mr president we witnessed in tunisia the rising of the people against an oppressive and abusive regime which has denied them basic human rights for years
it is a big source of shame for the eu that for many years we have been supportive of this dictatorship
to make things even worse the eu risks committing the same mistakes in tunisia's neighbouring country libya
if the commission and the council do not change course it will continue to prop up yet another dictator in the region in the name of stability and border control and migration
for years the gaddafi regime one of ben ali's best friends as we have seen recently again has been systematically violating the human rights of its citizens and especially of migrant workers
nevertheless the eu and several of its member states have increasingly close relations with libya and the eu is now even negotiating this framework agreement
i therefore urge the council and commission to notice the writing on the wall and ensure the following conditions are fully satisfied before we can conclude any agreement with libya first of all libya needs to ratify and implement the un refugee convention and grant the unchr full access to the country secondly it needs to guarantee adequate protection and rights for migrants and adopt asylum legislation including the principle of non-refoulement thirdly no readmission agreement with libya can be concluded until the high risk of inhuman and degrading treatment faced by migrants in libya has ceased to exist
and on that matter because i do not think this will come too soon i really wish the commission to fail in the negotiations on the readmission agreement
furthermore parliament needs to be fully informed at all stages of the negotiation process
the greens strongly object to any dirty deal with a dictator like gaddafi on the back of migrants and libyan citizens
continued eu support for this oppressive regime is neither in line with the eu's values and legal commitments nor does it serve its long-term interests in the region
as we have so vividly seen now in tunisia only a democratic and free country will be truly stable and prosperous
let us make sure the eu does not commit the same mistake twice
