Last week the European Union agreed a deal with Turkey to block further refugees and migrants from entering the European Union, with a so-called “one-for-one” deal, where for every Syrian refugee the European Union repels from crossing into Europe, a Syrian living in Turkey will be given a new home in Europe.
The “one-for-one” deal makes it sound like a humane way of normalizing Europe’s borders. But “one-for-one” was the bait that caught the red herring: while everyone was trying to figure out what it meant, the deal was signed Friday, and it turned out that it “one-for-one” meant nothing of the sort.
The new refugee policy is not “one-for-one;” it’s not even close. The agreement caps out at a total of 72,000 Syrians for the whole EU, per year. When you consider that there were over a million migrants admitted to Germany last year alone, mostly from Syria, this is obviously meaninglessly low. It appears that “one-for-one” was just a distracting piece of propaganda, that–just for good measure—is likely only barely legal under international law. And that’s before the policy has even been applied.
Friday’s deal also contains a significant US$6.6 billion in aid to Turkey, which is equivalent to about $2,000 in support per migrant, obviously before administration costs. Few observers have been blunt enough to point out that $2,000 doesn’t go very far in housing and feeding a person for the duration of being a refugee. Other sweeteners like concessions on visas needed by Turks to visit Europe, and speeding up negotiations for future EU membership, also featured.
The numbers of migrants and refugees so far admitted to the 28-nation European Union pale in comparison to Syria’s neighboring countries, especially Turkey. While Turkey is rightly criticized for its authoritarianism and human rights record, Turkey has admitted more than 2.8 million Syrian refugees, many of them on the way to the relative safety of Europe, many more just thankful to have escaped the war across the border. But the European Union has been collectively shameless in refusing to fairly share the burden of a war that has significant international dimensions, obligations and responsibilities.
Europe is far from united on the issue. And some European countries’ governments did try to promote a more just solution than closing the borders. Ironically, Greece–the hated and arrogant leftists to the EU’s elite, no less–shouldered much of the burden. The Greek people’s generosity and hospitality in sheltering Syrian’s fleeing war should make many Europeans ashamed of their own country’s feeble response. The Greek government estimates more than 42,000 refugees and migrants are in the country today, and will likely stay there.
Germany, which presided over Greece’s near-expulsion from the Euro last year that resulted in a deal further impoverishing the Greeks, has also genuinely played a constructive role in the EU response in arguing to accept more refugees of war. At home, its government has worked to protect refugees living in shelters that have come under violent attack from right-wing extremists, with an estimated 1,000 attacks recorded last year alone. Other big nations like France and Italy offered to adopt a more humane and civilized policy response, the latter even flying in refugees to spare them the hazardous Mediterranean crossing.
Among leading states, The U.K. has taken perhaps the toughest stand in denying entry to migrants and refugees, agreeing to accept a mere 4,000 refugees a year, the proverbial drop in the bucket. Other governments share the blame too: many Central and Eastern European governments were most in favor of closing borders, reflecting the mood of a growing right-wing electorate similar to that courted by Donald Trump in the United States, as well as the growing authoritarianism of their governments.
And the end result? What the EU seems to be saying to Syrian refugees trying to escape to Europe is: “Shut the borders. No more refugees from Syria. So sorry if you’re fleeing a war. But you can stay here in Turkey because we’re chipping in a couple of billion euro–you’re welcome.”
So what happens next? After months of being at the front lines of a great migration away from the wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, that rivals the migration forced by Nazism during the Second World War, those very countries that are now expected to forcefully fortify the EU’s southern borders–Turkey and Greece—are in poor shape to help house Syrians fleeing war. Yet that’s exactly what this deal appears to expect will happen.
Or more likely, not many expect that will really happen. What many expect is that the deal will result in an even a bigger disaster for the Syrian people, but it allows European politicians to pat themselves on the back and kick the can down the road another few months, maybe well into the summer, maybe even until it’s back-to-school time. But regrettably, not all children can even look forward to that. Europol estimates there are at least 10,000 refugee children missing in Europe. It’s shameful, and Friday’s deal is likely to worsen the situation for Syrian families fleeing the war.
ZNetwork is funded solely through the generosity of its readers.
Donate