‘Troubling gap’ between EU promises and actions on human rights, watchdog says

The European Union "persistently failed" to act on its human rights commitments in 2023, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

Transcript

00:00 There is a troubling gap between what the European Union says about human rights and what it actually does.

00:07 And those people most in need are paying a high price.

00:10 These are the conclusions of NGO Human Rights Watch in its annual report.

00:15 We are quite concerned by the tendency of the EU leadership to park human rights to lower level of discussions, right, to deprioritize it.

00:23 And yes, of course, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has a responsibility in that, I think.

00:30 The EU's migration policies, the failure to tackle discrimination against marginalized groups,

00:35 and democratic backsliding in some member states are listed in the report as some of the bloc's human rights shortcomings in 2023.

00:45 The EU is also denounced for what is described as its double standards on foreign policy,

00:50 which have been highlighted by its response to the Israel-Hamas war.

00:54 By ignoring human rights abuses in favor of economic, trade and geopolitical ties,

01:00 the EU and its member states are undermining their reputation in the world, the report warns.

01:06 It can be geopolitics when you see the EU's engagement with human rights abusers like Egypt or Saudi Arabia.

01:12 It could be trade when you look at EU's engagement with China or India.

01:17 It can be even goals like migration or security when you look at the EU's engagement with Tunisia.

01:22 The watchdog also says that the EU's migration policies and controversial deals to control migrant flows with abusive states

01:30 could fuel polarization ahead of the upcoming European elections.

01:35 The EU recently struck a deal with Tunisia to curb the number of migrants crossing into Europe,

01:41 despite the country's contested record on human rights.

01:45 Migration is set to be a defining issue in the electoral campaign before Europeans head to the polls in June.

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