THERE IS no doubting migration has become the ‘hot potato’ of European politics, particularly during this hour of economic crisis.
It wasn’t always seen in the negative light it is today. According to John Torpey, author of a book on the invention of the passport, the right of freedom of movement was born from the achievements of 19th century classical liberalism. Between 1840 and the early decades of the 20th century, almost 60 million people emigrated from Europe to other parts of the world.
Since the First World War and the declaration of a state of ‘national emergency’, governments have attempted to restrict and control the free movement of people, with passport controls becoming an institutionalised feature of international travel.
Fast forward to the 21st century and many right-leaning parties across Europe have made it a key campaign issue, some successfully striking a chord with an anxious public concerned about the economic and social impact of inward migratory flows.
The debate was brought into horrific focus last month when Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in the hope that his actions would start a culture war across Europe to defend “Christendom” from the ‘invading masses’.
Some European politicians are purposefully obfuscating public discourse on migration to ensure regular/irregular migration and asylum issues are thrown into the same boiling pot, blurring the lines between those lawfully resident in a country, those fleeing persecution and those trying to escape poverty.
On irregular migration, the EU allocated €370m last Friday to help member states protect their borders in 2012, recording a €100m increase compared to funds allotted for 2011. The money will come from the External Borders Fund, of which Italy (€52m) and tiny Malta (€15m) will get the most. The two countries have received thousands of refugees from Tunisia and Libya following the uprisings and unrest in North Africa. Cyprus, Greece, France and Spain will also receive more funding next year.
While Europe focuses on beefing up its border security, unrest and food insecurity in the Middle East and Africa continue to ensure that migratory flows towards Europe will not stop. The conflict in Libya shows no signs of ending while the Syrian regime’s brutal crackdown on public protests, accused of killing well over a thousand people, are cases in point.
Earlier this week, the UN warned that extreme drought was affecting 12 million lives in the Horn of Africa, with the famine creeping across Somalia posing as the world’s most severe humanitarian crisis today.
According to the UN, at least 2.8 million people including 1.25 million children are in dire need of assistance in southern Somalia.
Ongoing conflict and the real threat of famine on Europe’s borders go some way to explaining why thousands of migrants, many African, continue to risk life to cross the Mediterranean. Hundreds are believed dead, having tried and failed, this year alone.
Last Monday, the bodies of 25 men were found in the hold of a 50-foot vessel, heading towards Italy. Many died from asphyxiation due to the exhaust fumes released in the hold. The Italian coastguard said 296 people, a large number from Sub Saharan Africa, were on board the packed boat, including women and children.
In April, the frontline countries, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Spain and Malta appealed for their EU partners’ support to help cope with the influx of thousands of migrants fleeing the turmoil in northern Africa.
At a seminar organised by the European Parliament’s offices of Malta, Greece and Cyprus last month, Maltese MEP Louis Grech said: “It is self-evident that to a very large extent, immigration is fuelled either by persecution, fear and /or poverty.”
He called for a common European approach, with greater burden-sharing and solidarity rather than the current “fragmented and inconsistent EU policies on asylum seekers and migration”.
Grech highlighted the need for a focus on “home-grown democracy” and narrowing wealth inequalities in the countries of origin and transit.
“Offering tangible incentives such as freer trade and an EU agricultural policy that is less protective than inclusive could perhaps help to create a sustainable solution,” he said.
“Europe must, in shaping and implementing migration policies, adopt a more holistic approach fully integrating the concerns of the migrants as well as those of the member states who are being disproportionately affected by illegal immigration and asylum seekers,” he added.
Greek MEP Michalis Tremopoulos noted that Greece has up to 1.2 million migrants (10-12 per cent of the population) who mainly contribute to the economy through low labour costs.
“Many EU countries have huge labour needs. Despite that, they approach the migration issue with hypocrisy and repression. It is impossible though to deal with this by building a fortress Europe,” he said.
Discussing the ‘new Mediterranean reality’, Sotos Ktoris, coordinator of the interior ministry’s asylum service, stressed the need for the creation of a Common European Asylum System (CEAS) by 2012.
Until now, each member state adopts its own view on the rights afforded those seeking international protection, with different procedures in place for each country.
Cyprus was the first country in the world in terms of the number of asylum seekers per 1,000 members of the population, he argued.
“Cyprus, as well as Malta and Greece, are positioned in the most politically unstable area in the planet which means that in the direct and predictable future, there will still be peoples in these countries who will move in order to seek protection or a better life,” said Ktoris.
“The support and solidarity of the other member states should be stable and immutable, independent from the fluctuations in the migration waves towards the Mediterranean States,” he added.
It remains to be seen how Europe will solve the many questions posed by continuing migratory flows, depending to a large extent on the most prevalent positions held by EU governments of the day.
But if it wants to keep its “soft power” and “transformational value” as part of efforts to effect change in its neighbourhood, any policy will have to be in line with the EU’s much trumpeted core values and principles.
