Dealing With The European Refugee Crisis
By Iqbal Alimohamed
12 March, 2016
Countercurrents.org
First, it is important to define who are the hundreds of thousands of arrivals in Europe.Are they purely economic migrants, or persons displaced by war seeking temporary asylum in neighbouring countries, or genuine refugees outside their homelands because of persecution or fear thereof and unable to return to their homelands, or a combination of all these reasons? There is no consensus yet as no real determination has taken place.. The stark reality however is that many thousands have died in embarking on perilous journeys, and those surviving arrivals including the elderly and infirm, women and children are pleading to be allowed to live in safety, with a modicum of dignity.
Second, this gravest of humanitarian problems in recent history, is being deemed an European problem and the European Union_(EU) appears to dither in devising mechanisms to deal with it. Greece has borne the brunt of the problem, with Lebanon and Jordan helping beyond their capacity. Germany has taken over a million asylum seekers and pressure is being brought to bear on Turkey to assume an even higher burden than the over three million refugees it has already welcomed. No wonder Turkey is pressing for huge concessions from the EU in return for taking all irregular asylum seekers arriving in Greece. If the new deal is agreed, risks abound. Even if Turkey is considered “a safe country”.Turkey does not have an asylum framework or regime to ensure refugee protection, nor the necessary infrastructure to promote their socio-economic integration, through education, employment, etc
Another important question, hitherto not fully addressed is why this humanitarian problem is deemed solely an European problem and not an international one. In other words, why are other States / governments not participating fully in what is a universal “responsibility to protect”? After all, the refugees from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc are the innocent, hapless victims of, in most cases, ill-advised Western intervention in conflicts in these countries. True, the USA and Canada have accepted some Syrian refugees but the numbers dwarf total arrivals in Europe. And many affluent Middle East countries have done little to write home about.
The world witnessed a similarly difficult situation in SouthEast Asia in the late 1970’s in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and lessons can be drawn from that situation. The problems were largely similar-corrupt smugglers, flimsy boats, swashbuckling pirates on the high seas, women raped, men thrown overboard, and no country of landfall willing to accept the arrivals. Finally, following an International Conference convened under UNHCR auspices, a decision was reached that countries of first asylum would grant temporary asylum to the refugees only pending their departure for resettlement to third countries, and that all costs incurred for the refugees’ stay in first asylum countries would be borne by the international, mainly Western, donor/resettlement, countries. Soon, immigration delegations arrived in the major refugee camps across South East Asia to interview refugees and prepare their dossiers. A Transit Centre was established to prepare refugees for orientation, training, etc in anticipation of their departure. The Sungei Besi Transit Centre in Malaysia was funded by the Norwegian people through a “door knock” appeal, and the Centre was inaugurated in person by the then Crown Princess Sonja and Crown Prince Harald. Evidence today clearly points to the successful settlement of all Vietnamese refugees, the so-called “boat people”, in North America, the Nordic countries, Europe, Australia, New Zealand. With virtually no exception, these refugees have added colour to the social fabric in their countries of adoption, while making valuable contributions to the economies of the host countries. If the political will exists, there is no reason why the so-called European Refugee Crisis cannot be solved on the basis of this well-tested and tried principle of international burden-sharing.
In an unjust world, wars will happen and there will always be the unfortunate victims. If legal channels are not available to asylum seekers to secure passage to third countries, and their resentment grows, they risk exploitation by traffickers and, worse still, by criminal gangs and terrorists, such as ISIS. Our overarching sense of humanity should impel us, our civil societies and our leaders to give succour to these victims by protecting them and giving them hope, even as the international community pursues parallel efforts for the attainment of durable peace in the conflict zones.
To quote Eleanor Roosevelt: ’’ It isn’t enough to talk about peace, one must believe in it. And It isn't enough to to believe in it, one must work for it.”
The author, a Canadian citizen, is a former senior UNHCR official who worked at the Geneva Headquarters and as (Regional) Representative in Malaysia, Japan, Australia and the Sudan. He resides in Geneva, Switzerland.