Posted on 09/12/2016 8:43:31 AM PDT by amorphous
NEW YORK – The refugee crisis in Europe was already pushing the European Union toward disintegration when, on June 23, it helped drive the British to vote to Brexit the EU. The refugee crisis and the Brexit calamity that it spawned have reinforced xenophobic, nationalist movements that will seek to win a series of upcoming votes– including national elections in France, the Netherlands, and Germany in 2017, a referendum in Hungary on the EU refugee policy on October 2, and a rerun of the Austrian presidential election on the same day.
Rather than uniting to resist this threat, EU member states have become increasingly unwilling to cooperate with one another. They pursue self-serving, beggar-thy-neighbor migration policies – such as building border fences – that further fragment the Union, seriously damage member states, and subvert global human-rights standards.
Angela Merkel German Europe or European Germany?
Hugo Drochon poses the question that Europe and the world can no longer avoid, and examines how Joschka Fischer, Otmar Issing, Anne-Marie Slaughter, and others address it.
The current piecemeal response to the refugee crisis, culminating in the agreement reached earlier this year between the EU and Turkey to stem the flow of refugees from the Eastern Mediterranean, suffers from four fundamental flaws. First, it is not truly European; the agreement with Turkey was negotiated and imposed on Europe by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Second, it is severely underfunded. Third, it has transformed Greece into a de facto holding pen with inadequate facilities.
Most important, the response is not voluntary. The EU is trying to impose quotas that many member states strenuously oppose, forcing refugees to take up residence in countries where they are not welcome and do not want to go, and returning to Turkey others who reached Europe by irregular means.
This is unfortunate, because the EU cannot survive without a comprehensive asylum and migration policy. The current crisis is not a one-off event; it augurs a period of higher migration pressures for the foreseeable future, due to a variety of causes. These include demographic shortfalls in Europe and a population explosion in Africa; seemingly eternal political and military conflicts in the broader region; and climate change.
The agreement with Turkey was problematic from its inception. The very premise of the deal – that asylum-seekers can legally be returned to Turkey – is fundamentally flawed. Turkey is not a “safe third country” for most Syrian asylum-seekers, especially since the failed coup in July.
What would a comprehensive approach look like? Whatever its final form, it would be built on seven pillars.
First, the EU must take in a substantial number of refugees directly from front-line countries in a secure and orderly manner. This would be far more acceptable to the public than the current disorder. If the EU made a commitment to admit even a mere 300,000 refugees annually, most genuine asylum-seekers would view their odds of reaching their destination as good enough to deter them from seeking to reach Europe illegally – an effort that would disqualify them from legal admission.
Second, the EU must regain control of its borders. There is little that alienates and scares publics more than scenes of chaos.
Third, the EU needs to find sufficient funds to finance a comprehensive migration policy. It is estimated that at least €30 billion per year will be needed for a number of years, and the benefits of “surge funding” (spending a large amount of money up front, rather than the same amount over several years) are enormous.
Fourth, the EU must build common mechanisms for protecting borders, determining asylum claims, and relocating refugees. A single European asylum process would remove the incentives for asylum shopping and rebuild trust among member states.
Fifth, a voluntary matching mechanism for relocating refugees is needed. The EU cannot coerce member states to accept refugees they do not want, or refugees to go where they are not wanted. A scheme like the one used by Canada could elicit and match the preferences of both refugees and receiving communities.
Sixth, the EU must offer far greater support to countries that host refugees, and it must be more generous in its approach to Africa. Instead of using development funds to serve its own needs, the EU should offer a genuine grand bargain focused on the needs of recipient countries. This means creating jobs in refugees’ home countries, which would reduce the pressure to migrate to Europe.
The final pillar is the eventual creation of a welcoming environment for economic migrants. Given Europe’s aging population, the benefits migration brings far outweigh the costs of integrating immigrants. All the evidence supports the conclusion that migrants can contribute significantly to innovation and development if they are given a chance to do so.
Pursuing these seven principles, described in greater deal elsewhere, is essential in order to calm public fears, reduce chaotic flows of asylum-seekers, ensure that newcomers are fully integrated, establish mutually beneficial relations with countries in the Middle East and Africa, and meet Europe’s international humanitarian obligations.
The refugee crisis is not the only crisis Europe has to face, but it is the most pressing. And if significant progress could be made on the refugee issue, it would make the other issues – from the continuing Greek debt crisis to the fallout from Brexit to the challenge posed by Russia – easier to tackle. All the pieces need to fit together, and the chances of success remain slim. But as long as there is a strategy that might succeed, everyone who wants the EU to survive should rally behind it.
bkmk
Public Enemy #1. Pull a thread on evil in the world and chances are, Soros is attached to it.
How does committing suicide save one self?
George Soros Warns Europe: Accept Refugees Or Face Extinction
Somalia, just to name one example, has the population density of Kansas, the climate of California and 2000 miles of coastline next to one of the busiest trade routes in the world.
They would be one of the richest countries in Africa if the Jews or even Chinese were running them. They were better off under Italian fascism in the 1930s.
Fixed
“In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: the righteous perishing in their righteousness, and the wicked living long in their wickedness.”—Ecclesiastes 7:15
There weren’t any refugees before Obama was in office
We have severe affordable housing problems in our job-creating regions.
We also have overcrowded roads. Americans are dying by the tens of thousands annually. The injuries are so bad that tens of thousands of lawyers are need to financially deal with them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year
In my lifetime, about two million Americans have been killed in motor vehicle accidents in this country.
About 84,000 people a year are killed in European motor vehicle accidents yearly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate
Our nation now experiences something called road rage.
We have enough people. Europe has more than enough people. People in rotten-run nations need to apologize and pay compensation for the death of Westerners who were in colonial service.
There are many competent Westerners who would like to run a country in Africa, Latin America or the Middle East.
yours:
“There weren’t any refugees until Obama got into office”
Mine:
Yes, and Obama is part of the Soros/(Islamo-)Nazi operation
Soros is reportedly subject to serious criminal prosecution in several countries he’s screwed over
maybe someone will figure out how to get him there
(remember Eichmann...?)
Eliminate the cause of refugees fleeing their homes. Idiots.
“There weren’t any refugees before Obama was in office”
“The Refugee Relief Act (RRA) of August 7, 1953, and the amendments of August 1954, authorized the admission of 214,000 refugees from war-torn Europe and escapees from Communist-dominated countries. Thirty percent of the admissions during the life of the Act were Italians, followed by Germans, Yugoslavs, and Greeks.”
“A total of 38,000 Hungarian refugees were eventually admitted to the United States”
“A total of 29,000 entered under the temporary 1957 refugee provisions, led by Hungarians, Koreans, Yugoslavs, and Chinese.”
“Approximately 700,000 Cuban refugees had entered the United States prior to a new influx which began in April 1980.”
http://www.fairus.org/facts/us_laws
“The term refugee is now defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act as a person who is unwilling or unable to return to his country of nationality or habitual residence because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”
“face extinction”
There are hundreds of million of Europeans in Europe already.
“a welcoming environment for economic migrants”
Europe can’t make enough jobs for the Greeks, Italians and Spaniards, etc. it already has got.
The Arabs in Paris’ banlieues generally already speak French.
Doesn’t it make sense to use Arabs that are already in European countries and know their country’s language first?
Most French can’t speak English. They certainly aren’t going to be able to utilize efficiently Arab speaking Syrians.
If the French need sewing done, they often send the work to Morocco.
Fabric is now more commonly woven in Pakistan or India instead of Manchester.
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