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Information about Let’s Bring Them Here (LBTH) / We Gaan Ze Halen (WGZH)– Dutch citizens-initiative fighting for European Solidarity & Relocation since 2016.

History: Since 2016, Let’s Bring Them Here (LBTH) has been campaigning to hold the Dutch government accountable with regards to the implementation of the European relocation agreements for refugees in Greece and Italy. In September 2015 Holland agreed to (signed)  bring 8712 refugees from Greece to Holland by September 2017. Since 2015 only 2200 refugees from Greece have been relocated in Holland, not in 2 but in 5 whole years. LBTH set up successful (international) campaigns for a humane and based on solidarity EU refugees policy, and organised fierce political debates & public conferences. LBTH did all this during the past years in The Hague, Brussels and Athens – Christmas 2018 LBTH sent an empty bus to the Greek Parliament, and asked the Greek PM to fill it with refugees for Holland, the bus had to return empty.

Current Initiative: Dutch citizens of LBTH have rented a Boeing 737 airplane to begin airlifting refugees from Lesbos to Holland. It is a response to the fire in camp Moria. Besides (medical) emergency aid, this citizen movement and NGO’s in Europe see one solution in solidarity with Greece: an airlift of 1000nds of refugees from Lesbos and eventually also from other camps in Greece to shelters in Europe, where they can start or continue their asylum procedures. This is just a simple act of European Solidarity, as was intended by the European Relocation Decisions in 2015.

Flight Information: Flight ED3040 leaves Rotterdam/The Hague Airport at 09.00 am, CEST and will land on Mytilini Airport 1.20 PM. It will stay at the airport for two nights and leave Wednesday 7th October as Flight ED 3041 14.30 PM local time.

Political request in Netherlands We have asked our Dutch Secretary of State for Migration and Asylum, Mrs. Ankie Broekers-Knol, to get in touch as soon as possible with Minister Notis Mitarakis and Deputy Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos to grant the selection of the first 189 people that lived in Moria and are currently placed in the new equally hellish facility, RIC, on Lesvos. For the selection procedure of the relocation, we proposed to use the new relocation condition proposal in the Migration pact (20% chance of granted asylum in Europe).

Message The message will be clear to refugees, European citizens and governments: a large amount of the Dutch citizens wish to take in refugees from refugee camps on Lesvos. That was already proven by a majority of Dutch municipalities (178) and five Provinces, that united themselves in a ‘Coalition of the Willing’,  ready to take in 500 refugee-minors from Greece. Even within the governing parties that oppose relocation on a national level, local municipalities have publicly announced their willingness to take in refugee-minors. [Research University Utrecht] We realise that receiving, hosting and granting asylum (procedures) to refugees are nót a ‘Greek obligation’. Greece cannot do this alone. All EU member states must take their responsibility, share the burden, and take in refugees from Greece. We realise that sending money, ngo’s, volunteers, sleeping bags, meds and food as emergency aid is not a solution for the problem that is a result of the Dublin Regulation and the lack of Relocation efforts by Member states. We urge the Dutch and the Greek governments to fill every single empty seat of it with 189 refugees from the former Moria camp, so they can be airlifted to the Netherlands. And may many more follow.”