(see related)The president of
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) humanitarian NGO warned Thursday
that shutting down the Brenner Pass as Austria is threatening to
do could cause an Idomeni-like humanitarian disaster.
Loris De Filippi told reporters that what happened at the
Greek village of Idomeni after Balkan countries shut their
borders down could also take place in Italy at the Austria
border.
"After the Balkan route was cut off, a refugee camp
proliferated where 12,000 people have been living for months in
shameful conditions in the cold, the heat, and the mud," De
Filippi said.
He pointed to makeshift camps asylum seekers set up on the
sea rocks at Ventimiglia when France shut its border down last
year.
"People fleeing a war and who have the right to be taken
in, are rejected and get stuck in our country because other
countries don't want to get involved in this issue," he said.
"We must create safe and legal routes so these people can
reach us in totally secure conditions," he added.
The MSF chief also called on the Italian government to come
up with a contingency plan during what he said would be "a
pretty hot summer".
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