.
At the time of Christopher Columbus and Vasco de Gama, Europeans had discovered new lands and new worlds. These places discovered by them were the European El Dorado seeking to build a better life. During periods of famine in Europe, the European left with great sorrow their land, their family, and their loved ones. Boats full of Europeans, with Italian, English, Irish, German, Greek, and Albanian citizens escaping from the misery of their land, left the old continent with the hope for a better life.
Nowadays, our doors in Europe encounter desperate and helpless people who are physically weakened by the long journey and hunger. They are psychologically destroyed by the memories of their country engulfed by war, Syria. What do we do to relieve their pain? We, in Europe, close the door to them! We forget that our ancestors were immigrants who went elsewhere to build a better future. What would we say if the doors in those countries where our ancestors sought to see a glimmer of hope were slammed in their faces?
We forget always our past and we repeat the same mistakes because of our collective sclerosis.
The 1951 Refugee Convention is a United Nations multilateral treaty that defines who is a refugee, sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum, and establishes the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum. This Convention was amended by a Protocol in 1967 and it builds on Article 14 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes the right of persons to seek asylum from persecution in other countries.
Article 1 of the Convention, as amended by the 1967 Protocol, defines a refugee as:
A person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.
Today’s refugees who come to Europe originate mainly from Iraq or Syria. They leave those areas where their own life is in danger because of the civil war. They take a big risk, leaving everything behind just to stay alive. Some are persecuted because of they are a Christian minorities in their country; some have seen their relatives die, their houses demolished, and their dreams broken.
A refugee's right to be protected against forcible return, or refoulement, is set out in the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees:
No Contracting State shall expel or return ('refouler') a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion" (Article 33(1)).
Refugee rights are not respected in countries where they have gone. Some European countries have closed the doors because they see their presence as a threat to the religious unity and ethnic and cultural life of their country. Our biggest evil is to forget. After the fall of communism in the early 90s, the citizens of Eastern European countries became immigrants in other more prosperous countries in the world. Their presence was not seen as a threat to cultural, ethnic, or religious cohesion. People should not be treated as objects to be classified in groups, but instead deserve respect and have the right to a dignified life. The journalists in these countries should be concentrated in their role to provide accurate information about the refugee situation and do not have to increase the refugees’ pain or suffering by giving them shots and insulting them. Some European countries have decided to escape from the responsibility to give a solution to this crisis that concerns the whole Europe and have left all responsibility to Greece, a country already weakened by the financial crisis.
Yet solutions exist, but they require collaboration by all European countries. Many people lost their lives to the banks of European seas trying to save their lives. They spend their last savings in order to survive. Generally, traffickers demand 3,000 or 4,000 euro to get on European shores. We must help these people to escape from their country by legal means and not let traffickers benefit from their misfortune. We need to legalize and facilitate their access to other countries, but it is very difficult when you see the way how they are treated in some countries.
Secondly, European countries must help countries like Greece and Turkey by supporting the greater flow of refugees on their territory. Greece must face the refugee crisis and seems abandoned by other European countries. The conditions in these host countries can be improved by the financial help of other European countries. Thus, better living conditions will be provided to refugees.
European countries must work together to distribute responsibilities to solve the refugee crisis. Refugees are not objects or properties to be shared among the European countries. We do not understand how there can be a referendum to decide the fate of unfortunate people, treating them like modern slaves and putting numbers when talking about their lives, when talking about human lives. Our continent that is so vaunted as the cradle of culture, civilization, and respect for human rights seems to be confined to the numbers when it comes to humans that do not have the same religion, culture, or ethnicity. Admittedly as the Italian expression says "Tra dire e il fare, c’è di mezzo il mare" (Between saying and doing is half of the sea), the solution to the refugee crisis is difficult, but still our union is strength. And do not forget the motto of our continent "In diversitate concordia" (United in diversity)!
Photo by Sebastian Rich
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
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Faced with the Refugee Crisis, Europe Closes Its Doors
Syrian refugee families arrive at the UNHCR Zatari refugee camp and await registration at the main entrance centre.
May 22, 2016
At the time of Christopher Columbus and Vasco de Gama, Europeans had discovered new lands and new worlds. These places discovered by them were the European El Dorado seeking to build a better life. During periods of famine in Europe, the European left with great sorrow their land, their family, and their loved ones. Boats full of Europeans, with Italian, English, Irish, German, Greek, and Albanian citizens escaping from the misery of their land, left the old continent with the hope for a better life.
Nowadays, our doors in Europe encounter desperate and helpless people who are physically weakened by the long journey and hunger. They are psychologically destroyed by the memories of their country engulfed by war, Syria. What do we do to relieve their pain? We, in Europe, close the door to them! We forget that our ancestors were immigrants who went elsewhere to build a better future. What would we say if the doors in those countries where our ancestors sought to see a glimmer of hope were slammed in their faces?
We forget always our past and we repeat the same mistakes because of our collective sclerosis.
The 1951 Refugee Convention is a United Nations multilateral treaty that defines who is a refugee, sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum, and establishes the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum. This Convention was amended by a Protocol in 1967 and it builds on Article 14 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes the right of persons to seek asylum from persecution in other countries.
Article 1 of the Convention, as amended by the 1967 Protocol, defines a refugee as:
A person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.
Today’s refugees who come to Europe originate mainly from Iraq or Syria. They leave those areas where their own life is in danger because of the civil war. They take a big risk, leaving everything behind just to stay alive. Some are persecuted because of they are a Christian minorities in their country; some have seen their relatives die, their houses demolished, and their dreams broken.
A refugee's right to be protected against forcible return, or refoulement, is set out in the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees:
No Contracting State shall expel or return ('refouler') a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion" (Article 33(1)).
Refugee rights are not respected in countries where they have gone. Some European countries have closed the doors because they see their presence as a threat to the religious unity and ethnic and cultural life of their country. Our biggest evil is to forget. After the fall of communism in the early 90s, the citizens of Eastern European countries became immigrants in other more prosperous countries in the world. Their presence was not seen as a threat to cultural, ethnic, or religious cohesion. People should not be treated as objects to be classified in groups, but instead deserve respect and have the right to a dignified life. The journalists in these countries should be concentrated in their role to provide accurate information about the refugee situation and do not have to increase the refugees’ pain or suffering by giving them shots and insulting them. Some European countries have decided to escape from the responsibility to give a solution to this crisis that concerns the whole Europe and have left all responsibility to Greece, a country already weakened by the financial crisis.
Yet solutions exist, but they require collaboration by all European countries. Many people lost their lives to the banks of European seas trying to save their lives. They spend their last savings in order to survive. Generally, traffickers demand 3,000 or 4,000 euro to get on European shores. We must help these people to escape from their country by legal means and not let traffickers benefit from their misfortune. We need to legalize and facilitate their access to other countries, but it is very difficult when you see the way how they are treated in some countries.
Secondly, European countries must help countries like Greece and Turkey by supporting the greater flow of refugees on their territory. Greece must face the refugee crisis and seems abandoned by other European countries. The conditions in these host countries can be improved by the financial help of other European countries. Thus, better living conditions will be provided to refugees.
European countries must work together to distribute responsibilities to solve the refugee crisis. Refugees are not objects or properties to be shared among the European countries. We do not understand how there can be a referendum to decide the fate of unfortunate people, treating them like modern slaves and putting numbers when talking about their lives, when talking about human lives. Our continent that is so vaunted as the cradle of culture, civilization, and respect for human rights seems to be confined to the numbers when it comes to humans that do not have the same religion, culture, or ethnicity. Admittedly as the Italian expression says "Tra dire e il fare, c’è di mezzo il mare" (Between saying and doing is half of the sea), the solution to the refugee crisis is difficult, but still our union is strength. And do not forget the motto of our continent "In diversitate concordia" (United in diversity)!
Photo by Sebastian Rich
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
