Relations in the European Union have been strained by the recent influx of thousands of asylum seekers from Syria (49%), Afghanistan (12%), Eritrea (9%), Nigeria (4%), and Somalia (3%). Many Eastern European countries are reticent to accept the immigrants, however Western European countries, led by appeals from Germany, are leaning towards a more hospitable solution.
More than 320,000 refugees have reached shore in Italy or Greece this year in hopes of reaching the protection of the EU. This number is expected to climb to 400,000 people by the end of 2015, and 450,000 asylum-seekers are expected to enter Europe in 2016. These are fractional numbers relative to the 4.1 million Syrians who have left their country because of civil war that erupted out of the Arab Spring protests. It should be noted too, that 8 million Syrians are internally displaced (of an original population of 23 million).
Refugees that can afford to do so often entrust their lives to smugglers, paying thousands of dollars in exchange for dangerous passage. The 71 people found dead in a truck in August, and the photograph of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi washed ashore are shocking reminders of the risks the migrants face.
Refugees are defined by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) as persons fleeing their home country for fear of persecution or violence. Refugees have three options once they are granted asylee status; they may choose to integrate into life in their new country, return home if circumstances become favorable, or they may seek to be resettled in a third country.
Since September 1, over 20,000 refugees have entered Hungary on their way to Western Europe. Hungary’s response to the migrants has been less than welcoming, including a 175 km razor-wire fence along its border with Serbia. According to the Dublin regulations of the EU, asylum applications must be processed by whatever state first receives the asylee. The Dublin regulations are unfortunate because it places the responsibility of registering refugees on some of the economically weaker states like Hungary, Italy and Greece, countries which are necessary stops for refugees heading towards wealthier countries like Germany and Austria. Hungary’s policy is to register all immigrants before allowing passage to other countries.
Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, of the nationalist Fidesz party, gave several controversial remarks implying that accepting refugees (many of whom are Muslim) should be deterred from Europe in order to preserve its Christian identity.
Pope Francis seemed to think otherwise in his address to the Vatican this week, encouraging Europe’s religious communities and parishes to embrace refugee families.
On September 4, Austria and Germany opened their borders to receive the asylum-seekers. After being denied train passage in Budapest, thousands of refugees began walking on foot along roadways toward the Austrian Border.
Germany estimated that it is prepared to accept 800,000 asylum-seekers this year, and 500,000 per year after that. Chancellor Angela Merkel has affirmed that Germany would not turn away asylum-seekers on humanitarian grounds, and called for other EU countries to share the burden of resettling refugees. Merkel has pushed for a quota system to be instated, which would equitably distribute asylees throughout EU nations.
On Wednesday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker presented a plan to manage the refugee crisis, including a quota system, which assigns quotas to EU nations based on GDP and population. Penalties for not meeting refugee quotas will include funding cuts.
“Winter is approaching, do we really want families sleeping in railway stations?” Juncker said according to NPR, “EU funds could be withheld from countries that don’t take in required numbers. Eastern European nations say they’re opposed.”
France has agreed to settle 24,000 refugees, and has set up humanitarian camps for several thousand immigrants. International offers to resettle refugees have even come from Latin American countries such as Venezuela and Brazil.
The Unites States has resettled about 1000 refugees from Syria, and promised to take in 8000 more in the coming year. The White House reports that the US is considering “a range of approaches to be more responsive to the global refugee crisis, including with regard to refugee resettlement.”
Until the stability returns to the Middle East, the Syrian refugee crisis is here to stay.