy Studies hosted a web seminar on COVID-19 policies and their impact on freedom of movement within the Schengen area and the right to seek asylum for people seeking protection in the EU.

FRA Director Michael O’Flaherty took part alongside EU Home Affairs Commissioner Johansson.

In his remarks, he appreciated Commissioner Johansson’s leadership in COVID 19 times and the continued efforts by the European Commission and some Member States to support the relocation of the most vulnerable from Greece, such as unaccompanied children.

He highlighted the need for responsibility sharing across EU Member States. From a fundamental rights perspective three red lines cannot be crossed, independently of the COVID 19 pandemic: the legal obligation to carry out individuated asylum claims; unacceptability of pushbacks at borders; treating people at reception facilities with dignity.

MEP Tineke Strik and Marta Hirsch-Ziembinska, European Ombudsman Office were also part of the panel debate. More than one hundred people followed the online meeting. The webinar took place on 12 May.