Moral considerations should drive solutions to EU migrant crisis, UN rapporteur says
A UN special rapporteur on migrants says the solution to the latest European crisis lies in Western nations coordinating resettlement and regulation efforts instead of focusing on repression or detention.
A migrant sits after been disembarking from the Italian Navy ship Chimera in the southern harbour of Salerno April 22, 2015. The EU must coordinate efforts to resettle refugees and regulate migrant mobility if the deaths by sea are to stop, Fran莽ois Cr茅peau, UN special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, told The Guardian in an interview.
Ciro De Luca/Reuters
To end the escalating European migration crisis that has left thousands dead at sea over the past year, wealthy countries need to step up and legally accept more refugees, according to the UN鈥檚 special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants.
, the UN鈥檚 Fran莽ois Cr茅peau urged the West to coordinate efforts to resettle the refugees pouring into Europe, insisting that regulating their mobility through legal channels would work better to stem the tide of migrants than repression or detention would. His appeal highlighted the moral and humanitarian aspects of the crisis, which has become both a political and socio-economic dilemma and a test for the region鈥檚 refugee management structures.
鈥淪aving lives should be the objective,鈥� Mr. Cr茅peau said. 鈥淚f we continue what we鈥檝e done 鈥� especially in Europe聽鈥� it鈥檚 not going to get better. This is only the start of the summer season, so if we鈥檝e had over a thousand deaths in the past week, we鈥檙e probably going to see that over the coming weeks as well.鈥�
The past week has seen as they fled conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East, the International Organization for Migration reported. The figure brings the total to more than 1,500 since January, compared to only 96 in the same period last year.
In response, EU leaders met Monday to develop that includes a program for the rapid return of migrants to their home countries and efforts to halt smuggling operations 鈥� the main channel by which refugees flee into Europe 鈥� through intelligence gathering and missions to capture and destroy smugglers鈥� vessels.
At a summit in Brussels to be held Thursday, the EU is also expected to focus on efforts to stabilize situations in the migrants' countries of origin, 海角大神鈥檚 Sara Miller Llana reported Tuesday.
What many say is ultimately the only true long-term solution to the problems is helping to stabilize the economies and political strife in the origin countries. Any kind of consensus is far off but it鈥檚 increasingly an issue that cannot be overlooked, experts say.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi over the weekend offered to lead a UN-backed mission in Libya if diplomatic efforts fail. 鈥淣o solution to the migrant crisis can be found without a stabilization in Libya,鈥� Renzi told reporters Sunday. He ruled out immediate intervention that would require boots on the ground.
Cr茅peau鈥檚 plan, however, hones in on a different angle: Ending smuggling operations and irregular immigration by broadening the legal paths for work and citizenship for potential refugees.
鈥淲e know a great number of Syrians in particular are going to leave these countries, and if we don鈥檛 provide any official mechanism for them to do so, they will resort to smugglers,鈥� he told The Guardian. 鈥淭he inaction of Europe is actually what creates the market for smugglers.鈥�
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), asylum systems in many European countries operate below international standards. And although 22 of 48 countries in the region participate in the UNHCR鈥檚 resettlement efforts to some capacity, 鈥渢he number of resettlement places in the region remains limited, with quotas and reception and integration capacity varying widely,鈥� . 聽
Yet if spread out among nations, Cr茅peau said, the resettlement of one million Syrians would be more than possible. He urged acceptance, instead of fear of refugees, even as he stressed the benefits of such a coordinated opening of borders.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a much better system for everyone 鈥� you reduce the number of deaths, you reduce the smuggling business model, and you reduce the cost of asylum claims,鈥� he told The Guardian. 鈥淟et鈥檚 not be afraid of mobility. If we develop, regulate, organize mobility we will have, in the long run, much better results.鈥�
The problem is that immigration has become a hard sell among Europeans, making some politicians reluctant to support policies that allow more non-Europeans into the union. Adding to that challenge are the tensions heightened by the uneven distribution of asylum seekers across member states.
鈥淭he European asylum system doesn鈥檛 work,鈥� Germany鈥檚 immigration commissioner, Aydan 脰zoguz, . 鈥淪ome countries are doing very little. We are one of the richest countries and we want to help, but it鈥檚 not okay that Germany, Sweden, and France are taking 50 percent of the refugees while other countries do nothing.鈥�
Still, those of the same mind as Cr茅peau point to the consequences of inaction.
鈥淗ow many deaths do European governments need to find a common solution?鈥� Elly Schlein, a European Parliament representative from Italy, . 鈥淚 understand that that they are afraid of public opinion 鈥� But I believe that, when you鈥檙e at the government, you should not only run after public opinion and should do what is right. And we have a moral and legal obligation."