By Elizabeth Johnson, Tyler Rydeen, Hayley Bosworth, and Valeria Ballestros
Heredia, N. (2015). Misreading the refugee crisis [Digital Image]. Gulf News.
A “crisis” as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “a difficult or dangerous situation that needs serious attention” or “an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending.” It is important to define what a “crisis” truly is in relation to the refugee situation stemming from the Middle East and East Africa. For many, the term “crisis” attached to the refugee situation is in response to the European Union’s reaction to the influx of immigrants from conflict-ravaged regions. Rather, the addition of “crisis” to the mass migration of refugees should be in regard to the situations in which they are escaping - the difficult times in which they live. These refugees are fleeing nations under siege and struggle; nations such as Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq in the Middle East and Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea in Northern Africa. In the following posts, we will discuss in further depth where these refugees are fleeing from, and why they are seeking asylum. Here, we will give you a brief introduction on how this crisis came about, and what implications it may have on the rest of the world.
The refugee “crisis” in the Middle East mainly involves refugees fleeing conflict in Syria, but also includes a significant amount of people fleeing other countries, mainly Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, and others. Syrian refugees make up the majority of displacement, with over million people being displaced since what can be marked as the beginning of this “crisis.” The Arab Spring, which began in December of 2010, was a series of uprisings in Middle Eastern and North African countries, beginning in Tunisia, where a young street vendor set himself on fire, in protest of difficult economic situations and issues with an autocratic and corrupt government, not only in Tunisia but in other countries such as Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and Syria (Botelho, 2015). (** ^ really long sentence) In the case of Syria, many people assembled and protested peacefully. However, things changed when 15 boys were arrested and tortured in Syria for graffiti that supported the Arab Spring movement. A 13 year-old who was among those arrested was killed after being tortured. The government attempted to crush these protests by killing and arresting many of the protestors. Military personnel in Syria proceeded to defect from the government, and form the Free Syrian Army, aimed at overthrowing the Syrian Government. Conflict between the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian Government led to civil war (“Syria’s Civil War Explained,” 2016). As a result of the civil war, and other conflicts, such as terrorist organizations like ISIS fighting for control in Syria, have ultimately pushed the millions of people out of the country and away from the violence, to European countries, seeking asylum (“Syria Iraq: The Islamic State Militant Group, 2014). Germany and Hungary have taken on many of the refugees, and other countries such as Italy, France, Finland and Sweden have also taken in many refugees.
While Europe struggles under the pressure of sustaining the mass influx of Syrian and Iraqi refugees, the dire need of aid for African refugees goes unnoticed. BBC’s "Map of the European Migrant Crisis" lists the most common ethnicity of Europe’s asylum seekers; among the top ten include Nigeria and Eritrea. Nigeria, a country notably more recognized than its partner, Eritrea, rests in West Africa, while Eritrea struggles along the eastern coast. Emigrants of Nigeria are fleeing the oppression of a governing jihadist group: Boko Haram, who have claimed large territories in the northern desert of the country. Although ISIS has created the brand as the most fearsome and ruthless extremist group in the media, it is important to remember that it is not the only evil. Boko Haram, in fact, began its active pledge to jihad much earlier than the Islamic State did. In 2014, Boko Haram exceeded ISIS’ death toll by over 600 (Taylor, 2015). Nigeria’s acting government has lost power as Boko Haram gained in reputation. Although Nigeria has not yet been deemed a failed state, the ruling government falls under the United Nation’s Responsibility to Protect a state that is either “unable or unwilling to protect their populations from mass atrocities” (Notaras & Popovsky, 2011). Many remember First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama leading the Twitter campaign #BringBackOurGirls in an attempt to raise awareness of the kidnapping of two hundred school girls by the extremist group, whose name means "Western education is a sin" (Taylor, 2014) (Who, What, Why: Exactly what does the phrase Boko Haram mean?, 2014). The horrors of the underdeveloped world, creating the “crisis” in westernized Europe, cause global hurt, and will continue to do so until the world arrives at peace. The painful irony of the refugee crisis in Europe is that the European colonial powers are, in essence, responsible for the catastrophe in their former colonies.
Refugees sought asylum and shelter in neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Egypt and Jordan while countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, UAE and Bahrain refused the entrance to refugees. Basic resources became so scarce that refugees had to seek asylum even further, heading to countries in Europe. Little did everyone know that the European Union was not economically prepared for such a catastrophe. The Dublin Regulation states that a refugee must stay in the state he/she has arrived to first. To ensure that people do not seek asylum in various countries and also to ensure that governments do not ignore asylum seekers (“Europe”). Furthermore, Britain decided to leave the European Union, also known as Brexit, mostly to stop the influx of refugees. This issue took place during the summer of 2016 making top news worldwide. Prime Minister David Cameron says he wants, “more controls on immigration from new member states, limits on benefits for immigration, more powers for national parliaments to block EU legislation, less red tape, faster trade deals, power returned to member states and an end to ever closer union (Irwin, 2015, p.7).” Additionally, the European Union came to an agreement with Turkey which states that refugees seeking asylum in Greece are to be sent back; in hopes of easing the migrant crisis through the use of the Aegean sea. The agreement states that, in return, Turkey will receive $6.6 billion for organizations who look after the migrants plus visa-free travel and a possible restart to Turkey’s membership in the European Union (Kanter, 2016). This agreement was made in response to Angela Merkel’s decision to accept as many refugees as possible and scatter them through Europe. Not only does this not solve the so-called crisis, it denies hundreds of thousands their human right to life and their right to asylum.
Works Cited
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