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The Syrian Refugee crisis has become a devasting disaster in the recent memory resulting in the death of Innocent Civilians, including Women, children, elderly and other vulnerable people. The available data suggest that the Syrian crisis has taken the lives of around 200,000 people and out of which an approximate 8000 documented killings of Children who have not attained the age of 18. The Population of Syria is approximately 22 million, of which the crisis has resulted in 7.6 million Internally Displaced Person, and additionally 3.2 million refugees. Moreover, the crisis has put a population of around 12.2 million in the immediate need for humanitarian assistance.[1]

Most of the Refugees from the Syrian flee to their neighbouring countries like Jordan, Lebanon, and turkey, and the number of Refugees reaching these countries are 600,000,1.14 million, and 1.6 million, respectively. Besides this, Syrians are also seeking shelter in Egypt, Iraq and some of the EU union nations like Greece, Italy and Germany. The Influx of refugees in these countries has propped up new challenges like physical protection, shelter, health, education, employment of these incoming people.[2]

The plight of these people has become increasingly dangerous as countries like Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon has no obligation to treat Syrians as refugees because they are not Signatories to the refugee convention of 1951 and its associated optional protocol. Hence the international responsibility of these countries to protect these people are legally absent. Another country that hosts most of these Syrians is turkey, and it is a signatory to the refugee convention 1951. But turkey has a geographical limitation on the Refugee convention of 1951 by making its obligation only applicable to the refugees from European Union Area who were affected by the events before January 1951. Hence the responsibility of Turkey concerning Syrian Refugees have been Negated by this Limitation.

However, Turkeys Obligation is different from other countries by being a member of the European Union. Besides Turkey, other European Union nations have also taken some of the burdens of the Syrian Population like Greece, Italy and Germany. Hence it becomes the Response of the EU to Syrian crisis becomes paramount in reducing the pain and degradation suffered by the Syrian Population. Besides Refugee Convention some of the Instruments that apply to Refugees in the area of European Union Includes association agreement in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership more famously known as Beijing declaration, European Neighbourhood policy instrument, Global Approach to Migration

and Mobility. In the backdrop of these legal instruments, it is vital to analyse the Response of the European Union to the Syrian crisis. This paper will trace the Syrian crisis from its origin and the Response of the European Union Nations to this conflict from the refugee law perspective.

The Syrian crisis started with the peaceful uprising against the president as a pro-democratic movement during the Arab spring in 2011. Even before the crisis began, there has been massive disenchantment with Syrian people against its president due to massive unemployment, corruption, and oppression. The Arab spring in the neighbouring countries gave a considerable impetus to the social, economic and political injustice felt by the Syrian People. Soon the peaceful uprising turned violent, and a large-scale civil war broke between the government and opposition supporters whose aim was to overthrow Dictatorship of the President.

Syria is a vast plural country comprising of the various ethnic groups like Sunnis, Shias, Alawis and Kurds. This plurality and diversity of opinion have given catalyst to the uprising and has been a source of exploitation for the international players to take sides based on their self-interest. Moreover, The Syrian Crisis has slowly transformed into a sectarian religious war between the majority Sunni Muslim community against the Shias Alawite sect of the president. The Religious Sectarianism has led to the further mushrooming of the fundamentalist jihadist groups like the Islamic State and al-Qaida to flourish. Another key player in this struggle is the Syrian Kurds who demand the right of self-government.[3]

Kurds are the ethnic minority people living in countries like Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq. Alongside Arabs, they form a critical ethnic group in the Syrian Region. The Kurds live mostly in the northern part of Syria bordering turkey. The Kurds got involved in the Syrian crisis to protect their territory from the chaos of the Syrian civil war. The warring factions in Syria to the following groups

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Countries like Russian and Iran support the pro-government militias. On the other hand, Countries like Turkey, USA, and several other gulf states who subscribe to the Sunni ideology of Islam have supported the forces fighting the ruling party. Additionally, the government had the backing of Lebanons Hezbollah and other militias from Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. Each International power has different interests and motivations to be involved in the conflict. For, Example, one of the motivating factors for the turkey to support the rebel is to contain the spread of Kurdish forces in the north, whom the turkey believes may affect their internal security.[4]

The international Legal Refugee Protection has two Fundamental Principles namely the Principle of Burden Sharing and The Principle of Non-Refoulment

The modern Refugee law has origins from the mid of the twentieth century after the second world war. The International Legal Refugee Protection has a crucial concept called the Burden Sharing. According to this concept, it is the responsibility of the international community to offer protection and shelter to the refugees. According to this Principle, the refugee problem is the concern of the entire humanity. From the perspective of the Syrian crisis, the International Community is bound by a higher moral norm because most of the Developed Nations are involved in the Syrian crisis in some form or other.

Another Fundamental Principle of Refugee law is the Principle of Non-Refoulment. According to this Principle, the states cannot return foreign nationals to their home territory where they are subjected to torture, inhuman treatment or where their lives and freedom might be at risk. Also, The Principle is reflected in the following international instruments Geneva convention relating to the status of refugees, United Nations Convention on

Torture and other cruel, Inhuman or degrading treatment or Punishment which possess the prohibition of refoulment.

The principles of Refugee protection and the Right to Asylum have in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to Article 14(1) of the universal declaration of Human Rights, it has been stated that everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. In terms of the International Institutions, The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the main body responsible for providing international protection to the refugees. The Key Function of the UNHCR in the Syrian Crisis is to assist the refugees of Syria in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey. According to its mandate, its primary function is to promote the conclusion and ratification of international conventions for the protection of refugees, supervising their application and proposing amendments thereto[5]

Some of the key provisions of the International Law about Refugees Include the following:

The International refugee law is derived from two main sources

The 1951 refugee convention and its 1967 optional protocol has the following obligations to the state parties under the convention like Recognising those fleeing from war zones as refugees,

The major European countries where the Syrians have applied for asylums include Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, France, Belgium etc. As of 2011, nearly 112,000 Syrians are living in the regions of the EU. It is believed that these Syrians are helping the refugees from Syria to reside in Eu without applying for asylum status. The Refugees from Syria reach the Eu through the land, sea and air routes. There has been a wide discrepancy between the

number of people fleeing and crossing Syria to the number of people being registered as asylum seekers or migrants in Europe. Hence it brings to the notice that many Syrians reach Europe unnoticed, which can be a huge challenge for the International Organizations like UNHCR to target and provide help to the Refugees who flee the conflict zone.

The approach of the European Union to the Syrian crisis can be grouped under the following actions, namely external and internal. The External responses include assisting the Syrian people by humanitarian assistance and, implementing a Regional protection programme in which a resettlement programme for the refugees within the EU region is envisaged. At the same time, the internal response mechanism includes increasing border security, granting asylum to several Syrians and, refraining from forcibly returning the Syrians to their homeland by rejecting asylum status.

The European Union countries also provide monetary support to the Refugees fleeing for their lives from Syria. According to European commission justice and home affairs council, the member states of the European Union has approximately provided 230 million in humanitarian assistance to the Syrian crisis. The European Commission claims that this comes around 53% of the international response making it the leading international donor in the Syrian crisis. Moreover, because the fundamental problem in the Syrian crisis is a political issue the EU has tried to bring about political change in the situation Syrian Region by bringing about the political change reflecting the pluralistic character the Syrian community.

Providing food, water, shelter and medicine to the displaced persons forms the core of the humanitarian assistance to the Syrian refugees. Through the channels of the Red Cross and other Ngo, the EU makes sure that Humanitarian Assistance reaches the Syrian refugees. However, some of the other actions by the European Union to the Syrian crisis has not conformed with the object and purpose of the International Refugee law and other Human Rights Convention.

The EU is taking external actions about the Syrian crisis by trying to bring political change in the Syrian Region and providing humanitarian assistance to the Victims. The ways

of political measures include imposing economic sanctions on the ruling Syrian government and by also terminating EU-Syrian bilateral cooperation.

Furthermore, the EU is taking several measures like condemning the Ruling regimes action through UN resolutions and calling for investigations about the rights abuses perpetrated by the regime.[6]

As the means of Internal action, the Eu states are taking strong measures by increasing security along their Border to prevent the Influx of refugees from these areas. For Example, Greece, which is an Eu nation that has been receiving Syrian refugees, has deployed additional forces in its Border, and this has significantly reduced the inflow of the refugees. This response mechanism is in complete violation of the Principle of Non-Refoulment Discussed. According to this Principle, the states which are party to the Refugee convention of 1951 and its optional protocol cannot return persons seeking asylum to their state of origin or prevent them from fleeing the war zone.

Thus, the Internal response mechanism adopted by the EU Countries is in Completely violation of its obligation under the International refugee law and its Core principles.

In conclusion, the action taken by the European Union nations has not in spirit satisfied the objective and purpose of the International Refugee Law. Some of the action taken by the European Union in form internal actions may jeopardise the wellbeing of the refugees and violate the Principle of the Non-Refoulment. Also, the European Union in addition to the Principle of the Burden sharing has special responsibilities towards Syrian refugees because it has actively engaged in armed combat operations in the Syrian Region by offering indirect help to armed militias which wage war against the authoritarian government. The European Union should be more welcoming of the Refugees from the Syrian Region and offer them full Refugee status under the Principles of the Refugee convention 1951. Granting Refugee status and providing them with asylum status is Vital to preserve the peace and stability of the Middle East and the Eastern European Regions like Greece, Turkey, Italy.

In order to fulfil the obligations under the Principle of Burden sharing, the European Union nations could initiate measures like providing proper educational opportunities in schools colleges and further following it with the adequate employment opportunities for the Syrians. Additionally, the European Union countries need to diffuse any misconceptions about these refugees as an internal security threat. The research has time and again proved

that refugees do not constitute a threat to inner peace and in most cases, they lead a peaceful life helping the host countries economically.

Also, refugees must be allowed to practise their religion peacefully in asylum countries without any discrimination and fear. In this regard, the government may facilitate access to religious sites and provide adequate security to the refugees when practising their religion. The most important step the European Union countries could take is to refrain from taking harsh measures in their border region against the incoming refugees because this endangers the lives of the refugees. The European Union is obligated both by international law and through high moral norm to respond to this crisis in a humane manner. The Positive Response by the European Union to the Refugee Crisis will contribute immensely to the Global and Regional Stability of the Middle East Region.

References:

[1] The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Refugees, Conflict, and International Law. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.democraticprogress.orginfo@democraticprogress.org+44

[3]Why is there a war in Syria? BBC News. (n.d.). Retrieved December 30, 2019, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35806229

[4] Who Are the Kurds, and Why Is Turkey Attacking Them in Syria? The New York Times. (n.d.). Retrieved December 30, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/14/world/middleeast/the-kurds-facts-history.html

[5] The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Refugees, Conflict, and International Law. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.democraticprogress.orginfo@democraticprogress.org+44

[6] Fargues, P., & Fandrich, C. (2012). MPC-Migration Policy Centre The European Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis What Next?

By, MrBlessan M, LLB In IP Law, IIT KharagpurPresently pursuing LLM in Human Rights Law from National Law School India, Bangalore

Summary

Article Name

Syrian Refugee Crisis and The Response of the European Union

Description

The Syrian crisis started with the peaceful uprising against the president as a pro-democratic movement during the Arab spring in 2011. Even before the crisis began, there has been massive disenchantment with Syrian people against its president due to massive unemployment, corruption, and oppression.

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Syrian Refugee Crisis and The Response of the European Union - thepolicytimes.com

BRITAIN took its first innocent step into the quicksands of Europe on January 1, 1973, led through the nose by devious Tory PM Ted Heath.

On Friday, exactly 17,197 days later, we will be out.

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We cheerfully joined the six original member states in what the Prime Minister promised was no more than a Common Market of trading nations.

In those optimistic early years even The Sun was an enthusiastic supporter.

As was new Tory leader Margaret Thatcher, who paraded in a garish pullover featuring the flags of nine member states at the referendum in 1975.

Today we can claim to have been a major force in the long-running campaign to leave.

In the 1980s we waved the British flag and stormed the battlements of Brussels.

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We were repulsed in more ways than one. But we never abandoned the fight to run our own country.

Today, with foreign cash flooding into the UK economy, new jobs and rising prosperity, we can claim we did our bit.

By the time we finally break free at 11pm on Friday, in a blaze of celebratory fireworks, we will have spent nearly half a century at the heart of Europe.

Most of us will be glad to wave goodbye.

We will retake command of our borders. Germany can invite as many unvetted migrants as it likes. We will not be bound by the European Court of Justice.

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The Queen, privately believed to be a staunch Brexiteer, has signed our release. Her consent to the Withdrawal Act delivers Boris Johnsons 2016 Brexit pledge: Take Back Control.

The EU anthem, Beethovens Ode To Joy, struck a sour note for many British voters especially our fishermen, who saw their billion pound industry gobbled up by marauding foreign fleets.

For all Ted Heaths sly denials, his goal from the outset was to bind the whole continent into a federal superstate a country called Europe. Then, in 1990, a bombshell document revealed how he sold us down the river.

Lord Chancellor Lord Kilmuir, the Governments most senior law officer, had warned him of serious surrenders of sovereignty which ought to be brought out into the open.

Heath ignored the warning, kept it under wraps and pressed on into Europe. The Sun was among the first to spot the covert and hotly denied plot to build a superstate.

We became the siren voice of disillusioned voters against Brussels meddling in what Europhile Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd called every nook and cranny of public life.

We made life hell for faceless bureaucrats and dud EU politicians. We were denounced as scaremongers. Other countries struggled in vain against power-grabbing regulation and slippery treaty changes.

Brussels own EuroStat polls revealed deep misgivings among its 500million citizens over the drive to centralise power over currencies and borders.

During the 2016 Brexit campaign, the anti-EU mood was even stronger in France. President Emmanuel Macron admitted he would not dare risk a referendum there.

He remembered the 1990s, when France, Ireland and Denmark balked at a pan-European Constitution turning them into EU colonies. They voted No only to be told to keep voting until they got it right.

Eventually the Constitution was imposed by stealth as the Lisbon Treaty and the EU decided never to risk consulting the people about anything ever again.

In the 1980s, the Commission launched an experiment, aptly known as The Snake, to abolish national currencies.

We raised the alarm, but in 1990 the European Commission president Jacques Delors pressed ahead with plans for the ill-fated euro.

Our stunning Page One headline, Up Yours Delors, published that year on November 1, has echoed down the decades.

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Thousands of Sun readers heeded our call to face East at noon, and bawl at Gaul.

In a pincer movement, we invaded Brussels with an armoured car full of Page 3 girls.

Our offensive was greeted with thin smiles...of panic. The Sun and its coverage of EU twists and turns became compulsory reading in the chancellories of Europe.

I was told our stories and editorials dominated Foreign Office cables to embassies across the EU.

In the battle to save the Pound, it really was The Sun what won it.

It was this newspaper that stopped Tony Blair, then all-powerful after two election triumphs, from scrapping Sterling and signing up to the single currency without a referendum.

With The Sun in opposition, he had no chance of winning.

Today, our stand is vindicated.

Despite Project Fears darkest predictions, the UK economy as we prepare to leave is growing faster than any other country in Europe.

Our jobless tally has plunged to 3.8 per cent the nearest thing to full employment and the envy of the blighted eurozone.

Millions of jobless young Europeans have flocked here in search of work they cannot find at home. Foreign firms are lining up to invest in UKplc.

The number of French people living in London is enough to make it Frances sixth-biggest city.

Brussels deepest fear is a Pied Piper effect as other member states watch the UK break free from an undemocratic political bloc and follow suit.

As The Suns Political Editor for 23 years, I enjoyed a ringside seat at summits and conferences around Europe, alongside Prime Ministers from Thatcher to Blair.

The power of nation states, leached away to Brussels, was the issue at every gathering.

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In the end, it brought down arguably Britains greatest peace-time Prime Minister.

Margaret Thatchers final blazing act of defiance before she was kicked out of office is seared in my memory.

She told a cheering House of Commons: What is the point of trying to get elected to Parliament only to hand over your Sterling and hand over the powers of this House to Brussels?

She accused Jacques Delors of diverting Parliaments power to tame MEPs, an unelected Commission and an unaccountable Council of Ministers.

No. No. No! she stormed.

Days later, she was out of office. But her words became a rallying cry to the Conservative Partys army of Eurosceptics.

These were the Tory bastards who made life hell for John Major as he signed the Maastricht Treaty, clearing the way for political and economic union.

They were the swivel-eyed lunatics who eight years later fought the euro, which was the greatest act of economic self-harm in peacetime Europe.

Britain thankfully kept its own currency. They were Sun readers who flocked to Nigel Farages Ukip and, later, his lethally effective Brexit Party.

From the very start, Brussels has been besieged by allegations of cheating and corruption.

In 1999, the entire European Commission including Transport Commissioner and ex-Labour leader Neil Kinnock were forced to quit amid damning claims of fraud and nepotism.

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Ironically, Kinnock had started political life, along with Tony Benn and pet parrot Jeremy Corbyn, as ardent anti-marketeers only to jump aboard the EU gravy train as a well-paid Commissioner, together with his wife, Glenys, and son, Stephen, now a Labour MP.

Even Kinnock could not match scheming svengali Peter Mandelson, whose road to riches began as EU Trade Commissioner with controversial links to Russian aluminium oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

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It was this twisted relationship with Brussels and Labours chaotic stance on Brexit which among other things cost them the last election.

How will it end?

Britain will thrive and prosper. Without us, and our 14billion a year, the European Union will struggle to survive.

The Key Rows

June 5 1975 FIRST REFERENDUM

BARELY two years after joining, a referendum was held on whether to stay in. Labour PM Harold Wilson backed Remain against a majority in his own party. He failed to persuade his wife Mary to vote in favour but two-thirds of voters took his advice and voted to stay in the bloc.

Nov 1 1990 Up Yours, Delors

OUR legendary front page headline was in response to European Commission president Jacques Delors efforts to force us into a European superstate. Margaret Thatcher was fiercely opposed and his plans melted away.

Feb 7 1992 Maastricht Treaty

PM John Major signed away much of Britains sovereignty in the treaty that formed the newly named European Union. The UK did win some opt-outs from the single currency and social chapter but critics say it still undermined the supremacy of our Parliament.

May 1 2004 EU Enlargement

LABOUR PM Tony Blair opened the door to migrants from ten new member states including seven from the ex-Soviet bloc without the restrictions imposed by Germany, France and Italy. Estimates of 13,000 migrants a year were wildy off the peak figure of 252,000 in 2010 alone.

June 23 Second Referrendum

AFTER being elected Ukip leader in 2006, Nigel Farage drove the campaign for an in-out referendum, something that had often been promised but never delivered. With support for Ukip threatening to deprive David Cameron of victory in the 2015 General Election, the Tories pledged to hold a referendum if they won. The historic vote came on June 23 the next year.

Dec 12 2019 General Election

FOLLOWING a bitter three years of Brexit wrangling on top of five decades of disputes over the EU the question is finally settled by a General Election. The public give Boris Johnson an 80-seat majority, enabling him to break the deadlock and finally deliver on the referendum result. It was a big swing on the indecisive 2017 election that saw then-PM Theresa May lose her majority.

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Original post:
The 17,197 days of Britain being throttled by Europeans as we break free on Friday - The Sun

Nicola Sturgeon is determined to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence in 2020 but Boris Johnson is firmly resisting the pressure and has repeatedly rejected her demands. The SNP's goal is for Scotland to leave the UK so the country would remain part of the EU. However, Holyrood would not become independent the day after a Yes vote, so even if a referendum was held tomorrow, the transition would run beyond the end of 2020 when the UK is due to complete its exit from the EU.

This means Scotland would leave the EU with the rest of the UK, and would need to apply to join again under Article 49 of the Treaty of the European Union.

Scottish ministers accept they would have to go through an "accession process" for EU membership and want to start this "as soon as possible".

However, there are several questions hanging over whether the country would even be able to join the EU as an independent state.

New members can only be allowed into the bloc through a unanimous vote from the existing member states and Scotland would undoubtedly ruffle feathers if it were to join.

Spain is struggling with secession demands itself, from Catalonia, so is unlikely to support a newly independent state.

Scotland could also be rejected due to its current deficit of 7 percent of GDP, unless it adopted a strict austerity programme from the EU as well as the euro.

There is only one part of the UK, which, according to one of Britains foremost constitutional historians, will be able to automatically rejoin the bloc.

Professor Vernon Bogdanor told Express.co.uk: The Belfast Agreement was conceived in the context of both Britain and Ireland remaining member states of the EU.

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Brexit, therefore, is likely to have consequences for the Agreement, in terms of North/South collaboration, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, and indeed for the whole philosophy of power-sharing which lies at the basis of the Agreement.

Northern Ireland, which voted to remain in the EU, is indeed in a unique position in the EU.

If it did decide to join with Ireland, the European Council has agreed that the entire territory of the united island of Ireland would be part of the EU.

Northern Ireland, therefore, is the only part of the UK that could secede and rejoin the EU without need to re-negotiate entry.

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis echoed Professor Bogdanor's claims in 2017, when he said that the UK Government's position, in the event of a future border poll in favour of a united Ireland, was that should the people of Northern Ireland vote to leave the UK, they would "be in a position of becoming part of an existing EU member state, rather than seeking to join the EU as a new independent state".

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SNP snub: How EU will allow Northern Ireland to automatically rejoin but NOT Scotland - Express

To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time. Elie Wiesel, Night

Seventy-five years ago, Allied Forces liberated the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. They ended the most abhorrent crime in European history, the planned annihilation of the Jews in Europe. Six million Jewish children, women and men were murdered as well as millions of innocent people among them hundreds of thousands of Roma, persecuted due to their ethnicity. The price was unspeakably high, but there could hardly be a more symbolic and greater triumph over the Nazis than to commemorate this victory in Israel.

Revisionism and lack of education are threatening the common understanding of the uniqueness of the Shoah that is necessary to translate Never Again into concrete action now. By joining todays meeting of Heads of State and Government in Jerusalem, we add our voices to those who are determined to not let extremists and populists go unchallenged when they are trying to cross boundaries and question once again human dignity and equality of all human beings.

The Holocaust was a European tragedy, it was a turning point in our history and its legacy is woven into the DNA of the European Union. Remembering the Shoah is not an end in itself. It is one cornerstone of European values. A Europe that places humanity at its centre, protected by the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights.

We are at a crossroads. As the number of survivors is dwindling, we will have to find new ways to remember, embracing the testimonies of the descendants of survivors. They remind us to be vigilant about the rising tide of antisemitism that is threatening the values we hold dear pluralism, diversity, and the freedoms of religion and expression. Values that cherish minorities: all minorities, and always. Jewish communities have contributed to shaping the European identity and will always be part of it. All parts of our society, new and old, must embrace these lessons from the Shoah.

We have a duty to stand shoulder to shoulder with Jewish communities as they feel again threatened across Europe - most recently in Halle, Germany. All EU Member States stand united in the determination that any form of racism, antisemitism and hatred have no place in Europe and we will do whatever it takes to counter them. State authorities, as well as actors from across all sectors of civil society should unite to reaffirm Europe's unfaltering vigilance whenever and wherever democratic values are threatened.

We cannot change history, but the lessons of history can change us.

Continued here:
Statement by Presidents Michel, Sassoli and von der Leyen on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau - EU News

The delegation of the European Union to Namibia recently announced that the Africa Working Group of the European Union Council (COAFR) will be visiting the country from 29 January until 1 February.

The group is composed of one representative of each EU Member State, the Commission and the Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. Ms Marie Lapierre from the European External Action Service is the COAFR Chair.

COAFR is responsible for the management of EU external policy towards sub-Saharan Africa, the African Union and other sub-regional organizations.

The visit aims at improving the groups knowledge and understanding of Africa, and, this year, more specifically of Namibia.

This years working visit will be the 7th visit of COAFR on the African continent and the 2nd one in Southern Africa.

EU-Africa relations are long-standing and currently focus on the comprehensive EU-Africa Strategy and preparations for the upcoming EU-AU Summit slated for 2020.

During this visit COAFR wants to learn more about the economy, the effects of climate change on the country and how best to collaborate with Namibia focussing on inclusive growth and on Green Deals amongst others.

The Working Groups programme includes a meeting with EU Heads of Mission, official meetings with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Hon. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Hon. Professor Peter Katjavivi, Speaker of the National Assembly as well as the Minister of Finance, Hon. Calle Schlettwein.

Furthermore, the City of Windhoek in collaboration with the EU Delegation in Namibia prepared a programme that includes site visits to Rocky Crest Early Childhood Development Centre, Bokamoso Entrepreneurial Centre, the Goreangab Water Reclamation Plant and the informal settlement area. The working group will similarly engage with private sector representatives, civil society organisations and the media.

See the article here:
Africa Working Group of the European Union Council to visit next week - Namibia Economist