Europe Must Act was founded as a campaign by volunteers and aid workers in March 2020 as a response to the conditions of the hotspot refugee camps on the Aegean islands. The Greek authorities had suspended the right to asylum with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and within a few days, 160 associations and human rights groups joined EMA’s call to action. More than 100,000 people signed the “Europe Must Act” petition demanding the European Commission to transfer asylum seekers and refugees from the hotspot camps to other territories.

Since EMA’s inception, we’ve grown into a passionate ecosystem of remote volunteers. Our initial goal, “to immediately decongest the Aegean Islands,” has evolved as we’ve witnessed shifting migration policies across the European landscape. State-sanctioned human rights abuses towards people on the move have continued and, in some cases, even worsened, through unacceptable living conditions, criminalisation and the use of detention, violent pushbacks and externalisation tactics, and increasing AI tech surveillance. Hostile policies and practices are systemic, and “Fortress Europe” is a result of decisions from EU regulations, to national legislation, to municipal policies.

EMA believes that migration is universal and that people’s right to claim asylum should be honoured regardless of how or where they enter Europe, as it states in the UN Refugee Convention, which all member-states are signatories to. We continue to work with a hope-based approach, to not only share the realities of migration in Europe but to suggest alternative practices. At a time when seeking asylum and human rights are increasingly threatened across the globe, and everything seems designed to divide us, we aim to make civic participation accessible through our reports and articles, online workshops, and accessible actions. EMA has evolved over time, but our purpose – showcasing and strengthening the broad solidarity with people seeking safety across Europe – remains unchanged.