I suspect many have been wondering why pandemonium and chaos continue to characterize the flood of refugees into Europe.
And why in 2015 criminals are being allowed to profit hugely from desperate people trying to cross the Med in overcrowded, unsafe boats that have sunk, capsized or been abandoned by their “crews”. Two-three thousand have drowned to date in 2015.
The single photo of a 3 year-old boy’s body washing up on shore was so gut wrenching it should have galvanized the trans-Atlantic community to get its act together. So far it hasn’t to the degree demanded.
Another puzzle is why the European Union and its member states were so obviously surprised and unprepared when the surge of Middle Eastern refugees, mounting steadily for 3 plus years, struck out for safer and more normal lives in Europe. Moreover, large migrations affecting Europe have taken place: WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Middle East decolonization, the Balkans etc.
Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, without complaint, have absorbed over 3 million Syrian and Iraqi refugees since summer 2011. Greece, in the midst of political and economic upheaval, is coping with tens of thousands of refugees who have made its and Italy’s small islands their first points of entry into Europe. Without a common, resourced policy, several Central European countries, principally Hungary, individually, have erected fences to prevent the flow of desperate people from crossing their borders.
The UN High Commission for Refugees was recently forced to reduce its support for the existing refugee camps in the Middle East because its funding is being exhausted. It is likely the resulting deterioration of camp conditions will drive more people to begin the dangerous march to Europe as will Russia’s recent military intervention in Syria.
After weeks of agonizing debate, some EU states have agreed to share in the distribution of 120,000 refugees, a fraction of the circa 450,000 already in Europe, a number growing daily, as more thousands arrive.
Otherwise, no major, European collaborative steps have been taken to organize the essential multi-national response to care for the refugees, stagger the flow to more manageable proportions and to prepare and equip European reception centers. Also lacking forethought, was the decision to use EU member state naval assets to rescue people from drowning, but not to provide safe seaborne transportation to identified ports able to handle the influx. In addition to saving lives, such an action would remove the smugglers and stop their extortion of large sums of money from frightened men, women and children. Moreover, these European ships could also provide a safe, organized platform for medical and other refugee assistance as well as for an orderly registration process with a shared electronic data base.
In sum, there is no evidence to date that any Europe-wide or international effort is being considered; one that would accept the reality and scope of the situation, structure and gain control of the unstoppable human flood and organize, resource and staff the large European facilities necessary to separate out non-asylum-seekers and security risks and care for and continue the processing of the remainder.
Until a large scale, multi-national response is organized, the divisive political reactions of the poorer Eastern European EU members vs. their richer colleagues will continue to fester. One solution presents itself, but only if NATO and its leading member the U.S. recognize this mass migration is a more immediate threat to the stability of the Alliance, than Russia. NATO could provide the organizing principle around which an adequate, longer term plan could be made and implemented.
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