

Aysha is a young mum from Aleppo, Syria. She spent her twenties “studying human research, travelling the country and working as a civil engineer for the government.” At 34 she met her husband, a doctor. “He [....] pretty much immediately asked to marry me. Eventually I gave in.” [1]

People like Aysha, with hopes and dreams and lives similar to ours, are escaping the bombs dropping on their homes, searching for safety until the war ends. ​But because of a deal struck by the EU and Turkey, finding safety in Europe is now next to impossible for people like her.

This deal incentivises Turkey, a country with an appalling human rights record, to prevent any migrants from entering the EU. There are now widespread reports of of Syrians being shot at when attempting to enter Turkey, children and their families being detained in police cells in squalid conditions for weeks on end with no access to legal aid or the outside world. [2]

In their haste to write up this deal, European leaders skipped a crucial step - having the European Parliament vote on it. Without this vote, the deal can be challenged. At last week’s World Humanitarian Summit, leaders pledged to uphold humanitarian rights. Now is the moment to hold them to their word and demand our elected representatives have a say on inhumane deals that put the lives of people like Aysha at risk.

[1] http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/551258/first-person-refugee-pregnant-...

[2] http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=19972&L...