Britain’s crisis of conscience? Refugee policy still not enough
It may have taken the image of a drowned three-year-old boy washing up on shore, having attempted the perilous journey across the Mediterranean with his family, to spark Britain’s conscience. Yet it seems Britain still has substantial steps to take before making waves in tackling the biggest refugee crisis since World War II. Since the beginning of Syria’s civil war in 2011 four million people have fled the country, accounting for nearly a fifth of its entire population. Of those coming to Europe by sea 34% are from Syria. Other countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia and Nigeria account for a significant amount on such crossings, also often facing violence and persecution in their own countries if they stay, yet Syria by far outnumbers any other origin country, with the level of violence in the Syrian civil war escalating all the time. Many flee violence from the Assad regime, infamous for the use of chemical weapons and barrel bombs; they flee ISIS, whose methods include torture, sexual slavery and beheadings; and some flee other violent groups within Syria.
UNHCR
While the majority of these refugees have settled within Syria or in neighbouring countries, with around one million in both Lebanon and Jordan, around two million in Turkey, and a few hundred thousand in Iraq and Egypt each, some have made the difficult decision to make the journey to Western Europe, where they hope they can use the professional skills and qualifications they have to start a sustainable life. While these neighbouring countries bear the brunt of the humanitarian crisis, it is important to note that conditions within such camps are far from ideal, with the UN refugee agency drastically underfunded, meaning camps are often overcrowded and undersupplied. Additionally, many who flee to these camps find no way of making a living, often not allowed to work, leading some to make the decision to leave in search of somewhere that offers a more secure future. With refugees entering Europe, the crisis becomes more immediate, and with it comes a realisation of the scale of the disaster, one that becomes increasingly difficult to ignore.
Refugee camp for Syrians in Zaatari, Lebanon
David Cameron’s announcement last Friday that the UK would be taking in up to 20,000 Syrian refugees was met with some mixed responses, but he still faced significant criticism from opposition leaders and human rights groups in the days that followed. Initially 20,000 may have seemed like a large number, yet the headline value is not as it seems. Given that an estimated 380,000 people have arrived in Europe by sea so far this year, 20,000 over a five-year period is not substantial. While Cameron initially faced some criticism for failing to outline how many could be settled this year alone, he defended his claims on Wednesday saying no limit would be set on this, however this does not fully absolve some more pressing problems. As these 20,000 will come from Syrian, Turkish and Jordanian refugee camps, many have criticised that not enough is being done to support those refugees who have already, in a desperate decision, made the trip to reach Britain. While taking refugees from camps may provide a safer route, the government has ignored the needs of those who have already arrived and are seeking asylum. Several reasons account for refugees choosing Britain as their destination, be it for language or connections to family and community, explaining why many may not wish to settle in the first country they reach. Ignoring those who arrive in the UK, or sending them to other countries with which they have no connection or language, could be detrimental.
Perhaps most worrying is the fact that refugees will only be given right to remain in the UK for five years, meaning they will have to reapply for permanent residency later, resulting in asylum claims not being given full attention at the time. Some have criticised this move claiming that in five years many could face deportation, including those children who arrive facing forced removal when they turn 18, mandated to return to what they do not know. A similar scenario was found in a report of children from Afghanistan who fled the war-torn country to seek asylum in the UK, and now faced an uncertain future, many being deported when they turned 18. It was found that in six years 605 individuals who had arrived as children have been deported to Afghanistan on turning 18, after their temporary leave to remain ran out. Additionally, of those deported most were repatriated to Kabul, which is considered a safe zone, even if they have no connection there. The report also showed the problem of this temporary solution, as delaying a long-term asylum claim for sometimes several years meant that details could become more difficult to recollect leading to potential inconsistencies, which could persuade courts to reject some valid claims. As asylum claims were not fully investigated at the time many could face deportation to a place where they would face dangerous situations, with many often having lost any connections to family during their time spent in the UK. Given Cameron’s vagueness and pledges to give temporary leave to remain for five years, many young Syrians could also face this insecure future. While Cameron claims to prioritise vulnerable children, including orphans, in the scheme, these very individuals would face uncertainty when they become adults.
Refugees travelling from Hungary to Austria
It is important to make the distinction that a majority of those arriving in Europe, that we see in the media at least, are refugees, not economic migrants, a distinction that has been all too often forgotten in reporting over the past few months. A migrant is someone who chooses to leave their home. A refugee is someone forced to leave their country for fear of persecution or violence, for reasons of nationality, religion, race, membership of a social group, sexual orientation, or political opinion. Under the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugees have certain rights under international law. They have the right not to be deported to their own country if safety is not assured, the right not to be penalised if entering a country illegally if they request asylum, and the right to life, security, religious expression, primary education, access to courts and equal treatment by taxing authorities. This means that the UK has an obligation under international law to grant rights to those refugees arriving, regardless of whether they used legal means to get there or not.
The reason many use illegal means is because legal methods are just not available to them and this is solidified by actions of European countries who do not wish to make it easy for refugees to reach Europe, perhaps fearing “swarms” would arrive. Due to the abovementioned obligations under international law, making it difficult to reach Europe is made the priority, and therefore illegal and dangerous smuggling will no doubt continue. In fact, the UK even scrapped search-and-rescue operation in the Mediterranean, justifying it as a means to discourage crossings.
One of the key problems Europe faces with regards to refugees is the Dublin Regulation, which establishes a hierarchical system for dealing with asylum claims, with responsibility assigned based on which country those seeking asylum arrive in first, requiring them to stay there until claims are dealt with. While it is supposed to deter multiple asylum claims, in reality it has faced severe obstacles in its enforcement, usually to the detriment of refugees. Firstly, it has resulted in an influx of refugees in those countries easy to reach such as Greece and Italy, leading to disproportionate responsibility in dealing with asylum claims, leaving many trapped in areas that are abandoned to deal with the crisis with inadequate resources. This therefore leads to delays in asylum claims, many spending their time waiting in detention centres before, or if, they are given transfers to the country in which they seek asylum.
Europe therefore must do more to take responsibility by welcoming refugees while the crisis is ongoing. The current response from many European countries, especially the UK, expecting certain countries to take on more than their fair share, or supposing that the problem will just be solved by someone else, has been shameful given the nature of the European Union’s tenets of shared responsibility and collective action. Instead, refugees are faced with further obstacles as European countries play games of shifting and denying responsibility.
There have been some promising responses across Europe, with an encouraging growth of ‘refugees welcome’ movements, yet it is important that we keep auch a promise over the long term. Indeed Germany, in scrapping their adherence to the Dublin Regulation made a significant step by allowing direct asylum claims, and has set an example that the rest of Europe should follow. The UK on the other hand are among Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, in rejecting a proposal of an EU-wide quota system that would seek to resettle refugees already in Europe on a more proportionate scale. Countries could start to follow Germany’s example in allowing refugees into their own borders to process asylum claims, relieving some of the pressure from more easily accessed countries, and sharing responsibility amongst member states. Until some countries stop their selfish behaviour as they ardently try to prevent refugees reaching their borders, the refugee crisis will remain as it is.
Photo Credit: Rene Dana
Now it is clear that the Syrian civil war is not just a Syrian problem; it is a humanitarian crisis that affects the world. In making the journey many risk death, yet this is preferable to the danger they would face in their own countries. As countries such as the UK stand stubbornly against further necessary action, and in the absence of a collective and active response from the EU, refugees will face increasing hardship over the coming weeks, months and even years. It is not a crisis to be solved easily, but it is clear that little effort has yet been made to reduce the difficulties that refugees face.
