The world is in shock after the discovery last week of a truck in Austria containing the bodies of 71 migrants. The abandoned truck was found on a highway between Budapest and Vienna. In a gruesome continuation of the tragedy, three children were found in critical condition in Austria on Friday after police stopped a truck with 26 refugees. Both incidents show how the migrant crisis in Europe, which has already gone out of control, is acquiring new horrendous proportions. Tens of thousands are risking their lives and dying in their bid to get to Europe, and Europe, unprepared for the immensity of this crisis, is desperately struggling to protect its borders and keep the human tide away.
If the sea route to Europe has been the most popular passage for refugees, news emerged yesterday of other daring attempts to reach the continent. According to a Guardian report, dozens of Syrians are trekking to the far north of Russia in an unlikely bid to reach a little-known Arctic border crossing with Norway. It said up to 20 Syrians a month are crossing into the tiny Norwegian town of Kirkenes, which lies around 2,500 miles north of Damascus. And more stunning, the average daily temperature in this place hovers just below freezing!
A refugee crisis of this magnitude is not a problem of Europe, but of the entire world. Still, very little is being done to address it with the seriousness it deserves. Europe is panicking, while the rest of the world is choosing to look the other way.
Europe can’t be expected to spread the red carpet for the thousands knocking at its borders, but its reaction needs to be more humane. Currently, the region is on a wall-building spree to keep the migrants out. The government of Hungary has said a razor-wire barrier along the country’s border with non-EU member Serbia, aimed at keeping out migrants, has been completed. Earlier this year, Bulgaria announced its own plan for a border fence that will eventually span 100 miles of its border with southern neighbour Turkey. In the French town of Calais, the British government recently spent $10m to erect improved fencing around the Channel Tunnel, a train link between France and Britain which has recently attracted relatively large numbers of migrants. The entire continent is singularly focused on preventing migrants from entering its territory through legal and physical measures.
While all these measures can help arrest the tide of migration, the final solution lies in addressing the root cause of the problem. Syria has become a factory producing millions of migrants but the world is not making any effort to stop the civil war in the country•
The world is in shock after the discovery last week of a truck in Austria containing the bodies of 71 migrants. The abandoned truck was found on a highway between Budapest and Vienna. In a gruesome continuation of the tragedy, three children were found in critical condition in Austria on Friday after police stopped a truck with 26 refugees. Both incidents show how the migrant crisis in Europe, which has already gone out of control, is acquiring new horrendous proportions. Tens of thousands are risking their lives and dying in their bid to get to Europe, and Europe, unprepared for the immensity of this crisis, is desperately struggling to protect its borders and keep the human tide away.
If the sea route to Europe has been the most popular passage for refugees, news emerged yesterday of other daring attempts to reach the continent. According to a Guardian report, dozens of Syrians are trekking to the far north of Russia in an unlikely bid to reach a little-known Arctic border crossing with Norway. It said up to 20 Syrians a month are crossing into the tiny Norwegian town of Kirkenes, which lies around 2,500 miles north of Damascus. And more stunning, the average daily temperature in this place hovers just below freezing!
A refugee crisis of this magnitude is not a problem of Europe, but of the entire world. Still, very little is being done to address it with the seriousness it deserves. Europe is panicking, while the rest of the world is choosing to look the other way.
Europe can’t be expected to spread the red carpet for the thousands knocking at its borders, but its reaction needs to be more humane. Currently, the region is on a wall-building spree to keep the migrants out. The government of Hungary has said a razor-wire barrier along the country’s border with non-EU member Serbia, aimed at keeping out migrants, has been completed. Earlier this year, Bulgaria announced its own plan for a border fence that will eventually span 100 miles of its border with southern neighbour Turkey. In the French town of Calais, the British government recently spent $10m to erect improved fencing around the Channel Tunnel, a train link between France and Britain which has recently attracted relatively large numbers of migrants. The entire continent is singularly focused on preventing migrants from entering its territory through legal and physical measures.
While all these measures can help arrest the tide of migration, the final solution lies in addressing the root cause of the problem. Syria has become a factory producing millions of migrants but the world is not making any effort to stop the civil war in the country•
