By Marc Petermann, BA: International Relations.
Images of refugees seeking shelter in European nations has in recent weeks seared into our minds and has produced vastly different policies/perceptions within the population as well as different responses of governments from several European nations. In some countries refugees from all parts of the world (Syria, Afghanistan as most prominent example) were warmly welcomed, as at Munich main railway station teddy bears were given to Syrian children, whereas, Hungary locks its borders and uses tear gas against refugees. The different responses within Europe to the crisis couldn’t have been starker. What does this symbolise and what can we learn from these unprecedented contrasts?
Arguably many aspects can be learned from the current crisis, however, one aspect is increasingly that the European Union is currently not as united and proactive as itself envisages and is expected to be. The European Union was able to withstand many challenges and crisis throughout its era, be it the European Debt crisis for instance, in which despite the different attitudes among the member states, a consensus could arguably be quickly achieved.
This time, however, consensus among the member states is far-off. A quota of distributing refugees into the respective European member states is rejected by many countries as well as the mere idea of some nations refusing to accommodate any refugees at all. A divided Europe, resembling the old times of the Iron Curtain, appears to be closer to Europe. Eurosceptic Parties such as the ‘Alternative for Germany’ or the Hungarian nationalist party ‘Jobbik’ party are increasingly gaining popularity amongst others because of the refugee crisis, and parties such as the ‘Danish People’s Party’ have even emerged as second most popular in this year’s election in June.
Therefore, it becomes clear that nations, such as Germany or Denmark that are in general terms willing to accommodate asylum seekers, experience a growing degree of xenophobia and euro scepticism that cannot be denied. Therefore, this problem of xenophobia and euroscpeticism is not merely confined to Eastern European nations, as it has been often portrayed in recent weeks within the media. Therefore, in the light of an issue that affects all European nations, how could be best responded to the current crisis?
Many refugees (Syrian refugees as one example) were escaping the atrocities of rape or death that the ‘Islamic State’ currently commits in Syria, however, the burning of hostels for asylum seekers in parts of Germany, as well as demonstrations against the accommodation of asylum seekers in Warsaw emphasises that in some regions/ countries the fear of death and lacking sense of support (police-wise, society-wise) is as present as it is in the countries many refugees were originally fleeing from.
The UN Charter Article 73, clearly states that members of the UN need to protect people suffering against abuses, but does it really make sense to accommodate refugees in countries which cannot guarantee this clause in the UN charter? Therefore, as outlined in this short article xenophobia and the refusal of welcoming refugees is not confined to some European nations. In fact, it is a characteristic that encompasses all European nations, thus, bluntly speaking with regards to this aspect, the continent is united. Therefore, the main question needs to be centred upon how this growing xenophobia and refusal of welcoming refugees needs to be encountered? There are countless lessons that can be learned from the current refugee crisis, however, in order to maintain focus on this article, I will not list all reasons. Yet, one lesson that needs to be learned is that in the light of this growing number of refugees seeking asylum in Europe, xenophobia and increasing racism is a widespread European problem and, therefore, needs to be resolved European wide.
