2015 - Commissioner's Human Rights Comment
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Human Rights Comment

Improving protection for victims of forced labour and human trafficking

12/11/2015 Strasbourg

Everyone in Europe - children, women and men - should be protected from forced labour and trafficking in human beings, two serious human rights violations. The latest International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates indicate some 20.9 million people around the world still being subjected to...

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Human Rights Comment

The new development agenda should fulfil human rights

14/10/2015 Strasbourg

Most European countries have become accustomed to seeing the United Nations (UN) development agenda as being “for export”, as not directly relevant for Europe itself. However, the economic crisis and austerity have made this universal agenda topical on our continent as well. The 2030 Agenda for...

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Human Rights Comment

Remove obstacles to the work of women’s rights defenders

22/09/2015 Strasbourg

Human rights defenders and civil society organisations working to protect the human rights of women and gender equality perform an essential role in Europe. They provide much needed assistance to victims of gender-based violence, combat discrimination against women, contribute to peace-building...

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Human Rights Comment

Without papers but not without rights: the basic social rights of irregular migrants

20/08/2015 Strasbourg

Those who think that irregular migrants have no rights because they have no papers are wrong. Everyone is a holder of human rights regardless of their status. It is easy to understand that the prohibition of torture protects all people but we should also be aware of the fact that basic social...

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Human Rights Comment

Time to cure amnesia about the history of Roma in Europe

30/07/2015 Strasbourg

In a few days, we will commemorate the liquidation 71 years ago of the so-called “Gypsy family camp” at Auschwitz-Birkenau. On 2 August 1944, 2 897 persons were taken to the gas chambers and exterminated. Only a few months earlier, on 16 May 1944, the detainees of the “Gypsy camp” had refused to...

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Human Rights Comment

Time to debunk myths and prejudices about Roma migrants in Europe

16/07/2015 Strasbourg

Political and media debates on Roma migration have become recurrent in several European countries. Since the eastward expansion of the European Union in 2004 and 2007, and the lifting of employment restrictions regarding Romanian and Bulgarian citizens in a number of EU member states in 2014,...

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Human Rights Comment

Inclusive education vital for social cohesion in diverse societies

05/05/2015 Strasbourg

Public debates on the need to ensure more inclusive education for children and young adults who face social exclusion in diverse societies have recently rekindled in Europe. Evidence shows that in many European states the dropout rate of children coming from migrant families or minority groups,...

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Human Rights Comment

Armenian-Turkish Reconnections and Human Rights

17/04/2015 Strasbourg

History continues to divide Armenian and Turkish officialdom, but there are many civil society, cultural and academic initiatives aiming to reconnect the two societies. April 24 marks the centennial of the beginning of the mass killings, deportations and dispossession of Armenians in the Ottoman...

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Human Rights Comment

Syrian refugees: ‘Reset’ needed in Europe’s approach

03/02/2015 Strasbourg

Just over a year ago, I decided to follow the steps of Syrian refugees in Europe, to better understand what they were going through. At that time, I was worried that most European governments were reacting with indifference to the biggest refugee crisis facing our continent in over two decades....

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