International

Every day we see pictures of asylum seekers and migrants who failed to survive their journey to or through Europe. This can surely leave no- one indifferent. The member state ministers responsible for this policy area do now appear at last to be taking action, but things are moving far too slowly. As long ago as April of 2013 I handed my memorandum on European asylum centres in countries such as Greece and Italy to then Secretary of State for Justice Fred Teeven, yet only now is the idea being taken seriously. In the meantime the situation has got so far out of hand that such centres alone will not help the asylum seekers. We need to re-evaluate the entire asylum policy.

Foto: UK Department for International Development (DfID)

Refugees in Lebanon.

Of course I am pleased with the fact that people such as Merkel want to set up asylum centres on EU territory, close to the external frontier. That means that there would be a decent reception and that applications for asylum would be dealt with. When my SP colleague, national MP Sharon Gesthuizen and I proposed just this two years ago it would at that time have immediately eased the problems, but in the meantime the situation has got further out of control and a great deal more is needed.

There’s far too little aid being given, for example, to reception within the region around the countries of origin of most asylum seekers, as is shown by what we are seeing in Lebanon and Jordan and requests from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for more financial assistance, which have received little or no response. The same applies to UN requests for people to be resettled in Europe who can no longer tolerate life in the camps, such as those who belong to minority groups and may not be safe in a refugee camp. UN’s continuing with requests for resettlement are a voice crying in the wilderness.

No wonder that so many refugees from Syria itself attempt to get into Europe. As we’ve hermetically sealed all of the EU’s external borders and there’s no legal method of entering, would-be migrants are thrown into the hands of people-smugglers. The risks are gigantic. Many fail to survive the journey, while on the other side anxieties in Europe also grow. If people take such risks and their numbers keep increasing, can we as a society cope?

That’s why we have to begin a discussion, including with the UN, around the question as to whether all asylum seekers who make their application in Europe should be accommodated in Europe. Our responsibility for offering them protection is beyond dispute, but should refugees who, not belonging to one of the most vulnerable groups, could just as well be accommodated in their own region, nevertheless remain in Europe, simply because they arrived here and applied spontaneously?

The European Union is reacting far too late. Before new ideas can emerge, refugees must die. The, you still have to be prepared to wait another year or longer before any ideas are implemented in a concrete fashion. That’s why I’m calling for unorthodox, fresh agreements on asylum, with people’s dignity as a priority. Drowning people must be rescued. People must not be forced to go to smugglers in order to seek effective protection. By improving reception in the region, Europe must take the lead, and by resettling vulnerable refugees, we must make the people-smugglers redundant.

Then the route to European protection will no longer run along rickety boats or suffocating lorries, but via dignified reception in the region, and where necessary regulated resettlement. Do those things and we will really have fulfilled our humanitarian duties. The EU would then for once go for a more structural solution and at last stop being overtaken by events.