Europe Must Act is a Europe-wide movement of civil society and activists who advocate and campaign for fair and humane migration policies and dignified reception conditions in Europe. Europe Must Act focuses on human rights violations at European borders and engages with local and European politicians.

Our key goals are:

1. To unite communities across  Europe to welcome refugees and asylum seekers through relocation
   
2. To ensure dignified reception conditions and respect for human rights along Europe’s external borders
3. To secure a fair and humane European policy on asylum and migration

Since EMA started in March 2020, we’ve built a movement of activists across Europe, united in solidarity with displaced communities in Greece. We exist to bring attention to mistreatment and human rights abuses at Europe’s borders, and to show politicians and policy makers that many of Europe’s citizens believe in welcoming and supporting people seeking asylum here.

Despite repeated calls from human rights groups and citizens for a more humane approach at the Greek border, human rights abuses, pushbacks and containment in camps continues. And the problem isn’t just confined to Greece: in Calais police violence is a daily reality for displaced communities, while on the EU-Belarus border, people’s basic right to seek asylum has been repeatedly violated.

State-sanctioned human rights abuses on our borders are not isolated incidents. The introduction of anti-asylum policies and practises is systemic, and fortress Europe is being built at all levels of government - from EU regulations, to national legislation, to municipal policies. We call on European leaders to change course, by exploring, embracing and implementing alternatives to deterrence, detention and deportation.

EMA believes that people’s right to claim asylum should be respected, regardless of how or where they try to enter Europe. We are determined to challenge the introduction of anti-asylum policies, and to help citizens and communities across Europe campaign for a different approach. From our lived-experience on the ground we know that relocation across European countries, however politically unpopular, is key to a lasting solution where Europe is a place of welcome, not walls. 

Our mission and common purpose 

Europe Must Act is a growing grassroots movement that brings together volunteers, people on the move and NGOs campaigning to end human rights abuses at our borders and increase relocation within Europe. Through local action in cities across Europe and grassroots advocacy at our borders, we aim to influence European migration policy.

Europe Must Act members act with empathy, hope and passion and are united by our commitment to challenge indifference and tackle human rights abuses. We seek change on many levels by speaking up with people on the move, engaging European citizens and holding authorities accountable.