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Over the last five years, more than 20 million people have been displaced inside Syria or even exiled to neighbouring countries and Europe. With a Civil War taking place between those in favour and those against President Bashar-al Assad, violence and war crimes have been committed from both sides as a result of this battle. Additionally, the involvement of religious sects with the significant rise of the jihadist group of Islamic State (IS) in Syria deteriorates further the conflict.

In the fear of a refugee influx inside Europe, many EU member states have decided to impose entry restrictions to newcomers by adhering to the Regulation (EU) 604/2013 (Dublin III Regulation). This regulation shapes the Common European Asylum System which sets a single Member State as responsible for the examination of the asylum applications [Article 3,1 and 3,2 of the Regulation EU 604/2013). According to Article 18, the responsible Member State is obliged to take back the third-country national, if another Member State rejects the asylum application. Thus, the Dublin III regulation could be translated like a “burden and a punishment for the Member State which permitted the individual to arrive in the Union” (Guild 2006:637 quoted in Mouzourakis, 2014:11).

As an additional measure to stop irregular migration in Europe, the recent EU-Turkey Agreement on 18 March permits the return of migrants and asylum seekers to Turkey. The agreement recalls that each application of a third national will be subject to the EU asylum rules (Directive 2013/32/EU). The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, expressed his serious concerns over the agreement and suggested the implementation of practical recommendations of the UN or other international organisations/experts. Finally, he warned, “if the EU starts to circumvent international law, there could be a deeply problematic knock-on effect in other parts of the world” (OHCHR, 2016).

The United Nations position over the EU Refugee policies

With the borders now closed, tens of thousands of refugees are now stranded in Greece. The UN Refugee Agency alerted the international community by saying that international solidarity and organised global action is needed to support the Syrian people. In response to the increasing need for humanitarian assistance in Europe, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has prepared a winterization appeal plan for 2015/2016 due to fears for life losses during the winter months.

Refugee crisis equals to European Crisis

Some interesting conclusions can be drawn here. First of all, the Syrian refugee problem could be translated as a crisis not only in the Middle East but in Europe as well. Both cultures are facing deep cultural and political problems. In the Middle East, the instability, the anarchy and the rise of brutal fanaticism are the dominant generators of refugee flows.

On the other side, Europe seems unable to manage its refugee issues. The internal difficulties such as recession and exit scenarios for Greece/UK put the European integration into risk. Additionally, public opinion is already divided over the reception of refugees in the EU. For instance, Germany has been critical over the strict refugee policy of other EU countries while accepting the largest number of asylum-seekers. On the contrary, Hungary has adopted a stricter stance due to fears of the rising numbers of Muslims in Europe. For the same matter, Czech Republic appeared more sceptical and reserved, while Slovakia suggested stricter measures for third nationals across the borders of the Schengen Area¹. Finally, some Western European countries such as Denmark, France and the UK adopted a quota system in the number of refugees that will enter their territory.

Photo: Mstyslav Chernov, Women and children among Syrian refugees striking at the platform of Budapest Keleti railway station (2015). Source: (Wikimedia Commons) | (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Footnotes

[1] Schengen Area:

The border-free Schengen Area allows free movement of the EU citizens to internal borders without being subjected to border checks including most EU countries (except for Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania, and the United Kingdom) and four non-EU States (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein).

Bibliography

BBC (2016) Why is EU struggling with migrants and asylum? , BBC News, 3rd March, Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24583286 (Accessed 27th March 2016)

Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection (recast), Official Journal of the European Union L180, 29.6.2013, p.60-95, Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013L0032&from=en (Accessed 28th March 2016)

European Commission (2016a) EU-Turkey Agreement: Questions and Answers, Press Release, 19th March, Available at: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-16-963_en.htm (Accessed 28th March 2016)

European Commission (2016b) Schengen Area, Migration and Home Affairs, Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/schengen/index_en.htm (Accessed 27th March 2016)

Frej W. (2015) Here Are the European Countries that Want to Refuse Refugees, The Huffington Post, 9th September, Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/europe-refugees-not-welcome_us_55ef3dabe4b093be51bc8824 (Accessed 27th March 2016)

Mead R.W. (2015) The Roots of the Migration Crisis, The Wall Street Journal, 11th September, Available at: http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-roots-of-the-migration-crisis-1441995372 (Accessed 27th March 2016)

Mouzourakis M. (2014) ‘We Need to Talk about Dublin’, Refugee Studies Centre Working Paper Series, 105, Available at: http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/files/publications/working-paper-series/wp105-we-need-to-talk-about-dublin.pdf/ (Accessed 27th March 2016)

OHCHR (2016) UN rights chief expresses serious concerns over EU-Turkey agreement, Media Centre, Geneva, 24th March, Available at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/media.aspx?IsMediaPage=true (Accessed 27th March 2016)

Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013, Official Journal of the European Union L180, 29.06.2013, p.31-59, Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2013:180:0031:0059:EN:PDF(Accessed 27th March 2016)

Rodgers L., Gritten D., Offer J. and Asare P. (2016) Syria: The story of the conflict, BBC News, 11th March, Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26116868 (Accessed 27th March 2016)

UNHCR (2016a) Syria conflict at five years, News Stories, Geneva, 15th March, Available at: http://www.unhcr.org.uk/news-and-views/news-list/news-detail/article/syria-conflict-at-five-years.html (Accessed 26th March 2016)

UNHCR (2016b) UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie Pitt visits Greece, Press Releases, 16th March, Available at: http://www.unhcr.org/56e94bd96.html#_ga=1.78198612.1919156883.1458842404 (Accessed 25th March 2016)

UNHCR (2015c) Winterization Plan for the Refugee Crisis in Europe, November 2015-February 2016, Geneva, 5th November, Available at: http://www.unhcr.org/563b26049.html (Accessed 27th March 2016)

Chronicle of Humanitarian Suffering: A Historic record of forced displacements in 2015

For the first time in human history, forced displacements had hit the record of people who were forced to flee their home due to unresolved crises. The UN Refugee Agency warned that one out of every 122 persons on Earth is being forced in involuntary relocation (UNHCR, 2015b).

The last five to six years, at least 15 old and new conflicts have emerged including conflicts, persecutions, violence and violations of human rights. Reaching 60 million, the victims of these displacements can be distinguished in three main groups: refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

With the global trend of displacements constantly acceding, the conflict in Syria constitutes the main source of refugees and IDPs amassing more than 4.2 million by mid-2015. Furthermore, other armed conflicts in Afghanistan, Burundi, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan, Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have contributed in the significant increase of the refugee numbers by 5% from the end of 2011 to mid-2015. After Syria, Afghanistan represents the second-largest source of refugees (2.6 million). Next follow Somalia (1.1 million), South Sudan (nearly 750,000), and Sudan (640,900). Accordingly, the Democratic Republic of Congo (535,300), the Central African Republic (470, 600), Myanmar (458,400), Eritrea (383,000) and Iraq (377,000) shape the top 10 of world’s refugee populations for mid-2015. All data presented above is based on UNHCR¹ report “Mid-Year Trends 2015“.

Asylum-seekers and refugees under international law

According to the international law (1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees), states are obliged to provide protection to refugees and stateless people. As refugees are defined “all persons outside their country of origin for reasons of feared persecution, conflict, generalised violence or other circumstances that have seriously disturbed public order and who, as a result, require international protection” (UNHCR, 2013).

Respectively, the term of asylum seekers ”can either refer to an individual whose refugee status has not yet been determined by the authorities but whose claim to international protection entitles him or her to a certain protective status on the basis that he or she could be a refugee or to persons forming part of large scale influxes of mixed groups in a situation where individual refugee status determination is impractical” (UNHCR, 2013).

Refugees looking for a shelter in host countries

According to the UNHCR’s press release for the first half of 2015, Turkey hosts the biggest wave of refugees. Lebanon follows with the biggest proportion of refugees to its population size, while Nigeria comes third in place with its economy burdened by the cost of sustenance for refugees.

In Europe, the land of promise and prosperity, refugees are in search of safety and a better quality of life. Many of them attempt to enter the European territory through the Mediterranean Sea by putting their life at huge risk. Thus, sea arrivals have seen a sharp rise between 2014 and 2015, followed by a parallel increase in the numbers of dead/missing persons. For the first quarter of 2016, arrivals by sea have reached the 164,338 (Source: UNHCR – Regional Overview, 2016b). As for the host countries, Germany has accepted the biggest number of asylum-seeks for the first half of 2015, while for the same period Russia takes the second position by accepting asylum seekers from Ukraine after its recent crisis.

In Greece, more than one million refugees from the Middle East -Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, have crossed its territory since 2015. Indeed, close to 85% of asylum seekers and refugees that found shelter in Europe, entered the European territory through Greece. So far, Greece as a reception country has responded positively in the international humanitarian aid appeal, but the lack of adequate infrastructure and health care services have a negative impact on the living conditions for these people and may favour the spread of serious viruses such as polio.

Photo: Freedom House, Syrian boys, whose family fled their home in Idlib, walk to their tent at a camp for displaced Syrians, in the village of Atmeh, Syria (2012). Source: (flickr.com) | (CC BY 2.0)

Footnotes

[1]United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):

The mandate of the High Commissioner for Refugees and its Office was established by the UN General Assembly in 1950 with a primary purpose to safeguard the rights and the well being of refugees.

Bibliography

Hussain A.S., Kharoshah A.M. and Menezes G.R. (2016) Refugee Migration Crisis and the Threat of Re-emergence of Polio in the European Union, Perspectives in Public Health, 136 (1): 7, Available at: http://rsh.sagepub.com (Accessed 27th March 2016)

UNHCR (2013) Note on the Mandate of the High Commissioner for Refugees and his Office. Division of International Protection, Available at: http://www.unhcr.org/526a22cb6.html (Accessed 27th March 2016)

UNHCR (2015a) Mid-Year Trends 2015, Geneva, Available at: http://www.unhcr.org/56701b969.html (Accessed 26th March 2016)

UNHCR (2015b) UNHCR report confirms worldwide rise in forced displacements in first half 2015, Press Release, Geneva, 18th December, Available at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/unhcrsharedmedia/2015/2015-midyear-trends-report/2015-12-18-UNHCR-MYT15-press-release-English.docx (Accessed 25th March 2016)

UNHCR (2015c) Worldwide displacement hits all-time high as war and persecution increase, News Stories, Geneva, 18th June, Available at: http://www.unhcr.org/558193896.html (Accessed 26th March 2016)

UNHCR (2016a) More than one million refugees travel to Greece since the start of 2015, News Stories, 17th March, Available at: http://www.unhcr.org.uk/news-and-views/news-list/news-detail/article/more-than-one-million-refugees-travel-to-greece-since-the-start-of-2015.html (Accessed 25th March 2016)

UNHCR (2016b) Refugees/Migrants Emergency Response- Mediterranean, Regional Overview, Available at: http://data.unhcr.org/mediterranean/regional.php (Accessed 26th March 2016)

UN News Centre (08/12/2015) Global forced displacement for 2015 on track to break all records, topping 60 million, Available at: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2015/12/global-forced-displacement-for-2015-on-track-to-break-all-records-topping-60-million/ (Accessed 25th March 2016)