Health Crisis Management

To deal with future public health crises, a much faster and harmonised response is necessary. LYMEC therefore calls for agencies such as the European Centre for Disease Control to be awarded new powers to intervene more rapidly. Additionally, we support the creation of an  EU Infection Protection Regulation which would empower the European Commission to implement travel restrictions regarding entry into the European Union. Finally, we call for greater solidarity between Member States in health matters, including the coordination of effective future vaccination strategies for all European citizens.

Hong Kong

We condemn the human rights violations and the curtailment of basic democratic freedoms which have been committed in Hong Kong in recent years. We call for the international community to regard any breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 as a breach of international law, and to implement sanctions accordingly. We urge the EU to guarantee political asylum for protesters whose freedoms are threatened by the Chinese state, and for the EU to support pro-democracy activists and representatives however possible, especially those in exile.

Humanitarian Visas

LYMEC considers that the current rules surrounding asylum applications create a catch-22 situation for asylum seekers, even those in a genuine humanitarian crisis. This increases demand for dangerous and illegal trafficking services, resulting in enormous human suffering and even death. We therefore call on all EU Member States to commonly introduce a “humanitarian visa system”, which would allow refugees to enter the EU territory legally and thus be able to seek asylum on humanitarian grounds upon arrival. All Member States should adopt common criteria for these humanitarian visas. There should be EU-level cooperation to allow asylum seekers to apply for asylum in all Member States.

Human Rights

LYMEC has repeatedly expressed its commitment to continue to work for a united Europe that guarantees freedom, democracy and human rights. LYMEC has previously emphasised the need for a shared constitution to achieve clarity. LYMEC calls upon the EU to only fund projects that are compatible with the core values of the European Union; the human rights perspective should be an imperative part of future free-trade agreements, and the ECJ should have the necessary resources to speed up cases concerning the violation of human rights.

Human Trafficking

The free movement of people in the EU requires a robust strategy to combat human trafficking. LYMEC calls for the EU to do more to prevent human trafficking, including appointing impartial rapporteurs and doing more to tackle the issue at its roots.