According to Peter Sutherland, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for International Migration and Development, former Director General of the World Trade Organization, EU Commissioner for Competition, and Attorney General of Ireland, populists are having a field day whilst bitter divisions among member states have jeopardized the Schengen Area of borderless travel within the EU.
The EU’s failure to devise a cohesive response has had another dire, if less commented-upon, consequence: As Europe’s leaders stumble from one inconclusive summit to another, they have handed the rest of the world an excuse for similar inaction. If the EU cannot get its act together to confront a crisis directly affecting its member countries, why should others leap into action?
he writes in his article Europe’s Bad Example
From the article we may remember:
- Europe alone = not responsible for the wellbeing of all the people fleeing persecution in Afghanistan, Eritrea, Syria, + elsewhere.
- The immoral and xenophobic posturing of a handful of EU states allowed other countries to be bystanders => damaging the global refugee system
- Past time for the international community to act in support of the world’s refugees and others who have been forcibly displaced.
- Expanding resettlement capacity should be one goal of global action. Resettlement via “private sponsorship” – whereby individuals, communities, and NGOs take responsibility for families – is stymied only by governments’ failure to set up systems to vet and match refugees with sponsors.
- Adequate support must finally be given to frontline states, like Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey => best way to stem refugees’ dangerous efforts to cross the Mediterranean.
- The World Food Program, a backbone of the refugee system, met only two-thirds of its 2015 funding needs, compelling it to slash support to hundreds of thousands of Syrians.
- Establish less cumbersome means for asylum-seekers to reach safety > Providing humanitarian visas Establish procedures enabling asylum-seekers to apply more easily for labour, student, or family reunification visas.
Read more at https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/europe-refugee-crisis-by-peter-sutherland-2015-09#y8JFuZmuda5DVAtE.99
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Preceding articles:
Can We Pay The Price To Free Humanity?
Built on or Belonging to Jewish tradition #3 Of the earth or of God
Europe’s refugees just follow the ancient routes for the peopling of Europe in the Neolithic
Forms of slavery, human trafficking and disrespectful attitude to creation to be changed
Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #3 Right to Human dignity
Welfare state and Poverty in Flanders #8 Work
Are people willing to take the responsibility for others
If Europe fails on the question of refugees, then it won’t be the Europe we wished for
State of Europe 2015 – Addressing Europe’s crises
Economic crisis danger for the rise of political extremism
Schengen area and Freedom for Europeans being put to the test as never before
Why Russia backs Assad: a view from Russia’s anti-imperialist left
Disintegrating Syria whilst diplomatic talks and poker-play continues
Complaining and fighting asylum seekers not giving signs of thankfulness
The New gulf of migration and seed for far right parties
Consequences of Mass Immigration in Sweden
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Additional reading:
- Still Hope though Power generating long train of abuses
- Daring to speak in multicultural environment
- Refugees At The Border- A Blessing Or Burden?
- Poster: Please Help The Refugees
- The World Wide Refugee and Migrant Crisis and a possible solution for it
- Social media and asylum seekers
- Israeli leaders delight in Europe’s cruelty toward refugees
- My two cents on the refugee crisis
- Blow to legitimacy of the capitalist system
- Propaganda war and ISIS
- Meeting to focus on humanitarian issues for Syria
- Chemical warsite and Pushing king of the South
- UK forces EU to lift embargo on Syria rebel arms
- Russia supplying weapons to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime
- Speciesism and racism
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