Issues

Europe’s deep division

agendaNi looks at how nations across the European Union are reacting to the vast number of people attempting to cross their borders.

 The movement of Middle-Eastern migrants across the different member states of the European Union has caused panic and tension across the continent but just what action are the member states taking to tackle the problem?

The migrant crisis has been described as one of the worst humanitarian disasters since the 1940s. Millions of people from the Middle-East and sub-Saharan Africa have been forced to flee their homes. The biggest migration of people has come from Syria. Four million people, nearly 20 per cent of Syria’s population, have fled the dangers of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and IS. Many of those who fled their homeland arrived at migrant camps in neighbouring countries but underfunding and overcrowding has resulted in many of these people looking to Europe for a chance of a better life.

With the numbers of migrants entering Europe is increasing significantly, leaders of the European Union’s member states met in the closing days of September to discuss the problem and attempt to find a solution. It was decided that 120,000 refugees were to be divided up between member states based on mandatory quotas. However, the agreement is fiercely opposed by some nations including Slovakia who launched a legal challenge against the decision.

Also agreed at the talks were plans for a further donation of at least £700 million to the UN refugee agency and the World Food programme, an increase in support for countries including Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, a strengthening of border controls and an agreement for a further summit to take place in October that will also include the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

 Whilst the UK’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, confirmed the UK will give £60 million to help Syrian refugees and £40 million to the World Food programme, he also admitted the UK will not take part in the agreed relocation scheme. However, it appears that calls from Northern Ireland’s politicians to allow more migrants to enter Northern Ireland may not have fallen on deaf ears as Cameron confirmed the UK has its own plans to resettle migrants directly from Syrian refugee camps.

 Indeed Belfast City Council has pledged to ‘open its doors and its hearts to refugees’ and to treat those fleeing war with respect and dignity. The number of refugees that will arrive in Northern Ireland is still unknown with Martin McGuiness claiming up to 2,000 refugess could be accommodated here.

 The lastest indicaton is that the first migrants could arrive here before the end of the year.

Despite the agreement by many of Europe’s leaders that more action is needed to tackle the problem, it is not abating and tensions between member states are rising. Hungary has recorded over 10,000 people who have not claimed asylum entering the country in one day. It estimates that 9,393 of these people entered from Croatia and 102 of them came from Serbia. Hungary’s tough new border laws and the creation of a razor wire fence on its Croatian border have led to clashes between Croatia and Serbia.

With tensions between nations rising, it is no surprise the European Commission Vice President, Frans Timmermans, has stressed the need to find a sustainable solution for the sake of the Union. “If we’re not able to tackle this issue, if we’re not able to find sustainable solution, you will see a surge of the extreme right across the European continent,” said Timmermans.

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