London: European Governments are more concerned about reinforcing their borders than saving lives, Amnesty International has revealed in its report.
Amnesty`s report also charged European Governments with endangering migrants by outsourcing security along territorial boundaries.
"For the EU, reinforcing Europe`s borders clearly trumps saving lives," Fox News quoted Nicolas Beger, the director of the organisation`s European Institutions Office, as saying.
"By attempting to curb irregular migration, European countries have bolstered border control measures beyond European frontiers without regard to the human cost. Far from public view, these measures put people at risk of serious abuse," he added.
The release of the report will coincide with the opening of an online public petition urging members of the European Parliament to hold EU national governments and EU institutions accountable for the way they treated migrants.
Amnesty said its campaign intended to hold a European country accountable for violating human rights in the way it enforces migration controls. "Today, Europe is failing to promote and respect the rights of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees. Hostility is widespread and mistreatment often goes unreported," the human rights group alleged.
The report revealed that on several occasions last year Italy pushed back people to Libya, where they were detained and mistreated. In 2011, almost 1,500 people, including women and children, drowned in the Mediterranean Sea trying to reach Europe, the report said.
ANI
